The Women of Fantasy

Have been enjoying some delicious old favorites: Beauty, by Robin McKinley, which I read years ago as a child and enjoyed again (noticing for the first time how similar it is to Disney's Beauty and the Beast), some non fantasy genre books - notable Jane Austin - important for any self respecting female reader. Next on my list is A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeline L'Engle, and old favorite. It's really fun to revisit some of my favorites, and seems appropriate somehow for Christmas to get lost in a long familiar read.

Dark Moon Defender didn't disapoint - it was a riveting, awesome read.
However, it wandered a bit more than it needed to. Justin, the Kings Rider, and the novice he falls in love with are a bit underdeveloped. They have that sort of desperate love story thing going for them - where I couldn't help but wonder: after the crisis is over, will they still be together?? There's a famous line from the first Speed movie where Sandra Bullock's character informs Keanu's that people in high stress intense situations often feel like they are falling in love, but the love may not be real.
Granted, Shinn took some time to try to establish a friendship first between the characters. They still don't have the usual depth of her other ones.
Speaking of other characters, they really had to lend their voices to this book to create some substance. That's not an issue-I already love Senneth, Tayse, Cammon, Kara and Donnel.
All in all a good book - kept me turning pages until the wee hours and despite its fairly obvious flaws, is one I would gladly recommend.

I am deeply, completely engrossed in Dark Moon Defender, by Sharon Shinn. Dark Moon is her third installment in the 12 houses series. Book one, Mystic and Rider, is about the mystic Senneth and the Rider Tayse. Other characters play strong supporting roles: Kara, the fiery shapechanger, Donnel, her shapechanging companion, Cammon, the "sensitive" and Justin, the mystic distrusting other Rider. These books are some of Shinn's finest. Mystic and Rider hops around a lot, exploring the character of Senneth from the viewpoints of the other characters, which really develops her character more thouroughly than if it had just been a single character viewpoint.

It is a dramatic, amazing read. After taking a break (few weeks) and getting myself "distanced," I started book two, The Thirteenth House. The second book really demonstrates Shinn's flexibility, her ability to create a working story and make her characters come to life. 13th House is about fiery, selfish Kara, and the entire book is pretty much just from her point of view, but this really fits. I was skeptical to read a whole book about this particular character but at the end found myself really liking her - for all her mistakes. Another amazing read, that never dismissed the other characters but integrated them more.

I'll wait to review Dark Moon Defender until it's finished, but so far, it's amazing, proving Shinn to be a wonderful storyteller worth visiting time and again.

Sharon Shinn is one of my favorite authors. I started with her Samaria novels, picking up Archangel on a long Greyhound bus ride, definently not expecting much from the Gas station selection. Archangel really surprised me, with a strong female heroine and moving storyline. I thought, however, it to be a standalone novel and did not run into another Shinn read for a few more years - but later discovered the rest of the Samaria books.

The strong romantic tension of elite arrogant Angels and the "common people" can be repetitive - but I couldn't really blame Shinn for doing the same 'ol thing a few times more - this type of book just really works for her.

I turned from the Samaria series to her standalone novels, highly enjoying Summers at Castle Auburn and Heart of Gold, both featuring (like the Samaria novels) ponderings of race, humanity, and class distinctions. Unlike many other authors, Shinn doesn't turn to the cut and dry "serf's and landowners" type of synerio, nor does she accept the oft typical royalty and commoner background. Each book I've ever written by her has made me question the world around me and come out enriched.

Her latest series, the 12 houses, has also been thought provoking, and though quite a bit different than the Samaria novels, shows Shinn's growth as a writer.

Check her out at http://www.sharonshinn.net/ .

Here is the review for "Forgotten Truth," by Dawn Cook:

Hidden Truth is an excellent sequal to First Truth. We follow our heroine Allisa as she feels the call of the book of First Truth, and the increasingly romantic feelings for Strell. Allisa also starts receiving Keeper lessons from Talo-Taocan (AKA Useless) and battles the mad fallen keeper Bailic. The events in this crucial 2nd book set the stage for the third and fourth.

This is a series that continues to evolve. The second will leave you breathless, hungry for more. I am now on the 4th (and last) and all I can say...is I very much hope Dawn Cook will come back to the Truth series, in one way or another.

Although Cook has that annoying habit of rehashing the last books events (making me feel I'm re-reading everything) - each book intertwines nicely with the one before.

Well have finally found a moment to write another post. I am still deeply enchanted in Dawn Cook's "Truth" series, and yes, reviews will be posted soon. Am on the third in this series and so far it just gets better and better ... recently finished the first book of the dragonriders of pern - I know, who waits this long to start such a classic series? Well for some odd reason I just could never get into it before - but now that I've started I am glad. OK - truthfully - its not quite the style of writing I really love to read, but it certainly is a classic. Plus I can't read feminist fantasy without reading Pern!!

quick summary: Alissa goes in search of a place to learn magic, meets cute guy Strell, both deal with loss and conflict. Much better than the Princess books.

