Laurie R. King's Mary Russell series

These are some of the best books to happen to today's crime fiction world. Laurie R. King gets away with something that many others have tried and failed to do. She writes sequels, so to speak, to the classic Sherlock Holmes stories, and she does it in a way that both feels true to the original character, and enriches him.

Fact is, I have never really appreciated the old Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle. I have read them, because I am interested in crime fiction and they are classics, but I never really felt involved with them. Sometimes they would be funny, but most of the time they felt rather stuffy, the famous deductions of Holmes' were not all that impressive, and on the whole he seemed like a rather unattractive character. I re-read some of the original stories after having read Laurie R. King, and "her" Sherlock Holmes somehow affected the reading of the old stuff. It was possible to see that more interesting character lurking beneath the old stuffy one, so to speak.

To be sure, the books are not mainly about Sherlock Holmes. They are usually told by Mary Russell (Laurie King even pretends that she just publishes material sent to her from a mystical source), and are not merely crime stories. The atmosphere, the way King makes early twentieth century London, Dartmoor, Palestine, New York, various places in India come alive... It's brilliant. The perspective is also explicitly feminist, with The Monstrous Regiment of Women as a prime example. It shows that the women's movement of that time was so much more than a few upperclass hysterics arguing for "The Vote".




After his career is, at least officially, over, Sherlock Holmes moves to peaceful Sussex. That is where he is made truly alive by Laurie R. King, as she lets him meet her own "heroine" Mary Russell. Or, to be precise: Mary practically stumbles over Sherlock Holmes, and quite instantly gets into a bit of an argument...

Quote from the official website:

"I'd say the blue spots are a better bet, if you're trying for another hive," I told him. "The ones you've only marked with red are probably from Mr. Warner's orchard. The blue spots are farther away, but they're almost sure to be wild ones." I dug the book from my pocket, and when I looked up to wish him a good day he was looking back at me, and the expression on his face took all words from my lips—no mean accomplishment. He was, as the writers say but people seldom actually are, openmouthed. He looked a bit like a fish, in fact, gaping at me as if I were growing another head. He slowly stood up, his mouth shutting as he rose, but still staring.

"What did you say?"

"I beg your pardon, are you hard of hearing?" I raised my voice somewhat and spoke slowly. "I said, if you want a new hive you'll have to follow the blue spots, because the reds are sure to be Tom Warner's."

"I am not hard of hearing, although I am short of credulity. How do you come to know of my interests?'

"I should have thought it obvious," I said impatiently, though even at that age I was aware that such things were not obvious to the majority of people. "I saw paint on your pocket-handkerchief, and traces on your fingers where you wiped it away. The only reason to mark bees that I can think of is to enable one to follow them to their hive. You are either interested in gathering honey or in the bees themselves, and it is not the time of year to harvest honey. Three months ago we had an unusual cold spell that killed many hives. Therefore I assume that you are tracking these in order to replenish your own stock."

The face that looked down at me was no longer fishlike. In fact, it resembled amazingly a captive eagle I had once seen, perched in aloof splendour looking down the ridge of his nose at this lesser creature, cold disdain staring out from his hooded grey eyes.

"My God," he said in a voice of mock wonder, "it can think."

Read more of that chapter, other excerpts, about the books, etc, on Laurie R. King's official website.

The Mary Russell Holmes page contains information about the RUSS-L mailing list, dedicated to the discussion and analysis of the Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes mysteries, and also links to other sites of Russell/Holmes interest.

The books, so far:

• The Beekeeper's Apprentice (1994)
• A Monstrous Regiment of Women (1995)
• A Letter of Mary (1997)
• The Moor (1998)
• O Jerusalem (1999)
• Justice Hall (2002)
• The Game (2004)
• Locked Rooms (2005)

Robin Hobb / Megan Lindholm

Robin Hobb has an unconventional homepage, where clicking (usually on cats) takes you to different, sometimes surprising places.



Robin Hobb has written a well known triple of trilogies. If you have only heard about them, but not read them, you probably think that this is the ordinary conventional fantasy, with quests, dragons, magic etc. And, fact is, I suspect you can even read the books like that. That's the surface. But, these are multi-layered books written by a very talented person. She leaves a lot for the reader to discover... There's a sad undertone to her description of the sometimes appalingly brutal events in these books. Nowhere in "serious" books have I encountered the victim's sufferings after torture so compassionately described (if "described" even is the right word here). But there is also the heartening sense of loyalty and friendship, constant but changing, between the main characters.

The Farseer Trilogy: Assassin's Apprentice 1995, Royal Assassin 1996, Assassin's Quest 1997
The Liveship Traders Trilogy: Ship of Magic 1998, Mad Ship 1999, Ship of Destiny 2000
The Tawny Man Trilogy: Fool's Errand 2002, Golden Fool 2003, Fool's Fate 2003

What the books are about? Well, read the descriptions (borrowed from the homepage) at your own risk. There is an amount of spoilage contained in them.

