Reviews

Brother to Dragons, Companion to Owls by Jane Lindskold

b00kdragon's review

dark emotional hopeful lighthearted tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

kf21's review

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

lizabethstucker's review

5.0

Sarah has lived in a psychiatric home for years, her only form of communication quotes from literature. Now cost-saving measures are putting her out on the street. She is taken in by a group of unwanted people led by Head Wolf, a madman who is a modern age Fagin, but one who cares for his people. Sarah finds a home there as well as friends who can understand her. Then word comes that the people who tossed her out are frantically looking for her. Sarah and her friends must find out why as well as how to avoid capture.

I found an free first chapter for this book online at a website I don't even remember and began reading. I was immediately enthralled and went searching for the e-version, finally discovering it on Sony's Bookstore. It would probably be classified as fantasy, but we aren't talking about elves and witches and werewolves or vampires. These are real people in an undetermined future time, the people who slip through the system and make lives for themselves. Sarah is a strong character who truly grows through her interactions with the Pack. I have enjoyed some of Lindskold's short stories, but would never have found this book without stumbling over the free chapter. I'm definitely putting her other books on my list.

nyxus's review

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

shinyfox's review

5.0

I really enjoyed reading this book and it took me by surprise. I really loved the MFC Sarah and her friends. I also enjoyed the idea of 'Magical Thinking' and applying animate to the inanimate. This book was one that I would read again because I felt like Sarah was a believable character. Some of the side characters fell into basic stereotypes but that did not detract from the story, for me.

senid's review

5.0

A fascinating and sometimes disturbing fantasy exploration of autism. Not fact based in the slightest, but looks at communication and how we do and don't.

pussreboots's review

4.0

An interesting mix of Oliver Twist, The Jungle Book and Flowers for Algernon but at times Sarah's method of quote-speaking got in the way of the story. I was grateful for the last third of the book where the loose strings of Sarah's background were finally tied up, something that most books with characters like Sarah don't provide.

taiy's review

4.0

This was my first Lindskold book and it was very interesting! Enjoyed the twists and turns of the story and the characters.

raerei's review

5.0

One of those books that I go back to often.

luanam's review

4.0

This is one of those novels that will stay with me. It was full of beautifully visceral moments that exist like rest boulders in a flowing river of action. It was shortish novel that is complete with in itself and left me with a feeling of contentment at the end.

My partner read it over two days in two fell swoops while I read it in large bites over the course of a week and for both these reading styles it worked very well.

Only thing that made this less than five stars is that the beginning couple of pages didn't quite measure up to the main body which brilliantly seems to combine a fairytale feel with a more realistic sensibility when dealing with the nature of being outcast or struggling in a normative world. Also the ending was a little bit swift though not in a rushed forced way.