Category: Fantasy

Audiobook Review: The Rook by O’Malley (3 Stars)

The Rook by Daniel O’Malley

Narrated by Susan Duerden

2.5 to 3 out of 5 stars

Read in July/August 2013

I listened to this book because it was the July 2013 book of the month for the Fantasy Book Club.

Parts of this book were laugh-out-loud funny, but other parts of it just set my teeth on edge. Too many infodumps and a bit too much profanity.

I can easily see this novel as a British television series (along the lines of bad books make good movies? or average books make good television?).

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Book Review: Avempartha by Sullivan (3.5 Stars)

Avempartha by Michael J. Sullivan

3.5 out of 5 stars

Read in May 2009

Warning: Spoilers

Good pacing and good action throughout this second episode of the Riyria Revelations series. A trimmed down cast of characters with a few guest stars rounded out the adventure. I missed Myron, my favorite character from The Crown Conspiracy. The most character development occurred among the guest stars, particularly Thrace and Theron of Dhalgren. Hadrian and Esrahaddon revealed more of themselves. I learned more about Royce, but Arista faded to two dimensions.

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Book Review: The Ladies of Mandrigyn by Hambly (5 Stars)

The Ladies of Mandrigyn by Barbara Hambly

5 out of 5 stars

Warning: Spoilers

After discovering Barbara Hambly via the books Dragonsbane and The Time of the Dark, I just couldn’t get enough of her. She writes great, strong women characters, that are usually of the non-magical sort. The women are often the warriors, like Starhawk. Her male characters are also indelible, flawed but inspiring.

In this book, Sun Wolf is a successful mercenary captain who refuses a job that is basically a rescue mission. The women of Mandrigyn want him to rescue their men from the mines of the evil wizard Altiokis. Sun Wolf had one rule, one principle he always adhered to – never get involved in a war with a wizard.

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Book Review: Oath of Fealty by Moon (3 Stars)

Oath of Fealty by Elizabeth Moon

3 out of 5 stars

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.

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Book Review: The Emerald Storm by Sullivan (2.5 Stars)

The Emerald Storm by Michael J. Sullivan

2.5 out of 5 stars

Read in August 2010

Many new characters, bit part cast members, introduced in this episode, and just like their infamous red shirted ST:TOS forebearers, they dropped like flies before the credits rolled. I felt disconnected from most of the characters, with the exception of Modina and Wesley. The plot jerked, jumped and ultimately crumbled. Not even the expected banter between Royce and Hadrian could inspire a smile.

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Book Review: The Warded Man by Brett (4 Stars)

The Warded Man by Peter V. Brett

4 out of 5 stars

Fantasy Book Club April 2010 Selection

Read from March 31 to April 04, 2010,

I devoured this book, ravenous as a coreling in the night. Excellent world building, great character development, driving plot and riveting action. I’m panting and sweating just thinking about the last desperate battle.

Some of my favorite bits of the world building include a post apocalyptic setting, almost an alternate history of our own reality, where humanity is facing extinction from supernatural elements (demons) holding people hostage with terror as they roam the nights freely; ward magic lost in the mist of time and only rediscovered sparingly and with great difficulty; and, the presence of religious and racial prejudices dividing rather than unifying at the expense humanity’s survival.

About two-thirds finished, I yearned to give a five star rating because I became so invested in the characters I wept for their pain, misadventures, obsessions and short-sightedness. But the characters I loved were abandoned, left behind, or symbolically sacrificed and reborn into even more crazed incarnations.

The healing of mind and soul attempted during the last few chapters stretch my believability nearly to the breaking point and left me wishing that men really could walk in a woman’s shoes (or her body) before assuming we overcome, endure or recover like men. Without spoiling, I can’t convey how soured I became with the author for that one pivotal event.

Notwithstanding the sour taste in my mouth for that plot point, I couldn’t put this book down or turn pages fast enough. I plan to seek out the sequel, The Desert Spear, when I return this book to the library tomorrow.

Book Review: Well of Ascension by Sanderson (4 Stars)

Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson

4 out of 5 stars

Read in October 2008

I read Well of Ascension immediately on the heels of Mistborn The Final Empire, which was a relief and a race. I wanted to finish the second book since the third book was “in the mail” to me, signed by the author.

