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aphelia88's review against another edition
1.0
Short review: Don't bother wasting your time!
There's very few books I can say that about unequivocally, but this is one of them. I am a firm believer that all stories have merit but this one didn't connect with me at all. I nearly put it down twice, and in the end I should have - I wanted my time back.
This book has been on my radar for years, due to the striking cover art by Bonnie Leon (for a long time, I thought it was by Thomas Canty as it is very much in his style) and the comparisons to one of my all-time favourite authors, [a:Patricia A. McKillip|25|Patricia A. McKillip|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1220752490p2/25.jpg].
The glowing Locus review quoted on the inside front cover specially compares this to three books: [a:Gene Wolfe|23069|Gene Wolfe|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1556979018p2/23069.jpg]'s [b:Peace|60213|Peace|Gene Wolfe|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1391052690l/60213._SY75_.jpg|58579] (which I haven't read, and so cannot comment on), McKillip's [b:The Book of Atrix Wolfe|77353|The Book of Atrix Wolfe|Patricia A. McKillip|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1170900098l/77353._SY75_.jpg|1105994] (one of my faves by her) and [a:Ursula K. Le Guin|874602|Ursula K. Le Guin|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1244291425p2/874602.jpg]'s [b:Tehanu|13661|Tehanu (Earthsea Cycle, #4)|Ursula K. Le Guin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1386924581l/13661._SY75_.jpg|2902890] (part of her Earthsea series). Besides the theme of wizards, the only connection I can see is a certain narrative style that Le Guin's Earthsea and McKillip's early Riddle-Master trilogy share: a flat, concrete, sparse and emotionless tone. But that works against this book, not for it.
This is a puzzle book: a story-within-a-story, where all the stories are the same story in disguise. I really thought it might be going somewhere, and eventually it did come together, but the journey wasn't worth following and the destination wasn't worth reaching.
Starting with the body of a recently pregnant woman hauled up in the nets of a fishing ship (shown on the cover) and a mysterious story Teller relating a convoluted, very long and confusing tale of magic to the crew. The first two sentences from the Prologue do warn us:
"This is a story about monsters.
The real ones. Not the ones we tell children about."
For all the magic here, there is no wonder.
We follow a corrupt wizard named Nemot, who gets raised from the dead as a giant talking rook (crow) named Tomen (and yet no one can make the connection!) and sets about wreaking destruction until a cursed half-mad king, an orphaned boy, and a magically sentient frog try to stop him. The real message: for all the magic in the world, the real monsters are men. But this travesty of a coming-of-age-tale renders this message trite and simplistic, and it has no emotional resonance. Not a single character here is likeable, or worth rooting for. And the ending - a forced romantic set-up to make the now much older orphaned boy "into a man" - is eye-rollingly awful.
I'd recommend skipping this one.
There's very few books I can say that about unequivocally, but this is one of them. I am a firm believer that all stories have merit but this one didn't connect with me at all. I nearly put it down twice, and in the end I should have - I wanted my time back.
This book has been on my radar for years, due to the striking cover art by Bonnie Leon (for a long time, I thought it was by Thomas Canty as it is very much in his style) and the comparisons to one of my all-time favourite authors, [a:Patricia A. McKillip|25|Patricia A. McKillip|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1220752490p2/25.jpg].
The glowing Locus review quoted on the inside front cover specially compares this to three books: [a:Gene Wolfe|23069|Gene Wolfe|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1556979018p2/23069.jpg]'s [b:Peace|60213|Peace|Gene Wolfe|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1391052690l/60213._SY75_.jpg|58579] (which I haven't read, and so cannot comment on), McKillip's [b:The Book of Atrix Wolfe|77353|The Book of Atrix Wolfe|Patricia A. McKillip|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1170900098l/77353._SY75_.jpg|1105994] (one of my faves by her) and [a:Ursula K. Le Guin|874602|Ursula K. Le Guin|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1244291425p2/874602.jpg]'s [b:Tehanu|13661|Tehanu (Earthsea Cycle, #4)|Ursula K. Le Guin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1386924581l/13661._SY75_.jpg|2902890] (part of her Earthsea series). Besides the theme of wizards, the only connection I can see is a certain narrative style that Le Guin's Earthsea and McKillip's early Riddle-Master trilogy share: a flat, concrete, sparse and emotionless tone. But that works against this book, not for it.
This is a puzzle book: a story-within-a-story, where all the stories are the same story in disguise. I really thought it might be going somewhere, and eventually it did come together, but the journey wasn't worth following and the destination wasn't worth reaching.
Starting with the body of a recently pregnant woman hauled up in the nets of a fishing ship (shown on the cover) and a mysterious story Teller relating a convoluted, very long and confusing tale of magic to the crew. The first two sentences from the Prologue do warn us:
"This is a story about monsters.
The real ones. Not the ones we tell children about."
For all the magic here, there is no wonder.
We follow a corrupt wizard named Nemot, who gets raised from the dead as a giant talking rook (crow) named Tomen (and yet no one can make the connection!) and sets about wreaking destruction until a cursed half-mad king, an orphaned boy, and a magically sentient frog try to stop him. The real message: for all the magic in the world, the real monsters are men. But this travesty of a coming-of-age-tale renders this message trite and simplistic, and it has no emotional resonance. Not a single character here is likeable, or worth rooting for. And the ending - a forced romantic set-up to make the now much older orphaned boy "into a man" - is eye-rollingly awful.
I'd recommend skipping this one.
ubercoat's review against another edition
1.0
The most pretentious fantasy book I’ve read. O’Leary has plenty to say about how great it is to be a storyteller, but apparently very little idea of how to tell an interesting story.
kitaayla's review against another edition
3.0
While enjoyable, The Gift can be disconcerting in its style. It draws strongly on oral storytelling which is unexpected in a written format. I found it hard to follow at times and it lacks the detail of explanation or a system of magic with particular rules. Very little is fully explained, which I found frustrating. Though I enjoyed the reveal at the end of the book, I was not a huge fan of the ending. The book was okay, but I wasn't overly impressed.
jennstans's review against another edition
3.0
I never would have read this if it wasn't for school. It was okay but forgettable at times.
taylor627's review
4.0
I was required to read this book for my English class, and I'm so grateful for that. This book was amazing.
Alright, first off I have to say that the writing and framing of the story was the reason that I did not give this book five stars. It can be quite confusing at times as to what is going on and in which time period or location you are in. Other than that, I had no problems with this book.
This book is an amazing example of the typical fantasy book. It has the reluctant hero, the complete quest sequence, magic and magical creatures, and a couple of villains. So, if that is what you're looking for in a book, this is a good choice.
I loved the way the characters were written, and the way that Patrick O'Leary can make the reader be moved to pity for even one of the villains after reading his back story.
Lastly the plot twists/surprises were well written, and had my prof not already spoiled them for me ahead of time, I would not have been able to guess them.
Alright, first off I have to say that the writing and framing of the story was the reason that I did not give this book five stars. It can be quite confusing at times as to what is going on and in which time period or location you are in. Other than that, I had no problems with this book.
This book is an amazing example of the typical fantasy book. It has the reluctant hero, the complete quest sequence, magic and magical creatures, and a couple of villains. So, if that is what you're looking for in a book, this is a good choice.
I loved the way the characters were written, and the way that Patrick O'Leary can make the reader be moved to pity for even one of the villains after reading his back story.
Lastly the plot twists/surprises were well written, and had my prof not already spoiled them for me ahead of time, I would not have been able to guess them.
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