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Book review.
Mar. 4th, 2012 01:14 pmI just finished Shadowfall by James Clemens.
Overall, I enjoyed the book. The blurb from Amazon:
Four millennia have passed since the gods came to Myrillia, creating the nine lands of peace as a haven from the nightmarish, accursed Hinterlands. In all this time nothing has disturbed the harmony of the nine lands.
But now the goddess of the Summering Isles has been murdered. The only witness is Tylar de Noche, a crippled and disgraced former Shadowknight. As he holds the dying goddess, her last breath bestows a powerful blessing on him-a mark that heals his broken body. A mark that many see as proof that he killed a god. A mark that unleashes a powerful force of darkness within him.
Chased across Myrillia by enemies both human and ethereal, Tylar must uncover and face down a being powerful enough to kill an immortal-the true godslayer. For if he fails, all of Myrillia will fall into shadow.
I have to say that I enjoyed seeing an equality between the Gods/Goddesses. It wasn't all equal but there were parts that toes that line a bit more fully than most others that I've seen.
A few quibbles:
- The talk of magic and how it's gathered, and protected is a little... gross. Alright, it's very gross. And I wish he hadn't gone into quite the detail he did with some of them, but I understand it was needed. At least at first. However, by more than midway through the book, I'd figured it out and it just felt like he was trying to drive something home when that'd already been done.
- The underappreciated-bullied-child-is-really... Okay. I just... I'm kinda tired of this. Also the bully-girl-is-really-nice-honest! c'mon. Let people be jackasses. Even when they're heroes they don't, necessarily, have to be nice. Honestly, I like it when they're not as nice. Let them have tempers and prejudices. It makes them more human.
- There were a few things that weren't quite clear. And then they were explained completely by a character who hadn't been there and had shown no knowledge of it before, despite being smart. It just felt... inserted. Like an afterthought.
However, all in all it is a good read, and one I'd recommend to people.
Overall, I enjoyed the book. The blurb from Amazon:
Four millennia have passed since the gods came to Myrillia, creating the nine lands of peace as a haven from the nightmarish, accursed Hinterlands. In all this time nothing has disturbed the harmony of the nine lands.
But now the goddess of the Summering Isles has been murdered. The only witness is Tylar de Noche, a crippled and disgraced former Shadowknight. As he holds the dying goddess, her last breath bestows a powerful blessing on him-a mark that heals his broken body. A mark that many see as proof that he killed a god. A mark that unleashes a powerful force of darkness within him.
Chased across Myrillia by enemies both human and ethereal, Tylar must uncover and face down a being powerful enough to kill an immortal-the true godslayer. For if he fails, all of Myrillia will fall into shadow.
I have to say that I enjoyed seeing an equality between the Gods/Goddesses. It wasn't all equal but there were parts that toes that line a bit more fully than most others that I've seen.
A few quibbles:
- The talk of magic and how it's gathered, and protected is a little... gross. Alright, it's very gross. And I wish he hadn't gone into quite the detail he did with some of them, but I understand it was needed. At least at first. However, by more than midway through the book, I'd figured it out and it just felt like he was trying to drive something home when that'd already been done.
- The underappreciated-bullied-child-is-really... Okay. I just... I'm kinda tired of this. Also the bully-girl-is-really-nice-honest! c'mon. Let people be jackasses. Even when they're heroes they don't, necessarily, have to be nice. Honestly, I like it when they're not as nice. Let them have tempers and prejudices. It makes them more human.
- There were a few things that weren't quite clear. And then they were explained completely by a character who hadn't been there and had shown no knowledge of it before, despite being smart. It just felt... inserted. Like an afterthought.
However, all in all it is a good read, and one I'd recommend to people.
