Oath of Fealty by Elizabeth Moon
Read from May/June 2010
Highly anticipated return to Paks’ world which mostly fizzled for me. Paks had a couple of cameos, but the lion’s share of the storylines fell to Dorrin, by far the most interesting of the points of view presented. Arcolin’s story felt and looked like filler. Except for the scene in the ossuary, Kieri’s tale barely bumped through a two-dimensional plane. The most tragic loose end hinges on the fate of Stammel.
The abrupt and anti-climactic ending left me feeling ambivalent. My emotional line graph would resemble a near dead person’s EKG – a few squiggles, but no mountainous peaks or terrifying plummets.
Since it’s been years (translated decades) since I read The Deed of Paksenarrion, I felt detached from all these characters, even Dorrin, though her struggles proved the most exciting and enlightening.
I can’t say I didn’t enjoy reading Oath of Fealty, but I feel somewhat let down; perhaps my expectations aim too high.
GR Status Updates:
| 05/21/2010 | page 1 | 0.2% | ||
| 05/22/2010 | page 12 | 2.42% | “I’m having a hard time picking up the thread of this world. Too many years under the bridge to remember Paks’ world.” | |
| 05/23/2010 | page 30 | 6.05% | “Starting Chapter Four ~ Story picking up speed and I’m getting back into the world.” | |
| 05/25/2010 | page 47 | 9.48% | “Arcolin arrives at Verella and is delayed a couple of days.” | |
| 05/26/2010 | page 57 | 11.49% | “Finally, Paks makes her initial appearance with the heir.” | |
| 05/28/2010 | page 78 | 15.73% | “On war and peace, on allies and enemies, on elves and men, on land and forests.” | |
| 05/28/2010 | page 92 | 18.55% | “All is not quiet on the west front of Lyonya.” | |
| 05/30/2010 | page 126 | 25.4% | “Dorrin says her farewells to the king and departs.” | |
| 05/30/2010 | page 143 | 28.83% | “On the eve of the coronation in Chaya.” | |
| 05/30/2010 | page 176 | 35.48% | “Dorrin arrives at Verrakai keep.” | |
| 05/31/2010 | page 208 | 41.94% | “Dorrin dodges traps and vile plots left behind by her relatives.” | |
| 05/31/2010 | page 233 | 46.98% | “Arcolin’s love triangle fodder for a bard’s balad?” | |
| 06/01/2010 | page 339 | 68.35% | “Here’s hoping that the three points-of-view in this novel converge into something more than the sum of it’s jumbled parts.” | |
| 06/01/2010 | page 429 | 86.49% | “Paks agrees to babysit for Dorrin while she attends the coronation.” | |
| 06/02/2010 | page 496 | 100.0% |