The first Robin Hobb Trilogy, The Farseer Trilogy, took place in the Six Duchies. It is the tale of FitzChivalry Farseer. The discovery that this bastard son exists is enough to topple Prince Chivalry's ambition for the throne. He abdicates, ceding the title of heir to the throne to his younger brother Verity and abandoning the child to the care of the stable master Burrich. The youngest prince, Regal, has ambitions of his own, and wishes to do away with the bastard. But old King Shrewd sees the value of taking the lad and training him as an assassin. For a bastard can be sent into dangers where a trueborn son could not be risked, and may be given tasks that would soil an heir's hands.

And so FitzChivalry is trained in the secret arts of being a royal assassin. He shows a predilection for the Wit, a beast magic much despised in the Six Duchies. This secret vice in the young assassin is tolerated, for a partnership with an animal may be a useful trait in an assassin. When it is discovered that he may possess the hereditary magic of the Farseers, the Skill, he becomes both the King's weapon, and an obstacle to Prince Regal's ambitions for the throne. At a time when the rivalry for the throne is intense, and the Outislanders and their Red Ship raiders are bringing war to the Six Duchies, FitzChivalry discovers that the fate of the kingdom may very well rest on the actions of a young bastard and the King's Fool. Armed with little more than loyalty and his sporadic talent for the old magic, Fitz follows the fading trail of King Verity who has traveled beyond the Mountain Kingdom and into the realm of the legendary Elderlings in what may be a vain hope to renew an old alliance.

The Liveship Trader's Trilogy takes place in Jamaillia, Bingtown and the Pirate Isles, on the coast far to the south of the Six Duchies. The war in the north has interrupted the trade that is the lifeblood of Bingtown, and the Liveship Traders have fallen on hard times despite their magic sentient ships. At one time, possession of a Liveship, constructed of magical wizard wood, guaranteed a Trader's family prosperity. Only a Liveship can brave the dangers of the Rain Wild River and trade with the legendary Rain Wild Traders and their mysterious magical goods, plundered from the enigmatic Elderling ruins. Althea Vestrit expects her families to adhere to tradition, and pass the family Liveship on to her when it quickens at the death of her father. Instead, the Vivacia goes to her sister Keffria and her scheming Chalcedean husband Kyle. The proud Liveship becomes a transport vessel for the despised but highly profitable slave trade.

Althea, cast out on her own, resolves to make her own way in the world and somehow regain control of her family's living ship. Her old shipmate Brashen Trell, the enigmatic woodcarver Amber and the Paragon, the notorious mad Liveship are the only allies she can rally to her cause. Pirates, a slave rebellion, migrating sea serpents and a newly hatched dragon are but a few of the obstacles she must face on her way to discovering that Liveships are not, perhaps, what they seem to be, and may have dreams of their own to follow.

The Tawny Man Trilogy picks up the tale of Fitz and the Fool some fifteen years after the Red Ship wars. Queen Kettricken is determined to secure her son's throne by arranging a marriage between Prince Dutiful and Elliania, the daughter of their old enemies in the Outislands. But the Six Duchies themselves are restless. The Witted are weary of persecution, and may choose to topple the throne of the Farseers by revealing that young Prince Dutiful carries an old taint in his blood. The Narcheska Elliania sets a high price on her hand: Dutiful must present her with the head of Icefyre, the legendary dragon of Aslevjal Island.

Meanwhile, to the south, The Bingtown Traders continue to wage war against the Chalcedeans, and seek to enlist the Six Duchies into the effort to obliterate Chalced. Bingtown's temperamental ally, the dragon Tintaglia, has her own motives for supporting them in this, ones that may lead not only to the restoration of the race of dragons but also to the return of Elderling magic to the Cursed Shores.

Fitz, in the person of Tom Badgerlock, will accompany the prince on his quest to secure the dragon's head. For reasons of his own, he decides that it is of the utmost importance that his old friend, The Fool, not accompany him. Chade agrees with him, and thus Fitz sets out without his companion, to face an enemy from his past and also decide what future he will claim for himself.

A new trilogy is on its way, called the Soldier Son Trilogy. It is not connected to the three preceding trilogies that took place in the Realm of the Elderlings. The first book is Shaman’s Crossing, and it was published 2005. The second one, Forest Mage, appeared in 2006, and Renegade Magic should come out in 2007.

Robin Hobb has also published a number of books, including two "series", as Megan Lindholm, and then there are short stories, too. Here are the books:

Windsingers: Harpy's Flight (1983), The Windsingers (1984), The Limbreth Gate (1984), Luck of the Wheels (1989)
Reindeer People: The Reindeer People (1988), Wolf's Brother (1988)
Wizard of the Pigeons (1986), Cloven Hooves (1991), Alien Earth (1992), Gypsy (with Steven Brust) (1992)

I would recommend the Windsingers quadrology if you want to read unusual fantasy. It is set in a world with some creatures and features that makes it merit the title, but it is more a series about people and how they deal with what is happening to them, than about the "fantastic". The same could be said about Gypsy, the collaboration with Steven Brust, too. Some sort of urban fantasy... makes you think.