Miranda and Caliban

Title: Miranda and Caliban
Author: Jacqueline Carey
Genre: Adult Fantasy, Retellings
Rating: 3 out of 5

Let me begin with this; I've never read the Tempest. I'm vaguely familiar with the storyline but not to any level of detail. So going into Carey's latest novel I didn't really know what to expect. Miranda and Caliban is a well written, quick paced book. It certainly kept my attention.

What it didn't do is really make me care about any of our characters, especially Miranda. I don't really know why but I just never understood Miranda. Maybe because if it was me I would have been much more defiant than Miranda is towards her father; or maybe because I feel like she is so naive and I can't imagine any one person knowing so little about their own feelings, thoughts and body. This likely makes me a snob, but I just couldn't imagine being her or relating to her in most instances.
Caliban however is a doll and the kind of character you just want to pick up and coddle for the rest of their life. He's both kind, naive, helpful, and loving without even realizing what most of those things are.

There was one thing that really dropped this book to three stars for me however, I cannot figure out the point of Ariel except for two moments in which I feel Ariel is not actually as critical as it seems. One is to report something happening, but let's face it the character that is alerted could certainly have stumbled upon the situation without Ariel leading him to it. The second is to carry out a 'task' that I think another character could have conjured on their own. Therefore it seemed like Ariel was only there to be an annoying, inconsiderate, mean figure that put doubt in everyone's minds. But let's face it eventually all of our characters are likely smart enough to have figured things out on their own. Maybe not as quickly, but I don't believe any one of them needed for Ariel to be present.

I'm going to think about reading Shakespeare's the Tempest now that I have read this as I'm curious to know what Carey took from the play and what she conjured on her own.

Overall this book is certainly worth reading if you like the Tempest or Carey's previous books. It's not near as good as :Kushiel's Dart| series, Banewreaker or others. That said it certainly lives up to the excellent quality of writing I except from Carey, even if the story didn't do it for me.

Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review. Don't believe me? Check out the other books I've had eARCs for that I gave great or bad reviews to. I always give my opinion whether good or bad. ;)