Barbara Hambly: Bride of the Rat God

I bought this new when I was still reading everything by Barbara Hambly (probably somewhere around its release date in 1994); I doubt I would have read it otherwise, and I’ve always felt that whoever was responsible for the title and cover did this book a disservice, though I’m not sure the marketing department knew what to do with it. On her site, she mentions that this was tacked onto the contract of another book the publisher wanted, and that it did not sell well at all. She also mentions an outline for a sequel (Curse of the Swamp Monster), but is not optimistic about its existence as an actual book. I do love this book, cheesy title and overdramatic blurbs and all:

Hollywood, 1923:

Gin, gems, and life in the fast lane…Chrysanda Flamande was the sultriest vamp of the silver screen. She had everything–fawning friends, glittering parties, exotic diversions, and baubles to spare.

Then an elderly Chinese gentleman warned her that the fabulous trinket she’d worn in her latest screen triumph had marked her to be the bride of an ancient devil-god of Manchuria. Chris paid him not the slightest heed–until the stunt double who’d also worn the jewel was hideously murdered.

The Rat God’s trap began to close. And as her doom stalked closer and her fair-weather friends fell away, Chris grew ever more desperate. But how could she thwart the mystical power and monstrous guile of the fiend that hunted her? What human force could keep the demon Rat God from claiming his unwilling bride?

This is mostly accurate; the timing of events is wrong (she was given a warning but didn’t find out the specifics until after the stunt double’s murder and an attempt on her own life), and the bit about the fair-weather friends is not true (they do end up avoiding Chris’ usual set of friends near the end, though). The cover features a dark-haired flapper-ish woman wearing an opal necklace (Chris is indeed dark-haired, which surprised me; I keep thinking of her as a redhead), burning oil rigs (in the story) and a random Chinese figure (not a person; I’m not sure if its intended to be the Rat God or one of the guardian dogs).

The cover and its blurb (“Too beautiful to live! Too wild to die”), the back cover copy, and the first page excerpt (part of the scene with the burning oil rigs) give the impression of an action/thriller/horror/pulp type story. I think the choice was made to evoke the sort of films Chris was appearing in; however, it has those elements but isn’t really that type of story.

The story is told from the point-of-view of Christine’s sister-in-law Norah Blackstone, who has been in LA for six weeks at the start of the book. Chris traveled to England to buy three Pekingese (trying to out-Chinese her friends) and brought Norah back with her as well. Norah had lost almost everything (her family’s money was invested in Russia and was lost, so she had to give up school; her brother and husband were lost in WWI and most of her family died in an influenza epidemic afterwards; neither her remaining family nor her in-laws would help her because she was not Jewish, but her husband was; and she ended up in service to a nasty woman and her lecherous son), and was contemplating suicide. The story is as much about Norah’s healing as it is about the Rat God.

I love this book, and I really wish I could express why, though I think part of it is that it’s about an adult having a second chance at happiness and love, and that is something I like (wish-fulfillment, in a way). It’s not as action-packed as the description sounds, though the action is there (along with a few scenes of horrific violence; Ms. Hambly does gruesome very well). It seems more slow-paced than it is; the action takes place over the course of a couple of months. A lot of it is quiet scenes between Norah and her eventual love interest, with the chaos of the set or parties in the background; they do fall in love kind of quickly, but it doesn’t seem like it because they spend a lot of time together just talking or working (she ends up acting as his assistant occasionally). I actually believe they could have a functioning long-term relationship.

Barbara Hambly: Stranger at the Wedding

I was looking for something light to read or reread, and chose this; the last book I read was her Bride of the Rat God, which I adore. This is set in the same world as the Windrose books (The Silent Tower/Silicon Mage/Dog Wizard), but isn’t really related to them; I think it’s a year or so after Dog Wizard. Kyra Peldyrin (aka Kyra the Red) is a wizard-in-training, living at the Citadel of Wizards. Her father disowned her when her powers became public knowledge; she was essentially his heir (a marriage was arranged, but she would have continued running the business). Mages are not allowed to own property or run businesses or marry, and the Inquisition is watching for improper magic use. Wizards who are trained at the Citadel take a vow to not use magic to “meddle in the affairs of humankind”; wizards who don’t take that vow are known as dog wizards, and generally aren’t well-trained and are not protected by the Council of Wizards against the Inquisition.

