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Available
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Publication
New York : DAW Books, 2011.
Description
Elemental Earth Master Richard Whitestone, devastated by the death of his beloved wife during childbirth, has ignored his daughter for years, until he conceives of a twisted plan to use her body to bring back the spirit of his wife.
User reviews
LibraryThing member Dejah_Thoris
I hadn’t realized that the new Mercedes Lackey Elemental Masters novel Unnatural Issue was out until I saw it on the New Books shelf at the library. Curious as to what fairy tale she was working with this time, I scanned the inside cover blurb and quickly determined that it was Donkey-skin by
The only reason I’m aware of Donkey-skin is because it is also the basis for Robin McKinley’s excellent, if dark, Deerskin. Generally speaking, the story goes like this: King loses beloved wife, goes mad with grief, notices his long ignored daughter is as beautiful as her late mother and decides to marry her. The Princess escapes and eventually finds happiness.
In Unnatural Issue, Richard Whitestone, an Earth Master, loses his wife to childbirth. He becomes unhinged by his grief and shuts himself up in his country house, seeing no one but his housekeeper and solicitor. Over the years, he begins to dabble in evil necromancy and decides to bring his wife back in a suitable body. His daughter Susanne, who he blames, in part, for his wife’s death, has been raised by / as one of the servants. He spies his daughter from a window (apparently for the first time) and notices her striking resemblance to his dead wife. He decides Susanne will be the perfect receptacle for his wife’s recovered soul. And so the story goes.
I was delighted to find that Lord Peter Almsley (Lackey’s homage to Dorothy Sayers and her creation Lord Peter Wimsey) was a major character in this book (Almsley previously appeared in The Serpent’s Shadow). I was having such a good time catching all the Wimsey references (physical descriptions almost verbatim from the Lord Peter books, his brother the Duke, French relatives Delacroix instead of Delagardie, references to opera singers, Basque shepherds, etc.) that it took me a while to notice that I wasn’t as enthralled as I usually am by Lackey’s work. The story picked up by the last third or so the book and parts of it were wonderful. For me this was merely a good entry into the Elemental Master’s series, but far from the best. Any fan of Lackey or the series should definitely read it.
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Charles Perrault. The only reason I’m aware of Donkey-skin is because it is also the basis for Robin McKinley’s excellent, if dark, Deerskin. Generally speaking, the story goes like this: King loses beloved wife, goes mad with grief, notices his long ignored daughter is as beautiful as her late mother and decides to marry her. The Princess escapes and eventually finds happiness.
In Unnatural Issue, Richard Whitestone, an Earth Master, loses his wife to childbirth. He becomes unhinged by his grief and shuts himself up in his country house, seeing no one but his housekeeper and solicitor. Over the years, he begins to dabble in evil necromancy and decides to bring his wife back in a suitable body. His daughter Susanne, who he blames, in part, for his wife’s death, has been raised by / as one of the servants. He spies his daughter from a window (apparently for the first time) and notices her striking resemblance to his dead wife. He decides Susanne will be the perfect receptacle for his wife’s recovered soul. And so the story goes.
I was delighted to find that Lord Peter Almsley (Lackey’s homage to Dorothy Sayers and her creation Lord Peter Wimsey) was a major character in this book (Almsley previously appeared in The Serpent’s Shadow). I was having such a good time catching all the Wimsey references (physical descriptions almost verbatim from the Lord Peter books, his brother the Duke, French relatives Delacroix instead of Delagardie, references to opera singers, Basque shepherds, etc.) that it took me a while to notice that I wasn’t as enthralled as I usually am by Lackey’s work. The story picked up by the last third or so the book and parts of it were wonderful. For me this was merely a good entry into the Elemental Master’s series, but far from the best. Any fan of Lackey or the series should definitely read it.
