Review: Elegantly written, vast and impressive world building, intriguing characters... but be forewarned, it's long!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 03 10, 2012
I won this book from librarything member giveaway in exchange for an honest review.It is with relief that I have finished this book. Endless is an apt title for multiple reasons. However, I don't want that to suggest this book is not worth reading. Quite the contrary in fact. This book essentially is a start to a vast quest of a ragtag band of 5 people from varied backgrounds, different worlds in fact. We are introduced in alternating chapters to John, who comes from Earth after a horrible apocalyptic event, and then Telda and Ceria who reside in the other world. From there, they meet each other and journey across many lands in the attempt to defeat the horrible Half-man and the Endless, light beasts that can kill large volumes of people easily and without remorse. They are joined also by Manvedian, a character that has perhaps different goals.There are many strengths of this book. I was very impressed by the creation of another world, with different kingdoms warring against each other, different sort of beasts and culture. The magnitude and scope of the book in itself is daunting and vast. The prose is beautifully written and descriptions well done. I admired the development of two particular characters: John and Manvedian. John has been thrust into a completely different world, losing someone he loved back in his home planet, and has to figure out his new place in this society. Manvedian was probably my favorite-- I will not give away his secrets, but he is a fascinating character that I hope we will see of more in the future.The book is long. It took me three weeks to finish and I usually finish a book in 2-3 days. It reminded me a lot of Fellowship of the Ring where we journey for a long way with hobbits until the action picks up a lot at the end, leading up to the Two Towers. In this book, we have Ceria instead of a ring, as a tool to end overwhelming evil. But like the Lord of the Rings trilogy, it's worth staying until the end. I look forward to seeing where this goes in the next installment.