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fandomhigh_ooc2009-08-17 10:15 am
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Spotlight on Fandoms - Mortal Coils by Eric Nylund
SQUEAKING IN A DAY LATE, go me.
Premise
Two little nobodies in Nowhere, California have very very boring lives of study and unpleasant work at a local pizza parlour. Eliot and Fiona Post live with their dictator of a Grandmother and their sweetheart of a Great-grandmother, abiding by 106 rules that are enforced to the letter. It's a very frustrating, lonely existence but at least it's relatively peaceful.
That is, until their 15th birthday, when Infernal (ie, from Hell) and Immortal (ie, from the gods) agents both stumble upon their existence. And then it turns into a dual competition: the twins must prove their worth to their Immortal family to be allowed to live, and the Infernals insist upon attempting to grab these two little darlings for their own use. For you see, there's a treaty in place that means that the two groups can't interfere with each other in any way, shape or form... but the kids could be both or neither, which leaves them outside the treaty. Fair game, yes, but also able to act against whichever side doesn't have them.
Characters
Eliot - bookish, with little self confidence, he's the sweet one, the docile one, the one who always does as he's told. As they go through the book, Eliot defies this image more and more (mostly because he's annoyed with it) and that bookish exterior is definitely hiding someone who will do what needs doing in order to accomplish what he needs. Eliot is a genius with music, instruments, and really anything that requires technical knowledge and is slowly starting to understand the intricacies of their situation politically a little more readily than Fiona. He takes after their father, has his gift, and likes the man considerably more than is probably wise.
Fiona - the other half of the twin pair, she's the somewhat difficult one, the one who storms off and slams doors and talks back, at least now anyway. She was the one who always tried to rebel, breaking the rules in tiny, insignificant ways just to break them. As they go through the book, she works through her shyness to become more and more forward but she also has more and more issues with emotional distance and anger due to what happened to her. She too will do what needs doing, but unlike Eliot who tries not to think of these things, Fiona is a bit more retrospective. She takes after their mother, with her emotional immaturity, her temper, and the bluntness of how she tends to deal with things. That said, she's also incredibly upset with her mother for what the woman did to them to raise them.
Louis Piper - Lucifer, the Prince of Darkness, the Pied Piper: all of these names belong to Louis and he's earned every one. The charmer, the Deceiver, Louis's main power is his wit and his cunning and he uses it to stunning affect. David Xanatos would stand back and clap at this gentleman. When the twins' mother found out about who he actually was, she ripped out his heart (and his power) and left him human and quite a depressing waste of human at that. But he crawled his way out of the bottle, out of the alley, and regained his power with a scheme that was absolutely breathtaking in it's daring... all for his kids, really. He's been injured by love "First God, then her, and now" the kids and he loves them more than he's actually comfortable with. He's concerned about their safety, but unlike Audrey, he's willing to do just about anything to other people to keep them safe as opposed to her measures. He's complicated and brilliant and absolutely hilarious and yes, I have a literary crush on him what.
Audrey Post - Atropos, the Pale Rider, Death, The Oldest Fate, Mother. That'd be Audrey, who's severe and cold and has Issues all over the place. She raised the twins as strictly as she did to hide their existence from her own family even more so than the Infernals since her sister has a tendency to, oh, poison whole country sides trying to get rid of new Immortal children and her brother Henry well, let's just say he's challenged a few to completely unnecessary duels to get rid of people. This family, not so much with the coddling. She's cut out her ability to love her children to raise them as strictly as she has and she pretended to be their Grandmother to make them bond together instead of come to her for strength. Audrey is still in love with Louis (as Louis is still in love with her) but with the treaty as it is and the facts as they are... starcrossed doesn't even begin to cover it. The most dangerous of the Immortals, her only counter is
Uncle Aaron - Ares, Lancelot, etc. etc. he's a warrior through and through, but not a proud or assholish one. He cares about people in his silent, pissy way and he goes out of his way to help the twins. He doesn't agree with the whole testing thing, thinks that the kids have enough on their plate, and he's not pleased with Lucia for all of her scheming against them. He's an honest warrior, but also one who realizes that if there's a way out of fighting you should try and take it. He's got a real shine for Fiona, since she's the warrior of the two, but while he's trying to show her things, he's also terribly protective of them. He's one of two holdouts at the end when the Council decides to make up death warrants for the twins, but eventually he capitulates.