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LibraryThing member archerygirl
The latest in Lackey's Elemental Masters series, this is a terrific read. It is based around the Donkeyskin myth, one that I wasn't familiar with until I Googled it, although it uses that idea more as a springboard rather than following it faithfully. That is the tendency with these books and one
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of the reasons that they're always new and interesting: Lackey takes an element of a fairytale but is not constrained by following all of it. Unnatural Issue is set in 1914 and the threat of WWI is always there, more overtly than in most of her other Elemental Masters stories. The central female character, Susanne, is strong and clever and I really liked her a lot. Lackey never writes weak female characters, but this one is particularly wonderful. Her male central character is Lord Peter Almsley, who we have met in other books but this is the first time he's been the focus and he holds the story together very well. There is necromancy, magic, feats of great bravery and a little hint of romance to make this a completely compelling read. Show Less
LibraryThing member jjmcgaffey
Good story. I'd just read Deerskin, and was wincing a bit - but Susanne suffers a lot less than the heroine in Deerskin. Horror, yes, but not direct damage. I'm delighted to see so much of Peter Almsley - he's the major secondary character here, and we learn a lot more about him. He's looking less
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like Peter Wimsey, which is good and disappointing at the same time - a similar man, but encountering, for obvious reasons, rather different events and challenges. The timeline of the books is more than a little confusing. This one, published sixth (or seventh, if you count Fire Rose, which I do), is placed shortly before Phoenix and Ashes (published third/fourth), well after The Wizard of London (published fourth/fifth) and I have no idea where in relationship to the previously published book, Reserved for the Cat. The War isn't much of a presence there, so it may be later. Or earlier. Here we see the beginning of the war that's well established in Phoenix and Ashes - the First World War, though that's not what it's called, of course. And we see some very nasty events that don't directly trigger the war, but may have contributed to some of the bad experiences of mages later on. I want to read Phoenix and Ashes again - a major secondary character here may have shown up in the early chapters of that book. I also want to see what, if any, of the romance here shows up there. I was quite surprised. Oh yes, and we see Robin again, which is always a winner. The story is pretty straightforward; Deerskin/Donkeyskin/half a dozen other names for that very nasty fairy tale, nicely integrated with Elemental magic. Susanne is well-presented, as are the other characters - very realistic. The horrors of trench warfare, for the soldiers and the nurses, are clearly depicted. Susanne's father presents more straightforward horrors - but even his motivations are perfectly clear (insane, but clear). A very rich story, even among the Elemental Masters books, and one I will definitely reread. Show Less
LibraryThing member Bodagirl
I'm not very familiar with Charles Perrault's "Donkey Skin," the fairy tale Lackey based this book on, so I wasn't really pulled into this story. Susanne didn't develop as a character very much, and her decision to go with Peter at the end was forced. Plus the battle scenes were sketchy.
Having said
Having said
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all that, I love the alternative world that Lackey has created and incorporating the Puck was pretty awesome. Show Less
LibraryThing member calmclam
I found the romance unconvincing, but the worldbuilding is solid and the characters are interesting. There are enough deviations from the standard Donkeyskin plot to make the story interesting and new, while still staying true to the original tale.
LibraryThing member cfk
Unnatural Issue is set in England just at the onset with WWI and is built around characters with magical gifts related to Earth, Air, Wind and Fire. Susanne's father rejected her at birth, charging her with murdering her mother--"the only woman I will ever love"--and orders the servants to cast her
Instead, the servants raise her below stairs as one of their own and the legendary Robin Goodfellow, aka Puc, visits her in the forests to train her up as the Earth Master to fill the responsibility her father has turned his back on.
Now nearly 21 and first seen at a distance, her father mistakes her for his deceased wife and then determines to use the Blood Magic he now serves to replace Susanne's soul with that of her mother, calling her back to him.
This novel is well written and paced but a bit bloody minded whenever the necromancer's story is being told.
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off.Instead, the servants raise her below stairs as one of their own and the legendary Robin Goodfellow, aka Puc, visits her in the forests to train her up as the Earth Master to fill the responsibility her father has turned his back on.
Now nearly 21 and first seen at a distance, her father mistakes her for his deceased wife and then determines to use the Blood Magic he now serves to replace Susanne's soul with that of her mother, calling her back to him.
This novel is well written and paced but a bit bloody minded whenever the necromancer's story is being told.
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LibraryThing member erinmcewen
The protagonist in this book is (thank you, Mercedes Lackey) a strong girl who carries on while her magician father goes mad. His decaying mind eventually turns to the gothic and macabre-- very fun.
LibraryThing member SunnySD
Set against the opening of World War II, Lackey's opted to take on the classic (and very dark) French fairly tale Peau d'âne in which a father on the death of his wife takes a very unnatural interest in their daughter.
Here, the father is elemental Earth Master Richard Whitestone, whose wife's
Less graphic than the original, the "romance" of the story is a bit lost in the somewhat mechanical plotting and abundance of historical detail. A story with good bones, but without the charm of Lackey's Fire Rose or her earlier Valdemar novels.
