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Sara Douglass. Oyah. I have a bone to pick with you.
Actually, it's my first book review. Technically a series review. For The Wayfarer Redemption series - BattleAxe - Crusader, annoying compound names and all.
Bear with me, here. May include very minor spoilers.
Fun, fun, fun. Ish.
And then there's the compound names. But that's a whole nother rant.
Actually, it's my first book review. Technically a series review. For The Wayfarer Redemption series - BattleAxe - Crusader, annoying compound names and all.
Bear with me, here. May include very minor spoilers.
Sara Douglass's series, The Wayfarer Redemption, is a thrilling adventure that rockets along at high speeds with twists at every corner. And, unfortunately, that's all it is. Douglass's portrayals of emotions are all too often stilted and altogether too brief - the drama sometimes stinks of wangst straight out of a teen novella. In the second part of the series, there was an anal rape scene that was somewhat unfortunate and left me laughing - not the reaction I think Douglass was looking for. In addition, all too many of the characters are one-dimensional - when one threatens to break out of the mold, they had best "ware," as no doubt they are soon to be knocked off - the sad fate of many of Douglass's stronger characters. One of her stronger points - Douglass shows no disinclination toward killing major characters. Fear for your favorites - it is all too likely they will die before the end of the next book. I saw many oppurtunities for development with the "Hawkchilds," a force of Hawkchildren (as the name implies) intent on revenge. Unfortunately, they, too, were lost in this sea of flat characters. Other well-rounded characters included WolfStar, StarLaughter, Zared, and Caelum - characters that were, unfortunately, second place to less interesting personalities.
Another point about Douglass's novels was the sudden twists. All too often they were so contrived that they served only to stretch out the plot and were quite transparent. Some were unexpected and added to the plot, but they happened so often that I began to think, "oh no, not another twist." However, her handling of action is masterful - her description beautiful without being to purple or gory by turns. Her "philosophical" ideas about good and evil are thought-provoking, and her style flows well without too many interruptions. However, her shifts in point of view can be awkward and sudden, especially when they change too quickly or without warning, and the first part of the series is written in a third person omniscient POV that I (personally) find clunky and obnoxious. Which brings me to the book by book breakdown. I will attempt to include as few spoilers as possible.
The first book was probably my second favorite. It set the scene for a story about sacrifice, love, and accepting change. Set in a land ruled by the god of the Plough, Artor, where the "Forbidden" are outcast and feared by all, but barely a memory since they were exiled in long ago battles, the main character is thrown into a battle for his life and all those around him, and finds that all he thought he knew about his heritage was a lie. Sound familiar? Well, the magic system is different. The Enchanters of the race of the Forbidden known as the Icarii (winged men and women) draw upon music and the power of song from the Stars to do things, with a different "song" for each purpose. The story continues in Enchanter and StarMan (those compound names again), and suddenly (and altogether randomly) a new love interest emerges, Azhure. I hate her with a burning passion, so forgive my bias at this point.
Azhure appears late in the Wayfarer Redemption as a minor character, and a little later Axis falls suddenly (and improbably) in love with her. This is the part where I started to scream and was tempted to throw the book across the room. This is the part where Axis is presented with A Choice: Faraday, to whom he has promised his hand in marriage (and who is currently in a forced marriage to Axis's half brother, Borneheld) or Azhure, the beautiful, talented, warriorprincessSue!like Queen of Everyone Who Sees Her.
As I said, forgive my bias.
The end of the first trilogy made me cry - the first time that Douglass's writing aroused some emotion in me other than dry humor.
The second trilogy, I have to say, showed Douglass's writing much improved. Her emotions are more existent (though verging on wangst) and arouse more feeling in the reader. Characters are more well rounded, and fortunately, Sue!Azhure is no longer a major character. That stage has moved on to more well-rounded heroes. However. though I started the series optimistic for the fate of the hero, all too soon he turned into the hero archetype, and from there never ceased to bother me. I ignored him, primarily, preferring to focus on the more minor plotlines.
One issue I had with the second series was the sudden introduction of far too many twists and changes. It made the story seem far too contrived and caused it to be less believable - something I believe should always be the goal of an author. For example, a very minor character suddenly emerged into prominence with a full personality in the late stages of Pilgrim to the early stages of Crusader. I was left wondering, "Who is she? Where did she come from?" and had to go back to check - something that distracted me from the storyline and left me wrinkling my noise.
However, all in all, it was an enjoyable read - though probably not one I'd read again. I might, you never know. But I didn't consider it "quality literature" - it was junk fantasy, something fun to read but not particularly deep, and not something I'll pick up over and over again to read and think about. I would recommend it for a vacation read - something fun to keep you occupied, but primarily the second half of the series. I'd recommend reading a recap of the first three - a detailed summary, perhaps - and then starting the series at Sinner. That way, you can avoid some merciless, shameless Sueage.
As I've said before, forgive my bias.
