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rooree 's review for:
The Black Bird Oracle
by Deborah Harkness
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Unfortunately I did not enjoy this latest installment in the DofW series, despite really wanting to. Without giving spoilers, I struggled with the fact not a lot seemed to really happen. There seems to be a lot going on but it doesn't really translate into anything actually really happening, and it is not clear why what is happening is happening, what role it plays in the overall story. The magic system grows more and more complex (as it had started to do in previous books) but with low clarity of explanation. The boundaries between the different 'types' of magic (light, shadow, dark) are not very clear nor well explained (nor had they been in previous books but it didn't matter as much). Exactly how she is learning and using dark magic is not very clear, nor is the magical battle. The apparent threat presented to the children from the congregation is not particularly developed in this book either and that aspect of the story does not really progress much through the book - they are called for testing at the start, they get tested at the end, that's it. I do like the narrative of connecting with new family, and the new relationships and characters that are introduced as a result. The interactions/pages involving the children are endearing. I hope the next book fills in some of the gaps in clarity/comprehension, or even if not, something more builds with the plot. I suspect this one was intended to be a 'meet the proctors' storyline, and was the fun and interesting aspect of the book I appreciated, but the complexities added to the magic system were not well explained/developed, and the underlying plotlines carried over from the previous books relating to the congregation were not developed, which overall, let it down.