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T. C. Sienko

Fallen into a rut....

Reviewed in the United States on September 5, 2013

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First of all, I'd like to say Michelle Sagara even on a bad day is still so much better than 99% of the fantasy stuff out there that I'll give her a pass on this one. I'll still continue to follow the series and eagerly snap up the "Cast in..." books as they appear. But this one just came across as a lot of random and repetitive "sound and fury, signifying nothing." Sagara seems to have fallen in a rut: "when I don't know how to resolve matters, I'll throw in ten more characters and just complicate matters." (Somewhat along E.E."Doc" Smith's habit of throwing in a new set of aliens or another piece of monkey-wrench technology when he needed to jazz things up.)
Certain hanging problems from the multi-book plot seem to have been resolved--although Sagara also added several more, so I don't think we've got that much further towards resolving dangling issues. I thought that Sagara had a plot line in mind for the entire series, but unless she plans to try to stretch this series out until doomsday, shouldn't we be seeing some movement towards the final conclusion? And shouldn't we by this point have some idea what the final conflict will be about?

On the writing style: As others have commented, too wordy and repetitive. Sagara has the makings of a fine book here (and there were lines which caused me to laugh out aloud with Sagara's wit), but this book should have been much more tightly edited.

mabg

Not her best, but moves the series along nicely

Reviewed in the United States on November 1, 2015

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It took reading this book slowly for me to really understand and appreciate it. Usually I gulp books down, especially those by authors I like as much Michelle Sagara, and on first reading (or third or sixth, however many came before this one), I didn't care for this story. It seemed confusing, and I especially didn't see how things happened in it. Much of the book is the same pattern as the others in the series: lots of magic told in vision and dream, lots of talk of guilt and regret, and yes, lots of the same discussions between Kaylin and others, and too much feeling inadequate in the presence of the Barrani, just as she's done in every book in this series. Other reviewers have felt that the similarities made the book a weak reiteration of the others, and after reading it swiftly, I used to agree. But not anymore. I think one of the things Sagara does differently than most writers is that she doesn't write dialogue or speeches just to serve the plot. Instead, she writes Kaylin's internal dialogues in the form of how people really think through things. It's messy and repetitive and includes extraneous material, because that's ho human thinking is. We don't actually have the dialogues with ourselves and others that writers usually produce because we lack the writer's focus on the plot and moving it along exactly where it needs to go. Nor are real people concerned about a reader's ability to follow along or stay interested. Obviously Sagara needs to cade about those things too, but I think she trusts the reader more than many writers do. She trusts us to be patient with Kaylin as she's slowly working out how she thinks and what she believes. Sagara depends on us to follow a lot of description written in visionary language. She counts on our being flexible enough to follow the curves and eddies in her stories, and, when she shifts us very far away from where a story has taken us, she depends on us both to stay with her and to let go easily when it's time for us to shift back. Sagara can be a rather demanding writer, and I wish the formatting of her books, especially the ebook versions, made temporal breaks and spatial motions more evident. A few blank lines would create a world of readability in some places, especially as she doesn't work to establish or reiterate for the reader venue, personnel or location, but rather depends on those things being glean-able through context (which isn't always easy).

This isn't one of Sagara's easier books, mostly because it isn't driven so much by the plot as by the characters' need to experience, understand and choose. The pacing is uneven. There aren't a lot of physical things happening, at least until the last third of the book, and many of the crucial shifts in the characters' understanding and relationships with one another happen in the second half. But, by the end of the book, Sagara has accomplished a great deal:
she's enormously deepened our understanding of the Barrani,
Kaylin's relationships with individual Barrani are much more adult and equal
Kaylin has matured--she has greater knowledge of what she does as Chosen, is growing to accept her own power and responsibility, and learning not to blindly depend or lean on the people around her.

If you really like Sagara's work but stumbled when you read this book, you might try it again more slowly and see if it helps you enjoy it too.

N. C.

A mixed bag of feelings for this book...

Reviewed in the United States on August 31, 2013

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First, I want to say that I love this series. I mark its release date every year, something I only do with one or two other book series. I love the characters, the races, and the world, so I awaited this book eagerly. Even more eagerly than normal, given the race and characters featured and where it would take place: the West March.

Finally, we get to see the area alluded to in book 2, which I have been waiting for ever since. Except... we kind of don't see all that much of it.

(Warning, minor spoilers may follow)

Let me back up and first cover the great things about this book. It has interesting dynamics between several of the recurring characters and introduces a few new ones, at least two of which I love. The tiny dragon Kaylin picked up is present and amusing and takes on a life of his own, as any "pet" in a book should. The Barrani are true to their typical nature for the most part, but some new traits are shown as part of the story. You get to see the Barrani version of "immature" in some characters late in the book, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Teela is a strong part of the tale, as is Lirienne, who are both among my list of favorites from this series. Even some minor characters are fleshed out a little more.

And now, I'll cover the not great things.