Kyra has been at the Citadel for six years, and is a journeyman wizard, preparing to test for the next level when her spells start acting randomly, usually in negative ways (scrying in water, the water turns to blood; summoning moths results in flies; card reading gives Death in the same place every time). She receives a letter from her younger sister Alix announcing her wedding to Blore Spenson, the Lord Mayor of Angelshand’s son, who is a bit older and who has been a trader (on ships) and has been convinced he needs to settle down and start a family. Kyra wakes up in the night with the knowledge that Alix will die on her wedding night and is on the coach to Angelshand the next day. Her father is dismayed to find her in his house, but permits her to stay. She is horrified to find out that the wedding is in a couple of days instead of the couple of weeks originally planned, which does not give her enough time to find the curse on Alix.

Kyra frantically tries to find the source of the curse (a wizard’s mark somewhere) while dealing with her family and various friends and acquaintances and the wedding preparations. She tries to find ways to delay the ceremony without breaking her vows (or at least not being noticed breaking them). The house is chaotic, with various friends and relatives visiting to see what is happening with the delays (one family want Spenson for their daughter and have been getting love potions from a dog wizard and attempt to bribe Kyra to help) and the extra servants for the wedding (the musicians chase anything female, including the other servants and the neighbor’s daughters). Alix herself is desperately in love with one of the pastry-cook’s assistants (who is very talented in his own right) but is determined to do what her father orders. Interspersed with the present-day activities are flashbacks to the events leading up to Kyra’s discovery of her powers and her eventual leaving home for the citadel.

I didn’t like this as much this time as I did the last time I read it; it used to be one of my favorite of her books. I’ve unfortunately found that to be true of many of her books; she used to be one of my favorite authors, but more recent rereads of many of her books have either stalled out or felt forced (but don’t remember why I felt that way; it’s been a few years). After the last round of re-reading, I decided that this and Bride of the Rat God (and maybe the Windrose Chronicles) were the only ones I liked. I haven’t been interested in most of her more recent works; I do have Sisters of the Raven somewhere, unread, and I tried Magic Time, but didn’t finish it (didn’t like the style, maybe; I think it was written like a script for a TV show).

In this particular case, I like her writing style and the world-building (though I wouldn’t want to live in this world). I reread this because I was looking for a comfort read; unfortunately, I think my current mood led to me being more critical of the book than I might have otherwise been. Kyra was annoying this time through; she is the sort of person who ignores anyone who is not important to her (servants are essentially furniture, especially), even though she mentions that her mage-training has made her more observant/able to observe more. She does eventually admit this as a flaw in her character, and it would be a much shorter book otherwise, but it’s still annoying. Admittedly, even if she was more observant of people, she might not have recognized the relevant person; poverty apparently took its toll. There was another incident of Kyra overlooking the obvious that really annoyed me (flashback to a relevant event, soon after seeing something similar and not recognizing it, and regardless of whether or not she recognized the similarity, not checking everything that could have been in contact with the trace of magic she found).

The other problem I had was that I didn’t find the romantic subplot particularly believable; I think my tolerance for whirlwind romances is lower than it used to be (and it was never very high), especially when there are severe obstacles to a successful relationship. In this particular case, they decided they were in love after three days; I don’t think they even had a conversation before the first kiss. In addition, one party had never had any sort of romantic attachment (not even schoolgirl crushes) and the other said he didn’t know that love could feel like that. The obstacles to a successful relationship were extremely severe, and I’m not sure I believe they could be overcome.

I didn’t dislike this book enough to get rid of it yet; there are parts that I really like. I will probably reread it again, eventually, hopefully when I’m not in as critical of a mood.