The Widow’s Warning is book no. one of a story that is supposed to encompass at least one more novel/novella.
Authors who venture into interpretations of fantasy that I am unused to fascinate me. Or rather their stories do. Jamie Tinker has created a dark story with an apparently obvious ending. That is until we discover that one of the pieces on the board is unpredictable to the Head Prophet.
The temptation to tinker/manipulate/steer people’s lives must be difficult to resist for a person who claims to see into the future. But the problem with the future is that it has not been lived yet. Perhaps things will happen as the prophet has seen or perhaps the pieces seen are just a small part of something that isn’t all that bad. We can’t really ask for more in life than having lives that are fairly good. Life is going to knock all of us on our faces at one point or another, so why not have the same happen to prophecy.
One thing is certain. Neither Theron nor Serina wish for the prophesied future to come to pass. Others also want to stop whatever powers Serina has to bring to the board. All three players chasing earina have permanent solutions in mind when it comes to manipulating fate. People are like that. We seem to prefer permanent solutions. But the problem with that is how difficult it is to change death. Once you have killed a person – weeellll! What if you were wrong and have made things much worse?
I found The Widow’s Warning a fascinating and entrancing read. I would like to find out what happens to Serina and Theron in their journey to what seems an inevitable ending.
A Thread in the Tangle can be read by itself. Although the ending was abrupt and clearly meant as a cliff-hanger, the dilemma of the story was resolved.
“No, absolutely not,” Sotaen said shaking his head. “The nymphling is worth far too much. You’re nothing but a barbarian. How do I know you won’t sell her yourself, or take her for yourself when she come of age? Your fondness for women and debts are well known in my court.”
Isiilde is the nymphling Emperor Sotaen and Wise One Oenghus are talking about. Nymphlings are coveted by men, raped by men and forcibly married away to the highest bidder.
Our own world is not much different from the world of Fyrsta in that regard. Selling women into marriage is still a common practice. Slavery is a condition millions of people suffer through today as well. Having to live with the knowledge that your life is not your own and that at any time anything can happen to you if your owner wills it so must be gruesome. Slaves of old have shared their experiences with the world.
At four Isiilde doesn’t quite realize what it entails to be considered an object in the world of wealth. But she will learn.
Thankfully, her allies are powerful and devoted. Oenghus has reasons of his own for protecting Isiilde so fiercely. Her other ally is also a Wise One and the Archlord of the Isle all in one person. Marsais allows the two to live on the Isle under the protection of the Wise Ones until Isiilde comes of age.
Marsais and Oenghus are old friends. They both stand against the Void and the terrors it can unleash. Now their mission is to make Isiilde’s life as good as it can be until it is time for the bidding to begin. A Thread in the Tangle is full of humor and welcome relief from what lies in the future. Isiilde’s less than stellar ability to focus on anything for more than 5 seconds at a time gets her into trouble time and again. Good thing she is Marsais’ apprentice.
Being a nymph is a challenge in the world Isiilde is born into. Where once upon a time they had been revered for their connection with nature, they were now seen as sex-toys for the wealthy. Once the Guardians had defined them as less than sentient, it was a free-for all with regard to sexual abuse. When Isiilde learns of that history from the MUCH older Marsais she is angry.
I found the idea of a tooth fetish funny. What a cool creature Flynn introduced into her story along with that fetish.
A Thread in the Tangle fit me. There were some hiccups, but I see that other reviewers have addressed those. Flynn managed to combine humor, tension, sadness and magic into a world that I stayed in all night to finish.
Mackenzie Crook has illustrated the story of The Windvale Sprites along with the cover illustration. His illustrations go perfectly with his story.
I picked this copy of The Windvale Sprites up at my library. Ragnhild, the fantasy-buff librarian, makes certain she keeps the fantasy/science fiction section well-stocked with books for all age groups. She seems to have a pretty good eye for what will appeal to people. Once again, she was correct where I was concerned.
Librarians are such wonderful and diverse creatures. We get to meet two of them in our story: Mrs. Fields and Mr. Trap. Both names are somehow appropriate (probably intentional). Mrs. Fields is an elderly, sweet, somewhat deaf woman who is willing to aid a boy with his odd queries. Mr. Trap, on the other hand, loves to trap people with his words and is quite sarcastic. He is the kind of person I would have very much liked to stick my tongue out at when I was Asa’s age. Asa definitely finds himself not at all fond of Mr. Trap.
Young Asa is the way I think children should be. You know, just a bit naughty, extremely curious and kind at heart.