Here, the father is elemental Earth Master Richard Whitestone, whose wife's
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death in child birth leaves him open to the appeal of darker forces. As his daughter Suzanne approaches her twenty-first birthday, he plots to strip her soul from her body and replace it with that of his long-dead wife. Suzanne flees, first hiding and then finding aid with the Kerridges, stalwart Cornwall gentry and Earth mages, who have one son...Less graphic than the original, the "romance" of the story is a bit lost in the somewhat mechanical plotting and abundance of historical detail. A story with good bones, but without the charm of Lackey's Fire Rose or her earlier Valdemar novels.
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LibraryThing member The_Hibernator
When Earth Master Richard Whitestone's wife dies in childbirth, he discards their newborn daughter Suzanne in a fit of rage. Suzanne is raised as a servant of the household, while her father wastes away in his chambers. After many years, Whitestone develops a new passion - necromancy. When he sees
This is a non-canonical retelling of the fairy tale Donkeyskin, and is part of Lakey's Elemental Master series. Although it certainly has charm and originality, it is not my favorite of the Donkeyskin retellings, nor of the Elemental Master series. I felt the premise of the book - a necromantic father, Elemental Masters fighting in WWI, with a touch of romance - had promise. Unfortunately, it just wasn't delivered as well as it could have been. The romance seemed forced, and the war sections uninteresting. Not that it was a terrible book, but it could have been so much better. Lackey is better than this.
But, if you're looking for a fluffy-quick read, or an original fairy tale retelling, this book will certainly deliver that. The narration by Kate Reading was quite good. She did the voices well, and had good timing.
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his daughter wandering his lands, he realizes she is the perfect vessel in which to trap his dead wife's spirit. Suzanne must flee her father, and hide in the guise of a servant in another household. But her skill in Earth magic is difficult to hide...This is a non-canonical retelling of the fairy tale Donkeyskin, and is part of Lakey's Elemental Master series. Although it certainly has charm and originality, it is not my favorite of the Donkeyskin retellings, nor of the Elemental Master series. I felt the premise of the book - a necromantic father, Elemental Masters fighting in WWI, with a touch of romance - had promise. Unfortunately, it just wasn't delivered as well as it could have been. The romance seemed forced, and the war sections uninteresting. Not that it was a terrible book, but it could have been so much better. Lackey is better than this.
But, if you're looking for a fluffy-quick read, or an original fairy tale retelling, this book will certainly deliver that. The narration by Kate Reading was quite good. She did the voices well, and had good timing.
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LibraryThing member readinggeek451
Another entry in Lackey's Elemental Masters series, this one based on the fairy tale Donkeyskin. Susanne is an appealing character, but the book just never quite took fire for me.
LibraryThing member Krumbs
I really enjoyed this story. It went a completely different direction than I was anticipating--previous stories in this world have generally followed fairy tales pretty closely at their basic level, but this just took an interesting turn. I really wasn't expecting the author to delve into WWI
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history. Looking forward to the next installment! Show Less
LibraryThing member Jammies
This would have been 5 stars, except I'm getting a bit tired of Ms. Lackey's overuse of the "Bad guy schemes to take over someone else's body" plotline. Off the top of my head, I can think of three other books, one in this very series, that she's used it in, and I wish she would find some other
That caveat aside, Ms. Lackey does a good job with the characters and the setting. Clearly, she has done some research into the horrors of World War I, and they are interwoven so skillfully that none of the information comes across as a history lecture. Miracle of miracles, Ms. Lackey even made me care about a character based on Dorothy Sayers's Lord Peter Whimsey, who I cannot stand.
Overall, this is an engaging summer novel, with enough action to make you pay attention, characters to enjoy, and enough bits that make you think without boring you to death.
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type of villainy for her villains.That caveat aside, Ms. Lackey does a good job with the characters and the setting. Clearly, she has done some research into the horrors of World War I, and they are interwoven so skillfully that none of the information comes across as a history lecture. Miracle of miracles, Ms. Lackey even made me care about a character based on Dorothy Sayers's Lord Peter Whimsey, who I cannot stand.
Overall, this is an engaging summer novel, with enough action to make you pay attention, characters to enjoy, and enough bits that make you think without boring you to death.
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LibraryThing member JeremyPreacher
Unnatural Issue is better, I think, than all of the previous Elemental Masters books. That's not saying a whole lot - I'm not a huge fan. But rather than being a thinly-veiled fairy tale such that the plot is apparent from the very beginning (although it is based on a fairy tale,) this is a much
There's also some genuine tension with the start of World War One, which has been skirted in the previous books (with only the also-strong Phoenix and Ashes taking a look at it directly.) It gives the series a bit more of a cohesive feeling, which it sorely needs.
