So many books . . .

Next in line to be executed for murder, Yelena is instead offered a chance to live – only by accepting the potentially lethal position as official food taster for the Commander of Ixia. Rather than face a more certain death, she opts for the only slightly less dangerous choice and begins her position recognition training under the tutelage of Valek, the Commander’s Second. She’s a quick study, but it becomes clear early on that someone is trying to get rid of her.

Although I enjoyed it, this book didn’t quite live up to the potential I thought the premise held. I still intend to read the sequel, though.

Rating: 3/5 Further reading: Snyder's homepage

 

On a quest to escort the orphaned New Formorians (children born with wings) back to the land of their ancestors, Brighid, a centaur huntress, discovers a complication she hadn’t anticipated: her quest companion, the warrior Cuchulainn, needs her help as well. Still grieving from the death of his love, it’s begun to threaten his soul.

I enjoyed this series’ first book, Elphame’s Choice, reasonably well, so I thought I’d give this one a try. Unfortunately, it’s too predictable and not especially satisfying. I think I’m through with P.C. Cast.

Rating: 2/5 Further reading: Cast's homepage P. C. Cast (wiki)

In this retelling of the classic fairy tale Sleeping Beauty, baby Rosie is whisked away and carefully hidden by fairies for nearly twenty-one years in an attempt to thwart the curse laid upon her by a vengeful evil fairy: That she will prick her finger on a spinning wheel and fall into an eternal sleep.

I really enjoy McKinley’s beautiful prose. Her descriptions are vivid and lifelike. However, I found the story in this retelling slow and a bit dry.

Rating: 3/5 Further reading: McKinley's homepage Robin McKinley (wiki)

In Rose Daughter, McKinley expands on and enhances Beauty, a book she wrote twenty years earlier. Both are retellings of the classic fairy tale Beauty and the Beast.

I actually liked Beauty, the shorter work of the two, better as I didn't feel that Rose Daughter added anything meaningful that wasn't already there. Part of what's missing for me is the natural progression in Beauty's relationship with The Beast - i.e. from fear to love through trust and compassion. In this book Beauty shows little or no terror at being completely uprooted from her family and forced to cohabitate with a beast-like creature. As a result, her ultimate love for this creature is less satisfying to the reader than it could have been. Still, I recommend it to readers who continue to enjoy the magic of fairy tales, adults included.

Rating: 3/5 Further reading: McKinley's homepage Robin McKinley (wiki)

What if death, time, fate, war, nature, evil and good were not mere concepts but offices held by actual people, like any other occupation?

Orb knew there was something special, something otherworldly, about her musical ability. When singing and playing her harp, she senses a gathering of power she can never quite grasp fully, but dedicates her life in search of the llano, the true song of nature. Her quest leads her around the world, finding and losing love, and ultimately she assumes the role of the Incarnation of Nature. But what about the fortuneteller who, when she was still a little girl, prophesied that Orb would marry Evil?

I remember being blown away at this book's climax the first time I read it in high school. This time around it wasn't quite as impressive, as some aspects of Anthony's writing style have become irritating to the more experienced reader in me. There is no natural progression to any of the relationships, and as a result they are hardly believable. The spoken dialogue is awkward, written in a style that seems far too formal, even accounting for an alternate reality. Despite its flaws, I'm still going to finish re-reading the series.

Rating: 3/5 Further reading: Incarnations of Immortality series Anthony's homepage Piers Anthony (wiki)

Garth Baxtor, a apprentice physician to his father Joseph, is like his father possessed of The Touch - the ability to ease pain and discomfort in addition to promoting healing by laying hands on the patient. When Joseph's yearly summons to tend to the prisoners working in the mines arrives, Garth is finally deemed old enough and experienced enough to accompany him. Garth soon discovers that the Veins, as the mines are called, are the most dismal and appalling place imaginable. Imagine his surprise and horror when, while treating prisoner #859, he senses the Manteceros royal tattoo beneath scar tissue on the prisoner's arm - when everyone in Escator knows that seventeen years ago the crown prince met his death in a tragic hunting accident.