(Asa) “scribbled a feeble lie on a piece of paper explaining to his parents where he hadn’t gone”
At this point I knew I would love the story about Asa, our young hunter of sprites. And I did. There is something magical about an author who knows just how much he can get away with when it comes to playing around with words.
Another thing I really liked about The Windvale Sprites was the sprites themselves. Like ravens and crows they love shiny things, they do not thrive in captivity and there is nothing sweet-looking about them (except perhaps their gossamer wings).
The Windvale Sprites left me with a happy feeling inside and a smile on my face.
If you listen to the sample below read by the author, you will get a sense of the story of The Windvale Sprites.
I just finished reading Wild Magic to my son. We are enjoying our last opportunities of reading together before he goes off to uni.
Another favorite word, crepuscular, has been added to my leaking brain.
“Aran Aranson pushed himself slowly to his knees, and stared like a hawk into the crepuscular south.”
Some words grab me, making me theirs. Their sound affects different parts of my head and the joy of reading out loud lies in this effect. Jude Fisher’s writing is of the kind that lends itself to be read out loud.
Katla Aranson is my son’s favorite character out of this bunch. It’s funny but she and he are alike in many ways. Both are oddballs among their peer-groups. Both are impatient. Patience is anything but a virtue to these two. Katla and my son are impulsive. That impulsiveness tends to be of the kind, generous and sometimes not-very-well thought through kind. They are both characters that people love and that people have a difficult time labeling.
Katla is my favorite as well. She is at the beginning of her adult life and is full of the vibrancy and courage that one has at 19. I look back at some of the things I did back then and end up having to admire all that I would put myself through to try to enter the adult world. I like that Katla isn’t interested in following the mores of her society. No marriage and children for her. No thank you! Perhaps she ends up changing her mind, but a lot of things are going to have to fall into place for that to happen. Katla has another quality that I admire. She is able to live in the here and now. If she is in a situation that she cannot change, Katla finds something in the here and now that she can work with. Optimist would a term that could be applied to her.
I feel sorry for Katla’s mom and dad. Bera and Aron are both caught up in the geas that Virelai has created and it is tearing them apart. Aron ends up doing something so stupid that it has a devastating effect on most of his loved ones. All because of a geas that itself has been caught up in the return of magic to the world. It is painful to see how self-destructive obsessions can make us. It’s not that we stop caring about how what we do affects others, rather it is a matter of not being allowed to care because our obsession takes so much room in our bodies. Virelai did a terrible thing in creating his geas, geas that will affect thousands of lives (Virelai’s being one of them).
There are a great many other characters who require their own space in the world of Elda and all of their story-lines are important to the plot. The Rose’s return to memory is definitely one of the important ones. But I am more interested in Saro Vingo. Saro finds himself swamped by the effects of the stone he carries and his amplified gifts. The people around him overwhelm him with their passions and fears. Being able to see a person for who they really are and not for who they present to the world is on the surface a gift. But gift is the last thing Saro’s ability ends up feeling like to him. Never in his wildest imaginations did he imagine people to be as base as he has found them. The feelings and thoughts of animals are easier to deal with.
Saro is the kind of person who happens to be a naturally caring one. His true gift is the desire to make the world a better place and to extend kindness to those he meets – even the people who ruthlessly use him.
Jude Fisher writes a highly entertaining tale about some incredibly insane and real people. If you like Vikings, this is a story for you; and if you like the Osmanians, this is also a story for you.
Ever since I read the first novel in this now 11 book long series about Rachel Morgan I have been hooked. How Ms. Harrison manages to keep up the quality of her writing is beyond me.
In Ever After the story is mainly about Rachel, quite a bit about Trent and Jenks with some Quen and Al thrown in. The rest of the players have minor parts this time and some of them are only mentioned in passing.
I have been wondering if I would be able to make decisions based on “the greater good”. Could I harm an individual I knew/liked/loved to save the many? Rachel faces this choice in Ever After. She faces this same choice in just about every single one of Kim Harrison’s stories about her.
Rachel is an interesting person. She is an outsider among outsiders, the peg having to accept that she will never fit into any of the holes. If I was going to choose a main theme for the series it might be how to figure out how to accept your inability to fit in. I felt Rachel managed to do that in The Undead Pool. Like all people who get to that point, the Rachel we now meet is safer in her knowledge that she is who she is. That helps when trouble keeps on following her around.
In many ways Rachel’s life stinks royally. Yes, she is an adrenaline junkie. As with all other addictions, I am assuming that your fixes need to be larger over time. If there is one thing Rachel cannot complain about in Ever After, it is the dose of trouble Ms. Harrison feeds her. Ka-boom, ka-boom, ka-boom. From one fire to the next Rachel tries to keep up dragging along her leaking bucket. Ms. Harrison loves doing that to her Rachel.
