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tani's review
4.0
For some reason, I expected this to be much different than the first book of the series. I was surprised by the slow and introspective pace of Slow Fall to Dawn. I had expected action and adventure from a series about assassins, although I wasn't necessarily disappointed to get so much character-based musing instead. So, I don't know why I thought that Dance of the Hag might be more action-centered. A word to the wise: it isn't really. Still, I found it to be a better book than the first.
I think that I enjoyed this book more than the first because of the complexity of the issues. In the first book, I felt pretty clearly that the Thane was right about most of the things he was saying, and that was pretty much born out by the text. He may not have always handled things with grace and finesse - in fact, I'd say that he almost never did that - but he was morally doing pretty good.
In this book, I felt much more on the side of other characters. I understood where Gyll the Ulthane was coming from, but felt that most of the time, he was wrong. That made the conflicts between characters much more satisfying for me, as I waited for Gyll to finally see sense and make some choices that weren't terribly self-centered.
I also liked the introduction of some of the new characters, as well as the more prominent presence of some of the characters from the first book. I like Valdisa a lot, and Kaethe lent a lot of interest to the book. Although still mostly confined to the same world, this book also gave a better look at the larger universe, which I enjoyed.
I'm surprised to be so looking forward to the final book of the series, but there it is. I'm anxious to see how things shake out and whether Gyll's choices are going to have the kind of consequences that I think they will.
I think that I enjoyed this book more than the first because of the complexity of the issues. In the first book, I felt pretty clearly that the Thane was right about most of the things he was saying, and that was pretty much born out by the text. He may not have always handled things with grace and finesse - in fact, I'd say that he almost never did that - but he was morally doing pretty good.
In this book, I felt much more on the side of other characters. I understood where Gyll the Ulthane was coming from, but felt that most of the time, he was wrong. That made the conflicts between characters much more satisfying for me, as I waited for Gyll to finally see sense and make some choices that weren't terribly self-centered.
I also liked the introduction of some of the new characters, as well as the more prominent presence of some of the characters from the first book. I like Valdisa a lot, and Kaethe lent a lot of interest to the book. Although still mostly confined to the same world, this book also gave a better look at the larger universe, which I enjoyed.
I'm surprised to be so looking forward to the final book of the series, but there it is. I'm anxious to see how things shake out and whether Gyll's choices are going to have the kind of consequences that I think they will.
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