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Liked It “so far pretty good..very complex land...the different language references is confusing...Sherwood loves court intrigue & now apparently had joined every other author with the annoying sexual junk stealthy slipped in as "normal" behavior. So why I find Mercedes Lackey series annoying at times....” see full review » see other reviews » |
Didn’t Like It “I have really mixed feelings about this book. I read it because Sherwood Smith wrote it and I hadn't read anything by her for adults other than "Crown Duel". It reminded me of Dune by Frank Herbert a great deal. There's political intrigue, main characters to root for, and the flow of events is...” see full review » see other reviews » |
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“so far pretty good..very complex land...the different language references is confusing...Sherwood loves court intrigue & now apparently had joined every other author with the annoying sexual junk stealthy slipped in as "normal" behavior. So why I find Mercedes Lackey series annoying at times.
walkbyfaith wrote this review Wednesday, April 4, 2012. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
Overall, great series ”
“In spite of my recent obsession with naval fiction, I have not entirely given up my survey of the fantasy genre. When I chose this book, it helped that it promised a bit of both. Set in a world crafted with a Tolkienesque variety of made-up landscapes, languages, cultures, and political forces, it features a boy of remarkable gifts who, by the end of four thick books, will become a great military leader on land and sea. His name, at least to begin with, is Indevan-Dal Algara-Vayir. You can call him Inda.
Robbie F wrote this review Thursday, May 5, 2011. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
Inda is the second son of a landed prince in the kingdom of Iasca Leror, where the native Iascans are the common people, who have not yet forgotten that they were conquered by the Marlovans, a warlike people from the north. To this day the Marlovans speak a kind of pidgin in which their ancestral tongue is reserved for military matters, while anything to do with farming and everyday business is spoken in Iascan. They specialize in a kind of warfare carried out chiefly on horseback, and they practice strange social customs, in which the eldest son (whether of the king or of any nobleman) is trained in warfare at a military academy in the royal capital, and then in turn the eldest son trains his younger brother to be his "shield arm," to defend his territory right up to the castle walls. Inside the walls, meanwhile, defense is laid to the charge of the ruler's wife, and because marriages are arranged at birth (if not earlier), a daughter is frequently fostered off to be raised in the household of her betrothed, and trained from girlhood to perform these defensive duties when she becomes the master's wife.
So, it's not a really easy-going culture in which Inda was born. You feel for him from the beginning, because he is very clever and he has a heart of gold. Even as a boy of eleven years old, he shows tremendous potential as a strategist. So he is really delighted when the King's Shield Arm (Sierandel, and later Harskialdna, to use the Marlovan titles before and after the kingdom goes to war) summons all the second sons to his academy and begins training them for the expected war with the Venn of the far north. Inda takes to the Academy like a fish to water. Unfortunately, for reasons he cannot begin to comprehend, the Sierandel seems to feel threatened by him. Just when a boy of Inda's gifts seems to be what the kingdom really needs, a villainous plot to discredit him leads to horrendous tragedy.
When I reached the midpoint of this book, I was so excited that I had to call my father and tell him about it. I did so at great length, but to whet his appetite I opened with the following analogy—maybe it will excite you too. Suppose, when Harry Potter went back to Hogwarts for his second year studying wizardry, that when he crashed the flying car into the whomping willow, his humorous friend Ron Weasley was killed. Then suppose that Professor Snape, having rigged the car to crash, now conspired to have Harry take the blame for Ron's death. And, instead of continuing his studies at Hogwarts, suppose the heartbroken Harry was now expelled and hustled off, for his own protection, to where Voldemort would never look for him—say, the first departing vessel of the merchant marine. Wouldn't that be a stunner? And that's just the first half of the book!
Inda does, indeed, become a ship's boy in the merchant marine, while his "Hermione" at the Academy—a king's second son nicknamed Sponge—tries to carry on as leader of the second-son scrubs. The Royal Shield Arm's evil designs continue to mature, designs which involve holding Sponge back in any way possible. Sponge's older brother, the Sierlaef (another Marlovan title, there), makes eyes at the betrothed of Inda's older brother, and hatches evil plans of his own. Rumors of pirate attacks on sea, and of a Venn blockade retaliating for the Marlovans' latest war of expansion, continue to trickle in. Inda's intended, the sweet young Tdor, waits and hopes for his return.
And on the high seas, Inda and his shipmates pull together as a band of mercenary marines, specializing in protecting merchants against pirates. They do fairly well at that until, in the final pages of this book, Inda wakes up with a pain in his head after a fierce battle and learns that he has a choice: join the pirates or die... After reading this, I wasted not a moment in laying hands on the second book in this quartet: The Fox.”
“Slow to start, but once you get into it, extremely well written and engaging.”
Patrick B wrote this review Saturday, December 4, 2010. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“The characters are brilliantly complex. ”
EponineAngl wrote this review Monday, June 21, 2010. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
0 of 1 members found this review helpful“Not kid friendly.”
Laena A wrote this review Friday, April 16, 2010. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
0 of 1 members found this review helpful“I started off liking it. I enjoyed the world and the characters, though having everyone act older than their actual age kept messing with my mind. By the time I was half way through, I started to not enjoy it as much. By the time i finished the book, I didn't like it anymore. It had potential, but there were several things that ruined it for me.
Traveling Bard wrote this review Friday, September 25, 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
1. The storyline would go from being incredibly detailed to sparse, jumping over some events that occurred, but referencing them as if you knew about them, while going into occasionally painful details on other events.
2. The emphasis on sex and how it was "unhealthy" to not be sexually active. The sexual relationships of the characters had very little to do with the story line and proportionately took up way too much space. Some of it I could have understood, but not the amount that was actually in there. I'm just glad there were no graphic scenes.
3. I don't know that I actually figured out what the story was really about. The story is about Inda, supposedly, but spends enough time hanging out in several other characters' minds to make the story not really about Inda. There was a lot going on, a lot started, and absolutely nothing resolved. There are times that that can lead to a great, suspenseful book, lending anticipation for the sequel, but usually there is some sense of something being resolved. Not so much with this one.
I was glad to finish it and have no intention of reading the rest of the series. I'm quite disappointed, as I enjoyed Crown Duel.”“I have really mixed feelings about this book. I read it because Sherwood Smith wrote it and I hadn't read anything by her for adults other than "Crown Duel". It reminded me of Dune by Frank Herbert a great deal. There's political intrigue, main characters to root for, and the flow of events is believable/compelling. Unfortunately, the novel is so accurate to how real societies function there's a strong element of prostitution in the book. For me it tainted the book and ruined the experience. I don't recommend it for that reason. I finished the novel because until the title character had not participated in this kind of activities until the last few pages. I felt cheated and although the story leaves you hanging and promises to be very good, I don't see that I'll ever read the other novels.”
Sarah F wrote this review Thursday, August 27, 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Its really good so far, a touch confusing.”
Kayla B wrote this review Thursday, August 6, 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Very good, a little overdone in areas, but I'm looking forward to reading the others!”
Kesih wrote this review Tuesday, June 16, 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
