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cyphomandraI've been following much of the discussion about race and fandom that's been going on, through various iterations (and some appalling demonstrations of privilege), and so this does tend to come through in my reviews. I don't think I would have been wild about this book before that - it's the second Andre Norton ever published, and while it's an all right, if obvious, adventure story from a plot point of view, with occasional striking imagery, I really prefer her sf - but afterwards it's very difficult to see it as anything but problematic.
Ralestone Luck is about the contemporary (1938 is the year of publication) Ralestones, three young descendants of English nobility. The sort of English nobility who took refuge in France in the 1600s before turning pirate, and then settling down near New Orleans with a bunch of slaves to work their indigo fields. Various duels and intrigues ensue, with the ultimate loss of the Luck - a sword with the family tree engraved on it - and with it the fortunes of the family. However, by this stage I was contemplating a particular line - "Betrayed by one of his former slaves, a mulatto who bore a grudge against the family, he was murdered by a gang of bullies and cutthroats" and realising that I had no sympathy for the victim but an awful lot of sympathy for any former slaves with perfectly explicable grudges. I was not entirely surprised, if disappointed, when the loyal house staff, former slaves who stayed on once freed, show up and declare their intentions to work for the Ralestones (for free - "We's not talkin' 'bout pay workin', Mistuh Ralestone").
It's also difficult to read the descriptions of various Ralestone ancestors going through the Haiti rebellion - the "horrors of the black uprising" - with any knowledge of what led to the revolution (the Wikipedia entry has a nicely disturbing bit about how, as the death rate among slaves exceeded the birth rate due to ill-treatment, further slaves kept having to be brought in from Africa). There are also a couple of casual references to "Oriental demons" and Sam, one of the faithful workers, is unable to help rescue the leads at a crucial moment due to his "racial fear of the dark unknown" (a tunnel) and, really, I ended up pushing myself to finish this, possibly in the hope of aliens suddenly showing up to fix everything (sadly, no).
There is a bit, however, a bit where Val (one of the leads) thinks that the Ralestones, "for all their pride and fine, brave airs, had only been pirates after all, akin to those whom they were now hunting through the dark." This is after they discover underground rooms under the family mansion with manacles and chains from the slave days. It's a moment of insight, but not one that's acted on - the story is, after all, about reclaiming the Luck, finding their past heritage (and using it to establish their rightful claim to the place). There's no question, at the end, that it might be a deeply tainted prize.
Anyway. I should go re-read some of her sf books after this, which are much better.
Ralestone Luck is about the contemporary (1938 is the year of publication) Ralestones, three young descendants of English nobility. The sort of English nobility who took refuge in France in the 1600s before turning pirate, and then settling down near New Orleans with a bunch of slaves to work their indigo fields. Various duels and intrigues ensue, with the ultimate loss of the Luck - a sword with the family tree engraved on it - and with it the fortunes of the family. However, by this stage I was contemplating a particular line - "Betrayed by one of his former slaves, a mulatto who bore a grudge against the family, he was murdered by a gang of bullies and cutthroats" and realising that I had no sympathy for the victim but an awful lot of sympathy for any former slaves with perfectly explicable grudges. I was not entirely surprised, if disappointed, when the loyal house staff, former slaves who stayed on once freed, show up and declare their intentions to work for the Ralestones (for free - "We's not talkin' 'bout pay workin', Mistuh Ralestone").
It's also difficult to read the descriptions of various Ralestone ancestors going through the Haiti rebellion - the "horrors of the black uprising" - with any knowledge of what led to the revolution (the Wikipedia entry has a nicely disturbing bit about how, as the death rate among slaves exceeded the birth rate due to ill-treatment, further slaves kept having to be brought in from Africa). There are also a couple of casual references to "Oriental demons" and Sam, one of the faithful workers, is unable to help rescue the leads at a crucial moment due to his "racial fear of the dark unknown" (a tunnel) and, really, I ended up pushing myself to finish this, possibly in the hope of aliens suddenly showing up to fix everything (sadly, no).
There is a bit, however, a bit where Val (one of the leads) thinks that the Ralestones, "for all their pride and fine, brave airs, had only been pirates after all, akin to those whom they were now hunting through the dark." This is after they discover underground rooms under the family mansion with manacles and chains from the slave days. It's a moment of insight, but not one that's acted on - the story is, after all, about reclaiming the Luck, finding their past heritage (and using it to establish their rightful claim to the place). There's no question, at the end, that it might be a deeply tainted prize.
Anyway. I should go re-read some of her sf books after this, which are much better.