Another thing Rachel has discovered she needs in these past few years is friendship. Being friends with Rachel is difficult but rewarding. Once you have her for a friend it takes an awful lot to lose her. All you have to do is ask Nick. He has done his utmost to turn her against him (although he does not see it that way). Nick is one of those persons who is never at fault – never. He and Ku’Sox are alike in that regard and as such make a pretty good team (or maybe not).
What must it be like to think that you are never to blame for anything? I get that most things in life are plain luck of the draw while others are a direct result of what we have done. From what people say to me, the majority seems to find it incredibly easy to see its own flaws. I’m finding myself completely mystified at how a person is able to accept absolutely no blame but be glad to take credit for good things happening. Narcissism is one of the weirder disorders out there and Nick fits the bill in so many ways.
As usual, you get no synopsis from me. There is as always with Rachel Morgan action, character growth, justice, unfairness, tragedy, mystery, love and closure. You can read Ever After without reading the other novels in the series, but why deprive yourself of that much fun?
It was a story as old as time, and Rasha had played the role of disapproving elder with fervor. And even though her intent had been noble – to protect her granddaughter from an untrustworthy man – she paid the price with crushing loneliness so deep that she’d risked death or injury to …
To what lengths will we go to avoid feeling lonely?
The first five novels in the Kara Gillian series shows how far she has been willing to go to avoid that feeling. Now she experiences a sense of belonging she had never thought possible.
Loneliness is a concept I have spent much time contemplating. I’m kind of a misfit with most people. We can talk a bit, but when it comes to wanting to spend more time with me or me wanting to adjust to their expectations of “proper female behavior” – well, it just ain’t happening. In the past I have done stupid things to stop feeling lonely. I genuinely like being in my own company and sometimes find the presence of others intrusive. Even my dog and my husband. But it has been lonely growing up being a person like me. Thankfully, loneliness is no longer a factor in my life.
The other side of the loneliness coin that some people choose is that they would rather be alone than risk facing their own inner demons. Mzatal used to be like that. Then Kara and Idris came along and opened up the cracks of his emotional armor. This I really understand.
Emotions are confusing and illogical. They follow no rhyme or reason and appear when most inconvenient. I used to hide mine in a large chest that only I held the key to. Then patience and acceptance came my way through my husband and tiny emotion-elves started picking that lock.
Sometimes we all have need of a person in our life that sets off our tiny emotion-elves. Kara found several of them in her posse, and Mzatal found his through his protegés. Now both of them just have to figure out how to want to keep those positive influences in their lives.
As a compliment to Ms. Rowland’s writing, I found myself stupidly reading, and reading and reading through the freaking night. Her writing becomes better with each production. I love it when I can follow an author in their progression as a writer.
Right jacket: Paul Young Left jacket: Michael Whelan
Another reading aloud project is on its way. This time my son and I have had the honor of reading Jude Fisher‘s tale about the world of Elda.
Sorcery Rising was a pleasure to read out loud. Ms. Fisher’s words were a joy to pronounce and join together in rows and rows of images. Each time one of the old Norse words appeared was especially fun. Here in Norway we are still taught the meaning of some of the language. On Iceland old Norse is almost intact – enough that the Islanders can read the old texts. Anyways, old Norse is incredibly fun to speak. See sample at bottom of post.
Reading aloud is a strange experience. When the person I am reading to is one who appreciates both the snuggle time and relief from the hard work that comes with dyslexia, I feel as if what I am doing is making life better for at least one person. Jude Fisher made that job simpler for me by making her words flow.
Katla is a fun person. She is her father’s favorite and somewhat indulged. In a sense I guess she could be called a free soul, or at least a person who seems to be themselves fully. Climbing rocks, metal-working, teasing and being teased by her brothers, having her mother despair of Katla ever becoming lady-like, and prone to be impulsive. I can see why she would get into serious trouble. And she does. The kind that gets you burned if you are an Istrian.
Katla, herself, is Eyran. While less patriarchal than the Istrians (who hide their women from the public sphere), the Eyran fathers still have control over the lives of their daughters. Freedom goes only so far, and that length is decided by men. Physical strength matters. While Katla is strong from her smithy-work, she is easily taken down by the men around her. Her twin, Fent, is one who likes to pit himself against his sister.
Twins, yet so different of temperament. Where Katla is impulsive, Fent is volatile. Both seem to be touched by the super-natural. Their expressions of that power differs greatly. Fent fears and hates what challenges his beliefs of humanity. Katla seems to take life as it comes.
