It's always an odd feeling
to read the last book of a series, especially one that you've
followed for a long time and of which the characters have become
important to you, like old friends. You have special occasions,
because you don't want it all to end lamely or with an all too
dramatic bang or with no proper ending at all.
Some years ago, the
Nightrunner books were recommended to by good friends. We shared more
or less the same interests and I knew I could trust their judgement,
even if this was a genre I hadn't quite read before: thieves / spies
in a fantasy world. The decision wasn't too difficult anyway, I had
always liked fantasy and I didn't mind interesting thieves :)
What I hadn't expected
were characters and a world that was painted with words so
multi-layered and fascinating that the author, Lynn Flewelling, would
turn into one of my all-time favourites. She is brilliant and was
clever enough to have used her “Nightrunner world” for a whole
set of another series, too. The Tamìr books tell quite a different
story and one which happens hundreds of years before the adventures
of Alec and Seregil, but you always get treated to glimpses into that
past, especially in “Shards of Time”. So, this book was actually
like a closure to both series.
All those years ago, I
also hadn't expected to start reading books about male characters who
end up as lovers. For some, this might be a reason to skip the
Nightrunners, it certainly would have been for me, had I known about
it then. But when I was actually reading the first book and only at
the end of it is the first hint that this might happen, it felt like
the most natural thing. Alec and Seregil are one of the best couples
I've ever known and I wouldn't want to have missed them for anything.
They didn't only proof to me that this kind of story wasn't something
you should skip out of principle, they are also a good example how to
have a couple as main characters without telling a romance story.
That just isn't what those Nightrunner books are about, but like this
last one showed, it's never forgotten that these two men are the
lifeblood of each other. They've chosen a dangerous life, but it's
the most natural thing that they couldn't go on alone any more.
But they are not the only
great characters in this series. Like in the Tamír books, the whole
world and its cultures are almost characters in their own right and
I'll miss those just as well as the other people that populated
Rhiminee and the other places of Lynn's world. On that score, Shards
of Time didn't disappoint either. Of course, there were moments when
I thought that final battle could end with anything else than
disaster. And although I had (of course) took a short look at the
ending to see who might survive it all, I was on the edge of my seat
when I read those last chapters for real. I had to cry out of sadness
and happiness. I wanted to start reading that same book or the whole
series from the start right away. In other words, it was a perfect
ending, because it was a new beginning.
I believe, I could forget
all the writing courses I started, if I just could understand how
Lynn Flewelling is creating her works. I know that she has offered
writing courses in the past, on a ship cruise even! It must be
wonderful to join her for one of those.
But since I don't know if
that'll ever happen, I still can try to learn from her books, while I
keep enjoying to reread them over and over again.
This got cross-posted in my Livejournal.
This got cross-posted in my Livejournal.
