Mortal Suns

by Tanith Lee

Acclaimed author Tanith Lee transports her readers to an ominous yet seductive alternate universe, as fully realized as Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Avalon, where fate organizes the forces of nature to bring to ruin those who dare to control it. Horrible screams pierce the night air as the Daystar, Queen Hesta of Akhemony, wrestles with the delivery of the King's child, beautifully formed except for one heartbreaking deformity--she is born without feet. Consigned immediately to the world of death, the lame infant is dispatched to Thon, the underworld temple, and baptized Cemira, snake, the name she will bear throughout a lifetime of darkness. It is only at the behest of Urdombris, the Sun Consort, that the child is restored to her rightful place as heir to the throne on Oceaxis. Recounting a deadly battle for power, pitting the forces of man against the supernatural, her story is one that will captivate, shock, and terrify.

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction Fantasy, High Fantasy, Historical Fantasy

432 pages, Hardcover

First published August 15, 2003

About the author

Tanith Lee was a British writer of science fiction, horror, and fantasy. She was the author of 77 novels, 14 collections, and almost 300 short stories. She also wrote four radio plays broadcast by the BBC and two scripts for the UK, science fiction, cult television series "Blake's 7."
Before becoming a full time writer, Lee worked as a file clerk, an assistant librarian, a shop assistant, and a waitress.

Her first short story, "Eustace," was published in 1968, and her first novel (for children) The Dragon Hoard was published in 1971.

Her career took off in 1975 with the acceptance by Daw Books USA of her adult fantasy epic The Birthgrave for publication as a mass-market paperback, and Lee has since maintained a prolific output in popular genre writing.

Lee twice won the World Fantasy Award: once in 1983 for best short fiction for “The Gorgon” and again in 1984 for best short fiction for “Elle Est Trois (La Mort).” She has been a Guest of Honour at numerous science fiction and fantasy conventions including the Boskone XVIII in Boston, USA in 1981, the 1984 World Fantasy Convention in Ottawa, Canada, and Orbital 2008 the British National Science Fiction convention (Eastercon) held in London, England in March 2008. In 2009 she was awarded the prestigious title of Grand Master of Horror.

Lee was the daughter of two ballroom dancers, Bernard and Hylda Lee. Despite a persistent rumour, she was not the daughter of the actor Bernard Lee who played "M" in the James Bond series of films of the 1960s.

Tanith Lee married author and artist John Kaiine in 1992.

Reviews

[Kaila · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the first two-thirds. Tanith Lee has a way of capturing her worlds in a perfect snapshot, like it all existed and was sitting there waiting for her to write it down. It feels perfectly sliced out and presented to us.

However, once the initial introduction and origin story were over, I got bored. The love story is very...non-traditional. It made for some discomfort. I was fine with it when it was making eyes at each other while children but less fine once they actually got down to business if you know what I mean.

Like most Tanith Lee, I don't find her recommendable, even while I mostly enjoy it.

[Lucy Upyr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Woefully underrated.

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Het begon erg intrigerend maar halverwege het boek valt het verhaal stil, de vertelstijl wordt warrig. En dan loopt het af met een sisser. En je krijgt het gevoel dat het interessante stuk nog moet komen maar dat wordt niet verteld.

[Ана Хелс · Rating 5 out of 5]

Нека ви разкажа за свят, който не е нашия, дори не са далечни братовчеди с него, нито пък става въпрос за паралелни реалности, планети от съзвездието Орион или спомен за отдавна изтрила се от лицето на земята цивилизация. Животът на тленните слънца е повече като сън на едно цяло селение, преоткриващо възможностите за реалност с шепа магия и хитроумна технология, изцяло в услуга на физическата красота и благоденствието с умерено количество поддържащи духа и характера военни действия на дребно. Идилия от кръв и злато.

Представете си Песен за огън и лед през погледа на жена, и то не обикновена, а чиста, непокварена и неподчинена на абсолютно никакви правила, предразсъдъци или ограничения на социално притиснатото от политическа коректност общество. И въпреки това – тя не е чудовище, не е мерзко зло, не е вещица, мечтаеща да покори света. Калистра, наричана и Семира, е красив лунен лъч, точно толкова съвършена, и хладна, и мъничко недовършена – в нейния случай – без стъпала, компенсирани от сребърни протези, с които е способна да се носи плъзгайки се през живота, без прегради, особени препятствия или драми. Е, драма има, но на обречената на смъртта от малка, бледноока принцеса по рождение никой не се е постарал да обясни кога е приемливо да тъжи. И така, тъга няма. Но болка – е, без нея кое щастие е сладко.

Имаме диви битки, от типа, който само могат да се водят на Вала, макар и в доста по-малък мащаб; имаме дворцови интриги, крале, умиращи по зловещи и съмнителни начини, полудели кралици, търсещи справедливост от гигантски пантеон непонятни малки богове. Но над всичко е една типично женска история, но на такава жена, с която е невъзможно да се идентифицирате, поради нейната почти свръхестествена нетленност, така резонираща с напълно тленната божественост на уж богоравните владетели на вселената. Култ към слънцето, към смъртта и към ледения огън в очите на решаващите съдби. Поетично високо фентъзи, елегия за една различна душа, самотна и влюбена, и раздрана от история, която така и не остава разказана, а само намекната на финала, макар и предрешен. Още един книжен диамант на Танит Ли, който е само за мен. Капчици вълшебства за онези важни моменти, в които имаш нужда от вяра в красотата и истината на думите.

