SBD: Danny Valentine
Mar. 3rd, 2008 10:50 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jmc_bks'Tis Monday and thus time for SBD. Which I haven't done for a bit. So here's mine:
From this website. The fable is often attributed to Aesop, but may be older.
To see a cartoon-illustrated version, go here.
How’s this relevant to SBD? And what could it possibly have to do with an urban fantasy novel with a part-demon psion as protagonist? Well, in some ways, Japhrimel was the scorpion and Danny was the frog. But then again, not so much.
The third book of the Dante Valentine series, The Devil’s Right Hand, includes “extra” materials that address the different attitudes toward truth and lying that humans and demons have. At one point, Danny herself mentions that she feels as if she and Japhrimel speak different languages and struggle to communicate. In the end, for me, their conflict comes down to their essentially different natures. For all that Dante becomes part demon in Working for the Devil (Book 1), her sense of truth and justice remains based in her original humanity. And for all that he has Fallen, Japhrimel’s concept of truth is based on his millennia-long existence as a demon.
One could argue that Dante’s expectations and treatment with Japhrimel are always consistent – he falls in love with her and Falls because she treats him as a human. Shouldn’t he then expect her to treat him as human on all levels? But that doesn’t work for me on a basic level – treating him as human is a one-way transaction that Dante undertakes on her own; expecting human reactions from him would require consent/agreement to that behavior that he clearly never gives, for all that he Falls.
In the end, I abandoned the series because Dante seems utterly incapable of accepting their different natures, ignoring what Japh is (demon) in preference for what she wants him to be...and then feeling betrayed when he doesn't live up to her expectations of humanity from him. There’s the old chestnut about marrying a man and wanting to change him, which is what I felt like Danny does in the third and fourth books. She is constantly trying to impose her worldview on him, without understanding that for him, “truth” is negotiable, and the most important thing is survival.
Plus, there’s the whole “I trusted you” whine, which is constantly belied by her behavior. His first concern, however patriarchal and patronizing, is Danny’s safety; hers is never him.
Having said all of that, I do think Lilith Saintcrow is a fantastic writer and builds an excellent alternate reality. This narrator just didn’t work for me.
The Scorpion and the Frog
A scorpion and a frog meet on the bank of a stream and the scorpion asks the frog to carry him across on its back. The frog asks, "How do I know you won't sting me?" The scorpion says, "Because if I do, I will die too."
The frog is satisfied, and they set out, but in midstream, the scorpion stings the frog. The frog feels the onset of paralysis and starts to sink, knowing they both will drown, but has just enough time to gasp "Why?"
Replies the scorpion: "It's my nature..."
From this website. The fable is often attributed to Aesop, but may be older.
To see a cartoon-illustrated version, go here.
How’s this relevant to SBD? And what could it possibly have to do with an urban fantasy novel with a part-demon psion as protagonist? Well, in some ways, Japhrimel was the scorpion and Danny was the frog. But then again, not so much.
The third book of the Dante Valentine series, The Devil’s Right Hand, includes “extra” materials that address the different attitudes toward truth and lying that humans and demons have. At one point, Danny herself mentions that she feels as if she and Japhrimel speak different languages and struggle to communicate. In the end, for me, their conflict comes down to their essentially different natures. For all that Dante becomes part demon in Working for the Devil (Book 1), her sense of truth and justice remains based in her original humanity. And for all that he has Fallen, Japhrimel’s concept of truth is based on his millennia-long existence as a demon.
One could argue that Dante’s expectations and treatment with Japhrimel are always consistent – he falls in love with her and Falls because she treats him as a human. Shouldn’t he then expect her to treat him as human on all levels? But that doesn’t work for me on a basic level – treating him as human is a one-way transaction that Dante undertakes on her own; expecting human reactions from him would require consent/agreement to that behavior that he clearly never gives, for all that he Falls.
In the end, I abandoned the series because Dante seems utterly incapable of accepting their different natures, ignoring what Japh is (demon) in preference for what she wants him to be...and then feeling betrayed when he doesn't live up to her expectations of humanity from him. There’s the old chestnut about marrying a man and wanting to change him, which is what I felt like Danny does in the third and fourth books. She is constantly trying to impose her worldview on him, without understanding that for him, “truth” is negotiable, and the most important thing is survival.
Plus, there’s the whole “I trusted you” whine, which is constantly belied by her behavior. His first concern, however patriarchal and patronizing, is Danny’s safety; hers is never him.
Having said all of that, I do think Lilith Saintcrow is a fantastic writer and builds an excellent alternate reality. This narrator just didn’t work for me.
