Vespertine! Vespertine!
Jan. 29th, 2024 12:51 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dhampyresaA couple people expressed interest in Vespertine by Margaret Rogerson following my best books of 2022 post, a book I summarised as "Joan of Arc meets Venom". In particular, sovay said: "Tell me more about Vespertine! It sounds hand-tailored to you.".
First off, no, YOU're predictable. Second, yes this is late. In my defense, I do not understand linear time and have read the book half and a whole time again since.
Hopefully not spoilery summary:
In the country of Loraille, the Dead come back if not properly laid to rest. People with the Sight can see those Dead and are vulnerable to possession by them, which allows to wield relics bound to specific Dead to gain various powers, which itself carries the risk of possession if overpowered by the bound spirit. During an attack by the Dead on her convent, Artemisia is forced to bond with a relic of the highest order to save everyone. This makes her, essentially, a living saint, which is unfortunate for Artemisia because she just wants to lead a quiet life as a Grey Sister, away from people who might talk to her (urgh). Even more unfortunaly, rather than being a mindless force of nature, the revenant is sapient and it has Opinions. Artemisia and the revenant then have to buddy cop their way through figuring out why the Dead attacked her convent, an investigation that takes them, through battle, imprisonment and refugee camps, into Bonsaint, seat of the Divine.
Non-spoilery things I love about this book:
- ARTEMISIA she's just so great. She's extremely awkward and introverted, very stoic and prickly and yet kind and smart. Her determination! I loved that she formed several significant relationships over the course of the book despite the very rough starts. I've seen some people interpret her as autistic, I don't know if she was meant to be (the setting doesn't have a word for it), but I cn definitely see it. She does canonically have PTSD -- again, the word isn't used, but having flashbacks and/or panic attacks when confronted with things that remind her of her an event in her past is pretty clear. Said event also caused her hands to be damaged -- her left hand is almost unusable. None of these things define her, but they do affect her. She has trouble opening a lock with a key at one point. It's been a while since I read a book with a disabled protagonist. And her single-mindedness to do the right thing!!!!!!
- Revenant is my poor little haunt haunt. It's got a very snarky voice and it is also grumpy but in a different way from Artemisia. It's so in love with life and being in a living, breathing body. I love its relationships with Artemisia and [spoiler] and [spoiler]. I really like that even though it is a person and it talks in a human voice, it is a distinctly non-human being. It is ancient and hungry for lifeforce, but also it would like to eat a pastry.
- Honestly, I really like all the characters, even the bit parts.
- The worldbuilding is based off medieval France and the aesthetics of Catholicism. Note that I said the aethetics. Relics, saint worship, soaring cathedral, grey dressed nuns, black robed priests, censers, etc. The religion is quite different, however. They pray to the Grey Lady, the goddess of Death. It's got all the drama and theatricality of Catholicism, but none of the baggage. I just think it's neat.
- Trouble. Pretty bird!
- I like the prose. It's got great descriptions in places -- there are a ton of scenes from it I ended up drawing -- and is occasionally very funny.
- The plot. Can't say too much without spoilers, but I really like how it unfolds and then comes together at the end.
- The Joan of Arc motif. This might just be me being Too FrenchTM and seeing things, but there are a couple oblique references beyond the basics of "strong-willed, devout and hearing voices girl from backwater saves the country". Eugenia's death by fire, the revenant having wings and, in a really deep cut, the crossbow bolt. Jeanne took a crossbow bolt to the shoulder at the siege of Orléans, then ripped it out and kept going. A similar, though different, scene happens with Artemisia.
- Priestbane. Idk I just like horsies.
Spoilery stuff I like:
- MARGUERITE! I love that she came back and also I love her. She is SO SMART (The ring? Galaxy brain) and so kind I love her. I also love her friendship with Artemisia. It's really nice to see a character interested in fashion and gossip that is treated positively by the narrative.
- Artemisia's arc of "not like the other nuns" to "the Other Girls are Good, Actually" was really well done.
- The themes in general and specifically
“The Old Magic—”
“I don’t care about the magic. That isn’t what made it wrong. Destroying spirits—that has to be done. But trapping them in a relic is different. It’s cruel. I didn’t know that before, but I do now.”
The revenant was very quiet. “You would have died,” it said at last. “All of you.”
Where my emotions should have been, there was a hard black lump inside my chest, burning like a coal. “Maybe we should have.”
- Leander not being able to stop being "step on me Artemisia". Especially in contrast with
- The misdirection then team-up. A misunderstanding that makes sense! YES.
- The worldbuilding. I just think it's neat.
I would love to read more in this world. I LOVE EVERYONE IN THIS BAR. I can't think of any other book that made me want to draw this much.
TL;DR: Vespertine (by Margaret Rogerson) is a great book and you should read it and talk to me about it.
sovay said: "Tell me more about Vespertine! It sounds hand-tailored to you.".Hopefully not spoilery summary:
In the country of Loraille, the Dead come back if not properly laid to rest. People with the Sight can see those Dead and are vulnerable to possession by them, which allows to wield relics bound to specific Dead to gain various powers, which itself carries the risk of possession if overpowered by the bound spirit. During an attack by the Dead on her convent, Artemisia is forced to bond with a relic of the highest order to save everyone. This makes her, essentially, a living saint, which is unfortunate for Artemisia because she just wants to lead a quiet life as a Grey Sister, away from people who might talk to her (urgh). Even more unfortunaly, rather than being a mindless force of nature, the revenant is sapient and it has Opinions. Artemisia and the revenant then have to buddy cop their way through figuring out why the Dead attacked her convent, an investigation that takes them, through battle, imprisonment and refugee camps, into Bonsaint, seat of the Divine.
