Amazon.com: buying info: Gloriana, or the Unfulfill’d Queen
I just wrote a review of this book. I pasted the text below (see MORE). It only got 2 stars.
I read this specifically because of the links to Peake and Gormenghast. It starts off in the same vein, so much so, I wondered if Moorcock had a copy of Titus Groan open on his desk as he wrote.
But I found it lacking in the creation of its world. Perhaps fantasy readers are not that interested in the underpinnings of the worlds they read about, but I wanted to know more about why Albion was as old as it was but was for all intents and purposes stuck in the 17th century. Given the chief modes of transport were horse and sail, why was Arabia so powerful: in our world, its strength derives from its supplies of dinosaur juice. In a non-mechanised world, that doesn’t work.
But most disappointing of all was the rape motif at the end, including Gloriana’s long-awaited fulfilment at the hands(?) of Quire. Quire was an interesting character, and perhaps the most self-aware of any, but it would have been more rewarding to see him transcend his past and his artistic desires for something larger than himself. And Gloriana’s fulfilment seemed meaningless: was there some change or revelation that allowed her release? Or was it just Quire’s urgency?
For a book where sex in all forms takes such a large role, it was of a pretty low standard. I don’t need page after page of heavy breathing, but make it believable for people who’ve actually experienced the act.