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gracefulhope's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting concept and characters. It was a bit of a rough start since it took me a while to understand exactly what the point of each of the 4 roles in the troupe were, but I was still engaged with the characters. I wasn't blown away, but it's a fun read.
shinyhill's review against another edition
3.0
Set in a fantasy world, but with none of the usual swords and royal intrigue. A good read, although I find the protagonist unsympathetic.
kpbq81's review against another edition
5.0
I received an advanced copy of this book through a Goodreads giveaway. I did not want this book to end. I'm way overdue on this review because I was delaying getting to the end of it! Anyway, here's what I loved about it. "Touchstone" centers around a group of young men with magical abilities, in a completely original setting and storyline. It was really refreshing to read a new take on magic and how Elves, Wizards, and other races thrown in the mix, use it. These guys perform plays using their magic to create atmosphere, multiple characters played by one person, affect the audience's emotions, and sometimes expand beyond the boundaries of the stage. That's a really simplified version of the premise of this story. The rest of the details surround their careers and adventures along the way, including the very personal histories of what it means to them to be part of this entertainment industry. Melanie Rawn has set up a lot of details on which she can build future stories, so I sincerely hope there is more in the works for this unique world and these characters. Highly recommend checking this one out if you enjoy fantasy!
kadomi's review against another edition
2.0
I have to be upfront, from 50% to the end I simply skimmed to the end.
It's tough when you fall out of love with an author you have loved for so many years. Melanie Rawn was one of my heroes of the 90s. Her books had everything that I love about fantasy: political intrigue, interesting magic systems, cool world-building and a variety of interesting characters. I highly recommend the Dragon Prince and Dragon Star trilogies. And ugh, the quality of her Exiles books. She only wrote two books and then gave up on writing for a long time, and people who read them still mourn that she didn't continue.
I was so excited when she went back to writing. I just didn't expect...this.
Touchstone is the first book of her Glass Thorn series and has no world-building, characters that I don't give a damn about and feel like I never get to know them, maybe an interesting magic system, but I don't really know and...was there a plot? If so, I might have missed it.
Touchstone is a troupe of players who use magic to create plays. The four people in the troupe all have job descriptions like fettler, glisker, tregedour or something, and you never get any explanation whatsoever what they do. Cayden seems to be the main character, and for all that I know, he and the elfish glisker Mieka are in love. Cayden has prophetic dreams, and they involve some lady keen on Mieka and that's terrible, and that's pretty much everything that happens in this book.
There's also some kind of contest, and I am sure if there had been any exposition in this book at all I might even have cared about it.
The writing shows hints of former loveliness, but you know, I miss it when you held your breath during a Rawn book because there would inevitably be a moment of pandemonium that totally shook up the plot. There was a plot! How I miss these days.
I am not sure if I will be strong enough to pick up The Captal's Tower when it comes out if this is Melanie Rawn today. I mourn now.
It's tough when you fall out of love with an author you have loved for so many years. Melanie Rawn was one of my heroes of the 90s. Her books had everything that I love about fantasy: political intrigue, interesting magic systems, cool world-building and a variety of interesting characters. I highly recommend the Dragon Prince and Dragon Star trilogies. And ugh, the quality of her Exiles books. She only wrote two books and then gave up on writing for a long time, and people who read them still mourn that she didn't continue.
I was so excited when she went back to writing. I just didn't expect...this.
Touchstone is the first book of her Glass Thorn series and has no world-building, characters that I don't give a damn about and feel like I never get to know them, maybe an interesting magic system, but I don't really know and...was there a plot? If so, I might have missed it.
Touchstone is a troupe of players who use magic to create plays. The four people in the troupe all have job descriptions like fettler, glisker, tregedour or something, and you never get any explanation whatsoever what they do. Cayden seems to be the main character, and for all that I know, he and the elfish glisker Mieka are in love. Cayden has prophetic dreams, and they involve some lady keen on Mieka and that's terrible, and that's pretty much everything that happens in this book.
There's also some kind of contest, and I am sure if there had been any exposition in this book at all I might even have cared about it.
The writing shows hints of former loveliness, but you know, I miss it when you held your breath during a Rawn book because there would inevitably be a moment of pandemonium that totally shook up the plot. There was a plot! How I miss these days.