Uncle Henry - the Fool, Hermes, Loki, the Big Bad Wolf is the trickster of the bunch, a smooth-talking, joking man who nonetheless is ridiculously, scarily competent. As the fool, he provides the perspective when it's needed and speaks his mind in ways that the others never seem to be able to because of their positions. He drives the others crazy, but this is mostly a ruse as he's definitely the deepest thinker of the bunch except perhaps Cornelius. He bends the rules near to breaking for the twins, loves them dearly and genuinely, but eventually signs the death warrants at the end for the good of everyone even though he hates it.
Aunt Dallas - Clotho, the Youngest Fate, Mother Nature, Goddess of Love, there's a lot more going on in her blond little head than most would think. She did, after all, end up on the Council. She is whole-heartedly trying to help the twins, bending the rules to show them how to see the threads and offering encouragement and friendly support where Audrey can't. She's very sweet, a little ditzy in appearances, but when it comes right down to it, she's got a lot of heart. She lets herself get voted off of the Council instead of signing the death warrants.
Cousin Sealiah - The Queen of Poppies, this Infernal is crafty and nasty and she prefers drugs as her 'poison'. She's the one who sends Julie after Eliot, and the one who schemes to get Louis either dead or on her side behind Beal's back. She's an awesomely evil character and I heart her but I can't do her justice. You just have to read.
Cousin Beal - Beelzebub, the Lord of All That Flies. Totally powerhungry, totally a bully, and totally loving that Louis is screwed at the moment because of his little muck up, but perfectly willing to take advantage. Fiona's chocolates came from him and he's the one she beheaded with his own necklace for being an overconfident jerk. Louis says he has no style; he really really doesn't.
Some of the others are covered here.
Why Do You Care?
Because Nylund is an awesome writer, as anyone who likes Halo can attend to, and the take on mythology (and the mixing of mythologies) is really fantastic and fun. There's the crack, of course (deadly yo-yos anyone?) but the characters are all really very interesting and I heart heart heart Louis to death and think he's just the best Lucifer ever. But for a good modern day bit of mythology that's a little harsher than something like Percy Jackson with a little more traditional take on magic than Harry Potter and some very funny inside jokes with footnotes and bizarre references and mooshing of mythology... you should check it out.
Where
Amazon
Most book stores.
*cough*cough*lookitmyjournal*cough*
Premise
Two little nobodies in Nowhere, California have very very boring lives of study and unpleasant work at a local pizza parlour. Eliot and Fiona Post live with their dictator of a Grandmother and their sweetheart of a Great-grandmother, abiding by 106 rules that are enforced to the letter. It's a very frustrating, lonely existence but at least it's relatively peaceful.
That is, until their 15th birthday, when Infernal (ie, from Hell) and Immortal (ie, from the gods) agents both stumble upon their existence. And then it turns into a dual competition: the twins must prove their worth to their Immortal family to be allowed to live, and the Infernals insist upon attempting to grab these two little darlings for their own use. For you see, there's a treaty in place that means that the two groups can't interfere with each other in any way, shape or form... but the kids could be both or neither, which leaves them outside the treaty. Fair game, yes, but also able to act against whichever side doesn't have them.
Characters
Eliot - bookish, with little self confidence, he's the sweet one, the docile one, the one who always does as he's told. As they go through the book, Eliot defies this image more and more (mostly because he's annoyed with it) and that bookish exterior is definitely hiding someone who will do what needs doing in order to accomplish what he needs. Eliot is a genius with music, instruments, and really anything that requires technical knowledge and is slowly starting to understand the intricacies of their situation politically a little more readily than Fiona. He takes after their father, has his gift, and likes the man considerably more than is probably wise.
Fiona - the other half of the twin pair, she's the somewhat difficult one, the one who storms off and slams doors and talks back, at least now anyway. She was the one who always tried to rebel, breaking the rules in tiny, insignificant ways just to break them. As they go through the book, she works through her shyness to become more and more forward but she also has more and more issues with emotional distance and anger due to what happened to her. She too will do what needs doing, but unlike Eliot who tries not to think of these things, Fiona is a bit more retrospective. She takes after their mother, with her emotional immaturity, her temper, and the bluntness of how she tends to deal with things. That said, she's also incredibly upset with her mother for what the woman did to them to raise them.