Halli, their older brother is the sibling that is set to inherit when their parents die. With that comes a sense of responsibility. Or perhaps Halli is naturally stable. He is going to need it in the times to come.
Their father, Aran, has been touched by magic and not in a positive way. Poor guy. Normally Aran is a man known for his common sense and stable nature. With the geas placed on him he becomes driven and irrational. His children do not understand what is going on and they fear and despise the changes in their father.
Saro Vingo is the younger brother in the Vingo family of the Istrian world. As a younger brother he is always being held up and found wanting against his older and extremely handsome brother, Tanto. Tanto is a douche-bag, a cruel user of people and animals.
Tycho Issian is an interesting character. The man is obsessed with Falla, the goddess of the Istrians. When his daughter, Selen, tries to stand up to her father, Tycho is willing to send her to the daughters of Falla if she does not obey his will. But his obsession is about to change.
Sorcery Rising is somewhat explicit, both sexually and violence wise, but not unduly so. I think its target audience is from older young adults and up.
Illustration by Dominic Harman Design by Sue Michniewicz
You know, Ailric is a douchebag. He is about as power-starved as you can possibly get and Tanith is his way to the throne. Talk about being willing to do and say anything to get his way. Humans are less than dirt to him and his jealousy knows no bounds. As if he has anything to be jealous about. Tanith tells him over and over and over again that she is not interested and could he please stop touching her. Being the third in line for the throne of the “elves”, Tanith feels pressured by many of the folks at home to bind herself to Ailric as the joining of their two families is seen as a good match.
According to Psychology Today a person with a narcissistic personality disorder is one who is arrogant, lacks empathy for other people, needs a lot of admiration. Narcissists are cocky, self-centered, manipulative and demanding. They are focused on unlikely outcomes (I don’t know – like becoming consort to Tanith) and feel they deserve special treatment. For some reason they have a high self-esteem – which goes along with their arrogance. If their self-esteem is threatened they may become aggressive (like Ailric’s threats and actions toward both Gair and Tanith) even though their self-esteem is rooted in the bedrock of who they are.
Holy cow, this is soooo Ailric. He manages to match all of the qualities. Like I said: a complete and total douchebag.
Gair is your basic good guy. He’s not perfect, not by a long shot. In fact he is feeling pretty murderous when it comes to Savin. I get this need for vengeance. Not that anyone has ever effected the killing of one of my loved ones, but there have been people I would have liked to, at the very least, beat up. People who hurt my children in any way come to mind – even if mine are adult now. In real life I prefer the good guys (and women). I happen to be married to one of the most decent men on earth. Like Gair they are all flawed in some manner, but something shines through. This strange quality is what Ms. Cooper manages to catch in her writing. Someone like Gair is often presented in a manner that makes me wriggle uncomfortably due to their unbelievability. But Ms. Cooper stays far, far, far away from that trap. Gair is a guy I would like to hug just because he is huggable. I guess he could be good-looking but that is not what I am remembering – and I finished The Raven’s Shadowat 6 am this morning.
I kid you not. I am 49 years old in a few days and I read through the night. What’s an old woman doing with an all-night-read? Shame on you Ms. Cooper for keeping me up all night. That seldom happens any longer, but I just had to finish. Now I have to wait another year or two for the next installment. What I have just done is a basic case of hurry up and wait. Oh, well. Old age is no guarantee for learning from experience. I choose to blame it all on Ms. Cooper. No personal responsibility at all – oh no!
Teia is the other extremely interesting main character. Poor girl. Once it was discovered she had the talent, she has had to be extremely careful about letting on how strong she was/is. Not only has she needed to watch out for the clan speaker, but she has also had a less than ideal relationship with the clan chief. Well, relationship is a bit strong. Before she was 16 he abused and raped Teia until he had impregnated her. Good thing she ran away even if it did lead to her becoming banfaith of the Lost Ones. A banfaith is a prophetess or oracle. Understandably, Teia feels awfully young for the kind of responsibility she holds. In a sense she is considered next to Baer (their chief) in authority. The Lost Ones ask for her guidance on where to travel which is kind of natural as Teia sees where they need to go. Where the Lost Ones need to go is to the enemy to warn them of the pending invasion.
Ytha is Teia’s old teacher. She is the one who should have made certain that Teia received proper training for a Speaker. But Ytha is afraid of what would happen if someone has more power than she. Anything (including murdering people perceived as obstacles) is acceptable to achieve her goals. Ytha’s goal is to lead all of the Nimrothi clans into the old home-land – together with her chief Drwyn as chief of chiefs. I would not like to get into her way.