I am not sure if I will be strong enough to pick up The Captal's Tower when it comes out if this is Melanie Rawn today. I mourn now.
eososray's review against another edition
4.0
A tale about a magical theater troupe sounded so good I couldn't pass it up.
The story starts with friends Cayden, Rafcadion and Jeschenar holding tryouts for the all important fourth member who will fit into their troupe. The extremely self confindent Mieka joins them and with him their dreams of becoming the best could possibly be fulfulled. Cayden leads the troupe as their storyteller/writer and through his dreams of the future tries to keep his friends safe.
I really loved this story. It was fun and engaging with great characters that I want to know more about. I look forward to the next book.
The story starts with friends Cayden, Rafcadion and Jeschenar holding tryouts for the all important fourth member who will fit into their troupe. The extremely self confindent Mieka joins them and with him their dreams of becoming the best could possibly be fulfulled. Cayden leads the troupe as their storyteller/writer and through his dreams of the future tries to keep his friends safe.
I really loved this story. It was fun and engaging with great characters that I want to know more about. I look forward to the next book.
oakley96's review
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
lillianhong's review against another edition
3.0
First of all, why is almost every magical world set in medieval England? It's as if magical creatures can't live in harmony together unless there's a tavern nearby and a threepence in their pockets. Waiting for someone to create a truly new (and original) magic world.
Second complaint: accents. First couple of pages, I'm introduced to two characters and I can barely understand one. There's a point where the mangling of words turns from a quirky accent into pure gibberish. Thankfully, this only happens once and the rest of the dialouge is comprehensible.
Third, the book wasn't what I thought it was. I mean, I guess I was expecting some kind of action but it was mostly like a business tale of how a group of men became famous. The most exciting thing, in my opinion, was when Cade's worst visions started to come true (the ones with Mieka and his evil lover) and there was nothing he could do to stop it...actually, there was a lot he could've done, but apparently, it's immoral to save your friend's life from future danger. *rolls eyes* Also, in the end, he does nothing but stand there staring in horror while a wedding goes on behind him. Seriously, that's the ending of the book. What kind of ending is that?! That's not a cliffhanger, that's just an infuriating reason to read the sequel.
All complaints aside, pretty interesting I guess. The mixing of magical races and the combination of magic and the theatre arts were interesting experiences. Could've been better.
I received the book for free through Goodreads First Reads.
Second complaint: accents. First couple of pages, I'm introduced to two characters and I can barely understand one. There's a point where the mangling of words turns from a quirky accent into pure gibberish. Thankfully, this only happens once and the rest of the dialouge is comprehensible.
Third, the book wasn't what I thought it was. I mean, I guess I was expecting some kind of action but it was mostly like a business tale of how a group of men became famous. The most exciting thing, in my opinion, was when Cade's worst visions started to come true (the ones with Mieka and his evil lover) and there was nothing he could do to stop it...actually, there was a lot he could've done, but apparently, it's immoral to save your friend's life from future danger. *rolls eyes* Also, in the end, he does nothing but stand there staring in horror while a wedding goes on behind him. Seriously, that's the ending of the book. What kind of ending is that?! That's not a cliffhanger, that's just an infuriating reason to read the sequel.
All complaints aside, pretty interesting I guess. The mixing of magical races and the combination of magic and the theatre arts were interesting experiences. Could've been better.
I received the book for free through Goodreads First Reads.
eleanor_gravestock's review against another edition
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Mildly amusing and interesting book, didn’t have a hook for me.
trunuyawkr's review against another edition
3.0
I love Melanie Rawn's works - always have. She was one of the first female fantasy writers I found, and she hooked me in with word one. I thought I had read everything of hers, so I was VERY happily surprised to stumble upon the Touchstone series. I ordered it, and eagerly started reading it the second it arrived.
Unfortunately, I found myself disappointed by book's end. Don't get me wrong - it was very well written, and the idea of the various races intermingling blood lines with no two people having the same primary lineage / make up is incredibly intriguing. The problem I had with this novel is that I was never sure which "problem" I was supposed to be worrying about solving. Was it Cade and his struggle with his Elsewhens? Cade and his almost but not quite romantic relationship with Mieka? Was I supposed to be trying to figure out who was attempting to sabotage Blye's glassworks? Or was it Touchstone's struggle through the Winter circuit? Or just maybe I was supposed to be stressing about the political angst and shenanigans going on behind the scenes. I have read more than plenty of books with multiple story arcs, and have had no difficulties in getting drawn in and worrying along with the multiple characters; here, though, there was never enough oomph in the story to help guide me along - and so I found myself skimming on top of the action, rather than diving in as I normally do.