Non-spoilery things I love about this book:
- ARTEMISIA she's just so great. She's extremely awkward and introverted, very stoic and prickly and yet kind and smart. Her determination! I loved that she formed several significant relationships over the course of the book despite the very rough starts. I've seen some people interpret her as autistic, I don't know if she was meant to be (the setting doesn't have a word for it), but I cn definitely see it. She does canonically have PTSD -- again, the word isn't used, but having flashbacks and/or panic attacks when confronted with things that remind her of her an event in her past is pretty clear. Said event also caused her hands to be damaged -- her left hand is almost unusable. None of these things define her, but they do affect her. She has trouble opening a lock with a key at one point. It's been a while since I read a book with a disabled protagonist. And her single-mindedness to do the right thing!!!!!!
- Revenant is my poor little haunt haunt. It's got a very snarky voice and it is also grumpy but in a different way from Artemisia. It's so in love with life and being in a living, breathing body. I love its relationships with Artemisia and [spoiler] and [spoiler]. I really like that even though it is a person and it talks in a human voice, it is a distinctly non-human being. It is ancient and hungry for lifeforce, but also it would like to eat a pastry.
- Honestly, I really like all the characters, even the bit parts.
- The worldbuilding is based off medieval France and the aesthetics of Catholicism. Note that I said the aethetics. Relics, saint worship, soaring cathedral, grey dressed nuns, black robed priests, censers, etc. The religion is quite different, however. They pray to the Grey Lady, the goddess of Death. It's got all the drama and theatricality of Catholicism, but none of the baggage. I just think it's neat.
- Trouble. Pretty bird!
- I like the prose. It's got great descriptions in places -- there are a ton of scenes from it I ended up drawing -- and is occasionally very funny.
- The plot. Can't say too much without spoilers, but I really like how it unfolds and then comes together at the end.
- The Joan of Arc motif. This might just be me being Too FrenchTM and seeing things, but there are a couple oblique references beyond the basics of "strong-willed, devout and hearing voices girl from backwater saves the country". Eugenia's death by fire, the revenant having wings and, in a really deep cut, the crossbow bolt. Jeanne took a crossbow bolt to the shoulder at the siege of Orléans, then ripped it out and kept going. A similar, though different, scene happens with Artemisia.
- Priestbane. Idk I just like horsies.
Spoilery stuff I like:
- MARGUERITE! I love that she came back and also I love her. She is SO SMART (The ring? Galaxy brain) and so kind I love her. I also love her friendship with Artemisia. It's really nice to see a character interested in fashion and gossip that is treated positively by the narrative.
- Artemisia's arc of "not like the other nuns" to "the Other Girls are Good, Actually" was really well done.
- The themes in general and specifically
this exchange
“Putting spirits into relics. It was wrong. Whoever came up with the idea—they were wrong.”“The Old Magic—”
“I don’t care about the magic. That isn’t what made it wrong. Destroying spirits—that has to be done. But trapping them in a relic is different. It’s cruel. I didn’t know that before, but I do now.”
The revenant was very quiet. “You would have died,” it said at last. “All of you.”
Where my emotions should have been, there was a hard black lump inside my chest, burning like a coal. “Maybe we should have.”
- Leander not being able to stop being "step on me Artemisia". Especially in contrast with
Artemisia
Artemisia calling him pretty when possessed by Sarathiel- The misdirection then team-up. A misunderstanding that makes sense! YES.
- The worldbuilding. I just think it's neat.
I would love to read more in this world. I LOVE EVERYONE IN THIS BAR. I can't think of any other book that made me want to draw this much.
TL;DR: Vespertine (by Margaret Rogerson) is a great book and you should read it and talk to me about it.
(no subject)
Date: 2024-01-29 12:23 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2024-01-30 10:36 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2024-01-29 02:52 am (UTC)Sometimes you want a meal, sometimes you want a snack!
(I am a fan of convincing nonhumanness; thank you for this pointer.)
I can't think of any other book that made me want to draw this much.
I would love to see your drawings from it.
(no subject)
Date: 2024-01-30 10:53 pm (UTC)But there are dozens of them. DOZENS!
(no subject)
Date: 2024-01-30 11:25 pm (UTC)So?
(no subject)
Date: 2024-01-29 05:01 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2024-01-30 10:57 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2024-01-30 09:26 am (UTC)i liked especially the fakeout with Artemisia's birth family - you think that her trauma is that she killed them while possessed, but actually no, her trauma is that she was possessed AND they were ignorant assholes. it was a very neat sleight of hand, and i liked it. (and i adored marguerite, too, and i think she'll make an excellent second-in-command to Artemisia's battle saint.)
it's a pity we'll never see a sequel, but i'm glad Rogerson wrapped it up neatly enough to be satisfying and still leave space for speculation.
(no subject)
Date: 2024-01-30 11:08 pm (UTC)Aw, thank you!
I love your thoughts on it and YES Marguerite would be a great second-in-command -- I think she'd be a great spymaster too, if need be. I really want her to see the ocean
Beach episode whenI really admire how open yet satisfying Rogerson made the ending. I hope there's a sequel one day, but I'm not expecting it, given the givens -- I do hope Rogerson feels better soon! And look forward to whatever she might write next. Did you read her Enchantment of Ravens?
(no subject)
Date: 2024-06-09 08:18 am (UTC)