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The Bone Doll's Twin  By  cover art

The Bone Doll's Twin

By: Lynn Flewelling
Narrated by: Victor Bevine, Lynn Flewelling
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Publisher's summary

Long ago, during the dark days of the Great War with Pleinmar, King Thelatimos journeyed to the Oracle of the God Illior at Afra to save his warn-torn kingdom. Here he was presented with a prophecy 'So long as a daughter of Thelatimos's line defends and rules, Skala shall never be subjugated.' And that is how the line of queens ruling over Skala was established...

However, as generations went by, the male heirs to the throne became intensely resentful of the prophecy that emasculated their claim to power. Finally Queen Agnalain took the throne and the people of Skala suffered under her erratic and selfish command. Prompted by the people's outcry over this mad queen, her son Prince Erius claimed primogeniture, and seized the throne. Erius's ascent may have pleased the people of Skala, but a faction of the population, one who had not forgotten the prophecy, were worried. Plague, drought and famine spread throughout the kingdom weakening it's defences and offering easy pickings to Skala's old enemy and neighbour, Plenimar.

As people start to recall the Oracle's prophecy, Erius begins to quietly kill off his female relatives who pose the only threat to his monarchy. Constantly in fear for her life, Princess Ariani the King's sister, gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl. But Ariani is married to Lord Rhius, the patron of the powerful wizard Iya, and Iya has sinister plans for the babes.

BONUS AUDIO: Includes an exclusive introduction written and recorded by author Lynn Flewelling.

©2001 Lynn Flewelling (P)2009 Audible, Inc.

What listeners say about The Bone Doll's Twin

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Not a bad beginning, but . . .

I hated this series. By the time you're done with it, you feel completely depressed. It is the opposite of entertainment.

The story is unrelentingly grim. I love dark fantasy, and horror/gothic style stories, but this one starts with the murder of a newborn baby, and just goes downhill from there. I especially hated the lack of logic in the story. A King has all the women and girls in his bloodline murdered, including newborns, so that he won't have competition for the throne -- but incredibly, he allows his sister, the rightful ruler, to live. It makes no sense. There are countless nonsensical plot holes like this one, that just make the awful things Flewelling tossed into the story, feel excessive and gratuitous.

I regret having filled my mind with the images it provokes. Read with caution.

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19 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

ANOTHER HOUSE OF CLOSED DOORS

BLOOD MY BLOOD
Extremely different. No one could call this formula writing. As someone who reads a lot, I appreciate the different approach.

FLESH MY FLESH
I did come close to giving up during the first five chapters. These chapters are mostly world building and an introduction to the characters. A lot of names are thrown at you at once and since most names start with a vowel, I was totally lost.

BONE MY BONE
In chapter six, the main character takes over. It is a sort of coming of age, only with lots of weird situations. The boy who is a girl, but does not know it, has a ghost/demon to deal with, an insane mother and he is kept in isolation. The story really picks up when he is allowed a companion who becomes his squire. The companion is a very loyal and lovable character. I was also very fond of the witch in the woods.

THE PAIN CAME BACK FOR A MOMENT ON CRAWLING CENTIPEDE FEET
I could not give this five stars, due to the confusing first five chapters and there were some flat spots in the middle. I see the sequel is even longer, but I will probably give it a try, just because I like the weirdness.

Narrator was excellent.

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15 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Not bad fantasy, but leaves you hanging

This is pretty standard fantasy as written by a woman, more witches than dragons and written by a capable author. Its a bit twisted as the audio sample clearly shows but for the genre its fairly mild. Note if you are not familiar with the genre than this doesn't mean mild, read pg 13 to R. If you get into it be prepared to at least get the next book because this one doesn't really end, just leaves you hanging and somewhat annoyed. Maybe I was just annoyed because I hadn't bought the next book in the series yet.
The narrator reads well and is not annoying in any way. A few mispronounced words.
Overall I'd say the audiobook is quite good but not great, and a lot better than most of the crud flooding the genre.

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13 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Easy to like

Originally posted at FanLit.
I finished listening to the audio version of The Bone Doll’s Twin, the first in Lynn Flewelling’s fantasy epic THE TAMIR TRIAD, around midnight a few days ago. Instead of going to bed, like normal people might, I immediately downloaded book two, The Hidden Warrior, and listened for a couple more hours. That’s how much I was involved in this story about a young girl who doesn’t know she’s magically hidden in the body of a boy.

