Mélusine Revisited: Further Thoughts
Jun. 29th, 2006 05:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lareinenoireRereading Mélusine, as I am currently first on the list for The Virtu at the library. It holds up beautifully the second time, and I've caught things on this reading that I did not the first time round -- not unexpected at all.
Blood Magic: Thematically, a Very Bad Thing. Between Vey Coruscant, Malkar, and the fantôme in the wizard's tower, this is definitely a motif. I wonder if we will at any point see a 'good' use of blood magic. It certainly seems as though there ought to be one; magic, in and of itself, does not seem to gravitate to good or evil, as it is usually the *purpose* of said magic that determines that. A tangentially related point is the use of curses in Mélusine, but nowhere else -- the Troians remark repeatedly that curses are evil and that Mélusine is backward for using them.
Ghosts: There is an almost offhand mention of the dead running wild after Felix sets fire to the Mirador. Since we follow the characters out of Mélusine after that, I can't help but wonder if that phenomenon is restricted to the Mirador itself, or if ghosts all over the city are now 'free', so to speak. If so, what are they going to do? Ghosts are another definite motif, both for Mildmay and Felix -- Felix can literally see them, and Mildmay believes implicitly in their existence. Add to this Thamuris' prophecy in the first chapter of The Virtu, 'the dead will not stay dead', and I begin to wonder further.
Vey Coruscant: She's trying to raise her old master, Brinvillier Strych, from the grave. Rumour has it -- at least according to Mildmay -- that he might have been buried somewhere in the Mirador. See above for why this might prove interesting.
Stephen Teverius: Seeing as he is now the living embodiment of the Mirador, what if something happens to him? Does that mean the absolute end of the Mirador and the Virtu? And if so, will this make him a direct target for Malkar in the future? How common is the knowledge, or is it merely something Felix figured out by chance? Also, what will it take to make his bond with Robert of Hermione snap? They do seem to have been teetering on the brink for some time.
Mazes/Labyrinths: Is there more to Gideon's fascination with mazes? Will Felix's grass maze in Nera come back to haunt him? The interior of the Mirador is often described as 'labyrinthine'; might that be deliberate, a harnessing of an older power? Also, the idea of maze-worship and the White-Eyed Lady as a mystery cult, and the Obscurantists people in Mélusine are so frightened of -- is there a connection? Felix remarks upon it, but doesn't go into much detail. Maybe the maze-worshippers escaped to Mélusine after the destruction of their cities?
Mildmay: How *do* you pronounce his name?
Thamuris' prophecy: 'Though you do not seek revenge, it will seek you all the same.' My guess is Vey Coruscant. She presumably killed Ginevra and Austin, and I sincerely doubt we've seen the last of her.
At least some of these might be answered in The Virtu, I suspect, but considering that there are four books altogether, it's entirely possible that I might be left hanging for some time longer. ;) At least it's entirely worthwhile, as far as I'm concerned.
Blood Magic: Thematically, a Very Bad Thing. Between Vey Coruscant, Malkar, and the fantôme in the wizard's tower, this is definitely a motif. I wonder if we will at any point see a 'good' use of blood magic. It certainly seems as though there ought to be one; magic, in and of itself, does not seem to gravitate to good or evil, as it is usually the *purpose* of said magic that determines that. A tangentially related point is the use of curses in Mélusine, but nowhere else -- the Troians remark repeatedly that curses are evil and that Mélusine is backward for using them.
Ghosts: There is an almost offhand mention of the dead running wild after Felix sets fire to the Mirador. Since we follow the characters out of Mélusine after that, I can't help but wonder if that phenomenon is restricted to the Mirador itself, or if ghosts all over the city are now 'free', so to speak. If so, what are they going to do? Ghosts are another definite motif, both for Mildmay and Felix -- Felix can literally see them, and Mildmay believes implicitly in their existence. Add to this Thamuris' prophecy in the first chapter of The Virtu, 'the dead will not stay dead', and I begin to wonder further.
Vey Coruscant: She's trying to raise her old master, Brinvillier Strych, from the grave. Rumour has it -- at least according to Mildmay -- that he might have been buried somewhere in the Mirador. See above for why this might prove interesting.
Stephen Teverius: Seeing as he is now the living embodiment of the Mirador, what if something happens to him? Does that mean the absolute end of the Mirador and the Virtu? And if so, will this make him a direct target for Malkar in the future? How common is the knowledge, or is it merely something Felix figured out by chance? Also, what will it take to make his bond with Robert of Hermione snap? They do seem to have been teetering on the brink for some time.
Mazes/Labyrinths: Is there more to Gideon's fascination with mazes? Will Felix's grass maze in Nera come back to haunt him? The interior of the Mirador is often described as 'labyrinthine'; might that be deliberate, a harnessing of an older power? Also, the idea of maze-worship and the White-Eyed Lady as a mystery cult, and the Obscurantists people in Mélusine are so frightened of -- is there a connection? Felix remarks upon it, but doesn't go into much detail. Maybe the maze-worshippers escaped to Mélusine after the destruction of their cities?
Mildmay: How *do* you pronounce his name?
Thamuris' prophecy: 'Though you do not seek revenge, it will seek you all the same.' My guess is Vey Coruscant. She presumably killed Ginevra and Austin, and I sincerely doubt we've seen the last of her.
At least some of these might be answered in The Virtu, I suspect, but considering that there are four books altogether, it's entirely possible that I might be left hanging for some time longer. ;) At least it's entirely worthwhile, as far as I'm concerned.
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Date: 2006-06-29 09:58 pm (UTC)Knowing that the first two were once one book makes me believe we'll get to see Vey at the end of The Virtu. I massively "GRR!!" at UPS, who have failed to deliver my copy of that and Blood and Iron for two days.
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Date: 2006-06-29 11:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-07-04 03:07 am (UTC)I've always pronoused Mildmay just as it sounds mild-may.
I think I too need to re-read Melusine. I've just finished the Virtu and I missed a few bits...the burning for one. The who Vey was raising. I read it so long ago, or so it seems.
My memory of Gideon is very poor. And I really do want to re-read the parts where Felix is mad and seeing ghosts. It was wicked!
Good luck with getting The Virtu soon!
Happy 4th of July!
Cheers!