Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by alesia_charles
Touchstone by Melanie Rawn
2.0
REVIEW PART ONE: LANGUAGE AND STYLE
Rawn (who has been around for quite a while, yes I know) writes beautifully. I have no complaints at all about that aspect of the book.
REVIEW PART TWO: CHARACTERS & CHARACTERIZATION
The characters here are lively, interesting - and rather dramatic, as befits a group of traveling players. Even the two players that are obvious "types" are well-drawn enough to not detract from things. The secondary characters also show some economizing in places (the Prince who's a notorious rake, the eccentric family, etc.), but again the story skims along fast and brightly enough that it's barely noticeable. Especially since the POV sticks closely with two of the players.
REVIEW PART THREE: WORLDBUILDING
The story is set in a country that has a wildly mixed population - people have ancestry that can include any of Human, Troll, Elf, Fae, and several others. There is a monarchy. There was a generation-ago civil war and residual related hostilities. Information about all of this is provided in clumps, not all of them wonderfully paced, but it's never easy to work that kind of material into a narrative. Also, the characters are refreshingly aware of how unfair the laws and customs of their society are toward women ... perhaps because they particularly disadvantage a friend of theirs, but still. They even talk about it and at one point the main protagonist makes a public complaint. Nice.
REVIEW PART FOUR: PLOT, PACING, RELATED ISSUES
And here's where it all falls apart for me. The beginning was baffling, because it took me far too many pages to figure out that the POV character was in this tavern because his little troupe was performing there. But that's not the main thing, and I forgave the book almost immediately because of the quality of the writing.
No, the main thing is that the narrative follows the troupe through its triumphal competition debut and subsequent tour. There are character developments. There are hints, and then outright warnings, that someone is going to appear who will mess things up badly for one of the characters. Toward the end of the book, it's clear that the villain has appeared - somewhere in the background.
And the climax? The final, concluding moment, the payoff, the crashing chord that ties everything together at the end?
The POV character decides to Do Something About The Villain.
IN THE NEXT BOOK.
Yes, it's a Volume 1 in which lots of incidents and business occur - and some great character development and worldbuilding stuff, truly - but apparently what the plot was REALLY about was this guy screwing himself up to dare to try meddling with things.
For this conclusionless conclusion, I put off various bits of work I needed to do and gave myself a headache?!? Insert swear words here.
This book goes back to the public library, and I doubt I'll bother with Volume 2. Grrr.
Rawn (who has been around for quite a while, yes I know) writes beautifully. I have no complaints at all about that aspect of the book.
REVIEW PART TWO: CHARACTERS & CHARACTERIZATION
The characters here are lively, interesting - and rather dramatic, as befits a group of traveling players. Even the two players that are obvious "types" are well-drawn enough to not detract from things. The secondary characters also show some economizing in places (the Prince who's a notorious rake, the eccentric family, etc.), but again the story skims along fast and brightly enough that it's barely noticeable. Especially since the POV sticks closely with two of the players.
REVIEW PART THREE: WORLDBUILDING
The story is set in a country that has a wildly mixed population - people have ancestry that can include any of Human, Troll, Elf, Fae, and several others. There is a monarchy. There was a generation-ago civil war and residual related hostilities. Information about all of this is provided in clumps, not all of them wonderfully paced, but it's never easy to work that kind of material into a narrative. Also, the characters are refreshingly aware of how unfair the laws and customs of their society are toward women ... perhaps because they particularly disadvantage a friend of theirs, but still. They even talk about it and at one point the main protagonist makes a public complaint. Nice.
REVIEW PART FOUR: PLOT, PACING, RELATED ISSUES
And here's where it all falls apart for me. The beginning was baffling, because it took me far too many pages to figure out that the POV character was in this tavern because his little troupe was performing there. But that's not the main thing, and I forgave the book almost immediately because of the quality of the writing.
No, the main thing is that the narrative follows the troupe through its triumphal competition debut and subsequent tour. There are character developments. There are hints, and then outright warnings, that someone is going to appear who will mess things up badly for one of the characters. Toward the end of the book, it's clear that the villain has appeared - somewhere in the background.
And the climax? The final, concluding moment, the payoff, the crashing chord that ties everything together at the end?
The POV character decides to Do Something About The Villain.
IN THE NEXT BOOK.
Yes, it's a Volume 1 in which lots of incidents and business occur - and some great character development and worldbuilding stuff, truly - but apparently what the plot was REALLY about was this guy screwing himself up to dare to try meddling with things.
For this conclusionless conclusion, I put off various bits of work I needed to do and gave myself a headache?!? Insert swear words here.
This book goes back to the public library, and I doubt I'll bother with Volume 2. Grrr.