Post by Elycien on Sept 23, 2007 16:42:13 GMT -5
... PLEASE tell me someone besides me has read this. XD;;
But honestly, I loved this series, and I think it was amazingly well done, when you compare how badly fantasy writers usually fare with such plots. There was war, an empire invasion, a small resistance, an ancient prophecy, and nobility that ruled over peasants... sounds like a recipe for disaster, but it totally wasn't. XD
The empire wasn't EVIL. And alhough I admit that their commander was a bit of a jerk, he wasn't THE DARK LORD by any stretch of the imagination. And his soldiers weren't Nameless And Mindless Minions, either. They had minds, opinions, and motivations of their own... and while the author obviously didn't delve in-depth to the lives of several thousand soldiers, she still made that clear.
Also, the resistance movement wasn't PURE AND GOOD. So many fantasy resistance factions have this mindset of "WE ARE SMALL AND VIRTUOUS. MUST FIGHT EMPIRES." But they didn't. They were neither onesidedly good, and their motives were clear. Unlike certain other books I could name, in which the resistance appeared to be fighting the evil empire JUST BECAUSE. They weren't invincible either, like so many resistance factions seem to be. The crazy odds of the war were made clear, and the ending was... awesomely appropriate, too.
The idea of a language barrier was carried off quite well, I thought. So many fantasy characters seem to become bi- or trilingual overnight - but I thought the characters' struggles with learning another tongue were quite realistic. Accelerated a little, yes - but not so much as to seem ridiculous.
The three main characters were cool too. Spread out nicely through the social structure of Farsala. There was Soraya, a high-born lady accustomed to being of the nobility; Jiaan, her half-brother and her father's illegitimate son with a peasant woman; and Kavi, a peasant with a deep hatred of the nobility. Now imagine these people trying to work together. Oh yeah. X3 The character development, as well as development of their relationships to one another, was pure awesome and win.
AND THE MILITARY STRATEGY AND COVERT OPERATIONS. XD <3 It was so AWESOME. There are armies to be commanded, and information to be gained through spying... and someone is almost always having a near death experience, so it certainly kept me on the edge of my seat >__>
The magic itself was surprisingly downplayed. Which I thought was nice, for a change. It was a major plot point, but it wasn't a major worldbuilding point, and neither was it something that the entire campaign depended on. Even though the magic they discovered gave them a great advantage, it wasn't "OMG WE HAVE MAGIC WE WIN!" In fact, what magic there was felt more like stretching or manipulating the laws of nature rather than breaking them as a lot of magic does in fantasy.
But the BEST BEST PART (besides the covert operations and the torture scene) was the way she broke one of fantasy's great cliches.
MINOR-SPOILER-ISH FOR BOOKS 2 AND 3
The first book establishes the legend of Sorahb (based on an actual ancient Persian myth): that this ancient champion, slain in battle, would be reborn one day when Farsala again needed a hero. Okay, so after that, we're thinking "Right! So Jiaan, Kavi, or Soraya's gonna be Sorahb and save the day!" ... Wrong XDDDD In fact, all three of them use the name of Sorahb, who becomes a sort of imaginary rebel leader. All three of them are Sorahb because all of them do the things that he is credited with doing - but none of it's in a mystical sense at all, except for one character's magic-working that is accredited, again, to Sorahb. And in the very end... well, I won't spoil it for you, but it's simply amazing.
END MILD SPOILER-ISH
So. I'll have more to say on this later, but for now I'll leave this out there in hopes that someone else has read this.
But honestly, I loved this series, and I think it was amazingly well done, when you compare how badly fantasy writers usually fare with such plots. There was war, an empire invasion, a small resistance, an ancient prophecy, and nobility that ruled over peasants... sounds like a recipe for disaster, but it totally wasn't. XD
The empire wasn't EVIL. And alhough I admit that their commander was a bit of a jerk, he wasn't THE DARK LORD by any stretch of the imagination. And his soldiers weren't Nameless And Mindless Minions, either. They had minds, opinions, and motivations of their own... and while the author obviously didn't delve in-depth to the lives of several thousand soldiers, she still made that clear.
Also, the resistance movement wasn't PURE AND GOOD. So many fantasy resistance factions have this mindset of "WE ARE SMALL AND VIRTUOUS. MUST FIGHT EMPIRES." But they didn't. They were neither onesidedly good, and their motives were clear. Unlike certain other books I could name, in which the resistance appeared to be fighting the evil empire JUST BECAUSE. They weren't invincible either, like so many resistance factions seem to be. The crazy odds of the war were made clear, and the ending was... awesomely appropriate, too.
The idea of a language barrier was carried off quite well, I thought. So many fantasy characters seem to become bi- or trilingual overnight - but I thought the characters' struggles with learning another tongue were quite realistic. Accelerated a little, yes - but not so much as to seem ridiculous.
The three main characters were cool too. Spread out nicely through the social structure of Farsala. There was Soraya, a high-born lady accustomed to being of the nobility; Jiaan, her half-brother and her father's illegitimate son with a peasant woman; and Kavi, a peasant with a deep hatred of the nobility. Now imagine these people trying to work together. Oh yeah. X3 The character development, as well as development of their relationships to one another, was pure awesome and win.
AND THE MILITARY STRATEGY AND COVERT OPERATIONS. XD <3 It was so AWESOME. There are armies to be commanded, and information to be gained through spying... and someone is almost always having a near death experience, so it certainly kept me on the edge of my seat >__>
The magic itself was surprisingly downplayed. Which I thought was nice, for a change. It was a major plot point, but it wasn't a major worldbuilding point, and neither was it something that the entire campaign depended on. Even though the magic they discovered gave them a great advantage, it wasn't "OMG WE HAVE MAGIC WE WIN!" In fact, what magic there was felt more like stretching or manipulating the laws of nature rather than breaking them as a lot of magic does in fantasy.
But the BEST BEST PART (besides the covert operations and the torture scene) was the way she broke one of fantasy's great cliches.
MINOR-SPOILER-ISH FOR BOOKS 2 AND 3
The first book establishes the legend of Sorahb (based on an actual ancient Persian myth): that this ancient champion, slain in battle, would be reborn one day when Farsala again needed a hero. Okay, so after that, we're thinking "Right! So Jiaan, Kavi, or Soraya's gonna be Sorahb and save the day!" ... Wrong XDDDD In fact, all three of them use the name of Sorahb, who becomes a sort of imaginary rebel leader. All three of them are Sorahb because all of them do the things that he is credited with doing - but none of it's in a mystical sense at all, except for one character's magic-working that is accredited, again, to Sorahb. And in the very end... well, I won't spoil it for you, but it's simply amazing.
END MILD SPOILER-ISH
So. I'll have more to say on this later, but for now I'll leave this out there in hopes that someone else has read this.