Elspeth Cooper’s writing has appealed to me from the beginning. She is one of those rare people who has a gift. In all likelihood Ms. Cooper works hard to provide us with a novel of this quality. But, you know, there is that extra indefinable something that gifted people have.
I have placed Daughter of Storms somewhere between a children’s novel and a young adult novel. Children from about ten and up (maybe even younger) would probably like Daughter of Storms. The characters are “goodies” or “baddies” and the plot is straight forward. The characters we get to know best are Shar, her friend Hestor and uncle Thel. Uncle Thel is the leader of the rest of the baddies, while Shar is our young heroic girl who manages to save the day with her extraordinary powers.
In Shar’s world magic is tied together with ceremony and ritual. The gods’ purview is taking care of the non-human matters, such as creatures from the fifth plane and up invading the world. Humans have to take care of human matters. But the gods of chaos, of which Yandros is one, sometimes stretch their own rules a little. It depends of how they are feeling. There are the gods of order (who sound rather staid to me) and the gods of chaos (who I find more interesting).
Shar is the kind of girl who stands up for herself and isn’t afraid to defy her uncle’s authority when needed. On her side we find cats. For some reason cats seem to love Shar. Good thing she isn’t allergic. Along with their love comes an ability to communicate with Shar. Their shared communication is challenging as the thought-patterns of humans and cats differ. But there is communication. This is one power I have always wanted. Not just the power to communicate with cats, but the power to communicate with dogs and cats.
Thankfully Shar also has two friends to help her in her endeavours: Hestor and Kitto. Hestor is a Circle Initiate (deal with elemental magic) and Kitto (who is the child of a brigand). At one point, these two turn out to be vital to the survival of Shar.
Artist: Kelly Shorten Interior book design: Cera Smith Editor: Angela Kelly Line editor: Jenny Rarden
First of all I am going to talk about going off on tangents. My thing is words – Autism is part of me. That means that sometimes the sound of a word in my head or the way it feels in my mouth sets me off on a chase. One of the words in Earth’s Blood that set me off was Lemurian. The Lemurians are also called the Old Ones and are hated by both the Celtic gods, of which Fionn is one, and Aislinn. But the name Lemurian. It keeps on going round and round in my head. Part of it has to do with lemurs. Lemurs are soooo cute/adorable/sweet (maybe not) and all of those adjectives that we give animals that look like them. The other part was when I started looking for things to do with Lemurian on the net. Wow, there is actually a whole belief system centered around the concept (see links below). People are fascinating.
Sometimes when I read a novel one of the characters begins to annoy me. Once I realise what is happening I stop and ask myself why. This time it was Aislinn’s way of handling her situation that got to me. I was getting more and more frustrated with her until I finally stopped and looked at what it was I was projecting. Surprise, surprise. Thinking is problematic to my imagined self.
One of the things that bothered me was all of the sex between Aislinn and Fionn. This is coming from the woman who claims that she wishes there was as much sex (vanilla kind) in novels as there is action. In Earth’s Blood there is. But it bothered me and here is why: Conditioning. My child-hood religion is very orthodox. Sex is no exception to the rule. That in itself makes the whole concept of reading about it – even when it is as well written as Ms. Gimpel writes it – problematic. Oatmeal has a really great poster on the subject. It is funny and incredibly sad at the same time.
My other problem with descriptive sex was my childhood. I was sexually abused by some of my relatives and that scarred me and made sex less than fun for a long, long time (my poor husband). Once I realised what was going on in my head and emotions I could let go of the pain. Sex is good for me now. I got so turned on by some of the scenes that I dragged my husband upstairs and had some adult playtime.
The other thing that annoyed me was how volatile Aislinn was. Once again I had to stop myself from reacting and instead looked at what on earth was causing such a strong emotion in me. One of the things going on between Aislinn and Fionn was a whole lot of insecurity about their relationship from Aislinn’s side. No wonder, considering how it all came about and all of the challenges thrown their way (an understatement if there ever was one). I looked at my own insecurities when it comes to people and especially my husband. Being an autist is a challenge when it comes to a relationship – both for me and my non-autistic husband. My husband is the kind that shows his love through action and not through words. For me that is incredibly cryptic. My thinking muscles are severely challenged when trying to interpret what is going on in our relationship. We have been together 25 years, so I ought to have caught on by now, but you know – some people are just slow.
