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cimorene1558's review against another edition
5.0
So good! I think my favourite of these books. And a finish that could be an ending or not, but resolves all the main dilemmas.
amibunk's review against another edition
4.0
I really do adore Patricia C. Wrede's writing and world-building. Who else would think of having an Old Western fantasy series and then execute it so well? This third installment in the trilogy was much better than the previous, despite the fact that we all knew what Eff would decide to do at the end. Despite the predictability, I thoroughly enjoyed this novel.
magnetarmadda's review against another edition
3.0
It decidedly concluded the story it set out to tell, but I don’t feel like it actually concluded the series; Eff’s story still feels highly unresolved to me after this book
heidimrogers's review against another edition
4.0
I thoroughly enjoyed this series, particularly this last book. I loved the development of the main character and the unique setting.
literallykalasin's review against another edition
3.0
I liked this series and I didn't. Let me clarify: I loved the "Little House on the Prairie -- now with magic and dragons!" vibe that the series has going. Which is to say, I liked the world and worldbuilding. And yet ...
For a story about the American ("Columbian" in this series' nomenclature) frontier, it is lacking a single indigenous person. I don't know if Ms. Wrede made a conscious decision to make her America a terra nullius or if it didn't even occur to her to write in a Native American character, but it is curious that Eff Rothmer goes exploring the less populated and more dangerous areas of her world in each book and never meets a single indigenous person.
Eff herself is an interesting admixture of strength, smarts, and wit that also is no end of frustration. As the narrator, you the reader get to glimpse the inner workings of Eff's mind. So you'd think! The only real impression of Eff you get is that she's humble and puts everyone's abilities in higher regard than her own. As to her thoughts, feelings, and dreams, forget about it! This series is characterised by the aloofness of its narration, and the obfuscated manner in which it delineates some aspects of its plots.
For a story about the American ("Columbian" in this series' nomenclature) frontier, it is lacking a single indigenous person. I don't know if Ms. Wrede made a conscious decision to make her America a terra nullius or if it didn't even occur to her to write in a Native American character, but it is curious that Eff Rothmer goes exploring the less populated and more dangerous areas of her world in each book and never meets a single indigenous person.
Eff herself is an interesting admixture of strength, smarts, and wit that also is no end of frustration. As the narrator, you the reader get to glimpse the inner workings of Eff's mind. So you'd think! The only real impression of Eff you get is that she's humble and puts everyone's abilities in higher regard than her own. As to her thoughts, feelings, and dreams, forget about it! This series is characterised by the aloofness of its narration, and the obfuscated manner in which it delineates some aspects of its plots.
tasharobinson's review against another edition
4.0
This whole series is so interesting to me. There's virtually no conflict — in this book, the only real significant problem happens 30 pages from the end. The biggest drama is the protagonist enduring her mother and older sisters being kinda nosy and nagging, forcing her to gently tell them off a bit. There's a love triangle, which consists of one man politely proposing to the protagonist and stiffly but cordially taking no for an answer, and another man being a friendly but often distant presence. This is not an edge-of-the-seat kind of book.
Instead, it's a dense and pure world-building book. This trilogy creates an alternative America, where past settlers have created a great magical barrier between the east and the west, to keep out the dangerous magical creatures that live in the Western lands, ranging from mammoths to dragons. This third book in the trilogy involves an expedition out west, where a large group of characters deals with new wildlife and learns more about magic. The characters are calm, rational, and exploratory, and so is the book itself. Most of the story is just adding new things to the world — new discoveries about the magic system, new discoveries about biology and geography, new things about the characters.
It's possible that this shouldn't be so compelling, but it is. I'm fascinated because it's so interesting and absorbing, and I'm fascinated because the main character is so unconventional. She's a young woman with spectacular powers that no one else has… and no one makes a big deal about it. She's a research assistant, and when her way of looking at magic revolutionizes everyone's theories, no one flips out and starts deferring to her and makes her their leader, they're pretty much like, "Okay, that was interesting, let's discuss the mathematics of what you just did, and also the notes the biologists have been taken need to be recopied." The society all this takes place in is very regimented and organized and hierarchical, and she doesn't wildly upend it, and it isn't dystopian and fascistic and overbearing. She's just… a young woman with a job to do, and even after she comes back from the dangerous expedition where she upends reality, she has to think about what she's going to do for a living, and whether she's going to go on living with her parents and their giant family, and do chores and babysit the grandkids.
In other words, there's just a level-headed calm to this series that's not like anything else I've read, and that makes magic seem both fascinating and complicated, and like just another aspect of a world. I wish there were more books in this series, because they're such a worthwhile illustration of how to build a big, rich, unique fantasy world while ignoring all the predictable tropes and going your own way.
Instead, it's a dense and pure world-building book. This trilogy creates an alternative America, where past settlers have created a great magical barrier between the east and the west, to keep out the dangerous magical creatures that live in the Western lands, ranging from mammoths to dragons. This third book in the trilogy involves an expedition out west, where a large group of characters deals with new wildlife and learns more about magic. The characters are calm, rational, and exploratory, and so is the book itself. Most of the story is just adding new things to the world — new discoveries about the magic system, new discoveries about biology and geography, new things about the characters.
It's possible that this shouldn't be so compelling, but it is. I'm fascinated because it's so interesting and absorbing, and I'm fascinated because the main character is so unconventional. She's a young woman with spectacular powers that no one else has… and no one makes a big deal about it. She's a research assistant, and when her way of looking at magic revolutionizes everyone's theories, no one flips out and starts deferring to her and makes her their leader, they're pretty much like, "Okay, that was interesting, let's discuss the mathematics of what you just did, and also the notes the biologists have been taken need to be recopied." The society all this takes place in is very regimented and organized and hierarchical, and she doesn't wildly upend it, and it isn't dystopian and fascistic and overbearing. She's just… a young woman with a job to do, and even after she comes back from the dangerous expedition where she upends reality, she has to think about what she's going to do for a living, and whether she's going to go on living with her parents and their giant family, and do chores and babysit the grandkids.
In other words, there's just a level-headed calm to this series that's not like anything else I've read, and that makes magic seem both fascinating and complicated, and like just another aspect of a world. I wish there were more books in this series, because they're such a worthwhile illustration of how to build a big, rich, unique fantasy world while ignoring all the predictable tropes and going your own way.
seeinghowitgoes's review against another edition
3.0
A strange somewhat rambling conclusion to the Frontier series. For people who like action and decisive moves, most definitely not the book for you! The story seems to concentrate mostly on small details and the intricacies behind magic and the wildlife of this world, fascinating but not quite sure if it worked for me.
Somewhat like the Prairie series meets early Mercedes Lackey.
Somewhat like the Prairie series meets early Mercedes Lackey.
atinydroid's review against another edition
4.0
I finally finished this book series after only rereading the first book about 10 times since I bought it years ago. I still love the first book more than the other two but this book was fantastic. Not only did Wrede build a very expansive world she expanded it even more in this book by taking the characters where no one else had gone. The characters matured and developed naturally which was great to read. I will definitely reread this book series more in the years to come.