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3.27 AVERAGE
3.27 AVERAGE
adventurous
medium-paced
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A book with an interesting premise. Though very misogynistic at times and had some very uncomfortable moments especially on the ship during the first half.
The world itself was very interesting with Rhiannon being an interesting figure. The characters were though just there.
The world itself was very interesting with Rhiannon being an interesting figure. The characters were though just there.
adventurous
fast-paced
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
I've previously read two books by Leigh Brackett, a noir mystery, which I quite liked and a Sci-Fi adventure, which was ok. The Sword of Rhiannon is a fantasy adventure set on Mars. It seems to be a popular setting with Brackett. Like the previous one, The Nemesis from Terra, I thought this adventure to be much in the vein of Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter of Mars books, even more so than my first attempt of an adventure on Mars. (Did I make sense there?
Matt Carse is an Earthman on Mars. He is persuaded to go with an acquaintance to go to an ancient ruin to find artifacts, an 'easy' money maker? When the two enter the cavern, Carse is betrayed and pushed into a dark sphere, and he comes out of it, years in Mars' past; when Mars still had seas and green space. He also arrives with an unexpected passenger... You'll find out.
Thus begins an action packed adventure, where Carse finds himself first a slave of one nation, forced to man the oars of a galley. He will eventually be perceived as a god, but let's leave it at that. It's an entertaining story, an interesting setting and lots of action. Relatively light and a good read. (3.0 stars)
Matt Carse is an Earthman on Mars. He is persuaded to go with an acquaintance to go to an ancient ruin to find artifacts, an 'easy' money maker? When the two enter the cavern, Carse is betrayed and pushed into a dark sphere, and he comes out of it, years in Mars' past; when Mars still had seas and green space. He also arrives with an unexpected passenger... You'll find out.
Thus begins an action packed adventure, where Carse finds himself first a slave of one nation, forced to man the oars of a galley. He will eventually be perceived as a god, but let's leave it at that. It's an entertaining story, an interesting setting and lots of action. Relatively light and a good read. (3.0 stars)
Listened to the audio edition of this story. I lost my interest about half way through and forced myself to finish, I'm glad that I did as it had a good ending.
The Sword of Rhiannon is the story of Matt Carse, a human on Mars. He follows a shady martian into the secret tomb of the cursed god Rhiannon, and they uncover treasure. Matt gets double-crossed and pushed over a ledge, and he time travels to the past when Mars was full of water and lush greenery. When he interacts with martians from the past, he is immediately arrested and made a slave on a ship. Unbeknownst to him, Rhiannon is along for the ride in a recess of his mind.
I suppose The Sword of Rhiannon is in the Sword and Planet sub-genre? Although this book is labeled as sci-fi, it more closely fits fantasy. There is a pirate-like vibe throughout.
In the foreward of my book, it is stated that Brackett was influenced by the John Carter series, which is very plain while reading. However, whereas Princess of Mars was published in 1912, The Sword of Rhiannon was published in 1949. Was there stagnation in the genre for awhile?
If you like pulp, then this book will do the job. There isn't anything new or different about the story. The main character, appears to be interesting - a archaeologist/looter - yet due to the type of book this is, there is no character development.
The women and men act stereotypically. Of course, there is a woman taken as prisoner, and in the end she's in love. That seems to be a stipulation of old-school sci-fi pulp.
The writing is tight and straight to the point. The action is well-done, and there is nothing extra in the dialogue or description. Everything counts towards the overall story. It was entertaining, but in the end I didn't feel particularly impressed.
I suppose The Sword of Rhiannon is in the Sword and Planet sub-genre? Although this book is labeled as sci-fi, it more closely fits fantasy. There is a pirate-like vibe throughout.
In the foreward of my book, it is stated that Brackett was influenced by the John Carter series, which is very plain while reading. However, whereas Princess of Mars was published in 1912, The Sword of Rhiannon was published in 1949. Was there stagnation in the genre for awhile?
If you like pulp, then this book will do the job. There isn't anything new or different about the story. The main character, appears to be interesting - a archaeologist/looter - yet due to the type of book this is, there is no character development.
The women and men act stereotypically. Of course, there is a woman taken as prisoner, and in the end she's in love. That seems to be a stipulation of old-school sci-fi pulp.
The writing is tight and straight to the point. The action is well-done, and there is nothing extra in the dialogue or description. Everything counts towards the overall story. It was entertaining, but in the end I didn't feel particularly impressed.
This book shows its age, especially when it comes to gender issues. That ending needs so much help. However, I can't seem to shake the feeling that even with problems that I would be tearing apart any book younger than my mother for, the story is actually salvageable. With a little bit of adaptation to ease up the awkward parts, there's a good archetypal story and some solid imagination under there. Fortunately, the prose holds up well too.