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A review by oberonmallory
Cephrael's Hand by Melissa McPhail
4.0
Firstly, I am writing this review a month after reading the book so I will keep my review to the main highlights.
What I loved:
- Great world-building. Something really different. I loved the idea of the god-like Vestals and the history behind the world.
- I liked the mystery and build up of the character of Bjorn van Gelderen.
- I don't tend to enjoy fantasy in the desert, but McPhail's writing really changed my mind on it. The images she created in this environment were arguably her strongest.
- The languages used were also cool and quite different from many other fantasy languages, taking a more Arabic/Indian flavour which I enjoyed. One of my pet hates though with book languages though is the use of apostrophes mid word. Lots of authors use this but it is not always clear what this is meant to represent. Is it a glottal stop? Small thing but a little hint in the glossary for this would have been welcome!
What I wasn't too keen on:
- There was a good bit of repetition in one of the story lines, with the character going through the same cycle at least three times, I believe. Even he is fed up about it by the end of it. I am just not sure if every single repetition was worth it, ultimately
- I would like to see more of the inter-world politics which is hinted at by the role of the Vestals but perhaps this is something that will happen in the following books.
-Finally, another language point. Quite a few writers tend to use real life languages alongside their own. Hell, even Tolkien himself did it. Nothing wrong with that, but it is not really made clear why this is the case. Why is French and Greek used, does it symbolise the relationship between the 'real' language represented by English and these languages or is it just to give a 'flavour' of difference, rather than a whole foreign fantasy tongue?
McPhail at the beginning of the novel apologises for the amount of characters and heavy world building she puts the readers through. However, I really do not think this is the case, with the helpful glossary at the end, I very rarely struggled. It is a thoroughly built world and I did enjoy travelling through it. I am intrigued to see where the story goes, though hopefully with fewer kidnappings!
What I loved:
- Great world-building. Something really different. I loved the idea of the god-like Vestals and the history behind the world.
- I liked the mystery and build up of the character of Bjorn van Gelderen.
- I don't tend to enjoy fantasy in the desert, but McPhail's writing really changed my mind on it. The images she created in this environment were arguably her strongest.
- The languages used were also cool and quite different from many other fantasy languages, taking a more Arabic/Indian flavour which I enjoyed. One of my pet hates though with book languages though is the use of apostrophes mid word. Lots of authors use this but it is not always clear what this is meant to represent. Is it a glottal stop? Small thing but a little hint in the glossary for this would have been welcome!
What I wasn't too keen on:
- There was a good bit of repetition in one of the story lines, with the character going through the same cycle at least three times, I believe. Even he is fed up about it by the end of it. I am just not sure if every single repetition was worth it, ultimately
- I would like to see more of the inter-world politics which is hinted at by the role of the Vestals but perhaps this is something that will happen in the following books.
-Finally, another language point. Quite a few writers tend to use real life languages alongside their own. Hell, even Tolkien himself did it. Nothing wrong with that, but it is not really made clear why this is the case. Why is French and Greek used, does it symbolise the relationship between the 'real' language represented by English and these languages or is it just to give a 'flavour' of difference, rather than a whole foreign fantasy tongue?
McPhail at the beginning of the novel apologises for the amount of characters and heavy world building she puts the readers through. However, I really do not think this is the case, with the helpful glossary at the end, I very rarely struggled. It is a thoroughly built world and I did enjoy travelling through it. I am intrigued to see where the story goes, though hopefully with fewer kidnappings!