Today I finally finished First Truth, by Dawn Cook. Now this book is a world apart from her later "Princess" series. It shows a depth and talent that the later series not only lacks, but it is almost as if a different writer wrote it. I would be glad to see Cook return to her former writing style.

First Truth is obviously a debut novel. It has all the typical mistakes. So why my rave review? Because the amazing things about this book far outweigh the fall backs. Cook has a real masterpiece here, and the ending really left me wanting the next book - fast. But she didn't get nearly as dramatic as her Princess books. Cook held back - with good results. She was able to portray intense situations and emotions without wiping out the reader by utilizing a third person narrative, unlike the first person in the other books reviewed. Multiple perspectives did not detract from the story whatsoever like they often can in a fantasy. Instead, I grew to truly care about the two main characters. The third perspective, of the books "bad guy" was helpful and I think necessary.
But it didn't get overly personal with him, and I was glad.

Anyways, go out and buy this book. I don't think you will be disappointed. :)

It's odd to see books that don't come in three's. There is some unwritten law about this. Well, I of course assumed Decoy Princess and Princess at Sea would have a third book. Here is the author's comment about Princess at Sea, from her website: (link at left) "This closes out the Tess books, though I may come back at a later date if Tess asks me to return." That really makes Princess at Sea a disapointment. Maybe Cook is doing the smart thing, however, if she recognized the faults of her book and can't write another without repeating them.

So why is it that so many emerging authors 2nd series really pale in comparison to the first? This seems to be the case with Dawn Cook. I just finished reading her two books, The Decoy Princess and Princess at Sea (see reviews below), and started First Truth. This is Cook's first book. In some ways it's hard to tell it's the same author!! She writes in 3rd person instead of 1st and tells the story from the perspective of two people instead of one. Really, this seems to work much better with the authors writing style. So far, and yes I do know it is too early to really tell, First Truth is much better than the Princess series. I really hope she does something with her next Princess book to fix those mistakes - maybe read her Truth series again??

As a reader, I would rather wait a long time for a book of quality from a favorite author than a short time for an ok read. How long did it take to write that first novel? Years? Then maybe they shouldn't churn the second out so fast....

OK - I finished this book two nights ago. Sometimes when a book keeps me up all night turning pages that means it is a great book - but sometimes, at least for me, it just means the book is too intense. This was the case with Princess at Sea. The term Princess, and the crown on the front of the book, are kind of misleading. Basically, Tess is technically a Princess, because she was adopted legally. But she doesn't really consider herself one. Getting past that though, there is the issue of the incredibly high drama in the book. In this story, unlike the first one, the 1st person narrative just doesn't seem to work for the intensity of the storyline. Tess undergoes alot of tortuous miserable experiences and for awhile I felt it would never end.

I also wonder what was going through the author's mind - because her character felt so guilty the entire book that it was kind of a heavy read. But to me, the reader, Tess's guilt wasn't necessary - actually kind of pointless. The other problem with this story was it had absolutely no tie in with the conclusion at the end of its prequel. I finished The Decoy Princess thinking the next book would start out a certain way, only to have no mention of that ending. This is a rather rude thing to do to a reader, in my opinion.

These complaints aside, Princess at Sea did have a satisfactory ending. I find myself looking forward to the next book - but hope the author will tie it in to this story - and also that our character will grow past some of these basic emotions she experienced on almost every page of the story. Surely the character Tess has a greater capacity for emotional intelligence and self-worth - that go beyond her magical skills. And I think this author has tremendous potential as well to give us more.

Overall a good read, despite its faults. I give it 2 1/2 out of 5.

Summary: Tess, Princess of Costenopolie, learns she is not the princess at all, but a decoy for the real princess who was raised in a nunnery. The blow is softened by discovering she is destined to be a player in a powerful game, and has magical abilities.

Review: This is Dawn Cook’s second fantasy series, her first being the Truth books. This first installment in the new series is a highly adventure packed read, written in first person – not overly common for the fantasy genre. There are places where Cook stumbles, and small parts of the story that do not add up, but nothing major. Tess is a strong, vital character with very un-princess like knife throwing skills and tolerance to deadly poison. She is a very likable character, and reacts realistically to the situation. We learn that being a princess isn’t so easy – but not knowing who you are is even worse.
I enjoyed this book for its ease of reading and the likable characters. There was enough romance to keep me entertained but not so much that it distracted from the story. Maybe not epic fantasy material, but a good read with an ending that made me go out and get the second book the next day.

Overall an excellent read. 3 1/2 out of 5.

Welcome to the Women of Fantasy Blog. Fantasy books with strong dynamic female heroines are my absolute favorite type of novel to read. This is by no means meant to be a complete list - there are many books I have yet to read. If you have recommendations, or reviews of your own, just add a comment. You have to join blogger to comment - but it's free and easy. Thanks for visiting my blog!