Louis Piper - Lucifer, the Prince of Darkness, the Pied Piper: all of these names belong to Louis and he's earned every one. The charmer, the Deceiver, Louis's main power is his wit and his cunning and he uses it to stunning affect. David Xanatos would stand back and clap at this gentleman. When the twins' mother found out about who he actually was, she ripped out his heart (and his power) and left him human and quite a depressing waste of human at that. But he crawled his way out of the bottle, out of the alley, and regained his power with a scheme that was absolutely breathtaking in it's daring... all for his kids, really. He's been injured by love "First God, then her, and now" the kids and he loves them more than he's actually comfortable with. He's concerned about their safety, but unlike Audrey, he's willing to do just about anything to other people to keep them safe as opposed to her measures. He's complicated and brilliant and absolutely hilarious and yes, I have a literary crush on him what.
Audrey Post - Atropos, the Pale Rider, Death, The Oldest Fate, Mother. That'd be Audrey, who's severe and cold and has Issues all over the place. She raised the twins as strictly as she did to hide their existence from her own family even more so than the Infernals since her sister has a tendency to, oh, poison whole country sides trying to get rid of new Immortal children and her brother Henry well, let's just say he's challenged a few to completely unnecessary duels to get rid of people. This family, not so much with the coddling. She's cut out her ability to love her children to raise them as strictly as she has and she pretended to be their Grandmother to make them bond together instead of come to her for strength. Audrey is still in love with Louis (as Louis is still in love with her) but with the treaty as it is and the facts as they are... starcrossed doesn't even begin to cover it. The most dangerous of the Immortals, her only counter is
Uncle Aaron - Ares, Lancelot, etc. etc. he's a warrior through and through, but not a proud or assholish one. He cares about people in his silent, pissy way and he goes out of his way to help the twins. He doesn't agree with the whole testing thing, thinks that the kids have enough on their plate, and he's not pleased with Lucia for all of her scheming against them. He's an honest warrior, but also one who realizes that if there's a way out of fighting you should try and take it. He's got a real shine for Fiona, since she's the warrior of the two, but while he's trying to show her things, he's also terribly protective of them. He's one of two holdouts at the end when the Council decides to make up death warrants for the twins, but eventually he capitulates.
Uncle Henry - the Fool, Hermes, Loki, the Big Bad Wolf is the trickster of the bunch, a smooth-talking, joking man who nonetheless is ridiculously, scarily competent. As the fool, he provides the perspective when it's needed and speaks his mind in ways that the others never seem to be able to because of their positions. He drives the others crazy, but this is mostly a ruse as he's definitely the deepest thinker of the bunch except perhaps Cornelius. He bends the rules near to breaking for the twins, loves them dearly and genuinely, but eventually signs the death warrants at the end for the good of everyone even though he hates it.
Aunt Dallas - Clotho, the Youngest Fate, Mother Nature, Goddess of Love, there's a lot more going on in her blond little head than most would think. She did, after all, end up on the Council. She is whole-heartedly trying to help the twins, bending the rules to show them how to see the threads and offering encouragement and friendly support where Audrey can't. She's very sweet, a little ditzy in appearances, but when it comes right down to it, she's got a lot of heart. She lets herself get voted off of the Council instead of signing the death warrants.
Cousin Sealiah - The Queen of Poppies, this Infernal is crafty and nasty and she prefers drugs as her 'poison'. She's the one who sends Julie after Eliot, and the one who schemes to get Louis either dead or on her side behind Beal's back. She's an awesomely evil character and I heart her but I can't do her justice. You just have to read.
Cousin Beal - Beelzebub, the Lord of All That Flies. Totally powerhungry, totally a bully, and totally loving that Louis is screwed at the moment because of his little muck up, but perfectly willing to take advantage. Fiona's chocolates came from him and he's the one she beheaded with his own necklace for being an overconfident jerk. Louis says he has no style; he really really doesn't.
Some of the others are covered here.
Why Do You Care?
Because Nylund is an awesome writer, as anyone who likes Halo can attend to, and the take on mythology (and the mixing of mythologies) is really fantastic and fun. There's the crack, of course (deadly yo-yos anyone?) but the characters are all really very interesting and I heart heart heart Louis to death and think he's just the best Lucifer ever. But for a good modern day bit of mythology that's a little harsher than something like Percy Jackson with a little more traditional take on magic than Harry Potter and some very funny inside jokes with footnotes and bizarre references and mooshing of mythology... you should check it out.
Where
Amazon
Most book stores.
*cough*cough*lookitmyjournal*cough*