The other thing that caught me was what happened when Aislinn discovered she was pregnant and the following abortion. The myth about pregnant women being volatile is no myth. Sometimes our hormones take over completely and there isn’t much we can do about it. Add to that the new relationship between Aislinn and Finn and Aislinn just beginning to open her sealed chest of grief over her many losses in life thus far – and my feelings about Aislinn changed.
Is there action in Earth’s Blood. I realise that the above might have made you think otherwise, but there is plenty of action. Plenty, plenty, plenty. And like the sex it is detailed but not explicit (if that makes sense). The dark gods (another concept that sent me off on a tangent) and the old ones used to fight each other. But in their craving for control over the earth they have pooled their resources for the time being. Power is such a seductive thing and power is what both the Old Ones and the Dark Gods want. Power over the people and power to consume the earth’s resources.
By destroying anything to do with technology they have handicapped humans. And by killing off people without magic they have reduced the population and the potential number of people who could rise up against them. These are the creatures the Celtic gods and Aislinn and their bond animals have to fight. But when one of those Celtic gods is a dragon there is hope. Especially when that dragon does what she does best and goes off on a mission of rescue. I like Dewi. She is a cranky, self-important, stubborn, independent and insecure dragon who is terribly lonely as the only dragon left on earth. I believe she is my favorite character.
Anyways, Earth’s Blood affected me and helped me realise something about myself. That is probably one of the more important things an author can achieve. My imaginary hat off to Ann Gimpel.
I have to add one comment here. If you are one of those who struggles with talking to your teenagers about sexuality, I recommend letting them read this series. There is a lot of action and a whole lot of wholesome and fun sex in it. Sexuality is shown as something fragile in new relationships while also showing how turned on by each other people are at the beginning of a relationship.
I’ve reviewed an ARC copy, so Earth’s Blood is not out on the market yet. For a description:
I like Sam’s (Samhain) character. Upon beginning this review I looked for further literature about our magically-challenged witch. There is a novel (Death’s Daughter) in the inning, but I do not know when it is going to be published. The Brinded Cat (striped cat) is even more fun than Foul is Fair.
Witches and their cats! Or maybe it is witches and their familiars. In this case Mrs. McGinty’s cat is caught in a tree and Sam is asked by her boss, Fin, to climb up and rescue it. Fin is involved with Mrs. McGinty and therefore amenable to granting her small favors, but Fin is also afraid of heights. So Sam has to step into the fray and keep Fin in Mrs. McGinty’s favour, and she does. That is after all what good friends do. We support our friends in their affairs of the heart, but only to a certain point.
When Sam meets Mrs. McGinty’s cat, she realises that perhaps the cat needs rescuing but not rescuing from the tree. And off we go.
Sam is adorable. Ms. Halpin has made her strong, vulnerable, insightful, experienced and funny. I think perhaps I like people who protect under-dogs (well, in this case a cat). The vulnerable need protecting and once upon a time Sam herself found such protection when she most needed it.
How old would you have to be to read The Brinded Cat? Well, The Brinded Cat is safe enough for a five-year old to read the story, but I doubt they would get much out of it. There is extremely little violence and no sexual content. Beyond that I haven’t got a clue. There is plenty of action, some fighting, lots of magic, and a look at trust.
A lot of the books I read remind me of issues that I regularly think about. A Forthcoming Wizard (and An Unexpected Apprentice) reminded me of the many times I have wondered about the concept of racism and the idea of “perfect/ideal”.
Back in the days the Shining Ones took it upon themselves to experiment with the knowledge they had acquired. Like all good scientist they asked themselves the question “I wonder what would happen if …”. Unlike the really good scientists, the Shining Ones forgot to ask themselves the next important question “If I do this, how will it impact …?”. The Shining Ones just went ahead and did what they wanted in the name of furthering their own knowledge often deceiving themselves as to the level of nobility of their choices. Oh, what tangled webs we weave. At one point some of them looked beyond themselves and saw that perhaps they had gone too far in satisfying their curiosity. All of them except Knemet finally came to see that there comes a point in one’s life when one has to acknowledge the consequences of one’s actions.
Is Knemet evil? Maybe amoral would be a better word for it. He doesn’t do things because they are bad. He just does whatever is needed to expedite his wishes. Knemet just wants the Compendium/the Great Book so he can destroy it, thereby ending what he considers his dreary life. But as we already saw in An Unexpected Apprentice, destroying the Compendium will destroy the world. He could care less, and that is why The Great Book must be kept from him.
