Subject: Review: Rhapsody by Elizabeth Haydon

From: "Aaron M. Renn" <[email-masked]>
Date: 23 Sep 1999 15:35:10 -0400

Rhapsody by Elizabeth Haydon
	Review Copyright (c) 1999 Aaron M. Renn

Conclusion: Recommended

I figure that any book as heavily promoted as this one has to at least be
decent, so I sprung for Rhapsody in hardcover.  When I first started
reading it, I was ready to declare it a masterpiece.  But a strange thing
happened as I continued on.  My opinion of the book sank and sank.  I
think I've figured out why that is: Rhapsody is a book written to appeal
primarily to females.

Rhapsody is a young former prostitute now making her way in life as a
Singer.  When a former, er, patron of hers wants another twirl, she
refuses.  As she's running away, she falls in with a couple of strangers
who are on the run themselves.  They flee to an enhanted forest, enter a
system of caverns under the earth, walk half way around the world, and
emerge 1400 years later.

Good stuff abounds here.  The writing is strong.  The characters are
memorable.  The world is interesting in the way high fantasy worlds should
be.  The story is thankfully lacking in cliches.  Bits of wit and humor
are sprinkled about.

But there are problems as well, particularly in the character of Rhapsody.
At first I loved her as she spurned the advances of Michael "the Waste of
Breath."  She seemed so strong and confident in herself.  But as the book
goes on we find out she's just naive and idealistic.  Unfortunately, her
naivete never costs her anything.  Whether she's rescuing children from an
abusive father on a crowded city street, running off with a strange and
dangerous man she barely knows, running into battle with her fabulous
magic sword, taking a young scoundrel into her company, or demanding
modern social services for barbarians, everything Rhapsody touches works
out for the best.  Of course she's also fabulously beautiful - people turn
and stare at her on the streets where ever she goes - extremely talented
as a Singer, an expert at using herbs to heal, can see glimpses of the
future and past, a minister to the poor and weak, a scholar of ancient
languages and artifacts, and so much more it defies listing.  In short,
Rhapsody is the perfect woman, who despite a few bad things that happened
to her offstage earlier in life, lives a true storybook existence.  I'd
say books like this are how that term came into existence in the first
place.

I don't know why I'm down on the character of Rhapsody so much.  Broadly
similar charcters in other books - such as Marie-Josephe in Vonda N.
McIntyre's The Moon and the Sun - didn't affect me in the same way.
Perhaps that's because stories where I've encountered the type before were
romances rather than adventures.  Or maybe I was just in a foul mood this
week.

I think this book - due to the character of Rhapsody - will appeal to
girls far more than it does dudes.  By the end of the book I personally
just wanted to see some horrible tragedy befall Rhapsody because I
couldn't stand her anymore of her perfection.  But I do recommend the
book, especially to those who aren't turned off by Rhapsody's character
type because there's a lot of good reading in there.

NB: This book is the first volume of a trology, something that Tor fails
to mention on the cover.  But it functions well as a standalone.

Several people on the net have said that Elizabeth Haydon is a pseudonym
for an unknown editor.

%A Haydon, Elizabeth
%T Rhapsody
%I Tor
%D 1999-09
%G ISBN 0-312-86752-2
%P 479 pp.
%0 hardcover, US$24.95

Reviewed on 1999-09-18

Aaron M. Renn ([email-masked]) http://www.urbanophile.com/arenn/