Review: Waterfall (River of Time #1) by Lisa Tawn Bergren

Another book review by Julie! This one's interesting because it reminds me quite a bit of my near-forever-work-in-progress Chosen: Bonnie of Sheshack. I guess every teenager secretly wants to get sucked into another world and find her own knight?

Book: Waterfall (River of Time #1) by Lisa Tawn Bergren

Ridiculously simplified summary: In modern-day Italy, an archaeologist's teenage daughter is drawn back to medieval times, where she is rescued by a handsome lord...who just happens to be betrothed. Taken into the castle, our heroine searches for her sister, hoping to get back home.

Content: Extremely light Christian content--I expect it might ramp up as the series progresses, but at the moment, though the people talk about praying to God and such every so often, Gabi isn't especially caught up in it. I don't think being a Christian would have any bearing on one's enjoyment of this book.

There is some violence, but given the medieval setting that seems reasonable enough. The torture is more upsetting, though if the story is to be believed, it was normal for the era (and that seems plausible to me). The main character, Gabi, is very physically attracted to a man who is betrothed.

Rating:

Compelling: 7 out of 10. I found the beginning dragged, but once Gabi achieved a particular goal (somewhere more than midway through if I recall correctly) I thought things got interesting and the story flew by. As the first in a series, I didn't find the ending completely satisfying, but that's typical.

Characters: 6 out of 10. I did not care for Gabi much at the beginning, though she did grow on me. The other of the characters were fine, but aside from Lady Rossi, Lia, and maybe Fortino, I didn't find anything particularly memorable about them. Marcello and Luca, the two lead men from medieval Italy, didn't feel SO much different than modern-day men to me, though Gabi makes a point of noticing how manly and different from modern men Marcello was, and Luca's a bit of a charmer. Lady Rossi, Marcello's betrothed, is interesting, though we are seeing her through jealous Gabi's eyes, so I have no idea if she is really a jerk (as Gabi thinks through most of the book) or if she's better/fiercer than expected (as Gabi thinks during part of the middle).

Writing/editing: 8 out of 10. I only noticed one minor typo ("I turned obediently and took a look swig, then another, ignoring how the liquid burned all the way down my throat and inside my gut."). I thought the style didn't quite feel like a teenager all the time, but it wasn't bad in that regard. There were a few good lines; my favorite was, in regards to a character with severe respiratory problems, "He still sounded like a sick seal..."

Plausibility/believability: 3 out of 5. This one's hard. I felt like the overall historical place-setting was very good--to me, it felt more real than most historical romances I've read. (Even though it's not always a romantic setting...chamber pots are referenced more than once.)

On the other hand, these people in medieval Italy discovered Gabi coming out of a tomb, in clothing more revealing than undergarments, and she's spirited, has little respect for her social "betters", and even insists on wielding a sword. And they like and even love her for it! It's an interesting conceit, but the fact that Gabi can fight off bad guys with a sword, in addition to her many other talents, felt like a bit much to me.

Conveniently, she is able to speak/pick up medieval Italian--if I recall correctly, she picked up some Italian from her parents' archaeological vacations. I don't find it exactly plausible that she could speak to these people as easily as she did--though there were some slip-ups.  But it is tricky to get people in other worlds to be able to talk to each other, so I'm okay with it. Then again, she also knows some Latin and French, which puts her well ahead of the curve for most Americans...

Positive: 3 out of 5. While the ending left certain things unresolved, everything ended as well as could be expected. I have to ding it a little on "positive" due to the substantial threats of torture, occasional actual torture, and lines like:

But he was untying his trousers. He did not intend to kill me.

He had darker intentions still.

I wish Bergren would have added a word: "He did not only intend to kill me." Then it would have avoided the cliche that to a woman, being raped is (supposedly) even worse than being killed.

Gut reaction: 4 out of 5. I'm not the target audience, and I hate to say I'm not even that interested in whether or not Gabi and Marcello get together. But Gabi's sister Lia and the knight who likes her, Luca, are likable enough, and the ideas interesting enough, I have some interest in reading some more.

Bonus points: 5 out of 5.

Recommended for: Fans of slightly mushy young-adult time-travel fiction.

Total Rating: 3.6 out of 5 stars


*I downloaded this book for free, I believe on Amazon.

Pointing back to God and Narnia - The Shadow Lamp - CSFF Blog Tour

Julie one more time for the CSFF Blog Tour!

Still talking about The Shadow Lamp by Stephen R. Lawhead  (Facebook). 

Several of the tour members have expressed concerns about the theology in The Shadow Lamp, namely one character's lengthy explanation about God and our place in the universe. I do share those concerns. But even with those issues, I felt like God's presence and Christianity were SHOWN better in the book than they were TOLD by a Gianni in a long speech near the end of the book.

