Review: The author is a gifted storyteller
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 10 21, 2012
The author is a gifted story teller. He weaves a complex world with wizards and warriors and zombies, without being cliche.We begin with the main character, Lianna, discovering she is pregnant, an unusual condition in her society. She and her lover begin to make plans for a quiet future, married and working in their small village. Fate has other ideas. A Wanderer named Brenor appears wounded at her doorstep and her life is forever changed. Within the same day Brenor enters her life, her baby's father is murdered, her entire village is in danger of annihilation, and she discovers a power inside herself that makes her unpredictable. She is a Destroyer. Together, the Wanderer and the Destroyer embark on a dangerous journey to stop a madman from destroying the world. Stalked by two menaces, one that is known, the other that is not, Lianna and Brenor discover the fate of the world is in their hands.The plot in this novel is fantastic. If you are a fan of epic fantasy I would recommend this book. However, the prose itself is somewhat bland and there is a real lack of setting. Much of the story feels like it is being told to the reader rather than letting us feel like we are a part of it. We observe the characters from a safe detached distance as if we were listening to someone tell us a story. It would be boring except the story itself is worth listening to. There is also a section near the end in which the characters trade life memories, and it turns into a pages long italicized expose, which is trying on the eyes. I skipped through most of the expose and did not feel I missed anything of the story.In the end I would say this is a book for serious fantasy readers, not the curious passer-byer. It is epic in its story, and has a unique take on the genre, but there is not enough depth in the setting descriptions to draw in the uninitiated. As a fan of fantasy, I enjoyed it and would say it was a fun read.