This week’s topic? Dark Lords. Because we all know that…
There is always one of these in the background of very Tour, attempting to ruin everything and take over the world. He will be so sinister that he will be seen by you only once or twice, probably near the end of the Tour. Generally he will attack you through MINIONS…
1. Satoris from The Sundering Duology by Jacqueline Carey
Ok, I admit it. The main reason I’m joining in this week is so I can gush about The Sundering Books, which are severely underloved. They basically deconstruct The Lord of the Rings, mostly through telling the tragic story of Satoris: a
2. Sauron from The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien
I’m not a huge LotR fan but I figured since we visited Satoris, we might as well visit his inspiration – pretty much the classic dark lord of fantasy.
3. The White Witch from (some of the) Narnia Books by C. S. Lewis
Ah, another classical fantasy despot, this one with a love of winter and the colour white. You’ve got to admire Jadis for her class, though: she cultivated dramatic gardens and had brilliant seduction skills (come to the dark side! We have Turkish Delight!).
Random, slightly personal fact: I actually got married at Castle Hill, which is where they filmed her final showdown with the forces of Aslan in the most recent version of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.
4. Voldemort from the Harry Potter Books by J. K. Rowling
Yes, yes, I went with the easy choices this week. But I loved the Harry Potter books. I couldn’t leave He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named off this list, although to be honest I think he was at his creepiest as the teenage memory of his former self. 
I never read The Sundering. And I have zero memory of Narnia. And I am a heratic who thought one read of LOTR is plenty. But it appears Voldermort wins the day, he is all over this one.
ReplyDeleteYou've never read The Sundering books? Sacrilege :p
DeleteI disliked LotR too - pretty unpopular opinion in NZ, as lots of people now consider those books/films as source of national pride :/
Great list! I've never read any Jacqueline Carey, and based on your dark lord entry from her books, I'm even more sure I probably never will, lol.
ReplyDeleteNoooooooooooo The Sundering books are awesome! They're a really clever deconstruction of LotR (and stunningly epic books in their own right), not just a Tolkien rip-off.
DeleteIt sounds interesting, BUT it seems to fit that particular branch of fantasy I don't mesh well with. Like water and oil, to be more precise.
DeleteIf you had to ballpark it, around what percent of both books would you say is entirely romance/sex?
Ummmmmm, maybe 2%? Satoris is described as the God of "quickening flesh" (or something to that affect) but doesn't get up to anything. There are also hints of a potential romance two central characters, but this never really develops... there's far too much politics/ action going on.
DeleteCarey does write some awesome romances, but not in these books :)
OK, I know this may shock people, and hopefully I don't have to hand in my fantasy fan club card after my admission, but I have only read one of these book. But Lord Voldemort made my list easily!
ReplyDeleteYeah, he's pretty much the first person I though of too :)
DeleteLovely, I 've read three out of four...now I totally need to grab the Sundering book because I have liked the recent books I have read of hers last year, even tho those were UF
ReplyDeleteDo! They're brilliant. Actually think they're one of my all-time favourites.
DeleteI really should read the Sundering books, I feel I can't call myself a true Jacqueline Carey fan until I do! :D
ReplyDelete~Mogsy
The blurb makes the books look some run-of-the-mill derivative fantasy blah, but they're really not. But you love the Kushiel books, right? These are quite similar in tone.
Delete