Scan barcode
midici's review
3.0
I found it impossible to read this book without mentally comparing it to the Valdemar series. I don't know why - something to do with animal companions choosing worthy humans to serve as sort of police/judges/military in times of need. Also the idea of these people having special powers that are bestowed upon them by a goddess (it's generic gods in Valdemar I think) and these powers are NOT magic which is a different and not as holy/pure/good thing. Also the part where the people they're at war with are given gifts by their own, seperate god. Or the part where the main character is so reluctant at first to be chosen. If I'd read this book first maybe I would like it better, but I just read it as a not-Valdemar Valdemar book and wasn't super into it. I gave it three stars though, because objectively there wasn't really anything off about her writing, or the plot.
aliceboule's review
3.0
I am a huge fan of Kristen Britain's series the Green Rider, (which is neither here nor there) so when I looked at the Reader's Also Enjoyed list and saw Path of Fate , I was excited.
Riesil is a strong woman. She knows what she wants: to be a healer. And nothing is going to change her mind, not even a gift from the beloved Lady. But Riesil must soon make a choice which will change the world.
^^ That sounds really interesting right? And it was, to an extent. The reader does get to know Riesil pretty well. But compared to other books about animal companions and forceful destiny (like the Green Rider series) this book didn't hold a candle. The relationships seem a little shallow, the people and world-building not as detailed.
Even so, seeing Riesil grow into her powers, from simple tark to the Lady's chosen, was enthrallling. I simply wish there was more time for developing - where we can see her train and get used to these powers. It is almost as though Riesil and us, the readers, are dropped into the middle of this world struggling to swim.
Still going to read the other ones, in the hope that Diana Francis has grown as a writer.
Riesil is a strong woman. She knows what she wants: to be a healer. And nothing is going to change her mind, not even a gift from the beloved Lady. But Riesil must soon make a choice which will change the world.
^^ That sounds really interesting right? And it was, to an extent. The reader does get to know Riesil pretty well. But compared to other books about animal companions and forceful destiny (like the Green Rider series) this book didn't hold a candle. The relationships seem a little shallow, the people and world-building not as detailed.
Even so, seeing Riesil grow into her powers, from simple tark to the Lady's chosen, was enthrallling. I simply wish there was more time for developing - where we can see her train and get used to these powers. It is almost as though Riesil and us, the readers, are dropped into the middle of this world struggling to swim.
Still going to read the other ones, in the hope that Diana Francis has grown as a writer.
beary_bookwormish's review
5.0
This is my first reading of this author work. Definitely glad I took a chance, and stepped out of my comfort zone. I've lived on Mercedes Lackey, Tamora Pierce and J.K Rowling for some time now. I love, love, love when I discover a new author. Discovered at a discount and trade book seller...happy dance.
xavia's review
1.0
We read this book for book club.
I found this book exceptionally frustrating, which was strange because it has a lot of things that I typically really enjoy in other books, but here, it just did not work for me.
Before I get started, I did want to give an honorable mention to a scene towards the end of the book where the villains call their deity, and they show up like a parent called away from work to settle a dispute between their troublesome children. I got real "I told you not to call me unless one of you was dead or dying! So what's SO important that you had to bother me at work!" vibes. Sadly, I think that was the only scene I truly enjoyed.
Let's get into.
The names in this book are awful. I think I can only name four characters and actually know who I'm talking about. None of the names are simple or recognizable, and among our book club, no one could agree on a single pronunciation. It got to the point where I was just assigning different names to people to make it through the book. The wild incomprehensible naming convention doesn't stop with the characters either though, everything in this world has a wild name. I was probably halfway through the book before I realized that Iisand Samir referred to the ruler of their country. The kahv-house she talks about all the time? I was literally at the end of the book before I realized it was meant to be a coffee house. Some of the ahalad-kaaslane are actual real life animals, and others are LIKE real life animals, but are not those real life animals. Also, when they are introduced, it is not made clear if the people are ahalad-kaaslane, the animals are ahalad-kaaslane, or that both together are ahalad-kasslane.
It was just... a lot. It made the whole book feel like a slog.
The other big problem I had, was the plot.
To me, the plot feels like... a string of "well that happened". First of all, the plot doesn't actually get going until about 100 pages in. Until then, Reisil just floats around and does Tark things, which I wouldn't have minded if part of that time had been devoted to providing context for the world around us. But it doesn't do that. It's like I spent 100 pages on Mars and no one was willing to tell me anything. "Magic doesn't work here." "Why?" -shrug- "What about that town that was decimated by magic? Isn't that here, in the country where magic doesn't work?" -shrug- "Can you maybe tell me more about these ahalad-kaaslane and how they actually work?" "Nope."
The first 100 pages felt useless to me. They, when the plot finally got going, I thought we were finally going to get somewhere. And to be fair we did. But then the plot just kept going. Like the energizer bunny. "Save the girl and accept your bird". Okay, cool. Cool cool cool. That is a nice simple plot. I can hang. Then we rescued the girl and had to take her to the summit. Okay. Fine. Then we have to talk to some deities. Finally, after that I thought for sure we must be done! But no. There were still twenty pages of somewhat aimless plot meandering before the book ended.
