Douglas (Good Morning, Irene, p. 635) returns to fantasy with this bland first volume of The Taliswoman Trilogy. Here, Minnesota reporter Alison Carver finds herself transported to the otherworld of Veil. She wanders aimlessly with the Littlelost, a troop of Veilian orphans, joining up along the way with Sage, a kindly old wisewoman, and Rowan, a standoffish youth on a quest to win the magical Cup of Earth for his city of Desmeyne. But Alison inadvertently wins the Cup instead, and she and the Littlelost accompany Rowan back to Desmeyne, where rigid social strata and sexist segregation disgust her. As Alison uses the Cup to heal Desmeyne's blighted farmland, she attracts the notice of darker forces—and she and Rowan must set off again to find the fabled Heart of Earth to cure Veil's numerous ills. Despite a veneer of Native American lore, Douglas adds little new to the age-old modern-person-in-a-strange-land fantasy concept. Alison's unexamined hypocrisy is frustrating: though she admires Native American primitiveness, she has nothing but contempt for the backward Desmeyne, smug in her 20th-century ethical and scientific certainty. The plot, meanwhile, is fueled by contrivance, and the prose has an uncomfortable blend of fantasy elements, stiff formalized speech, and pop-culture colloquialism (leaves cling ``like milk-sodden Frosted Flakes''). An uninspired rehash of a standard fantasy template.*justify no*
Pub Date: Sept. 24, 1991
ISBN: 0-312-85146-4
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1991
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
As Tolkien had his Silmarillion, so Martin has this trilogy of foundational tales. They succeed on their own, but in...
Huzzah! Martin (The Ice Dragon, 2014, etc.) delivers just what fans have been waiting for: stirring tales of the founding of the Targaryen line.
Duncan—Dunk for short—has his hapless moments. He’s big, nearly gigantic, “hugely tall for his age, a shambling, shaggy, big-boned boy of sixteen or seventeen.” Uncertain of himself, clumsy, and alone in the world, he has every one of the makings of a hero, if only events will turn in that direction. They do, courtesy of a tiny boy who steals into the “hedge knight” Dunk’s life and eventually reveals a name to match that of Ser Duncan the Tall—an altogether better name, at that, than Duncan of Flea Bottom would have been. Egg, as the squire calls himself, has a strange light about him, as if he will be destined to go on to better things, as indeed he will. Reminiscent of a simpler Arthur Rackham, the illustrations capture that light, as they do the growing friendship between Dunk and Egg—think Manute Bol and Muggsy Bogues, if your knowledge of basketball matches your interest in fantasy. This being Martin, that friendship will not be without its fraught moments, its dangers and double crosses and knightly politics. There are plenty of goopily violent episodes as well, from jousts (“this time Lord Leo Tyrell aimed his point so expertly he ripped the Grey Lion’s helm cleanly off his head”) to medieval torture (“Egg…used the hat to fan away the flies. There were hundreds crawling on the dead men, and more drifting lazily through the still, hot air.”). Throughout, Martin delivers thoughtful foreshadowing of the themes and lineages that will populate his Ice and Fire series, in which Egg, it turns out, is much less fragile than he seems.
As Tolkien had his Silmarillion, so Martin has this trilogy of foundational tales. They succeed on their own, but in addition, they succeed in making fans want more—and with luck, Martin will oblige them with more of these early yarns.Pub Date: Oct. 6, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-345-53348-7
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Bantam
Review Posted Online: Oct. 6, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Butch Cassidy territory—ignore the tumbleweeds and enjoy.
Sanderson returns to planet Scadrial (The Hero of Ages, 2008, etc.) where, 500 years later, the scenario is a fantasy Wild West where the largest city, Elendel, despite its unpredictable mists, boasts railroads, electric street lighting and nascent skyscrapers.
Though lesser beings than their godlike ancestors, certain citizens gain magic powers from an ability to metabolize metals. Waxillium Ladrian, a rare Twinborn, can both attract and repel metals using Allomancy and gain or lose bodily mass via Feruchemy. Having spent 20 years in the Roughs—Tombstone in the 1880s, with every day a bad day—expunging evildoers, Wax has learned that House Ladrian, complete with supercilious butler, is all but bankrupt thanks to a profligate uncle. Sadly he returns to Elendel to do his duty and marry a rich heiress. Lord Harms presents his rather too well-organized daughter Steris, who arrives for introductions complete with a 20-page pre-nuptial agreement. Accompanying father and daughter is penniless cousin Marasi, more intelligent and personable and vastly more attractive. Meanwhile, strange crimes are afoot: mysterious thieves, "Vanishers," have stolen consignments from railroad cars, raided parties and taken hostages. It’s eventually deduced that the hostages may be the Vanishers' real targets: all are descended from the same ancient family, and all have specific magic powers. And, at the first social event Wax attends with Lord Harms and the two girls, the Vanishers strike again. Sanderson's fresh ideas on the source and employment of magic are both arresting and original—just don't expect rigorously worked out plot details, memorable characters or narrative depth. Think brisk. Think fun.
Butch Cassidy territory—ignore the tumbleweeds and enjoy.Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-7653-3042-0
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: Oct. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2011
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