« I am selfish. I am cruel. My mate cannot be less than that. I will have you in my hoard, my black mirror. »
« I am a demanding creature. I am selfish and cruel and extremely unreasonable. But I am your servant. When you starve, I will feed you; when you are sick, I will tend you. I crawl at your feet; for before your love, before your kisses, I am debased. For you alone I will be weak. »
« You will always go into that tent. You will see her scar and wonder where she got it. You will always be amazed at how one woman can have so much black hair. You will always fall in love, and it will always be like having your throat cut, just that fast. »
...Continua3.5 stars
I'm afraid this book didn't quite rapture me the way previous stories by the same author did. The premise is wonderful, the historical and cultural setting is spot-on, the elements are all there, but in the end they don't quite seem to gel the right way and they often leave me wanting. Oddly enough, at times the story seems to run too fast with its gaps of months and years, at times it seems to take forever for anything to happen. The main character, Marya, is also a cypher to me, and more often than not I cannot understand her motivations or her reasoning.
It still remains a wonderful tale written in astounding prose, but it's not a book written for me.
