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A review by renpuspita
Geist by Philippa Ballantine
3.0
3 stars
I just see the date when I start reading Geish and finish it, and it took me more than 1 month! Yeah, actually I kinda had a dry spell in reading because I'm distracted with game that I played today. I neglect Geist for many days but there's something niggling in my min. Like an itch that need to be scratched. So, I decide to pick Geist and finally finish this one tonight.
The story start with a bang with our heroine, Deacon Sorcha Faris lose her husband and partner in a fight, and must bonded herself with Merrick Chamber. Deacon is like a peace protector, those who stand between the living and the dead, called geist. Deacon divided into 2 type, Active that is offense type like Sorcha. Their partner called Sensitive, who support Active to fight Geist by Sight, a ability to peer into the Otherside when Geist reside. The problem begin when Sorcha and Merrick that go to Ulrich to investigate strange incident meet Raed Rossin. Raed, called the Pretender, is the son of the last emperor of Arkaym that lose his throne to the current Emperor. Raed himself hold a curse,named the Rossin aka The Beast (that explain the lion on the cover). Things get complicated when Sorcha and Merrick face betrayal in Ulrich and face a sinister threat, and Sorcha get entangled by Raed, both mentally and physically.
Geist not bad, but like so many first book in a series, its have big weakness. Complicated world building. My biggest pet peeve in fantasy book is a map. A fantasy book without map will get me lose because I don't know where the story set, when its happen and how much time our MCs need to travel to city A to B. Also, Ballantine kinda jump to the water, write so little explanation that make me so confused when read Geist at first. I just realized that there was a prologue to Geist which explain the event before Geist start. Even the story start with a bang, the plot also slow. The pace begin to pick up in the middle part until the end.
The strength of Geist is the character. Sure Nalini Singh said that the world of the Geist is original, but I detect some old fantasy troupe, like sword and sorcery. Sorcha and Merrick role perfectly fit into this troupe. Its not that bad, quite opposite actually. It just I hope that Ballantine give some glossarium to explain about the term and event in this book. The other plus point is the characters. I like Sorcha. A.Lot. This is a heroine that so badass, without lose her feminine will, confident with her sexuality and her power. While her relationship with Merrick is still grow a little, hers with Raed is wow.
Mark my words, Geist is NOT A ROMANCE. Sorcha already married and even I said she lose her husband, said husband is still much alive. What happen between Raed and Sorcha might be categorized into infidelity. But who can blame Sorcha? Her marriage already crumbling, her husband is distant from her she barely remember how to feel a man's warmth. I like how Ballantine wrote about Sorcha and Raed. Who said that fantasy can't have sex on it? Yes for YA fantasy maybe, but adult fantasy is very very welcome to have sex scene. Beside Ballantine not write it graphically, even the infidelity part might trigger some readers that not like cheating. But like I state before, Geist is not romance, Sorcha's act with Raed have believable reason and I really love this pair. Their dynamic is kinda remind me of Kate Daniels and Curran Lenart, but while Kate-Curran is too slow like snail, Sorcha and Raed is already sizzle from the beginning. Is that bad? Nope, nope in my opinion ;).
While the weakness of Geist is the complicated world building, I still recommend this one to fantasy readers alike. The concept is good, the plot have a good dollop of mystery and suspense, the conspirary is intriguing, the characters are lovable. I will definitely read the next to know what's waiting for our deacon Sorcha, her partner Merrick and her fugitive lover, Raed.
I just see the date when I start reading Geish and finish it, and it took me more than 1 month! Yeah, actually I kinda had a dry spell in reading because I'm distracted with game that I played today. I neglect Geist for many days but there's something niggling in my min. Like an itch that need to be scratched. So, I decide to pick Geist and finally finish this one tonight.
The story start with a bang with our heroine, Deacon Sorcha Faris lose her husband and partner in a fight, and must bonded herself with Merrick Chamber. Deacon is like a peace protector, those who stand between the living and the dead, called geist. Deacon divided into 2 type, Active that is offense type like Sorcha. Their partner called Sensitive, who support Active to fight Geist by Sight, a ability to peer into the Otherside when Geist reside. The problem begin when Sorcha and Merrick that go to Ulrich to investigate strange incident meet Raed Rossin. Raed, called the Pretender, is the son of the last emperor of Arkaym that lose his throne to the current Emperor. Raed himself hold a curse,named the Rossin aka The Beast (that explain the lion on the cover). Things get complicated when Sorcha and Merrick face betrayal in Ulrich and face a sinister threat, and Sorcha get entangled by Raed, both mentally and physically.
Geist not bad, but like so many first book in a series, its have big weakness. Complicated world building. My biggest pet peeve in fantasy book is a map. A fantasy book without map will get me lose because I don't know where the story set, when its happen and how much time our MCs need to travel to city A to B. Also, Ballantine kinda jump to the water, write so little explanation that make me so confused when read Geist at first. I just realized that there was a prologue to Geist which explain the event before Geist start. Even the story start with a bang, the plot also slow. The pace begin to pick up in the middle part until the end.
The strength of Geist is the character. Sure Nalini Singh said that the world of the Geist is original, but I detect some old fantasy troupe, like sword and sorcery. Sorcha and Merrick role perfectly fit into this troupe. Its not that bad, quite opposite actually. It just I hope that Ballantine give some glossarium to explain about the term and event in this book. The other plus point is the characters. I like Sorcha. A.Lot. This is a heroine that so badass, without lose her feminine will, confident with her sexuality and her power. While her relationship with Merrick is still grow a little, hers with Raed is wow.
Mark my words, Geist is NOT A ROMANCE. Sorcha already married and even I said she lose her husband, said husband is still much alive. What happen between Raed and Sorcha might be categorized into infidelity. But who can blame Sorcha? Her marriage already crumbling, her husband is distant from her she barely remember how to feel a man's warmth. I like how Ballantine wrote about Sorcha and Raed. Who said that fantasy can't have sex on it? Yes for YA fantasy maybe, but adult fantasy is very very welcome to have sex scene. Beside Ballantine not write it graphically, even the infidelity part might trigger some readers that not like cheating. But like I state before, Geist is not romance, Sorcha's act with Raed have believable reason and I really love this pair. Their dynamic is kinda remind me of Kate Daniels and Curran Lenart, but while Kate-Curran is too slow like snail, Sorcha and Raed is already sizzle from the beginning. Is that bad? Nope, nope in my opinion ;).
While the weakness of Geist is the complicated world building, I still recommend this one to fantasy readers alike. The concept is good, the plot have a good dollop of mystery and suspense, the conspirary is intriguing, the characters are lovable. I will definitely read the next to know what's waiting for our deacon Sorcha, her partner Merrick and her fugitive lover, Raed.