Review: The Armored Saint

The Armored Saint by Myke Cole
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This interesting fantasy book is a melding of medieval life, the Inquisition, gnomish mechanics via World of Warcraft, with a satisfying sprinkling of classic Dungeon and Dragon's lore. The subplot of our heroine's lesbian attraction for her friend and the background story of a homosexual ranger-wizard's lost lover combined made me feel that the book was a little pandering toward the LGBTQ community. It would have been my personal preference to focus on one gay love story, but to have both plus the dramatic, movie-of-the-week lecture of being allowed to freely love who you love seemed a bit mawkish.
To be clear, I quite enjoyed the presence of an LGBTQ storyline in a medieval fantasy. I just think it could have been written with more finesse by focusing on one relationship, and leaving the lecture on freedom of love out. The storyline should draw those thoughts out of the reader; not tell the audience what to think word-for-word.
Overall, the storyline felt very plausible, given that so much of what happened in the book has already happened in real life with religious fanaticism, political turmoil, classicism, poverty, shaming of homosexuals, etc. The entire plot was very believable, with the exception of demons. Well, ones we can see anyway.
I would read the next book because the heroine is engaging and powerful.

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Review: The Prince and the Dressmaker

The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is an excellent story, and although I am NOT a graphic novel fan, the writing is what kept me poring over the pages. A dressmaker with grand dreams meets a cross-dressing prince with his own, possibly grander, dreams of fashion, and the pair has a wonderful friendship, which eventually falters when the dressmaker realizes that by supporting the prince's dreams, she is not fulfilling her own... Layers of meaning and pathos, this richly illustrated story turn inside-out the fairytales about princes and wayward maidens. There is an emphasis on acceptance, friendship, and family love. There was a quiet scene where the dressmaker and the prince might have kissed... but they don't - and the soft, poignant moment captures a myriad of emotions, which, due to the lack of words, allows the reader to make their own interpretation of their relationship at that point.

With all that being said, being that I prefer words for details, the lack of written words and descriptions left me a little unsatisfied. In general, it's a strong, fascinating story and I would be willing to read her next novel... despite the graphic novel approach. ;)

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