{"id":2419,"date":"2011-06-19T17:04:14","date_gmt":"2011-06-19T22:04:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=2419"},"modified":"2021-05-30T11:53:44","modified_gmt":"2021-05-30T15:53:44","slug":"shades-of-milk-and-honey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/2419","title":{"rendered":"Shades of Milk and Honey"},"content":{"rendered":"

Shades of Milk and Honey<\/a><\/em> (2010) Mary Robinette Kowal<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Oddly, Shades of Milk and Honey<\/em> is in some ways a parallel to Under Heaven<\/em>, only set in an alternate England instead of an alternate China.<\/p>\n

I also wish I had not read this immediately following Under Heaven<\/em>–I should have read a thriller or a detective story or a hack and slash fantasy or anything, really, other than another alternate historical fantasy. Because it is very very difficult to judge Shades of Milk and Honey<\/em> on its own merits, with Under Heaven<\/em> so fresh in my mind.<\/p>\n

Jane is an old maid; plain and yet skilled in the gentle arts of painting and piano and a natural talent at glamour–the ability to shape images to cover what is real until the image becomes part of what is real. <\/p>\n

The story is an old fashioned romance, but with subtle magic thrown in, and I loved how the existence of magic seemed to fit so flawlessly into the world of Regency England.<\/p>\n

And yet… <\/p>\n

I loved the originality and I loved the setting and I would pick up another book by Kowel in a heart beat, and yet the story wasn’t everything I could have wished. Good–very good–but not great. As I said, I most likely would have appreciated it more had I read it following something completely different.
\nRating: 7.5\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Shades of Milk and Honey (2010) Mary Robinette Kowal Oddly, Shades of Milk and Honey is in some ways a parallel to Under Heaven, only set in an alternate England instead of an alternate China. I also wish I had not read this immediately following Under Heaven–I should have read a thriller or a detective […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[194,27,30,2,48,26],"tags":[239],"class_list":["post-2419","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-7-5-10","category-alternate-history","category-british","category-fantasy","category-female","category-romance","tag-mary-robinette-kowal"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-D1","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6199,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/6199","url_meta":{"origin":2419,"position":0},"title":"Shades of Milk and Honey","author":"Michelle","date":"November 19, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Shades of Milk and Honey (2010) Mary Robinette Kowal Set in Alternate Regency England ~1814. The first time I read this, it was immediately following a Guy Gavriel Kay book, and so this story suffered in comparison. Nothing against Mary Robinette Kowal, it's just that Guy Gavriel Kay is that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"milkhoney","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/MilkHoney.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6187,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/6187","url_meta":{"origin":2419,"position":1},"title":"The Escapement of Blackledge","author":"Michelle","date":"November 13, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The Escapement of Blackledge (2016) Mary Robinette Kowal Set in alternate Regency London The Duke of Blackledge does NOT want to attend his coming-of-age birthday party, however, his mother is insistent. But there is only so much he can take, so he escapes to his laboratory where he works on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"the-escapement-of-blackledge","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/The-Escapement-of-Blackledge.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6207,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/6207","url_meta":{"origin":2419,"position":2},"title":"Without a Summer","author":"Michelle","date":"November 19, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Without a Summer (2013) Mary Robinette Kowal Set in Alternate Regency England in 1816, during the Year without a Summer. The third Glamourist History finds Jane and Vincent back in London, with a new commission and with Melody as a visitor, in the hopes she'll find a husband. There were\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"without-a-summer","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Without-a-Summer.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6203,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/6203","url_meta":{"origin":2419,"position":3},"title":"Glamour in Glass","author":"Michelle","date":"November 19, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Glamour in Glass (2012) Mary Robinette Kowal Set in alternate Regency England in 1815. Following their marriage, Jane and Vincent have come to the attention of the Prince Regent, and commissioned to create a Glamour for his ballroom, which makes them even more popular, so it is a surprise when\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"glamour-in-glass","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Glamour-in-Glass.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6216,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/6216","url_meta":{"origin":2419,"position":4},"title":"Valour and Vanity","author":"Michelle","date":"November 26, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Valour and Vanity (2014) Mary Robinette Kowal Set in Alternate Regency Venice in 1817. After traveling with Melody, her new husband, and Jane's parent's for part of their wedding Tour... \u201cYou must not go!\u201d Mrs. Ellsworth came to a stop in front of them with a hand pressed to her\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Alternate History"","block_context":{"text":"Alternate History","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/fantasy\/alternate-history"},"img":{"alt_text":"valour-and-vanity","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Valour-and-Vanity.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3638,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/3638","url_meta":{"origin":2419,"position":5},"title":"The Mad Scientist’s Guide to World Domination: Original Short Fiction for the Modern Evil Genius","author":"Michelle","date":"March 20, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"The Mad Scientist's Guide to World Domination: Original Short Fiction for the Modern Evil Genius (2013) John Joseph Adams \"Professor Incognito Apologizes: an Itemized List\" by Austin Grossman \"Father of the Groom\" by Harry Turtledove \"Laughter at the Academy: by Seanan McGuire \"Letter to the Editor\" by David D. 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