The fact that all these plots are here is not even the biggest problem. Its that with each subsequent extension of the plot, the actual execution got more and more handwavey. Obstacles were introduced and then dismissed almost immediately. I would have preferred the book be split into separate books so that we could have actual development of plot and characters instead of just plowing through all of it and saying "well, there yeh go".
And so to the final thing that frustrated me.
Reisil is basically a God, by the end of this book. She goes from a simple healer, to Goddess in the course of like... two weeks. Which wouldn't have been a problem, except that I know there are two more books in this series, and where can you possibly go from here? What kind of growth can we see when she's already more powerful than apparently every one alive?
All in all, I did not enjoy this book. I think maybe any one of these problems, I could have handled and had a perfectly fine time, but all three of them together, handled as poorly as they were made the book an unenjoyable slog for me.
This was the first time since we started book club that I almost didn't finish the book at all. And we read Walking Disaster this year.
I found this book exceptionally frustrating, which was strange because it has a lot of things that I typically really enjoy in other books, but here, it just did not work for me.
Before I get started, I did want to give an honorable mention to a scene towards the end of the book where the villains call their deity, and they show up like a parent called away from work to settle a dispute between their troublesome children. I got real "I told you not to call me unless one of you was dead or dying! So what's SO important that you had to bother me at work!" vibes. Sadly, I think that was the only scene I truly enjoyed.
Let's get into.
The names in this book are awful. I think I can only name four characters and actually know who I'm talking about. None of the names are simple or recognizable, and among our book club, no one could agree on a single pronunciation. It got to the point where I was just assigning different names to people to make it through the book. The wild incomprehensible naming convention doesn't stop with the characters either though, everything in this world has a wild name. I was probably halfway through the book before I realized that Iisand Samir referred to the ruler of their country. The kahv-house she talks about all the time? I was literally at the end of the book before I realized it was meant to be a coffee house. Some of the ahalad-kaaslane are actual real life animals, and others are LIKE real life animals, but are not those real life animals. Also, when they are introduced, it is not made clear if the people are ahalad-kaaslane, the animals are ahalad-kaaslane, or that both together are ahalad-kasslane.
It was just... a lot. It made the whole book feel like a slog.
The other big problem I had, was the plot.
To me, the plot feels like... a string of "well that happened". First of all, the plot doesn't actually get going until about 100 pages in. Until then, Reisil just floats around and does Tark things, which I wouldn't have minded if part of that time had been devoted to providing context for the world around us. But it doesn't do that. It's like I spent 100 pages on Mars and no one was willing to tell me anything. "Magic doesn't work here." "Why?" -shrug- "What about that town that was decimated by magic? Isn't that here, in the country where magic doesn't work?" -shrug- "Can you maybe tell me more about these ahalad-kaaslane and how they actually work?" "Nope."
The first 100 pages felt useless to me. They, when the plot finally got going, I thought we were finally going to get somewhere. And to be fair we did. But then the plot just kept going. Like the energizer bunny. "Save the girl and accept your bird". Okay, cool. Cool cool cool. That is a nice simple plot. I can hang. Then we rescued the girl and had to take her to the summit. Okay. Fine. Then we have to talk to some deities. Finally, after that I thought for sure we must be done! But no. There were still twenty pages of somewhat aimless plot meandering before the book ended.
The fact that all these plots are here is not even the biggest problem. Its that with each subsequent extension of the plot, the actual execution got more and more handwavey. Obstacles were introduced and then dismissed almost immediately. I would have preferred the book be split into separate books so that we could have actual development of plot and characters instead of just plowing through all of it and saying "well, there yeh go".
And so to the final thing that frustrated me.
Reisil is basically a God, by the end of this book. She goes from a simple healer, to Goddess in the course of like... two weeks. Which wouldn't have been a problem, except that I know there are two more books in this series, and where can you possibly go from here? What kind of growth can we see when she's already more powerful than apparently every one alive?
All in all, I did not enjoy this book. I think maybe any one of these problems, I could have handled and had a perfectly fine time, but all three of them together, handled as poorly as they were made the book an unenjoyable slog for me.
This was the first time since we started book club that I almost didn't finish the book at all. And we read Walking Disaster this year.
milabeille's review
3.0
I really like stories where there is a close link between animals and humans (especially when it's the MC) and I got all this here.
I had a hard time getting into it and I felt a little annoyed at Reisil in the beginning but it definitely got better.
So, yes, in the end I liked this but I wasn't wowed by it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I had a hard time getting into it and I felt a little annoyed at Reisil in the beginning but it definitely got better.
So, yes, in the end I liked this but I wasn't wowed by it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
cadoca's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
rachelini's review
4.0
Part of the bundle of women fantasy authors that I bought. I really enjoyed this quite traditional fantasy. Good epic stakes and a voyage of discovery.
acecatlady's review
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5