Beyond the Hanging Wall is a pleasant if simplistic and predictable read. There isn't a lot of suspense, but it was still a decent diversion. It's easy to understand why it's considered young adult by some, although in my library it's shelved with adult fantasy.

Rating: 3/5 Further reading: Douglass' homepage Sara Douglass (wiki)

What if death, time, fate, war, nature, evil and good were not mere concepts but offices held by actual people, like any other occupation?

When Mym, the son of a rajah, grows tired of his father's manipulations in his relationships, he opts out of his life in order to become Mars, the immortal Incarnation of War. In this new position his job is to supervise the significant warlike activities occurring in the world. Although he's morally opposed to such needless violence and suffering and initially hopes to use his office as a means of alleviating and lessening the destruction and misery war causes, Mym reluctantly comes to accept that war is a natural and fluctuating, if unpleasant, state of humanity.

Like the few preceding it, Wielding a Red Sword doesn't quite hold up to On a Pale Horse, the first book in this series. As usual, the characters are painfully two-dimensional.

Rating: 2/5 Further reading: Anthony's homepage Piers Anthony (wiki)

What if death, time, fate, war, nature, evil and good were not mere concepts but offices held by actual people, like any other occupation?

Although initially opposed to her arranged marriage to a 16-year old, 21-year-old Niobe accepts and eventually grows to love her husband Cedric. When Cedric sacrifices his life in place of a death that was meant for her, Niobe, heartbroken, accepts an invitation to become Clotho, the youngest aspect of the immortal incarnation of Fate, whose responsibility it is to weave the threads in the great tapestry of life. While learning her new role, Niobe also learns that she herself has become entangled in the insidious plots of Satan, the incarnation of Evil.

I haven't enjoyed books 2 and 3 nearly as well as On a Pale Horse, the first in the series.

Rating: 3/5 Further reading: Anthony's homepage Piers Anthony (wiki)

What if death, time, fate, war, nature, evil and good were not mere concepts but offices held by actual people, like any other occupation?

Norton is the man who became Time. Grieving for a love lost and spending his time aimlessly wandering, he accepts the opportunity to become the immortal incarnation of Time. This means living his life backwards with respect to the rest of the world, and assisting Fate in navigating and repairing the great tapestry of life. Norton discovers that it also means extricating himself from the devious traps laid by The Father of Lies himself.

I first read Anthony's Incarnations of Immortality series in high school and thought they were superb. I'm now reading them again and, while I still find the premise of Death, Time, Fate, War, Nature, Good and Evil being mere offices fascinating, the more experienced reader in me is viewing them with a more critical eye. Entirely too much time is spent on Norton's "visits" to the sci-fi/fantasy realms, and not nearly enough on his experiences while learning his new office. In addition, almost every character in the book is a two-dimensional stereotype, which grows wearisome.

Rating: 2/5 Further reading: Anthony's homepage Piers Anthony (wiki)

In this final book in Douglass' Troy Game series Jack, Noah and their friends are living in London under the German air raids of WWII. After millennia of living only to complete the Troy Game, the terrible reality of its true nature compels them to destroy it. However, they are stymied with the realization that Noah and Weyland's daughter Grace's fate is tied to that of The Game -- she will also be destroyed. A pale, mysterious woman offers a dangerous alternative which will also risk Grace's life but is their only hope.

Reading the first three books in the series, starting with Hades' Daughter, is an absolute must. Although I did, the series never felt fully coherent to me -- there are many characters, who change identities during four different time periods, to keep track of, as well as the myriad plot details having to do with The Game itself. I did not come away feeling that I truly understood The Game, which detracted from my overall satisfaction upon finishing.  As does the rest of the series, this book suffers from awful cover art.

Rating: 3/5 Further reading: Douglass' homepage Sara Douglass (wiki)