Reviews

So...I initially read this over ten years ago, and remembered literally nothing about it aside from the fact that I generally liked it. With my first read of the series, I hit book three only for the author to go on a pretty long hiatus before publishing book four, and by the time the fourth book had come out I had lost interest and largely forgotten what had happened in the earlier books. However, I know that the later books get really good, so I wanted to give the series another try, but that meant rereading this first entry.

Well, it took me a month to read it.

Look. It may have been the start of a very successful series that has lasted for twenty-five years, and it may be considered one of the big series of the nineties, but holy crap. It's still very much a debut novel from the nineties, and it read like one.

If I had to read Karigan asking "but could it really be this? What if it's this? But perhaps it was this?" one more time to hand-hold me to obvious conclusions that were already clearly shown earlier on the page...

Plot-wise the book was fine, but I found that it dragged by the end (which could have also been from my own fatigue by the end with how long the book was taking me to get through), and I found that I kept thinking "how are there x number of pages left?" over and over again.

The concepts in the book are still good. The characters are still interesting. But as a reader who's quite particular about prose and writing and really notices writing style choices, there were just some things in the writing style that really threw me out of the book and made it a struggle to get through.

I'm looking forward to moving forward in the story and getting beyond where I originally reached, as well as seeing where Britain improves in her work (which I know she does), but as a book that stands on its own merit I found this one to be a bit of a drag to get through, and I look forward to moving on to something a bit quicker.

twicomb's review against another edition

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4.0

3.5 stars rounded up to 4. I really enjoyed this. I can tell I would have LOVED it if I had read it as a teenager. I probably would have insisted on getting a green greatcoat and a golden brooch with a horse on it, and walked around making knowing references to Greenies. Oh and I would have found a moonstone to carry in my pocket. Yeah, it’s that kind of book, in all the best ways. But unfortunately I didn’t read it as a teenager, so while I really enjoyed it, I wasn’t swept up wholesale the way I would have been. I’m debating now whether I want to check out the sequel.

embereye's review against another edition

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3.0

This was a somewhat entertaining novel, but is definitely a fantasy novel of it's time. There were things I found annoying. Moments where the main character was helpless in a way I did not understand (as though she were simply frozen and unable to do anything). But otherwise it was an ok somewhat cheesy fantasy read.

bookishgenerations's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging medium-paced

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

4.5

smurf2416's review against another edition

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3.0

3.5 stars. Really went back and forth between giving it 3 stars and giving it 4 stars. In the end, I really liked the story and I thought the pace moved along really well. The characters just were not amazing. No male characters that I liked at all, or that I thought were interesting. Actually I think the most interesting male character was the Horse. And I'm not even sure the Horse was male. Decent fantasy book though. Definitely seems like a standalone and not the first of a fantasy series.

cooki3_monst3r's review against another edition

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adventurous inspiring medium-paced

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

5.0

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