Tobin, who’s really a girl, has had a difficult childhood. When he was born, his uncle, the king of Skala, was covertly killing off the royal women and girls because a prophecy says that the land must have a queen as ruler. King Erius had gained his throne through treachery and he intends to keep it. Tobin’s parents asked a magician to hide their newborn daughter, but they didn’t realize what kind of dark magic they were getting into. The cost was heavy and now Tobin’s mother has gone mad and Tobin’s twin brother is an evil ghost. On top of that, Tobin’s family has moved to their country estate because they fear that the king’s magicians might be able to detect the cover up. Tobin is an odd child already, so it doesn’t help that he’s being raised so far from noble society. His father and the magicians who help him must mold Tobin into someone worthy to take the throne someday.

These days I don’t have as much patience as I used to for long epic fantasies involving prophecies and boys coming of age, so I was pleasantly surprised to find myself enjoying The Bone Doll’s Twin so much. Lynn Flewelling’s writing style is pleasant and her story gently moves along at a pace that’s leisurely without becoming dull, most comparable perhaps to Robin Hobb’s FARSEER saga. There is a large cast of male and female, young and old, magical and normal, common and noble characters who are well developed, not simply stock characters. It helps that we see the story from several of their perspectives, not just Tobin’s.

A main theme in The Bone Doll’s Twin is gender identity and Flewelling handles this very well. While Tobin, who doesn’t know he’s a girl, wants to be a famous warrior like his father, and is successfully working toward that goal, he has a softer side, too, which he thinks is a weakness and fears to show others. He sleeps with a doll but we’re not really sure if that’s because he’s a girl and it’s natural for him to like dolls, or if the doll is a connection to his mother who made it. Similarly, he loves to spend his time building a model of the capitol city, a pursuit that could be seen as either a masculine or feminine hobby. While we see hints of Tobin’s feminine side, it’s all tantalizingly ambiguous so far. Things will begin to look different when Tobin reaches puberty in the next book, The Hidden Warrior.

I’m listening to the audio version of THE TAMIR TRIAD which was produced by Audible Frontiers and expertly narrated by Victor Bevine. Lynn Flewelling reads her introduction to the book. As I mentioned at the beginning of this review, I immediately downloaded and started listening to The Hidden Warrior when I finished The Bone Doll’s Twin. This is a story that’s worth my time.

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11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Got addicted to this series

I was pleasantly surprised as I got into this book. The first chapter starts out a little slow, and my first impression was "oh oh - another cheesy mage/sorcerer fantasy novel" - but the series turned out to be quite addictive. The characters are three-dimensional, the story-line surprisingly creative in terms of ghosts/demons, and the author does a good job of painting the scenery with her words. I would definitely recommend it. Good narrator too.

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Read After First Three Books in Nightrunner Series

I've found this first book to be very good - more in the Anne Rice vein than typical fantasy, however. Because this series jumps into a unique universe already fully realized, there's not a lot of background explanation of terminology/geography - it assumes you know the world the author has created. I'd highly recommend the first 3 books in the Nightrunner series before starting this trilogy.

I disagree that the book is unrelentingly depressive. It does begin with the murder of a child, but that's the crux of everything that follows and realistically casts the main characters in that plot setting. Also disagree with the comments of plot holes simply because it ignores the fact that even by the end of the book, there's no proof or certainty that the king was actually having female heirs killed - you believe that has happened but complaining that he didn't kill his half-sister ignores the repeated lines that the king did love this half-sister dearly. For me, having a character be completely, 100% evil is silly and the author avoids those kind of black and white depictions for all of the characters.

I think this first book is a great start.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Goth fantasy. Boooo.

The narrator was a twinge too much at first (he's trying to seduce the heck out of the story).... but the tale is BIG enough to get you INTO the story and past all of that kind o' thang. Very Nice. Unusual and entertaining. Ghosts. Demons. A haunted castle and a haunted here. I'm glad I picked it up and am headed into book II (as we "speak"). LOL.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Beyond Amazing

I chose to read this from an Orson Scott Card pick. This is a very originally written adventure with a realistic gothic/ghost/dark underline. I am a fan for life. I really feel like Lynn could have easily added 2-3 more books to this Triad. The others to follow are equally amazing.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Great New Fantasy Find!

Wonderful story and characters! I love the themes explored in this book, but it's never heavy handed. Good narration, too. I'm looking forward to the other two books in this series.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

An incredible work of fantasy fiction!

An incredible work of fantasy fiction! It is so rare to find an author who can master plot and go deep in character. She describes this world so well and in such detail while masterfully moving the plot forward so as to not bog the reader down.

The Narrator, Victor Bevine, has the ability to bring forth several different voices for each character, intimately knowing each character and matching tone and intention perfectly.

I feel like I lived inside this world! Bravo!

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3 people found this helpful