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sienamysticSo, I think I've got at least one person on my flist who has been watching and posting about this book series after it got turned into a tv show? And after slogging through the first book, I can say that I would probably find this really appealing as a tv show, but I didn't much like the book.
The setup of characters reminds me of the Julian Kestrel books - beautiful, impeccably-turned-out, wealthy type who detects to keep life interesting, crusty Scots medical sidekick, lower-class but trusty and clever servant. The Phryne Fisher book (books, it looks like) are set in 20s Melbourne instead of early 1800s London, and since it's a time period I love but in a setting I haven't seen much of, I thought the books would be fun.
Alas, I really didn't like it much and wound up skipping the majority of the second half to get to an ending I didn't really care about. The setting doesn't have much oomph, the plot was choppy, and while I am usually the last person to throw around the Mary Sue accusations, I think Phryne was set up entirely to be a Mary Sue, but that the author didn't have a light enough hand to play with that concept. Instead, it's an endless string of overworked archness and a more-modern-than-thou lacquered shell of a heroine. No blood, no breath in her.
I bet the tv show is really good - I can see how these would be a fun watch. But the book bored me.
The setup of characters reminds me of the Julian Kestrel books - beautiful, impeccably-turned-out, wealthy type who detects to keep life interesting, crusty Scots medical sidekick, lower-class but trusty and clever servant. The Phryne Fisher book (books, it looks like) are set in 20s Melbourne instead of early 1800s London, and since it's a time period I love but in a setting I haven't seen much of, I thought the books would be fun.
Alas, I really didn't like it much and wound up skipping the majority of the second half to get to an ending I didn't really care about. The setting doesn't have much oomph, the plot was choppy, and while I am usually the last person to throw around the Mary Sue accusations, I think Phryne was set up entirely to be a Mary Sue, but that the author didn't have a light enough hand to play with that concept. Instead, it's an endless string of overworked archness and a more-modern-than-thou lacquered shell of a heroine. No blood, no breath in her.
I bet the tv show is really good - I can see how these would be a fun watch. But the book bored me.