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mxsallybend's review against another edition
4.0
I brought a copy of Ilario: The Lion's Eye with me on vacation, and my only regret is that I didn't bring the companion volume, Ilario: The Stone Golem, with me because I devoured The Lion's Eye on the first day.
This is a book about art, gender, family, friendship, and politics . . . and not necessarily in that order.
First of all, let's talk art. The driving force behind the story is Ilario's quest to study the new art of painting the thing itself - the world as it appears to the naked eye, rather than the iconographic representation. It's odd to think of a time when realism and perspective were undiscovered concepts, and it makes for a fascinating story.
Look beneath the art, and the Lion's Eye is the story of a rather unique and unusual friendship between Ilario, the hermaphrodite artist, and Rekhmire, the eunuch book buyer (and, we suspect, Egyptian spy). Their relationship is handled so beautifully, and so naturally, almost as if they were siblings or best friends getting reacquainted after a long absence. There is a lot of good-natured ridicule of their respective gender identities, but it's just that - good-natured and friendly. By the time we're introduced to Neferet, the feminized eunuch book buyer, her gender identity is almost a non-event.
Lastly, this is a book about politics and family. Poor Ilario must contend with the mother who left her 'freak' infant to die in the cold, the adopted parents who raised him and sold him to be the King's freak, and the father who returns from the Crusades to discover he has a son-daughter. If I could have chosen my parents, I don't think I could have even asked for a father as loving, understanding, and fiercely dedicated as Honorius. Oh, and just to round out the theme of family, Ilario must also contend with the fact that he-she is pregnant!
This is not the book I expected it to be, and that is too its credit. I must say, the ending is quite a cliff-hanger, but knowing there is a second volume eases some of the worry for lovely Ilario. Here's hoping The Stone Golem is a worthy conclusion to the tale.
This is a book about art, gender, family, friendship, and politics . . . and not necessarily in that order.
First of all, let's talk art. The driving force behind the story is Ilario's quest to study the new art of painting the thing itself - the world as it appears to the naked eye, rather than the iconographic representation. It's odd to think of a time when realism and perspective were undiscovered concepts, and it makes for a fascinating story.
Look beneath the art, and the Lion's Eye is the story of a rather unique and unusual friendship between Ilario, the hermaphrodite artist, and Rekhmire, the eunuch book buyer (and, we suspect, Egyptian spy). Their relationship is handled so beautifully, and so naturally, almost as if they were siblings or best friends getting reacquainted after a long absence. There is a lot of good-natured ridicule of their respective gender identities, but it's just that - good-natured and friendly. By the time we're introduced to Neferet, the feminized eunuch book buyer, her gender identity is almost a non-event.
Lastly, this is a book about politics and family. Poor Ilario must contend with the mother who left her 'freak' infant to die in the cold, the adopted parents who raised him and sold him to be the King's freak, and the father who returns from the Crusades to discover he has a son-daughter. If I could have chosen my parents, I don't think I could have even asked for a father as loving, understanding, and fiercely dedicated as Honorius. Oh, and just to round out the theme of family, Ilario must also contend with the fact that he-she is pregnant!
This is not the book I expected it to be, and that is too its credit. I must say, the ending is quite a cliff-hanger, but knowing there is a second volume eases some of the worry for lovely Ilario. Here's hoping The Stone Golem is a worthy conclusion to the tale.
zoe_e_w's review against another edition
1.0
In asking for books with gender variant main characters, I was told to look up this alternate history book about a "true hermaphrodite". Within the first five pages, the author established the character's genital status with a gay sex scene, with no lube, with a complete stranger. So right off the bat, we've established that the main character is slutty. Nice. Despite an abusive sex partner, Ilario is happy to be used...until they're tricked by their new lover's mother and sold into slavery...again.
And this is how the story goes. Pity the poor character who everybody likes abusing. After just a few pages, I skipped to the final chapters, read them, and wished I hadn't. Then I started skipping around to different parts of the book. Nothing made me feel like reading the rest. About the only nice thing I can say about this book is, I got it on steep discount, and I didn't pay shipping.
I give Ilario 1 star, and would never recommend this to anyone.
And this is how the story goes. Pity the poor character who everybody likes abusing. After just a few pages, I skipped to the final chapters, read them, and wished I hadn't. Then I started skipping around to different parts of the book. Nothing made me feel like reading the rest. About the only nice thing I can say about this book is, I got it on steep discount, and I didn't pay shipping.
I give Ilario 1 star, and would never recommend this to anyone.
hilse's review
2.0
More of a 1.5 of 5.0.
Completely a case of me missing the quote on the cover that mentions "[the] fair amount of polymorphous hot sexual action." Whoops. Not what I was expecting when I grabbed this at the library.
I think that I was supposed to empathize with Ilario's crappy situation/lot in life, but mostly I was annoyed with him. He's selfish, pouty, and irritatingly precocious. (I could have done without the first-person narrative, too. Whatever happened to good ol' fashioned third-person limited?)
However, I finished this. I've found that I have no patience for books I really, really dislike as of late. As such, I have to give Mary Gentle credit for writing an intriguing story.
Completely a case of me missing the quote on the cover that mentions "[the] fair amount of polymorphous hot sexual action." Whoops. Not what I was expecting when I grabbed this at the library.
I think that I was supposed to empathize with Ilario's crappy situation/lot in life, but mostly I was annoyed with him. He's selfish, pouty, and irritatingly precocious. (I could have done without the first-person narrative, too. Whatever happened to good ol' fashioned third-person limited?)
However, I finished this. I've found that I have no patience for books I really, really dislike as of late. As such, I have to give Mary Gentle credit for writing an intriguing story.
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