In my review of An Unexpected Apprentice I posited the hypothesis that the Scholardom could be considered the “bad guy” of the story of Tildi Summerbee. I believe I retract that hypothesis. They base their actions on a certain set of traditions, values, and knowledge. Some of those actions are definitely in the category “bad” in that the actions are incredibly racist. But most of the Scholardom (at least the ones we meet) are teachable. Once they see that their own theories about purity were wrong/misguided, the Knights of Scholardom are willing to try and change.
Tildi continues with her growing pains. Challenging our own traditions and myths hurts. At least I know it did for me. Tildi managed that awful task of asking herself if what she thought was the “right way” might possibly be wrong or just one of many ways. Doing so changes the way she is perceived by others but more importantly how she perceives herself. Her friends both help and hinder her in this process.
The ending of the Tildi Summerbee saga is predictable and almost Disney-like. I think that will be a comfort for the younger audience.
“Her friends shot her sympathetic glances, but none of them dared leave their husbands’ or fathers’ sides to be with her.
Smallfolk tradition prevented the girls from going off without permission, even such a small distance. It was only common sense, Tildi had been lectured all the time while growing up. Girls weren’t as strong or as fast as boys. Plenty of dangerous creatures lurked about the Quarters waiting from such a tender young morsel to happen by unprotected – and not all of them were wild animals. That was the rationale her mother had given her for why the custom continued even in cultivated places where there was no reasonable threat. The explanation did not satisfy her, but such matters could only be discussed in private among her companions where the boys couldn’t hear them. Disobedient girls would be made to stand up in meetings with a slate around their necks that read SHAME.”
Even today it can be difficult to find female main characters who stand alone. Or rather female characters who do not need romantic involvement or hero-worship of a male character to keep the story going. Tildi Summerbee in An Unexpected Apprentice manages to be such a character. Perhaps that is not such a surprise considering the society she comes from. In tearing herself loose from the Smallfolk Quarters and setting out on her own, Tildi has to redefine and question the values she has grown up with. Having been orphaned from her entire family is probably a major factor in her seeking her own future independent of the voices of her elders. Sometimes it is when we seemingly have no choices, we find that it is only just now that we have real choices.
I like Tildi. She goes from questioning her right to do anything to being someone who has learned to do without all the things she had previously thought important.
The wizard Nemeth is the reason Tildi and her merry band of 6 set off on their quest to recover “The Book” (really a scroll). My diagnosis is that Nemeth has gone insane from his contact with The Book and from his lust for revenge. I understand his need. Who hasn’t at some point or another wished for the ability to pay back some perceived wrong (whether real or imaginary). Revenge coupled with power over the fabric of the world turns out dire in its effects.
Thankfully Tildi’s merry band is a little more experienced than she. We have the wizards Edynn and her daughter Serafina. Both are accomplished at their craft even though Edynn has centuries more experience than Serafina. The princess Rin is the representative from the centaurs (half horse/half human). She is highly competitive, fun and strong. Tildi ends up having to catch a ride with Rin because of her complete lack of experience in riding any kind of animal. Lakanta is a peddler and a seemingly odd choice for the merry band, but as the story progresses we see that she too represents a group of people that aren’t quite human. Finally we have the Captain Teryn and her soldier Morag. Morag has been magically transformed into a mix of human and something else. For natural reasons he tends to panic when faced with too much magic. The Captain is highly protective of Morag.
There are two more characters that I really enjoyed in An Unexpected Apprentice. One of them is Silvertree. Silvertree is supposed to be the home of the wizard Olen. It is that. But Silvertree is also a person in its own rights. If visitors offend it, Silvertree makes life a whole lot more difficult for them – the way it did with Rin’s brother when he was rude to it. Tildi, on the other, hand gets VIP treatment from Silvertree. I like a tree with a personality.
Magpie is another great character. He lets the world think of him as nothing more than a troubadour with his mind aflutter with silliness. In fact there is a bit more depth to him and he just happens to be the third son of King Solindur of Orontae.
Nemeth isn’t really “the bad guy”. He is just crazy. If I was going to pick a “bad guy”, I would have to choose the Scholardom. Scholardom is such an innocent sounding word. Well-intentioned people can be incredibly dangerous. Getting their hands on The Book is something that must be avoided for these are the people who want to correct all the aberrations of the world. That would mean that any mix of human and other should be changed into human. They find it unfathomable that anyone would actually choose to remain as they are.
I think An Unexpected Apprentice would fit the age range of anyone able to read the Hobbit or Harry Potter. An Unexpected Apprentice is full of humour, of action, warmth, and drama.
