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lindaunconventionalbookworms's review against another edition
5.0
I loved the magic here, and the dragon, and the mystery, and Aralorn is a great heroine! I continue to LOVE strong women in my books these days :) I look forward to Wolfsbane coming out later this month! Hopefully, I'll have time to read in in between all my tests and essays coming up.
lynseyisreading's review
4.0
Disclaimer: I read (listened to) the updated 2010 version which had been re-written and fleshed out considerably (according to the author's introduction), and was almost twice the length of the original 1993 release.
I really struggled to rate this one. It's so hard not to compare it to her Mercy Thompson series, which is a mistake because that really is in a class of its own. Not even the spin-off Alpha and Omega series compares to it, in truth. But it's hard not to at least compare writing styles since you know it's the same author, and this is definitely a more simplistic style. There is none of the complex layering and weaving of story threads, and not much in the way of mystery or intrigue. Really, it's just about a simple (if magical) girl, who has a friend who is sometimes a wolf, who has to try and stop an evil mage from taking over the world (insert cheesy echo sound effect here). It's a plot that has been wheeled out for fantasy novels many, many times before.
Except that this is Patricia Briggs we are talking about here, who is a master story teller and amazing at characterization. So although the plot shows little originality on the outside, once you get into the nitty gritty of it, there were many enjoyable aspects of the world-building and characters to savour. And a sweet and touching tentative romance.A lthough this part of the story is minimal, it really added to my enjoyment.
The main character we follow is Aralorn, who is a shapeshifter. She can become almost any shape but she has to train and memorize each new one to be able to do them instantly. Being able to switch between girl and mouse, or girl and goose at little more than a thought, helps no end in her job as a spy, which is how she becomes entangled in a powerplay between two opposing leaders.
Wolf is a very interesting character as well, with a rather hellish back story. As you don't find out exactly who is is until after the first quarter of the book (And I try never to mention things past that point in reviews lest I spoil the plot for you) I won't be able to say too much about him, other than that I liked him a lot, and was happy with the progress he made within this story. I would like to see even more progress in the next one, but I understand these things take time.
There are a few issues with the plot even with the rewrites that have been done but I'm not going to go over them. I'll leave that to others. What I will say is that I enjoyed the story, I particularly enjoyed the narrators work on the audiobook, and I grew to like Wolf and Aralorn enough to want to read the next book, Wolfsbane, which I am looking forward to starting very soon.
4 Stars! ★★★★
I really struggled to rate this one. It's so hard not to compare it to her Mercy Thompson series, which is a mistake because that really is in a class of its own. Not even the spin-off Alpha and Omega series compares to it, in truth. But it's hard not to at least compare writing styles since you know it's the same author, and this is definitely a more simplistic style. There is none of the complex layering and weaving of story threads, and not much in the way of mystery or intrigue. Really, it's just about a simple (if magical) girl, who has a friend who is sometimes a wolf, who has to try and stop an evil mage from taking over the world (insert cheesy echo sound effect here). It's a plot that has been wheeled out for fantasy novels many, many times before.
Except that this is Patricia Briggs we are talking about here, who is a master story teller and amazing at characterization. So although the plot shows little originality on the outside, once you get into the nitty gritty of it, there were many enjoyable aspects of the world-building and characters to savour. And a sweet and touching tentative romance.A lthough this part of the story is minimal, it really added to my enjoyment.
The main character we follow is Aralorn, who is a shapeshifter. She can become almost any shape but she has to train and memorize each new one to be able to do them instantly. Being able to switch between girl and mouse, or girl and goose at little more than a thought, helps no end in her job as a spy, which is how she becomes entangled in a powerplay between two opposing leaders.
Wolf is a very interesting character as well, with a rather hellish back story. As you don't find out exactly who is is until after the first quarter of the book (And I try never to mention things past that point in reviews lest I spoil the plot for you) I won't be able to say too much about him, other than that I liked him a lot, and was happy with the progress he made within this story. I would like to see even more progress in the next one, but I understand these things take time.