Another point about Douglass's novels was the sudden twists. All too often they were so contrived that they served only to stretch out the plot and were quite transparent. Some were unexpected and added to the plot, but they happened so often that I began to think, "oh no, not another twist." However, her handling of action is masterful - her description beautiful without being to purple or gory by turns. Her "philosophical" ideas about good and evil are thought-provoking, and her style flows well without too many interruptions. However, her shifts in point of view can be awkward and sudden, especially when they change too quickly or without warning, and the first part of the series is written in a third person omniscient POV that I (personally) find clunky and obnoxious. Which brings me to the book by book breakdown. I will attempt to include as few spoilers as possible.
The first book was probably my second favorite. It set the scene for a story about sacrifice, love, and accepting change. Set in a land ruled by the god of the Plough, Artor, where the "Forbidden" are outcast and feared by all, but barely a memory since they were exiled in long ago battles, the main character is thrown into a battle for his life and all those around him, and finds that all he thought he knew about his heritage was a lie. Sound familiar? Well, the magic system is different. The Enchanters of the race of the Forbidden known as the Icarii (winged men and women) draw upon music and the power of song from the Stars to do things, with a different "song" for each purpose. The story continues in Enchanter and StarMan (those compound names again), and suddenly (and altogether randomly) a new love interest emerges, Azhure. I hate her with a burning passion, so forgive my bias at this point.
Azhure appears late in the Wayfarer Redemption as a minor character, and a little later Axis falls suddenly (and improbably) in love with her. This is the part where I started to scream and was tempted to throw the book across the room. This is the part where Axis is presented with A Choice: Faraday, to whom he has promised his hand in marriage (and who is currently in a forced marriage to Axis's half brother, Borneheld) or Azhure, the beautiful, talented, warriorprincessSue!like Queen of Everyone Who Sees Her.
As I said, forgive my bias.
The end of the first trilogy made me cry - the first time that Douglass's writing aroused some emotion in me other than dry humor.
The second trilogy, I have to say, showed Douglass's writing much improved. Her emotions are more existent (though verging on wangst) and arouse more feeling in the reader. Characters are more well rounded, and fortunately, Sue!Azhure is no longer a major character. That stage has moved on to more well-rounded heroes. However. though I started the series optimistic for the fate of the hero, all too soon he turned into the hero archetype, and from there never ceased to bother me. I ignored him, primarily, preferring to focus on the more minor plotlines.
One issue I had with the second series was the sudden introduction of far too many twists and changes. It made the story seem far too contrived and caused it to be less believable - something I believe should always be the goal of an author. For example, a very minor character suddenly emerged into prominence with a full personality in the late stages of Pilgrim to the early stages of Crusader. I was left wondering, "Who is she? Where did she come from?" and had to go back to check - something that distracted me from the storyline and left me wrinkling my noise.
However, all in all, it was an enjoyable read - though probably not one I'd read again. I might, you never know. But I didn't consider it "quality literature" - it was junk fantasy, something fun to read but not particularly deep, and not something I'll pick up over and over again to read and think about. I would recommend it for a vacation read - something fun to keep you occupied, but primarily the second half of the series. I'd recommend reading a recap of the first three - a detailed summary, perhaps - and then starting the series at Sinner. That way, you can avoid some merciless, shameless Sueage.
As I've said before, forgive my bias.
Fun, fun, fun. Ish.
And then there's the compound names. But that's a whole nother rant.
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I'm not a terribly big fan of fantasy novels simply because it's so hard to find one that isn't a blatant rip off of older classics. So, it might even be my inexperience with the fantasy genre. But, personally, I thought she handled her characters rather well. In fact, that's one of the reasons why I've been impressed with her writing and continue to read her.
Granted, you're completely right when you say some of her characters are generic and sue-like. And her tendencies to go a little overboard with the hero image annoyed the hell out of me. Which would be why I also hated Azhure. But the smaller characters, she manages exceptionally well.
I have love/hate feelings toward this series. It holds a special place in my heart as my introduction to Sara Douglass but it isn't her best. If you haven't, perhaps you should try her stand-alone novels.
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Oh, and I thought I would add..
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Hmm...
Anyway, that was a really nice review. You covered the nasty, you covered the good. Don't think I'll be picking up this series, though ^_^
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I, personally, found this series was really poorly written. The author cannot write convincing character drama to save her life, and her characters are either way too perfect or just plain unlikeable (frequently both). I picked up the first trilogy because I was in the mood for a few laughs, and at least I got those. I'm really starting to think I'm addicted to dumb fantasy...
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XD It's possible...dumb fantasy can be rather fun once in a while.
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Although there is the hilarious rape scene. (Unintentionally hilarious.) That was a bit...jarring.
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Also Lise, I wanted to ask you for other recs. So far you got me into very interesting and captivating series, like Cal Leandros, the Mirador, TWR and Anne Bishop's. I'm really curious about anything else you could rec.
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This comment is so late it's not even funny.