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World Fantasy and Nebula Award finalist Kate Elliott breaks new ground in a brilliantly original new fantasy set in a unique world of fabled cities, mysterious gods, and terrible dangers. From the first page readers will be swept up in the story of Mai and Captain Anji, as they become unwitting players in a conflict that began many years earlier, and which will shake the foundations of their land. For hundreds of years the Guardians have ruled the world of the Hundred, but these powerful gods no longer exert their will on the world. Only the reeves, who patrol on enormous eagles, still represent the Guardians' power. And the reeves are losing their authority; for there is a dark shadow across the land that not even the reeves can stop. A group of fanatics has risen to devour villages, towns, and cities in their drive to annihilate all who oppose them. No one knows who leads them; they seem inhumanly cruel and powerful. Mai and Anji, riding with a company of dedicated warriors and a single reeve who may hold a key to stopping the deadly advance of the devouring horde, must try, or the world will be lost to the carnage. But a young woman sworn to the Goddess may prove more important than them all . . . if they are not too late. A haunting tale of people swept up by the chaos of war, this is superlative fantasy adventure, rich in texture, filled with color and excitement, masterfully crafted by a brilliantly gifted storyteller. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
ImLittleJon: There are some similarities between Martin's and Elliott's series. Their epic scale is similar, with multiple interweaving plotlines, characters noble and humble, interacting cultures, and so forth. Both begin in a world where magic is a matter of legend, but slowly creeps back into usage. Spirit Gate might not be A Dance with Dragons, but it will help make the time pass until that book gets published.… (mere)
Ponderous "worldbuilding" unrelated to the story just killed this for me. Let's describe all the shops on the street while we walk towards something that matters. Let's make the reader do math in their head to figure out the various "ages" when people have ceremonies to move on to the next phase of life, then have that not matter to the story. Tell me that the group is annoyed with the cleric rather than showing me, then have the cleric leave the group so none of it matters.
I found the whole thing an insult to the reader's attention. Get an editor. And for God's sake, tell a story that I can care about. ( )
First book in a trilogy, with, I thought, compelling characters and enough mystery that it took me quite a while to start guessing what may be going on. The world itself is complex and somewhat confusing with its different religious systems that appear to be all the same, with its different ethnic descriptions that all have a common language, so the underlying philosophy may make the rest of the story potentially simplistic, but for right now, I want to keep reading because I like especially the female characters and the eagles. ( )
Once The Hundred was a place of peace and safety. The Guardians delivered justice and the reeves flew in answer to them. But no one has seen the Guardians in generations. The reeves still patrol but their authority has been on the wane for quite a while, and now there are reports of attacks on villages. Reeves and their eagles have been murdered. Something dark and troubling is on the rise.
Okay, so that blurb is fairly standard for an epic fantasy, but don’t dismiss this book as a by the numbers story because it is so much more than that.
First off, the world-building is excellent. There are a number of different countries and histories that we are introduced to. The Hundred is where the majority of the characters come from, where most of the action takes place, but there is also the Sirniakan Empire where the genders are sequestered from one another, and there is the land where Mei comes from, now ruled over by Qin warriors, where the family is ruled by the male head.
I enjoyed the author's Crown of Stars series quite a lot. This book has been on my shelf for a long time and I finally picked it up. But sadly I did not finish it. I nearly gave up at page 100, kept going to page 400 and then just thought life is too short to carry on with a book that I was not enjoying. I just didn't care about anybody in it. Too much unnecessary detail. Several points of view can work but when the reader cares nothing for any of them you are in trouble. Sorry Ms Elliott but this is not for me. ( )
I very nearly stopped reading this after the first chapter - killing off the first viewpoint character right then really kind of blew it for me. But, I soldiered on. A couple bland chapters later and I was ready to give it up again. It seemed remarkably predictable, and the characterization just wasn't compelling enough to hold my interest. But I read a review that suggested that the ending more than made up for the book being a bit slow. I found it more than a bit slow - more like telling about 4 different stories kind of lamely in the same volume, with random viewpoint changes and occasional unexplained time shifts. So I kept on reading, on the off chance it really would get better.
It didn't. The end of this volume was very nearly what I expected it to be at the end of the first chapter. The viewpoint changes were choppy and often inexplicable. As I feared, this isn't so much a volume one as a part one. The ending didn't satisfy me enough to be the end of a book, but the story doesn't interest me enough for me to keep reading it.
I had thought that, it being fairly simple, it would be a good thing to read while recovering from surgery. Fortunately for me, but unfortunately for this book, I didn't need any pain medicine - it might have been more interesting if I were a bit drugged up.
I will say that the author's done very good, extensive world building. Someone who's more interested in the universe, and is comfortable with a broad, meandering, ensemble story would enjoy this more than I did. ( )
Oplysninger fra den engelske Almen VidenRedigér teksten, så den bliver dansk.
The novel is lovingly dedicated to my sister Sonja who, during the same year I was writing this book, tackled three major life changes very like those in the story.
Første ord
Oplysninger fra den engelske Almen VidenRedigér teksten, så den bliver dansk.
On a hot summer's day like today Flirt liked to fly straight up along the shoreline of the river, huge wings huffing against the wind.
Citater
Sidste ord
Oplysninger fra den engelske Almen VidenRedigér teksten, så den bliver dansk.
World Fantasy and Nebula Award finalist Kate Elliott breaks new ground in a brilliantly original new fantasy set in a unique world of fabled cities, mysterious gods, and terrible dangers. From the first page readers will be swept up in the story of Mai and Captain Anji, as they become unwitting players in a conflict that began many years earlier, and which will shake the foundations of their land. For hundreds of years the Guardians have ruled the world of the Hundred, but these powerful gods no longer exert their will on the world. Only the reeves, who patrol on enormous eagles, still represent the Guardians' power. And the reeves are losing their authority; for there is a dark shadow across the land that not even the reeves can stop. A group of fanatics has risen to devour villages, towns, and cities in their drive to annihilate all who oppose them. No one knows who leads them; they seem inhumanly cruel and powerful. Mai and Anji, riding with a company of dedicated warriors and a single reeve who may hold a key to stopping the deadly advance of the devouring horde, must try, or the world will be lost to the carnage. But a young woman sworn to the Goddess may prove more important than them all . . . if they are not too late. A haunting tale of people swept up by the chaos of war, this is superlative fantasy adventure, rich in texture, filled with color and excitement, masterfully crafted by a brilliantly gifted storyteller. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
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I found the whole thing an insult to the reader's attention. Get an editor. And for God's sake, tell a story that I can care about.
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