Scan barcode
brownbetty's review
4.0
I picked up Courtesan Prince by Lynne Williams from the library because the title sounded promisingly sordid. I was not disappointed. I'm afraid this review contains spoilers, but I think that I don't spoil anything that isn't spoiled by the title. However, you have been warned.
Courtesan Prince apparently belongs to a universe that Lynda Williams shares with Alison Sinclaire. I caution you not to read any of the background material on this, because Williams suffers from the conviction that not only must she know the history of her universe, but she must impart it to her readers. This is incredibly tedious. Skip the prologue! The important thing for you as a reader to know is that the novel works well as a self-contained story.
Courtesan Prince is Space Opera, and as such, does quite well. Honour! Betrayal! Lost princes! (Hint: he's working as a courtesan.) Sword fighting! FTL-travel!
The story is about two galactic civilizations coming into contact again, after a long separation since the treaty that concluded their last war. It works with a fairly large cast, but manages to keep them all interesting by focusing mainly on four characters, whose motivations are distinct, and quite human. At the same time, they work against the backdrop of intergalactic politics, vast social forces, and the not-quite-unbreakable laws of physics.
I was pleased to see queer characters given a romance that was treated almost the same as the heterosexual romance. I say almost, because Williams has not written herself a future free from homophobia. Despite the two romances, these were sub-plots rather than the main dramatic arc: I dislike it when someone's romantic happiness is presented as of greater importance than the future of a civilization, but Williams' characters are capable of both selflessness and selfishness, in narratively interesting ways.
In addition to all these things, though, the book touches on culture, racism, sexism, classism, homophobia, and human rights, using the meeting of two long-separated civilizations to highlight the ways in which these two civilizations deal differently with these things. I don't claim it goes into LeGuin-style depth on these topics, but it's nice to see them acknowledged in a novel. I found it particularly nice that the civilization described as brownish was the socially-engineered ultra-practical beta-colony (see Bujold, Lois McMaster) type people, and the consumed-by-honour civilization with their savage ways, homophobia, and heavy social stratification was the white people. (I did find it a bit odd that, as far as I noticed, it was always the Reetian's brown skin that was commented on, never the Gelacks' pale complexion, even though the POV shifts would have allowed it.)
Williams has left herself plenty of territory to explore in this universe, which is good news as I understand her to be writing sequels.
The cover image even manages to portray a character such that they are recognizable from their in-text description, and brown-skinned. Well, brownish. But this is a fairly rare occurrence as far as covers are concerned. I suspect Williams of personally knowing her cover artist.
Courtesan Prince apparently belongs to a universe that Lynda Williams shares with Alison Sinclaire. I caution you not to read any of the background material on this, because Williams suffers from the conviction that not only must she know the history of her universe, but she must impart it to her readers. This is incredibly tedious. Skip the prologue! The important thing for you as a reader to know is that the novel works well as a self-contained story.
Courtesan Prince is Space Opera, and as such, does quite well. Honour! Betrayal! Lost princes! (Hint: he's working as a courtesan.) Sword fighting! FTL-travel!
The story is about two galactic civilizations coming into contact again, after a long separation since the treaty that concluded their last war. It works with a fairly large cast, but manages to keep them all interesting by focusing mainly on four characters, whose motivations are distinct, and quite human. At the same time, they work against the backdrop of intergalactic politics, vast social forces, and the not-quite-unbreakable laws of physics.
I was pleased to see queer characters given a romance that was treated almost the same as the heterosexual romance. I say almost, because Williams has not written herself a future free from homophobia. Despite the two romances, these were sub-plots rather than the main dramatic arc: I dislike it when someone's romantic happiness is presented as of greater importance than the future of a civilization, but Williams' characters are capable of both selflessness and selfishness, in narratively interesting ways.
In addition to all these things, though, the book touches on culture, racism, sexism, classism, homophobia, and human rights, using the meeting of two long-separated civilizations to highlight the ways in which these two civilizations deal differently with these things. I don't claim it goes into LeGuin-style depth on these topics, but it's nice to see them acknowledged in a novel. I found it particularly nice that the civilization described as brownish was the socially-engineered ultra-practical beta-colony (see Bujold, Lois McMaster) type people, and the consumed-by-honour civilization with their savage ways, homophobia, and heavy social stratification was the white people. (I did find it a bit odd that, as far as I noticed, it was always the Reetian's brown skin that was commented on, never the Gelacks' pale complexion, even though the POV shifts would have allowed it.)
Williams has left herself plenty of territory to explore in this universe, which is good news as I understand her to be writing sequels.
The cover image even manages to portray a character such that they are recognizable from their in-text description, and brown-skinned. Well, brownish. But this is a fairly rare occurrence as far as covers are concerned. I suspect Williams of personally knowing her cover artist.
More...