14th April, 2010
Hnn.
Prince of Storms by Kay Kenyon.
In one of the more imaginative series I’ve read in a while, Kenyon wraps up her The Entire and The Rose saga with an ending that was decent but not what I was really hoping for. While Kenyon remains a skillful writer, action sequences really aren’t her forte. Nonetheless, if you enjoyed the first three novels, this wouldn’t be the worst way to spend your time on a rainy weekend.
3/5 gogs.
Spellwright by Blake Charlton.
Ugh. I was suckered into reading this by some of the hype I had seen in the SF/F blogosphere. Fledgling author Blake Charlton trots out the tired old story of lower-caste boy + prophecy = boy becomes all-powerful and saves the world, gussied up with a relativity unique “system” of magic (that of grammar) which is only briefly outlined in the book. Combine said magic with bad puns and wordplay and you have the wince-inducing offspring of Piers Anthony and Brandon Sanderson who displays only the weaknesses of both authors. The book felt like it should be targeted at young adults with its simplistic writing and lecturing tones (Charlton defines English words and explains math problems within) and to top it off, after a rather ho-hum climax, the final chapter read more like a synopsis of the next book in the series than a hook to make you want to go out and pick up the next installment. Not an impressive debut.
2/5 gogs.
Posted at 5:23 am | Comments (2)
On April 18, 2010 at 0:01 Will R said:
April 18, 2010 at 0:01
I picked up Spellwright yesterday. I read it late, then finished it through this morning into this afternoon. It was…okay. I feel as if a better writer could have made this book into two; there was a significant lack of depth in his writing, almost as if a talented teenager had written it. Very Christopher Paolini-esqe. I noticed on the back that Robin Hobb had commented on it and wiki’d the name. I’m halfway through the first book of the FarSeer trilogy, and it’s like night and day! In any case, your review of Spellwright is definitely accurate. That last chapter, especially – what, a year passes in the turn of three or four pages? And there’s no fleshing out of the world, as if the author expects the reader to instinctively know the vision he holds. In any case, FarSeer’s the shit, definitely check it out if you get a chance.
On April 21, 2010 at 4:54 Gog said:
April 21, 2010 at 4:54
Yeah, I rather enjoyed Hobb’s Farseer trilogy. I think that was the first series of hers that I picked up. The follow-up Fool trilogy is pretty good as well, if I recall correctly. ^^