Finished McKillip’s Alphabet of Thorn. As always, it was beautifully written. The plot was quite predictable once all the puzzle pieces were laid out, but it was enjoyable to watch it all come together, and the decisions at the end didn’t necessarily have to go the way they did.
The relationship between Nepenthe and Bourne seemed rather tacked-on – I was going to say for plot convenience, except I am not sure that it would have made a big difference overall had Bourne been deleted from the book. I am not partial to obsession-at-first-sight romances. I did like Laidley’s attitude towards it; that resignation at least seemed realistic.
I’m not sure Kane’s decision at the end really worked for me, either. I can believe it, but I didn’t feel it. I suppose it needed more time in Kane’s head to make me see why she’d choose a child she’d never known over the man she’d loved all her life – or, I suppose, that she was becoming discontented with her role and her disguise.