For all the waiting to get to the West March, we spend more time in the magical-time-space bit within it than we do with the parts that are more everyday life. We have one meal with the court of the Vale, we meet 4 of its citizens, only one of whom is really important, though two others are likeable enough. We see two locations aside from the Hallionne and the green - which is like a less personable, much larger and more ancient Hallionne. The rest of the time we spend in the magical places, leaving little sense of what the Court of the Vale is like, beyond the fact that they are slightly less stringent and status-motivated than the High Court. Slightly.

Some characters are kind of not there. I realize that, for length, some characters aren't going to get a lot of face time. But when a character's name is mentioned only once, and as present to being at the scene or some such, it's jarring when you had forgotten they were there at all, and are not reminded of them again for the rest of the book. This was the case with Andellen. Other interesting characters got less page time than I wanted, but no absence was so striking at the guy who is almost always where Nightshade is.

As others mention, Kaylin seems to be in a state of perpetual ignorance, and what certainty she picks up seems to sort of blindly and suddenly come to her. Her reasoning is either hard to follow or redundantly explained and nearly the same from previous books. Explanations of her constant questioning, both of herself and others, are long and often repeated.

I felt like the words in this book rambled, and though they have in at least the 2 previous ones, it was never so much as this one. Most of the time the rambling from Kaylin's perspective in previous books happened at the onset of magic, with lots of action or at least forward motion in between. It broke the monotony. However, this book was mostly magical occurrences, one giant tangle of esoteric puzzles which the reader endures for the sake of the next "oh!" moment. Those moments do happen - questions about certain characters and their relationships, motivations, fears, etc. are answered or at least given hints. Yet they are buried in so many unnecessary words I found myself almost skimming, only to get lost. It's not just magic - we are being constantly reminded of things we already know, such as the Barrani's general opinion of Kaylin, her inferiority to them, their confusion at how crazy/irresponsible/mortal she is, etc.

That is my biggest problem; about a third of the words could have easily been cut without taking away the meaning of the scenes, and that space could have been taken up by more meaningful plot or character development.

Kaylin's romantic situation is unaddressed in this book, which is a mixed blessing depending upon which potential partner you'd like to see her with. She does have some meaningful, internal back-and-forth with some of them, which furthers familiarity if not romance. This isn't a complaint, but I can see how it may be agonizing if you've really been wanting her to make some choices in that regard. I will say that certain clues seem to sway away from romantic notions of one person, but that may be my personal take.

All in all, this book is not a bad addition to the Cast series. It's good enough that I still recommend it. It's just not as well done as it could have been. Some good things happen, mostly in the last quarter of it, and it brings resolution to some threads of the many subplots building up to it. I still eagerly await more, but I do hope we see a more balanced word-to-content ratio next time.

Top reviews from other countries

NIck Verner

Not the best addition to a Great Series

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 3, 2013

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I am in agreement with most of the reviews on Amazon.com. I love the series, I love the characters, the world being built and the fact that the overall plot and relationships have taken time (and books) to develop. However, I did feel this book went on for too long. There was a lot of description in between dialogue and action scenes that didn't really add to the story for me. Also, while I can appreciate Kaylin is the main character and this book provided some major backstory to Teela's character as well, I think the author missed an opportunity to develop Nightshade as a character. Given his role in this book and the amount of "time" that was spent with him here, it was severely lacking.

On a positive note, I love the series. My favourite characters are any of the "Dragons" which I think the author has described and created brilliantly. A truly refreshing and unique take on these over-used creatures. My hope is that future books in the series (with the new characters introduced in this book) will build on this book some more.

I still bought this book as soon as it was released and I am not sorry I did. I just don't think it is the best in the series.

HL

Overlong an disappointing

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 26, 2013

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I love this series but this book and its predecessor could easily have been combined to make just one book. Most of the last third of this book could have been deleted, along with over two thirds of the last one. I would be very wary of buying the follow up, if there is to be one. I get the impression that the series is being spun out to make more money.

The author is becoming very self-indulgent; she is either ignoring her editor or the editor isn't doing her job. Much of the book does not help with the story itself, back story or understanding of the characters. I agree with a previous reviewer that the character of Nightshade could have been more developed. Severn has become a cardboard cut-out brought out to occasionally prop up the heroine.

Disappointing; it could have been so much better.

P. BOOTH

Kaylin

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 22, 2019

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Really enjoyed this book, plenty twists and turns in the plot, the only bit of a the story that needs addressing is that Kaylin needs to grow up a bit

april

well....

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 28, 2014

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almost ok..a little tired...slow pacing at times, and unnecessary repeats, stopping and going, treading water, waiting for the plot to resume...not up to the level of the best ones in the series..but at least we no longer have to deal with a snotty, angry, impolite and silly obnoxious teenager, thanks! i have followed the series from the start, and will continue to do so, but with less enthusiasm and fervor, i think...well, well...

Kindle Customer

Great series.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 18, 2015

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I love these books. I love Kaylin and all of the characters. This was lengthy and complex, in places I have to re read. This is the second time I have read this book, in fact I've just read the whole series again. I can't get enough of Nightshade. More please Michelle. Looking forward to the next book

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