All the points can be seen through the lens of Etzel and Mina (two of my favorite characters). Thomas Clayton Booher had an excellent write-up of some of Etzel's more memorable moments if you need caught up. 

Point 1: One concern is that Gianni's speech in The Shadow Lamp could be interpreted as supporting a more deist philosophy, where God does not get involved in shaping the future, as that would interfere in free will.

But I'd argue that throughout the book, the opposite is shown. What in the world are the odds that Mina would happen to land in Prague and be picked up by one of the nicer men in all of fiction, a man who speaks German, a language she just happens to have some memory of due to her grandmother. Personally, I think that's the sort of writing that only makes sense if you're coming from a world view that some higher power put things together to work out for the best. If there's no higher power or some sort of plan to the world itself, then it's just author laziness.

Point 2:

Matthew 5:43-48 (NIV)

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Spoilers ahead; I suggest you stop reading now if you haven't read The Shadow Lamp.

So speaking of dear Etzel! In the epilogue, Etzel is literally, and to my eyes gladly, loving his enemies. It was touching and I thought in-character, given what a kind man he is. 

Regardless of the debate about theology and God's involvement in our lives, I'd argue that the way Etzel acts throughout these books thus far is for the most part keeping in the way a follower of Christ should live. Gianni? He may say some interesting things, he may be considered a genius by the other characters, but I don't see that he's particularly a character to be admired above any others, at least not on a spiritual level.


In other words, there's a great Christian testimony in the series, and the character shines by his actions and making gentle mentions of God. Quite a contrast to the speech given by a character (and an essay by the author!) proclaiming their viewpoints on how science and religion intersect.

Point 3:

And speaking of Christian testimony, during Etzel's kind acts during the epilogue, am I the only one thought of the sad fate of the dwarfs in C.S. Lewis' "The Last Battle?"

"Aslan," said Lucy through her tears, "could you--will you--do something for these poor Dwarfs?"

"Dearest," said Aslan, "I will show you both what I can, and what I cannot, do." He came close tot he Dwarfs and gave a long growl: low, but it set all the air shaking. But the Dwarfs said to one another, "Hear that? That's the gang at the other end of the Stable. Trying to frighten us. They do it with a machine of some kind. Don't take any notice. They won't take us in again!"

Aslan raised his head and shook his mane. Instantly a glorious feast appeared on the Dwarfs' knees: pies and tongues and pigeons and trifles and ices, and each Dwarf had a goblet of good wine in his right hand. But it wasn't much use. They began eating and drinking greedily enough, but it was clear they couldn't taste it properly. They thought they were eating and drinking only the sort of things you might find in a Stable..."

I hope Lord Burleigh will not track me down through the Multiverse and hurt me for revenge, but he's so suspicious of Etzel's motives, don't you think he comes off quite a bit like a Dwarf?

As C.S. Lewis (and Lord Burleigh) illustrated, you can't force someone to accept Christ's gift. It remains to be seen of Burleigh might someday change for the better, or if Etzel's just putting hot coals on his enemy's head. I guess either option is good, come to think of it.

So no, I certainly wouldn't point to The Shadow Lamp as a beacon of theology--at this point there are doubts about God's sovereignty and an old-time Egyptian priest (the servant of one of their gods) who's very much looking forward to going to heaven (!).  It remains to be seen how everything comes together in the end and what it all means--what we see now is actually characters' opinions and theories, though those opinions are often portrayed as truth.

Regardless, despite the (in my opinion, justified) concerns, there are still enough glimmers of light that I'll be reading Book 5. (Well, that and it's just an interesting story.)

Thanks for the tour, all! One more time, the participants:


Julie Bihn
Red Bissell
Thomas Clayton Booher
Thomas Fletcher Booher
Beckie Burnham
Jeff Chapman
Karri Compton
Theresa Dunlap
April Erwin
Timothy Hicks
Christopher Hopper
Becky Jesse
Becca Johnson
Jason Joyner
Carol Keen
Rebekah Loper
Shannon McDermott
Meagan @ Blooming with Books
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Mirriam Neal
Writer Rani
Nathan Reimer
Chawna Schroeder
Jojo Sutis
Rachel Starr Thomson
Robert Treskillard
Steve Trower
Rachel Wyant
Phyllis Wheeler
Deborah Wilson

*In conjunction with the CSFF Blog Tour, I received a free copy of this book.

The Shadow Lamp by Stephen R. Lawhead - Review - CSFF Blog Tour

Julie again for the CSFF Blog Tour! Yes, I made it through The Shadow Lamp in time to get a review out! The remaining 100 pages or so moved much better for me, except...well, we'll get into that.


