[LMB] SP: TSK: Beguilement Chapter 3

[Victoria L'Ecuyer]

From: "Mitch Miller" 
Haven't read the book yet, but, um, Victoria, there's this whole
boy/girl thing, y'know?

To quote Herself in another setting (DI), "She had the kind of 
cheekbones that make men get morosely drunk, write bad poetry, and
desert their regiments." (From memory, not verbatim.)

Me: 
Dag's got 'em too, at least according to Petti Horseforge. 

Yes, there is the whole boy/girl thing and yes, that is the point of exercise. However I have some pretty picky standards when it comes to romances. Why I had the allergic reaction is below. I ranted at some length over on Baen's Bar. Lois was getting a blow by blow out of me over there. By chapter 12 I was going "wait a minute..." 

Now that I've finished the book, my opinion of chapter three has changed a little bit from what's below. I posted it the appended bit over on Baen's Bar within a day or two of reading chapter three. At that point, I hadn't read chapters 15 and 16 which, along with some other things, had me pondering the existence of Squids on Mantlepieces and Chechov's Gun in chapter three. 
 
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TSK: Unbeguiled (or why chapter 3 irked me.) 

The short version: 
Dag behaved counter to his established behavior and demonstrated characteristics in chapters one and two. He, an experienced soldier-analog/patroller, ignored a known threat in favor of cooing over a doe-eyed girl. Since Fawn was not hysterical from the near rape, he had no legitimate reason to stop his hunt and lose several hours getting her to safety. It's an established trope in a lot of romances, but I was not expecting that trope in this story from this author. 

The long version: 
Let me begin by saying that I read fantasy and romance novels with equal enjoyment but for different reasons. I read fantasy for good world building, interesting characters, nice plotting, novel ideas, and a new way of looking at reality. I read romances for character development, reasonable plotting, and the Adult Fairy Tale view on life. Fantasy / romance crossovers are a natural pairing. Or so you'd think. However, a lot of writers can't manage the marriage because fantasies are structured differently than romances. 

Romances have the love at first sight (or at least the lust at first sight) right up front. It usually takes the characters the length of the book to either figure out they're in love or earn the right to a happily ever after or both. Usually both. So you have the attraction right up front in an instataneous fashion that is obvious to the reader by about the third chapter. The character(s) are oblivious until about halfway through the book if the book is action oriented, that is. If it's character oriented, you have to wait for the last chapter or two for one or both of them to figure things out. Either way, there is a high incidence of coincidence and hand waving because this is "near reality, so realism is not required." We're here for the Happily Ever After. 

Fantasy has the world building, the characters sketched out, the seeds of action, and the nature of the quest all right up front and nicely packaged in the first three chapters. By the fourth chapter, the hero(es) are (un)happily adventuring along. Because there are more variables, the fantasy formula starting with chapter 4, starts to look like one of those really complex flow charts. Regardless of what happens from chapter 4 on there must be a logical cause and effect to everything because this place and these people have to "feel real." Pure fantasy falls flat on it's face when it lacks realism. 

Those are my expectations of genre. It's also why I have a hard time finding people who can do the good crossover stuff. The different formulas aren't as compatible as they seem at first glance. 

So there I am reading chapter one in The Sharing knife. We meet our plucky, intrepid heroine. She's escaping from her family (check that off the fantasy list) and a bad relationship (check that off the romance list). She's young smart, independent, self-reliant, and determined with a good dose of common sense even if she lacks practical experience. She spots our handsome hero and eavesdrops shamelessly on him and his fellow patrollers hunting bandits. The POV switch introduces the hero and a type of magic into the story making this into a fantasy tale. We find out that in addition to being handsome, he's brooding (one more off the romance list)  and the user of some magical gift that lets him know he was being watched by our heroine. (check one more item off the fantasy list). 

Chapter two unfolds. We get to learn more about our brooding hero. He's an "old patroller" wise in the ways of hunting bandits, mud men, malices and responsible for training young males and females. (fantasy list, check; romance list, check) He's droll, taciturn, and morbid. (fantasy... check. romance... check). As a bonus, he's good at battlefield healing. (fantasy list, check) and determined the good guys will win no matter what. (check another thing off each list.) As the chapter continues, we find out that fate draws out hero and heroine closer. (insert dramatic music here and check one item off both lists.) 

Chapter three. The hero and heroine recognize each other right away. (*coos* Romance? check.) The hero, who has been tracking the bad guys All Night Long, takes a break long enough to adminster first aid to the heroine and reassure her she's safe with him. (more cooing. draws heart around check mark on the romance list) He then ignores the danger of the escaped mud man to coddle our plucky heroine. The plucky, yet practical heroine has to remind him to tend his own wounds. (draw another heart on the romance list and sigh. Frown at the fantasy list... eventually check one item off.) Our hero, The Only One Who Knows Where The Threat Is, abandons the chase to get the heroine to safety. (Romance list gets another check mark, but it's disguised as an arrow through a heart. The fantasy list gets scrutinized, but nothing is checked off.) We get to the safe haven of the farm to find it abanded of all human life, recently vandalized with an outbuilding building burning and the guard dogs slain and thrown in a heap. There are no food stuffs, no tools and no farm animals to be seen on a quick scouting run. Our hero, after checking things out, tells our heroine, it's safe and she can stay here and goes running after the mud man. (romance list gets a frowny face next to the check mark. fantasy list, zip. *turns down the ominous music*). The rest is our plucky heroine being self-reliant, finding things our hero missed, and gets ready to feed him when he comes back from his scouting expedition. (romance, youbetcha.  fantasy, nada. *scowls at violinists sawing on their instruments*) 

Chapter four. Now that our hero has left the immediate vicinty of our heroine, he's thinking with the head that's located on his shoulders. (romance, nope. fantasy? finally!)

And, yes, there is some little clerk in my back brain checking off items on genre lists while I read. I didn't realize how much I analyze a story while I read it until I started documenting my mental process with this book. 

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Victoria