Review: Too much telling, not enough showing.
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 02 14, 2013
Wait, wait, wait...have you ever read something in a book and just said "Whaaaa? Erm..." Well, I just did.Out of nowhere the main character experiences the "Na'Veda"...she talks about after all of the "training" she had finally received it...The problem? There is NO TRAINING described or told of!!!There are aspects of this book that are just frustrating too! Here is a small excerpt from the book.She looked into his eyes and saw no fear. "I'm ready if you are," she said bravely."Okay, stay behind me.""But I want to go first."For one thing, the main character sounds and acts like an impudent child half of the time. Yet, everywhere she goes she is loved and assisted in astounding ways. SHE ISN'T EVEN LIKABLE! The way she is written she is flat, annoying as all get out, and frustrating! At one point, in the middle of an incredibly dangerous situation, she stops to look at the stick of dynamite (named a firestick in the book) and takes the time to note it and describe it!!! WHAT???The descriptions in this book aren't of important things. The author is great at painting a picture of what is going on and what items are around BUT, you are left guessing as to the characters feelings. Ultimately, instead of letting you know how the characters are feeling, the author basically narrates it to you, one way or the other.The best written character is a supporting character named Jeremiah. He is likeable, sweet, and couragous. I have found myself relating to him far more than the main character and I wonder how such a great guy like him could have fallen for such a wench as Chalice.As I am only 86% done with the book, I will have to finish this review when I have completed the book.When I started this book, I had no idea it was part of a series. To be frank, I am not going to read anymore of the series. This book was painful enough. The one character I really loved was a rip off of an Ewok. But it was just as cute and cuddly as in the Star Wars movie =) He was so cute.The descriptions of unimportant things was painful. Everything was described...right down to the irrigation systems (was the author perhaps raised on a farm?). Though accurate, it was painful to read multiple times.Honestly, this book could have easily been a 4-5 star book. IF (notice the capitalized IF) the author had done a better job of rounding out the characters and building a believable plot. Some of the things were just ridiculous.Example? It is one thing to magically escape death or capture a few times in a book...but by my count.1. Leaving her village.2. Leaving the village she had traveled too.3. Should have died of altitude sickness but was saved.4. Narrow escape from an inn.5. Narrow escape from a castle.6. Captured but miraculously saved by unknown people who just burst out of the woods and save her and Jeremiah...because their prophet told them too?7. Hand fights (Chalice) 5 of the most deadly men (particular race of them) and manages to kill all of them...seemingly without breaking a sweat.8. Is trapped in a tunnel, suddenly knows there is another tunnel behind a stone wall.Those are just the ones I can think of...Reading those, it sounds like a good book...right? Wrong. It wasn't just a good story line, it was great. The writing and the descriptions left something to be desired.I would be interested in reading a re-write of this story. If the author ever put the time into building her characters into honest to goodness characters, I would love to read it again! Written the way it is? I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. (Unless you like a bunch of pointless droning about nothing and having every single detail described at length).