As with the previous covers for The Unaltered serial (need to read them in order) I really like this cover. As the very good thief I am, I stole a compilation of the three others from Angell’s site:
Once upon a time a human became Crimson. She was the first human with a jewel inserted into her heart. Then came Mathea and later on others. With the abilities brought on by being Diamond Bearers these people were able to help humanity survive and to look for unaltered people. Unaltereds are the only ones who can become a Diamond Bearer and the only way to be an unaltered is to have no special powers at all. In the world of Calli Courtnae, Chris Harding and the rest just about every person has some degree of super-natural ability.
Then along comes Freedom (Henry) and General Harding (Chris’ father). Sometimes the combination of two people can bring about amazing results. In Freedom and General Harding’s case these results were amazingly destructive for people who have more than a smidgen of power. Trouble looms.
The Diamond Bearers’ Destiny starts off with an information dump that lets Calli know why Chris acted as he did in The Diamond of Freedom. For the length of the novel the info-dump is too long. I like the manner in which it was done – by having Calli read Chris’ memories.
Calli meets Crimson for the first time when she meets up with Chris and ends up reading his memories. Crimson tries to make Calli understand just how important she views the freedom to choose. Crimson’s explanation of her world-view is not too long in and of itself. On top of the information dump it is. Once Angell spread the philosophical moments with action we once again started moving into the action/thrillerish nature of the other three Unaltered novels.
The Unaltered serial is definitely for young adults. Both violence and romance is kept extremely innocent. I think even the strictest parents would allow their children to read this kind of content.
Although Brand doesn’t get to be as fun this time around, he does get to show off a bit. For those who are interested in romance, there is even some of that. Chris and Calli are a bit mushy for me, but then they have been all along. Very few romantic descriptions avoid my mushy label.
I found the consequence for Diamond Bearers who tried to go against nature interesting. Whether Calli stuffing the diamond into Jonas’ chest qualifies as one such action is a worry for Crimson (and Calli once she gets to know how serious something like that is).
In The Diamond Bearers’ Destiny Deus Ex and General Harding’s are both obsessed with having their own diamonds. Both are driven by fear of some other person being more powerful than themselves. Aahhh, the ever-present lure of power.
Cover art by Alan PollackReligion, faith, beliefs seem to control so much of the world’s humans. We allow ourselves to be steered by goddesses and gods who promise all kinds of things in return for our unfailing loyalty. Political systems seem to have the same kind of hold on people. I see how soldiers willingly put their lives on the line in travelling to far-away countries on the say-so of their leaders. In both instances motivations seem to differ from anything from undying loyalty to simple greed (although greed might not be such a simple matter).
Path of Blood takes us into both these worlds. Yohuac and his absolute loyalty to the nahualli’s and the goddesses and gods of Cemanhuatl is disturbing in its completeness. Reisiltark is no different. Like heroes in a great many young adult sagas she will do anything to save her country from destruction. That she happens to be a more or less “good” person is a lucky thing for Kodu Riik. What if she had made the kind of choices that Upsakes had – who also believed that he was doing the Lady’s will.
In spite of seeing what a terrible person Aare is (and it would take a completely blind and deaf person to avoid that) the Lord Marshal of Kodu Riik is going to swear loyalty to the man the moment he takes the Iisand’s throne. To him it is the throne he is swearing himself to and not the man. But life is never like that. It is always the person we end up swearing ourselves to and the values that person emotes. That is if we are looking at tyrannies, monarchies or dictatorships. Whether we choose to follow that person out of our own free will or because we are forced does not really matter in the end. What matters is what price our loyalty ends up having. I doubt I would have the strength to gainsay a person like Aare. His way of ruling is much too brutal and frightening.
Fortunately there are sometimes alternatives. In the case of Path of Blood we have the followers of Reisiltark and the rest of the rebels. These are the ones that managed to escape the steel grip of Aare’s followers. They have set up camp by Mysane Kosk in the hope of helping Reisiltark heal their land. I think I consider people like these rebels brave. They are the ones who have the courage to stand up to a tyrant and have put their lives on the line for their freedom. Sadly that is the consequence of power-hungry people – one sometimes has to take up weapons to stop them maiming the place one lives in and the people one lives with.
I’m not certain how I feel about Reisiltark herself. I don’t know if I really believe in her. Perhaps she is too much the anguished hero. In that sense she and Yohuac are a perfect match. She fills her role as hero perfectly. Heroes are supposed to be larger than life, have amazing values and be able to make difficult decisions on who has to die when trouble arrives. This very good and very bad cast of people is part of what makes a young adult novel. In my head Path of Fate is very much a young adult novel. There is violence, gore and darkness, BUT very little of it is descriptive and the dark is interspersed with light.
humanitysdarkerside 