Grimlock ♥ Ultra Magnus

This is Simone's take on Red Sonja, and it's far more rich than I really expected.   Then again, I'm not much of a fantasy person, so I didn't know that much about Red Sonja.   Perhaps previous incarnations were just as good, or even better, but as a newbie?   This series gave you all the backstory you need to feel comfortable in Sonja's world, and it provides a gorgeous character study.  

Sonja is full of contradictions: she can't kill white stags, but she murders men who do evil or stand in the way of her doing good without batting an eye.   She doesn't want children to be like her, but she never changes or even tries to change.   This actually makes sense.   The world, and innocents, need protection, especially if they are to keep their hands clean of blood. 

By the time she was in her mid-teens, Sonja had what seemed to be an ocean of blood on her hands.   I'm not sure she could conceive of a way of living that didn't include bloodshed after all she'd seen.  She's both protective and optimistic optimistic about the people who show her kindness, but cynical about the world in general.   Again, this makes sense.   Her origin story is pretty horrific.  

That being said, it was nice seeing a barely clad woman who was taken seriously.   No one tried to grope her after she took the name Red Sonja and the nickname The Devil.   Mostly because they were afraid of what she'd do if they dared.  She's smart, she's caring and protective, but at the same time she drinks and swears, and acts more like a son than a daughter.  She is in fact called the son his father always wanted by a prince.   

In a lot of ways, she defies conventions.   While, yes, she's viewed as a woman, I'd say she's simply written as a person who's been influenced more by her past and her set of morals than her gender.   It's not at all what I expected fro a fantasy series set in a medieval type world, but it was a pleasant surprise. 

I did have trouble getting into it, though.   The start was a little rocky, mostly because it was slow to get where it was going, and I'd argue necessarily so.   Most of the characterization didn't come in the set up, but in the later parts of the story, so I'm not sure why the beginning was so slow.   Still, if you can push through that, a worthwhile read.