I still don't love this series. It's awfully thin and the fairy tale structure is not doing it any favors at all. But Lackey finally seems to have figured out how to wrest a decent tale out of the cage she's built around this series.
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closer homage to (ripoff of?) Dorothy Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey. And Lord Peter is a great character even when he's doing magic rather than solving mysteries.There's also some genuine tension with the start of World War One, which has been skirted in the previous books (with only the also-strong Phoenix and Ashes taking a look at it directly.) It gives the series a bit more of a cohesive feeling, which it sorely needs.
I still don't love this series. It's awfully thin and the fairy tale structure is not doing it any favors at all. But Lackey finally seems to have figured out how to wrest a decent tale out of the cage she's built around this series.
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LibraryThing member Guide2
Magic just before WW1: interesting combo. Overall, a pleasant read.
LibraryThing member JLsBibliomania
Tasty vacation read
LibraryThing member DeborahJ2016
I could not figure out what fairy-tale this was supposed to be spun off of. Every other one has been so absolutely obvious to me, and I kept hoping there'd be a moment where the penny would drop and illumination would open my eyes. Nope. I mean, it seemed like it wanted to be "Little Catskin" in
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some places, and then it would hare off in a weird direction I hadn't expected. Maybe I just never read the incest aspect in the version of "Little Catskin" I read as a child. And a lot of "EW" moments in this partcular volume. Show Less
LibraryThing member jamespurcell
Good story in this entertaining series. An earth master gone mad and threatening his daughter. No shortage of princes as saviors. Alas, which one?
LibraryThing member kmartin802
This historical fantasy is set around the beginning of World War I in England. Susanne Whitestone is the long neglected daughter or Earth Master Richard Whitestone. He was off doing a job for Lord Alderscroft when his beloved wife went into premature labor and died. He blamed Susanne for murdering
Susanne was raised by the servants who became her only family. When she came into her own magic as a child, she went into the woods and demanded a friend and a teacher. What she got was Robin Goodfellow - one of the oldest of the Old Fae. He became her friend and taught her and, as she grew, she became the Earth Master of her father's lands while her father nourished his obsession to reclaim his wife by studying forbidden and dangerous necromancy.
Meanwhile in London, Lord Alderscroft has heard rumors of a necromancer in Yorkshire and has sent one of his agents - Lord Peter Almsley - who is a Water Master to find the necromancer and take care of the problem.
When Richard decides to remove his daughter's soul and replace it with his wife's and Susanne finds out about it, she flees. After a three-day flight across the moors, she finds herself at the same estate where Lord Peter is staying, an estate filled with people from the masters to the servants who all have some magic. Susanne finds a comfortable home there and develops a crush on the son of the house, but her father isn't just going to let her go.
The story is filled with the horrors of World War I since Susanne flees to the continent and finds herself working as a nursing sister in order to stay close to her crush. And the badly damaged land and many deaths make the battlefields a perfect location for a necromancer who wants revenge and still wants Susanne.
I really liked this story. I thought the world building was great. I liked the way the Elementals fit into the story. I liked Susanne who was determined to have a life of her own and who has great courage. I liked Lord Peter who develops his own love for Susanne.
This is the sixth book in the Elemental Masters series, but I didn't have any problem getting into the world created. I did read the earlier books years ago and am now tempted to reread them. I read from both a print book which I bought in 2012 and a newly purchased audiobook.
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her and ignored her. Susanne was raised by the servants who became her only family. When she came into her own magic as a child, she went into the woods and demanded a friend and a teacher. What she got was Robin Goodfellow - one of the oldest of the Old Fae. He became her friend and taught her and, as she grew, she became the Earth Master of her father's lands while her father nourished his obsession to reclaim his wife by studying forbidden and dangerous necromancy.
Meanwhile in London, Lord Alderscroft has heard rumors of a necromancer in Yorkshire and has sent one of his agents - Lord Peter Almsley - who is a Water Master to find the necromancer and take care of the problem.
When Richard decides to remove his daughter's soul and replace it with his wife's and Susanne finds out about it, she flees. After a three-day flight across the moors, she finds herself at the same estate where Lord Peter is staying, an estate filled with people from the masters to the servants who all have some magic. Susanne finds a comfortable home there and develops a crush on the son of the house, but her father isn't just going to let her go.