While not as riveting as the first book of the series, I enjoyed the continued struggles of Vin and Elend, as they pick up the pieces after shattering the Lord Ruler’s Empire. Most of the characters from the first book are present, except for Kelsier, of course, who sacrificed himself at the end of the first book to become a martyr and start a religion which would give hope to the skaa.

Vin barely sleeps as she guards Elend from assassination attempts. Elend has his hands full crafting a democratic government and a siege by two hostile armies. Sazed returns to his calling and strives to teach the skaa relevant religions but soon stumbles upon the returning horrors of the Mists. Vin, Elend, Sazed and others finally find the Well of Ascension, but with no time to spare, have they done the right thing?

Since this is the second book of the series, it carries on the story, but must leave us with something to hope for in the final installment. A very enjoyable work and I highly recommend it to all lovers of fantasy.

Book Review: Hero of Ages by Sanderson (4 Stars)

Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson

4 out of 5 stars

Read in November 2008

Warning: Spoilers

Strangely, this third and final book of the Mistborn trilogy was more depressing and tragic to me than the middle one, The Well of Ascension. It was also disturbing on a theological front for me.

It’s been a year since Elend and Vin were married and they are still struggling to hold their new empire together. It’s becoming increasingly apparent that nothing they are doing will stop the inevitable – the world is dying, ending, destroying itself. Sazed has lost all faith. Where he used to preach and believe in all religions, he has spent the year studying and dismissing all the religions in his research as false.

Meanwhile, even in the face of Sazed’s crisis of faith, we actually meet and get confirmation of two deities locked in a futile struggle. They are Ruin and Preservation. I long suspected, even back in the first book, that the voices in people’s heads where not internal memories or insanity, but an external force pressuring them emotionally and psychologically into actions that met it’s ends.

The one pleasant surprise was learning the true origins of the kandra.

It was a compelling story and I read it almost non-stop for three days. I was very saddened by the fates of the main characters – nearly all of whom don’t make it to the end credits. Even though we lose so many, there is hope and a resurrection of sorts in the end.

Back to my theological concerns – I could see increasing influence of Mormonism throughout this book. It’s subtle, but the Mormon worldview fits.

In the end, Sazed was raised to godhood, but limited in his knowledge and by the laws of the universe. Even with his metalminds, he was not omniscient.

He was always one of my favorite characters and Feurchemy was the essence of Balance so he was the perfect mediator for the elemental forces of Ruin and Preservation.

Since there are still two Alomantic metals undiscovered and Spook has been left in charge with the blessing of Sazed, I imagine we will have more opportunities to visit the newly rejuvenated world of the Mistborn.

Article: Grammar Girl : Apostrophes in Science Fiction and Fantasy Names

Grammar Girl : Apostrophes in Science Fiction and Fantasy Names

http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/apostrophes-in-science-fiction-and-fantasy-names

I’ve read most of the Pern novels and never found the apostrophes annoying.   The romance subplot usually did that.

Book Review: Daughter of the Forest by Marillier (3 Stars)

Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier

3 out of 5 stars

Read in August 2008

Part of me wanted desperately to give Daughter of the Forest four stars. Perhaps if I hadn’t read six or eight additional books during the time it took me to finish this one.

Sorcha is the seventh child (she has six older brothers) of the household of Seven Waters in Erin. Her mother died bearing her and her father seemingly can’t interact with his daughter because she reminds him of his beloved wife. He throws himself wholeheartedly and ruthless into the defense of Seven Waters.

This is a re-telling of an old Celtic faery tale (the Wild Swans). The ‘evil’ stepmother arrives, seduces and blinds the father and drives a wedge between the siblings. This culminates in an enchantment or curse that transforms the six brothers into swans. Sorcha barely escapes the spell.

To break the spell and save her brothers, she is required to never speak, never to tell her story by any means and to weave and sew six shirts for her brothers out of a spiny weed called starwort.

Sorcha struggles on for years. Since this tale is told in the first person from her point of view, it is easy to identify with her travails. However, even though it seems like if it weren’t for bad luck she would have no luck at all, I grew bored at times with the internal dialogue.

Sorcha has a nearly impossible task to complete that at times requires superhuman strength of will to inch forward. I was deeply moved by her plot and the few individuals who saw her strength and struggled and helped as the could without any understanding of her task.

I guess the biggest disappointment for me was that the second half of the tale seemed to be a thinly veiled romance. I literally saw that coming from miles away and it ended just as nearly all faery tales do, happily ever after.