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lauraellis 's review for:
Point of Hopes
by Lisa A. Barnett, Melissa Scott
This book takes place in a city called Astreint, in a vaguely defined fantasy world. The city has numerous neighborhoods referred to as Points, and each Point has its own watch station. Rathe is second-in-command at the Point of Hopes watch station and investigating the disappearance of the city's children. The other main character is a recently released mercenary who is searching for employment. The two characters' actions eventually come together to resolve the question of the children's disappearances.
One thing I liked about this book was the absence of didacticism. Nowhere do the authors go into a lengthy explanation of the city's religion (based on the Gods, in which knowing your stars goes a long way towards determining which career you might best be suited for, broadsheets based on astrological pronouncements are very popular reading material, and mothers endeavor to ascertain the moment of their children's birth down to the quarter hour in order to allow them to get the most accurate astrological readings) or government -- a monarchy with a queen at its head in a matriarachal society. The reader picks up bits and pieces here and there, gleaned from characters discussing or mentioning things in the normal course, and is left with the feeling that these are all drawn from a larger body of knowledge. I liked very much the way the authors handled their world building.
One thing I didn't understand was why two female authors would write a book about two male main characters, when there are a plethora of fantasy novels with men as the lead characters, and rather less with women (imho, of course).
One thing I liked about this book was the absence of didacticism. Nowhere do the authors go into a lengthy explanation of the city's religion (based on the Gods, in which knowing your stars goes a long way towards determining which career you might best be suited for, broadsheets based on astrological pronouncements are very popular reading material, and mothers endeavor to ascertain the moment of their children's birth down to the quarter hour in order to allow them to get the most accurate astrological readings) or government -- a monarchy with a queen at its head in a matriarachal society. The reader picks up bits and pieces here and there, gleaned from characters discussing or mentioning things in the normal course, and is left with the feeling that these are all drawn from a larger body of knowledge. I liked very much the way the authors handled their world building.
One thing I didn't understand was why two female authors would write a book about two male main characters, when there are a plethora of fantasy novels with men as the lead characters, and rather less with women (imho, of course).