There is already a second book out (Elsewhen); rather than rushing out to add it to my collection, I have simply marked it as part of my Wish List, and will get to it when the other new volume selection is slow.
Unfortunately, I found myself disappointed by book's end. Don't get me wrong - it was very well written, and the idea of the various races intermingling blood lines with no two people having the same primary lineage / make up is incredibly intriguing. The problem I had with this novel is that I was never sure which "problem" I was supposed to be worrying about solving. Was it Cade and his struggle with his Elsewhens? Cade and his almost but not quite romantic relationship with Mieka? Was I supposed to be trying to figure out who was attempting to sabotage Blye's glassworks? Or was it Touchstone's struggle through the Winter circuit? Or just maybe I was supposed to be stressing about the political angst and shenanigans going on behind the scenes. I have read more than plenty of books with multiple story arcs, and have had no difficulties in getting drawn in and worrying along with the multiple characters; here, though, there was never enough oomph in the story to help guide me along - and so I found myself skimming on top of the action, rather than diving in as I normally do.
There is already a second book out (Elsewhen); rather than rushing out to add it to my collection, I have simply marked it as part of my Wish List, and will get to it when the other new volume selection is slow.
metaphorosis's review against another edition
3.0
reviews.metaphorosis.com
3.5 stars
Four young men form a theater troupe that competes to deliver performances based on magic. Their abilities depend in part on genetic inheritance from Wizards, Elves, Fae, Goblins, Trolls, etc. The book chronicles their personal development and relationships.
It's a treat to see something new from Ms. Rawn at last, after a long drought in the mysterious and frustrating aftermath of the Ambrai 'trilogy'. In the interim, I've only seen one Rawn work (The Diviner), and didn't like it much. Unlike a number of reviewers, I did like Touchstone.
Rawn made her name with heavily romantic fantasy in the style of Mary Stewart's Merlin series, but tilted more toward romance and less toward real relationships. She did it very well, and the books were good. I and many others were enthralled, up until the Ambrai series suddenly stopped mid-flow.
This book veers slightly from the formula, with a little more focus on the mechanics of magical theater. As I was with Robin Hobb's latest series, I was disappointed in the cultural world-building - primarily because I'm sorry that in the 21st century, the default setting for fantasy is still privileges for men and subservience for women. The individual characters in this book (and Hobb's) are of course feisty and rebellious, but the society is firmly male dominated. There are hints of potential for change, but essentially, it's harder to lose yourself in a world that not only replicates real world problems, but the problems of some decades ago. (Not that there isn't still a lot of room for progress here.)
On the bright side, Rawn uses a lot of fun, archaic words - perhaps even too many, but they do add to the ambiance. She also takes a great deal of care, spending much of this book setting up a relationship that seems almost certain to arrive in later books. It seems clear that the relationship is meant to be seen as illicit, but Rawn spends virtually no time addressing that aspect of the society, which will undermine the relationship if it does develop.
Sadly, for a book of this nature, very few of the characters are fully developed. Even among the four artists, only two of them, Caden and Mieka, are really explored. Most others are simply filler, and the relationships are thin. The world, as well, is apparently interesting, but woefully underexplored, as is the society overall. A map would have been helpful.
The book also starts slowly, and with some confusion. The roles of the artists are not very clear, and in fact they never really become clear. It's a recurring weakness that threads through the very core of the book.
So, it's not a great book, but I do think it's a good one. The writing is largely good, the characters are engaging, and the world is interesting. I will be following up with the other books in the series eventually, even if not as a high priority. I recommend it for Rawn fans, and fans of romantic fantasy generally.
* On a side note, what's the deal with publishers who skimp on the covers for ebooks? Despite the image above, the ebook actually has a much simpler and less attractive cover. The same is true for the reissued Sheri S. Tepper books, which have really terrible, basic covers. To me, it just says cheap.