Scan barcode
lazyowl's review
4.0
This was a re-read for me. I've read this book a few times, but this if the first time I listened on audio. I loved the narration by Imogen Church, she does such a great job of all the voices and her voice is right for the setting of these books.
Jennifer Fallon is one of my favourite fantasy authors and I love returning to her world of the Harshini.
Jennifer Fallon is one of my favourite fantasy authors and I love returning to her world of the Harshini.
alfierose66's review
5.0
One of my favourite books of all time. Have re-read this series a couple of times and I can never get enough of it.
rachel_abby_reads's review
2.0
Not too bad, but I hate it when an author sets us up to root for a romance that is intended to be doomed from the start. I realize that not all (or even half?) of fantasy literature is simply exotic background for a romance, but if you are going to do one, do it right, for heaven's sake.
thewashouts's review
adventurous
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
4.0
waheela's review against another edition
5.0
Read this decades ago.
Glad to see it still held up after so many years. Authors writing style makes the story flow nicely.
Glad to see it still held up after so many years. Authors writing style makes the story flow nicely.
tita_noir's review
2.0
This is the first in a three-book trilogy known as the Demon Child trilogy.
In Medalon, the Sisters of the Blade are the law and they believe in a society of laws and science. They do not believe in nor do they allow the worship of Gods. As a matter of fact, current Medalon society is built from the persecution of an immortal race of magical beings known as the Harshini. The Harshini were a sort of bridge between Gods and Humans and were a gentle and loving people who, although they could touch magic, could not kill or hate.
Centuries ago, the Sisters of the Blade and their male military protectors known as the Defenders, purged all Harshini. In this they were ably abetted by their neighbors to the North, The Kariens, fanatical worshipers of the God Xaphista and whose theocratic rulers' sole purpose is the decimation of any and all Harshini.
Many believe that the Harshini are dead and gone, myths from old stories. But still others believe they are in hiding, biding their time to return. And that they will send before them a Demon Child, a half-Human/Half-Harshini who has all the magic of the Harshini but none of the killing squeamishness. This Demon's Child's raison d'etre is to kill the God Xaphista.
Into this comes R'Shiel a young novice in the Sisters of the Blade and her half-brother Tarja, a Defender of some reknown. They get caught up in the power-hungry machinations of their mother in her quest to capture the highest office in the land, First sister and end up defying her and going on the run.
I had read and ADORED, Jennifer Fallon's Warlord trilogy. So after reading that, I had to go out and see what else she had written. I was hesitant at first to get this first series because I had so enjoyed the Warlord series and this one takes place in the same time/place as that one. But this one was written first and I really didn't want to go backwards. But I decided to anyway.
Well, at first, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that although this trilogy was written first, it actually takes place chronologically later than the Warlord series. So I could revisit those characters I liked and see what they were doing.
However, my pleasant surprise soon waned. I settled in happily enough to read this and it starts off great. But the middle half of the book drags interminably. There seemed to be an endless loop of circumstances where either R'Shiel or Traja or both are in mortal danger and need to be rescued by each other. In a fantasy novel of this sort, your main protagonists should be in danger for appreciable amounts of time, it is expected. But this just read as pure tedium. I was so astonished by how unreadable it was. In some cases, I skipped whole passages.
Luckily, the last third of the book picks up and redeems the book to the point that I do plan to read the next book.
But I was really disappointed in this after how great her other series is. This book had none of the verve, none of the flair and none of the character deliciousness of the other series. I hope that doesn't continue into the next two books of this series.
In Medalon, the Sisters of the Blade are the law and they believe in a society of laws and science. They do not believe in nor do they allow the worship of Gods. As a matter of fact, current Medalon society is built from the persecution of an immortal race of magical beings known as the Harshini. The Harshini were a sort of bridge between Gods and Humans and were a gentle and loving people who, although they could touch magic, could not kill or hate.
Centuries ago, the Sisters of the Blade and their male military protectors known as the Defenders, purged all Harshini. In this they were ably abetted by their neighbors to the North, The Kariens, fanatical worshipers of the God Xaphista and whose theocratic rulers' sole purpose is the decimation of any and all Harshini.
Many believe that the Harshini are dead and gone, myths from old stories. But still others believe they are in hiding, biding their time to return. And that they will send before them a Demon Child, a half-Human/Half-Harshini who has all the magic of the Harshini but none of the killing squeamishness. This Demon's Child's raison d'etre is to kill the God Xaphista.
Into this comes R'Shiel a young novice in the Sisters of the Blade and her half-brother Tarja, a Defender of some reknown. They get caught up in the power-hungry machinations of their mother in her quest to capture the highest office in the land, First sister and end up defying her and going on the run.
I had read and ADORED, Jennifer Fallon's Warlord trilogy. So after reading that, I had to go out and see what else she had written. I was hesitant at first to get this first series because I had so enjoyed the Warlord series and this one takes place in the same time/place as that one. But this one was written first and I really didn't want to go backwards. But I decided to anyway.
Well, at first, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that although this trilogy was written first, it actually takes place chronologically later than the Warlord series. So I could revisit those characters I liked and see what they were doing.
However, my pleasant surprise soon waned. I settled in happily enough to read this and it starts off great. But the middle half of the book drags interminably. There seemed to be an endless loop of circumstances where either R'Shiel or Traja or both are in mortal danger and need to be rescued by each other. In a fantasy novel of this sort, your main protagonists should be in danger for appreciable amounts of time, it is expected. But this just read as pure tedium. I was so astonished by how unreadable it was. In some cases, I skipped whole passages.