The story is filled with the horrors of World War I since Susanne flees to the continent and finds herself working as a nursing sister in order to stay close to her crush. And the badly damaged land and many deaths make the battlefields a perfect location for a necromancer who wants revenge and still wants Susanne.
I really liked this story. I thought the world building was great. I liked the way the Elementals fit into the story. I liked Susanne who was determined to have a life of her own and who has great courage. I liked Lord Peter who develops his own love for Susanne.
This is the sixth book in the Elemental Masters series, but I didn't have any problem getting into the world created. I did read the earlier books years ago and am now tempted to reread them. I read from both a print book which I bought in 2012 and a newly purchased audiobook.
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LibraryThing member ShannaRedwind
The book was all right. I didn't enjoy it as much as the other Elemental Masters series. I didn't feel the same connection to the characters that I usually expect from Mercedes Lackey.
However, the battle scenes in the book are the best that I've read by her outside of the Obsidian series.
However, the battle scenes in the book are the best that I've read by her outside of the Obsidian series.
LibraryThing member kmartin802
This historical fantasy is set around the beginning of World War I in England. Susanne Whitestone is the long neglected daughter or Earth Master Richard Whitestone. He was off doing a job for Lord Alderscroft when his beloved wife went into premature labor and died. He blamed Susanne for murdering
Susanne was raised by the servants who became her only family. When she came into her own magic as a child, she went into the woods and demanded a friend and a teacher. What she got was Robin Goodfellow - one of the oldest of the Old Fae. He became her friend and taught her and, as she grew, she became the Earth Master of her father's lands while her father nourished his obsession to reclaim his wife by studying forbidden and dangerous necromancy.
Meanwhile in London, Lord Alderscroft has heard rumors of a necromancer in Yorkshire and has sent one of his agents - Lord Peter Almsley - who is a Water Master to find the necromancer and take care of the problem.
When Richard decides to remove his daughter's soul and replace it with his wife's and Susanne finds out about it, she flees. After a three-day flight across the moors, she finds herself at the same estate where Lord Peter is staying, an estate filled with people from the masters to the servants who all have some magic. Susanne finds a comfortable home there and develops a crush on the son of the house, but her father isn't just going to let her go.
The story is filled with the horrors of World War I since Susanne flees to the continent and finds herself working as a nursing sister in order to stay close to her crush. And the badly damaged land and many deaths make the battlefields a perfect location for a necromancer who wants revenge and still wants Susanne.
I really liked this story. I thought the world building was great. I liked the way the Elementals fit into the story. I liked Susanne who was determined to have a life of her own and who has great courage. I liked Lord Peter who develops his own love for Susanne.
This is the sixth book in the Elemental Masters series, but I didn't have any problem getting into the world created. I did read the earlier books years ago and am now tempted to reread them. I read from both a print book which I bought in 2012 and a newly purchased audiobook.
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her and ignored her. Susanne was raised by the servants who became her only family. When she came into her own magic as a child, she went into the woods and demanded a friend and a teacher. What she got was Robin Goodfellow - one of the oldest of the Old Fae. He became her friend and taught her and, as she grew, she became the Earth Master of her father's lands while her father nourished his obsession to reclaim his wife by studying forbidden and dangerous necromancy.
Meanwhile in London, Lord Alderscroft has heard rumors of a necromancer in Yorkshire and has sent one of his agents - Lord Peter Almsley - who is a Water Master to find the necromancer and take care of the problem.
When Richard decides to remove his daughter's soul and replace it with his wife's and Susanne finds out about it, she flees. After a three-day flight across the moors, she finds herself at the same estate where Lord Peter is staying, an estate filled with people from the masters to the servants who all have some magic. Susanne finds a comfortable home there and develops a crush on the son of the house, but her father isn't just going to let her go.
The story is filled with the horrors of World War I since Susanne flees to the continent and finds herself working as a nursing sister in order to stay close to her crush. And the badly damaged land and many deaths make the battlefields a perfect location for a necromancer who wants revenge and still wants Susanne.
I really liked this story. I thought the world building was great. I liked the way the Elementals fit into the story. I liked Susanne who was determined to have a life of her own and who has great courage. I liked Lord Peter who develops his own love for Susanne.
This is the sixth book in the Elemental Masters series, but I didn't have any problem getting into the world created. I did read the earlier books years ago and am now tempted to reread them. I read from both a print book which I bought in 2012 and a newly purchased audiobook.
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Language
Original publication date
2011
ISBN
9781101515952
Local notes
Elemental Masters, 07
DDC/MDS
| Fic SF Lackey |