Content here is by Michael Still, mikal@stillhq.com.
This is the third book in this series (preceded by Daughter of the Empire and Servant of the Empire). I didn’t enjoy this book as much as the other two, and put off reading it for ages. I think the problem is that the book feels padded, and keeps going for too long. I liked the conspiracy subplot, but it would have been nice for the resolution to be a bit more believable. Overall, the weakest book in the series.
[isbn: 0553561189]
Rori and friends are attempting to lift the siege started in Days of Blood and Fire. This book is mostly action without much discussion or character development, which makes it fun to read. The big battle at the end is a bit unusual, because so many die, but I wont say any more because I don’t want to ruin it for you. An enjoyable book, the best bit of which would have to be the Jill and Rodry quest at the beginning.
[isbn: 0553572628]
My first Katharine Kerr science fiction novel. There is a lot happening in this book: an inversion between the expected racism in our society; multiple alien species; political intrigue; murder; disease; and a first contact with a new alien species. The book could have included fewer plot elements and still have been excellent. Regardless, this book is quite good, and very unexpected from what I consider to be a fantasy author.
[isbn: 0553285041]
I read this book on the recommendation of my father. Its Cherryh’s first book, and I think you can see that from the awkward phrasing in places. Its an ok read, but not the best of her books that I’ve read. I found the grammar hard enough to parse that the book was harder work than it should have been.
[isbn: 0886773210]
This is book seven of the extended Deverry series (preceeded by Daggerspell, Darkspell, Dawnspell, The Dragon Revenant, A Time of Exile, and A Time of Omens). The blurb on the back cover of this book implies that it should be safe for a new reader to enter the series here, and I can understand why publishers would want to do such a thing for such a long series. By contrast, Asimov’s Extended Foundation Series has many entry points, with most stories being free standing. I think Kerr did a reasonable job of introducing the characters without being overly annoying about it. I’ve seen reviews from others that say that there is a lot of annoying ground to recover, such as the Etheric travel sequences. I disagree however — these are just as long winded as in other books in the series, and we’re talking about a couple of paragraphs, not hundreds of pages.
The only part of this book which didn’t sit well with me was Rori picking up a girlfriend with basically now warning. Perhaps I’m dense, but I didn’t see it coming at all, and thought it was rather abrupt. I’m also not sure it did much to further the overall story. On the other had, Jadho is an interesting character, and I’d like to see him explored more.
This book ends mid plot line, so I guess they’re expecting me to read the next book soon. That would have been a lot more annoying if I was reading this book fresh off the presses and had to wait for Kerr to write the next one before I could read it.
[isbn: 0553290126]
This is the sixth book in the not-very-finished Deverry celtic fantasy series. This one is pretty good, especially because it has several subplots, which makes it feel more like a few shorter books in one volume. That means you don’t lose your place in a 400 page story line as you go along. I’m a fan of the intermingled plot lines style (Tom Clancy does it quite well too), and it works well in this book. This book follows a subset of the usual characters, although some of the older ones have moved on, so to speak.
[isbn: 0553290118;0586211969]
This is the sequel to Daughter of the Empire. The book is long at nearly 700 pages, and contains two basic plots, although both are related and use the same characters. They could easily have been separate books — one of the things I like about this book is that it tells more of the story than it absolutely has to, whilst still being continuously engaging. The events of this book run parallel to Pug’s time on Kelwan from Magician (Apprentice and Master) and its also nice to see an alternate perspective on those events. The main thrust of this book is that while tradition is important, not being wasteful of the resources you’re handed is important too.
This book is excellent.
[isbn: 0553292455]
This book is the fifth in the Deverry series, but focusses on a different set of characters than the other books. However, the new plot line is tied in nicely with the previous stories, so there is a nice combination of furthering the overall plot without bogging down in territory which has been covered by the previous books. I liked this book, especially the way it starts out like a sequel to the third book, and then something which feels like an aside becomes the major plot line for the book. Its a great way of introducing a new sub plot without the reader realizing until its well under way, and I enjoyed it a lot. This is a a great book, and probably the best in the series after Daggerspell.
[isbn: 0553298135;0586207880]
I knew what happens at the end of this book before I read it, and I thought I’d be upset about it. Funnily enough, by the time we got there the progression of the story made it seem kind of natural. This is a good book, and a worthy addition to the series, however Salamander’s habit of including three words all meaning the same thing in ever sentence gets really annoying. I think I would have punched him in the face if I was one of the characters in the book.
[isbn: 0553289098]
This is the third book in the Deverry series, and is very readable. This book is a little different from the previous two because the two plots aren’t as strongly linked as they have been in the previous two books. In previous books they’ve been interleaved, whereas in this book the first half of the book is one plot, and the second half the other.
[isbn: 0586207414;0553285815]