Luckily, the last third of the book picks up and redeems the book to the point that I do plan to read the next book.
But I was really disappointed in this after how great her other series is. This book had none of the verve, none of the flair and none of the character deliciousness of the other series. I hope that doesn't continue into the next two books of this series.
ken_bookhermit's review against another edition
5.0
Reading Medalon was hardly a struggle unlike the other fantasy novels I've tried to read. The characters are likeable while at the same time they bear the faults that make them realistic. I read a few reviews that describe R'shiel as a Mary Sue and I don't understand why (probably because I'm not misogynist) since she has a share of her faults. Sure, she has "unrealistic abilities" but this is fantasy and she's the Chosen One™ If she had been male, I'm sure people who label R'shiel as a Mary Sue won't have a problem with it. Tarja was more of a Mary Sue, being full human and yet having the stamina that rivals gods.
The pacing is brilliant. It's enough to keep me reading while not feeling overwhelmed by the amount of things that are happening all at once. However, by the middle of the book, the pattern of 'out of the fire, into the frying pan' became noticeable. It wouldn't have been a problem but there were hardly any moments of relaxation for R'shiel and her companions that I got stressed out for them.
World-building-wise, I found the centrality of religion to be interesting and while not quite unique, it was entertaining to read. Having the Harshini and the half-Harshini as the bridge that links humans to the gods is a fascinating concept that not only prevents the idea that humans are special snowflakes, but also gives another dimension for the universe (namely, information that the Sisters of the Blade tried to tamp down but is now failing to do so.)
The ending was a bit of a problem for me, but at the same time, I liked how it did not have a long winded denouement. The ending was abrupt and succinct and it was a good technique, especially if the author intends me to read the next book (which I will).
The pacing is brilliant. It's enough to keep me reading while not feeling overwhelmed by the amount of things that are happening all at once. However, by the middle of the book, the pattern of 'out of the fire, into the frying pan' became noticeable. It wouldn't have been a problem but there were hardly any moments of relaxation for R'shiel and her companions that I got stressed out for them.
World-building-wise, I found the centrality of religion to be interesting and while not quite unique, it was entertaining to read. Having the Harshini and the half-Harshini as the bridge that links humans to the gods is a fascinating concept that not only prevents the idea that humans are special snowflakes, but also gives another dimension for the universe (namely, information that the Sisters of the Blade tried to tamp down but is now failing to do so.)
The ending was a bit of a problem for me, but at the same time, I liked how it did not have a long winded denouement. The ending was abrupt and succinct and it was a good technique, especially if the author intends me to read the next book (which I will).
oswallt's review against another edition
3.0
Three and a half stars. I'd prefer less sappy/creepy romance between adopted brother and sister.
vaderbird's review
3.0
5 star - Perfect
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish
rinku's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Medalon is a classical High Fantasy novel from the early 2000s. While it introduces some interesting ideas and plot strings, it falls flat on the characters and their arcs.
One big problem was that I was not sure where the book wanted to go. The general plot was okay but not much more and it’s honestly a bit hard to summarize. Like it’s typical for high fantasy, this story follows different characters and their adventures. R’Shiel and Tarjanian are the main characters that live in a monastery of the sisterhood governing the country. After some tragic events, they have to flee the monastery while also figuring out how they can take it back to stop the evil from spreading. I had some problems with this main story. Firstly, it was quite predictable, and it became for example annoying how R’Shiel and Tarja get captured by the bad guys so many times. Secondly, the pacing was not so great. The timeframes become too big at some points; months that would be interesting to read about pass in one sentence. Of course, the story also ends with a cliff-hanger ending, not giving a sense of closure.
Still, there were some moments I liked but that motivate me not enough to read the following books. The fighting scenes were good or the finale when the soldiers lay down their weapons and decided not to support Froninia – she’s such an evil antagonist . Other aspects that were interesting were the politics, even though they’re quite complicated, and here especially the monastery, the sisterhood, the gods and demigods. The writing style was okay but also not much more.
One of the biggest problems I had with Medalon though was the depiction of gender. The book defines in a very binary way what male and what female is. Also, all the female characters were so stereotypical and weirdly portrayed – it was just sexist at some points. Other things annoyed me as well, like the fat-shaming (people who are not thin are the ones deemed to be “crazy” and stupid) or the ageism.
The characters are quite stereotypical for a high fantasy story, especially Tarja: He’s young, intelligent and every girl is into him for no specific reason. Nothing what he’s doing is working which just annoyed me – like he also did. At the beginning, I liked R’Shiel but she later changes so negatively – probably because she’s the demon child? – and only argues with Tarja. She’s just passive, helpless, and always needs to be saved by Tarja. Other stereotypical characters include the cliché mean mother and a villain that rapes R’Shiel which was absolutely not necessary. Furthermore, their romance is just terrible since they’ve grown up thinking that they were brother and sister and fall instantly for each other after this reveal, even though some demigods had their play in this.
All in all, Medalon was not an enjoyable read for me. It was just too old-school – or some would say conservative – for my taste and the story was not enough to make me look over this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Confinement, Death, Fatphobia, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, War, and Injury/Injury detail