[Abi]

I have to give it this: despite containing so many things I usually hate to read about...
I kinda loved this?
I don't know! I can't decide.
I got through the first 100 pages or so out of sheer stubbornness, read the next 100 pages with an extreme amount of interest, and then lost most of my interest but vastly enjoyed the ideas in the last 100 or so pages.

I think if the writing itself wasn't so jumbled, the childhood section was sped up, Calistra's character not so distant, and if she had a personality outside of simpering after Klyton...this would possibly be my favorite book of the year. Which is weird because this book made me so uncomfortable. But I still enjoyed it...mostly? Basically, the concept is really my thing but the execution really wasn't.

Pros:
-intriguing setting that's greco-roman inspired and features a mountain with a heartbeat
-lots of detail given to the fantasy religion
-politics, war, and court intrigue!
-casual queer rep
-disabled rep
-obsessive/forbidden love (it's gross but it's meant to be thought provoking, not tantalizing)
-flawed, interesting characters -- all of them
-the gradual progression into madness/arrogance as portrayed by one of the characters

Cons:
-this book hates grammar
-it's a fantasy world and women are still oppressed (but I didn't mind AS much just because most of the women were still portrayed as capable, unhinged, and powerful in their own ways)
-very experienced mmc x virgin fmc gives me the ick. but then again, the whole relationship is ick so whatever lol
-Calistra does not have much personality outside of being blindly in love
-the first 90-ish pages were boring :(
-there are so many POVs, which I usually hate and still do, but it makes sense to have them in this story

Overall:
This book definitely isn't for everyone, but I liked it much more than I thought I would and I don't regret reading it.

[Althea Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tanith Lee is one of my favorite authors, but while this book isn't bad, it's also not one of her best.
This tale of a priestess' life is interesting, but lacks forward motion, or any sense of urgency. Although technically a fantasy novel; it reads very much like a fictional historical biography.
In a land very much like ancient Greece, a girl is born to a royal princess - but she is born deformed. In shame, the princess sends her infant to the temple of a dark god, fully expecting her to die. But she lives; and when politics change at court, the young princess is summoned back - and embarks on a life of power and frustration, beginning with learning to walk...
(An absurdly detailed plot synopsis can be found here: http://concord.wikia.com/wiki/Mortal_...)

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tanith Lee does a good job of wounding me with tragedy. This is the story of a great fall, told by the surviving lover. As much as I wish for the characters I fall in love with to live happily ever after, I can understand how they never could have.

[SpentCello · Rating 1 out of 5]

I found it very hard to get through this despite the fact that I normally enjoy Tanith Lee's books. There was a very obvious attempt to make the language more high-fantasy/dramatic, however, it was more like really awful Austinian imitation with non-sensical descriptions. The sentences, as they were in the book, were completely, utterly, filled with, commas much to the detriment of actually knowing what's going on, and sometimes, in these sentences that were comma-filled, the commas made no grammatical, sense. I also found the constant switching between first and third person, present and past tense (occasionally some attempts at cleverness with future tense), and omniscient and limited third person very confusing and it certainly didn't improve the story in any way. All faulty writing styles aside, this book had a terribly dull plot and the characters felt very distant. I was kind of disappointed when they kept not dying despite their deaths having been foreshadowed.

I haven't read enough of Lee's material to know if this writing style was common for her, but if it is, I certainly won't be going back for more.

[Myridian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story follows the rise of Calistra who is born missing both of her feet but is able to overcome the disability and stigma to achieve her destiny. This book did contain interesting characters and a vivid universe. However, the pacing lagged at times and the inertia of the main character was infuriating at times. That inertia is typical of many of Lee's heroines, but it usually fits with the dream-like nature of the narrative, while in this story it didn't seem to fit with the almost Greecian story arc.

Both this book and the one I finished last, Rothfuss's The Name of the wind are retrospective accounts within which the hero is relating his or her story. It is interesting to contrast the two; in Lee's story events seem to just wash over the main character, while in Rothfuss's story larger forces are definitely impacting the main character, but he is actively struggling to understand them and meet them head on.

[Ivan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really hard to read! Seemed like she was trying to be poetic w/ a lot of metaphor and descriptors but I couldn't even understand what she was trying to say half the time.
And ever hear of a period? Maybe it's just me, but I don't think a sentence should contain 5 or 6 (or more) commas!

Not a bad idea for a story, but I finally got tired of trying to understand what I was reading and so I think I missed a lot... And by the end, I just didn't care. Usually I like Tanith Lee's unique style of writing, but not this time!

[Cindywho · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lee is excellent with strange and dark fantasy lands. This story is darker and more dour than the Claidi Journals and the heroine is much more passive and very aware of it too. It is a piece of the history of a country where everyone can hear its heart beat and strange, vengeful and forgetful gods meddle in the lives of humans. Gods, kings and slaves swirl around the life of a girl with silver feet. (June 19, 2005)

[Kat · Rating 3 out of 5]

O_____O

What the heck did I just read?

Seriously, I have read several Tanith Lee novels now, and they all leave me nonplussed at best. This one was fascinating, but also repulsive. Some books you read quickly because you have to know what happens; others, because you just want it over with. This was the latter, although it was skillfully written.

Yeah. Um. No more Tanith Lee for me. I just do not like hanging out in her brain.

[Suz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like Tanith Lee's books, and I found this one a disappointment. I know that there is a sequel that is supposed to come out for this book, and I sincerely hope that it is better than this one.

[Katya · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really don't remember much about this book except that I didn't like it and I was disappointed in Tanith Lee, whom I usually love.

[Tasula · Rating 4 out of 5]

fascinating story of girl born without feet who becomes a queen and then.....