There are a few issues with the plot even with the rewrites that have been done but I'm not going to go over them. I'll leave that to others. What I will say is that I enjoyed the story, I particularly enjoyed the narrators work on the audiobook, and I grew to like Wolf and Aralorn enough to want to read the next book, Wolfsbane, which I am looking forward to starting very soon.
4 Stars! ★★★★
parapluieblanche's review against another edition
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
bookwormmama's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
alisonb's review against another edition
4.0
Once I got a foothold on the setting and basic plot, I was smitten with Aralorn and Wolf. This was a detour from the urban fantasy that I have been immersed in lately (which I love!).
aidnoah's review
4.0
Quite an interesting read, to say the least. I like the writing style... and maybe that's why it's one of those fantasy-genre books that I can read without wincing... because to me it isn't high-fantasy.
Aralorn was believable, though sometimes I had to admit I yelled at the book for her moments of stupidity. And a few parts were a little confusing. But altogether, it was a good read (even if I did put it off for a long time, haha.)
Though the mention of a dragon egg... I do wonder if it will prove useful or prevalent to the story in Wolfsbane, or any other possible books in this series.
Aralorn was believable, though sometimes I had to admit I yelled at the book for her moments of stupidity. And a few parts were a little confusing. But altogether, it was a good read (even if I did put it off for a long time, haha.)
Though the mention of a dragon egg... I do wonder if it will prove useful or prevalent to the story in Wolfsbane, or any other possible books in this series.
estelleslibrary's review
3.0
Je connaissais déjà l'auteure, dont la renommée n'est plus à faire et sa saga Sianim avait de quoi intrigué tout amateur de fantasy. J'ai beaucoup apprécié ma lecture et je ne peux pas dire être déçue à cause des défauts du roman du fait de la note de l'auteure au début. En effet ce tome à les défauts du premier roman avec les faiblesses qui l'accompagnent. Mais au fil des pages on reconnait le potentiel de l'auteure !
On s'attache à Aralorn et surtout à Loup, dont j'observais la relation évoluée avec plaisir.
Malgré que le livre ne soit pas très aboutis, je suis impatiente de découvrir le tome 2 !
On s'attache à Aralorn et surtout à Loup, dont j'observais la relation évoluée avec plaisir.
Malgré que le livre ne soit pas très aboutis, je suis impatiente de découvrir le tome 2 !
elusivity's review against another edition
2.0
This is one of Ms. Brigg's earliest books, and it shows. Although the writing quality here is already better than most of what's out there, serious plot holes, unexplained details abound. The characters are cardboard and vague--they do not arise into individuals, and cannot exist independent of their background, the way characters do in her more mature work. I.e. Mercy.
Sianim is a fairy tale world, complete with wizards, shapechangers, and a supvervillain who does terrible things to children. The heroine is courageous, humorous, effortlessly charismatic, and can defend herself against all kinds of danger. The hero is "tortured," can work unheard-of amount of magic, and is more dangerous than any amount of secondary monster creatures. However, he turns into blubber in front of the arch-villain. And speaking of the arch-villain... when a villain's primary aspect is charisma and beauty and laughter and charm, and he is always described as such whenever he appears, you need to put in some realistically gruesome details in order to establish his villain status.
Also, the ending was "not with a bang, but a whimper."
However! despite those flaws, this book is still better than many of the crap floating around out there. I say it's worth a casual read when you have nothing better to do.
Sianim is a fairy tale world, complete with wizards, shapechangers, and a supvervillain who does terrible things to children. The heroine is courageous, humorous, effortlessly charismatic, and can defend herself against all kinds of danger. The hero is "tortured," can work unheard-of amount of magic, and is more dangerous than any amount of secondary monster creatures. However, he turns into blubber in front of the arch-villain. And speaking of the arch-villain... when a villain's primary aspect is charisma and beauty and laughter and charm, and he is always described as such whenever he appears, you need to put in some realistically gruesome details in order to establish his villain status.
Also, the ending was "not with a bang, but a whimper."
However! despite those flaws, this book is still better than many of the crap floating around out there. I say it's worth a casual read when you have nothing better to do.