Pawn in Sakura

[rachelmanija]

I spent yesterday in Shinjuku park under the cherry trees with a bento box lunch with at least twenty separate elements, many mysterious and few downright weird, a soda, a strawberry-blueberry shortcake (Western and particularly French pastries are done wonderfully in Japan), and Pawn in Frankincense, along with what seemed like half of Tokyo. But the park is big, so it wasn't unpleasantly crowded, just filled with a sense of communal happiness. A bunch of kids were hurling bits of rice crackers and popcorn at some very overfed koi and turtles, with their parents hanging on to the backs of their shirts to make sure they didn't tip into the pond.

Spoilers for first two-thirds of Pawn in Frankincense



I have read up to the part where Phillippa is in the harem (!) Spoil me for anything later and DIE.

This is the best book yet, so far anyway-- really well-written, I am actually liking Lymond (mostly), I LOVE Phillippa, the story is great, the locations are fabulous, and the plot is totally whacked-out. Lymond sells his body to a Turk! A male Turk! I am surprised, however, that there haven't been any repercussions of that, and Jerott seems to have forgotten. Shouldn't there be continuing trauma and homophobia?

I love the bizarro plot. Two blonde boys! Evil mastermind Gabriel! Triple man horse acrobatics! Incest! Harems! Giraffes! Gay Pilgrims of Love! Gay Lymond! Whirling dervishes! Crack! Crack! Crack!

What the hell is up with Marthe? It's been revealed that she's Lymond's sister-- the one who he supposedly blew up in a convent? Or another one? What with the hints being dropped that he has a half-brother as well, how many bastard Crawfords can one saga hold? Or-- this is probably totally insane but she's so weird that it did occur to me, since what was actually said is that Lymond is her brother-- could she be a boy disguised as a girl disguised as a boy, and die before she meets Richard again, thereby fulfilling the prophecy?

I love Phillippa. She is my favorite character. I like her even more than her mother, and I adore her mother. I love to see her interacting with her totally alien surroundings. I love her chemistry with Lymond. I am beginning to suspect that they are being set up for each other, which I think is a wonderful idea as she is the only person who really stands up to him, and they are not that far apart in age. However, I have gathered that some incredibly traumatic thing happens at the end of the book. If Phillippa dies I will be traumatized-- in fact that's the most traumatic thing I can imagine happening. I checked the cast list for the next book because I began to be worried for her. There is none. Aaaahhhh!

Comments

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Philippa is the best.

[jonquil.livejournal.com]

Hee.

Glad you're enjoying the rollercoaster.

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

Eloise is the sister who died.

(You need to remember that, to make sense of something coming up.)

Marthe is a half-sister.

[oyceter]

I *heart* Philippa. She is wonderful! And my favorite little bit between her and Lymond is that conversation in which she reveals she had weasels as a kid. A rodent-lover after my own heart! Ok, maybe not quite rodent, but close enough!

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

I loved the weasels too. That creature Hesperus is a mongoose, right?

[oracne.livejournal.com]

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can't say anything else without getting spoileriffic.