Book: The Shadow Lamp by Stephen R. Lawhead  (Facebook)

Ridiculously simplified summary: Fourth in a series. A group of adventurers seeks to use magical ley lines--portals between times, places, and dimensions--to prevent the world's destruction.

Content: To shamelessly steal from Rebecca LuElla Miller, "Of the four Bright Empires books I’ve read, this is the only one that has what I consider didactic sections. Interestingly the “preachiness” has less to do with God than it does science."

That said there is some reference to Christianity at last here...including some ideas about God and Jesus that, unless I am misunderstanding, seem to me to be rather controversial for a Christian book. Thomas Fletcher Booher both articulated my concerns better than I could have, and took the issues seriously enough that it reassures me that my concerns are valid.

There is some violence, but nothing that overly disturbed me. (Though I haven't yet tried sleeping after reading the brunt of the violence, so...)

Rating:

Compelling: 6 out of 10. This book didn't grab my interest like the earlier ones did, but as I mentioned yesterday, that could be because of it being less of a mystery. That said, still I felt like there was a lack of action overall for the first big chunk of the book. Things picked up for me about midway through, and there were some really good dramatic scenes closer to the end, though I thought parts of the end also felt almost rushed, after the slower pace of the beginning. Or maybe it's the fact that it's only in the last 100 pages or so of the 4th book in a 5-book series that the main problem is actually revealed. Book 5 should be pretty darned interesting, dealing with all that.

Characters: 8 out of 10. For the most part, the characters were the same as they'd been in the previous books, with plenty of spunky women and sweet, chivalrous men, which is a combination I find hard to turn down. I almost feel like there's a little coasting on the goodwill established in previous books, but that's probably because there are a lot of events that have to transpire in this book and the characters are established, not any actual flaws.

Writing/editing: 6 out of 10. There were some excellent and elegant descriptions, and some nice lines, such as "with the calm acceptance of the condemned who at last understand that time is short and life fleeting and that nothing matters except that which is eternal." The dialogue tags again drove me completely batty during long strings of dialogue. Over the span of two pages are both "'Fair enough,' allowed Kit" and "'Partly,' allowed Kit." I realize that's Lawhead's style in this series--he's been nothing if not consistent in using them through all these books! But during parts when the action isn't rolling along, I get completely derailed by these kinds of tags.

Plausibility/believability: 3 out of 5. I felt like the science became less plausible here--I have trouble with the scientific insistence that (minor spoiler) if the universe isn't expanding as quickly as it always did, that it definitely must be doomed to contract into nothingness.

Positive: 3 out of 5. This one is darker than books 2 and 3, I thought.

I found the implications about Christianity rather disturbing, particularly the possible implication about Jesus' relation to the Spirit Well (which isn't certainly wrong) and even worse, the idea that anything humans could do could undo all of God's creation.

Of course, these are all speculation by scientists that could very well prove to be wrong. The epilogue was an incredible way to show Christian love.

Gut reaction: 4 out of 5. I'd call the ending a twist ending. (Though to me, the descriptions at the end read almost like literary fiction, describing a scene in incredible detail with a deeper meaning--they reminded me of my English classes in college, which I didn't enjoy.)  The epilogue helped salvage any lingering ill will overall.

At any rate, I'm looking forward to reading the end of the series for sure. I'm just hoping that book starts quicker than this one.

Bonus points: 5 out of 5.

Recommended for: Fans of Christian science fantasy that doesn't mind point of view shifts.

Total Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Here are the tour participants!

Julie Bihn
Red Bissell
Thomas Clayton Booher
Thomas Fletcher Booher
Beckie Burnham
Jeff Chapman
Karri Compton
Theresa Dunlap
April Erwin
Timothy Hicks
Christopher Hopper
Becky Jesse
Becca Johnson
Jason Joyner
Carol Keen
Rebekah Loper
Shannon McDermott
Meagan @ Blooming with Books
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Mirriam Neal
Writer Rani
Nathan Reimer
Chawna Schroeder
Jojo Sutis
Rachel Starr Thomson
Robert Treskillard
Steve Trower
Rachel Wyant
Phyllis Wheeler
Deborah Wilson

*In conjunction with the CSFF Blog Tour, I received a free copy of this book.

The Shadow Lamp by Stephen Lawhead - CSFF Blog Tour

Julie for the CSFF Blog Tour!

This week we're talking about The Shadow Lamp by Stephen R. Lawhead  (Facebook). Time got away from me here (oh dear; that might be a pun!) so I haven't finished reading yet.  God willing, review should be Tuesday (or worst case, Wednesday). 


I'll say right now I found this book more difficult to get into than the others in the series. Likewise, a friend of mine is reading the first book in the series, The Skin Map, and is also having trouble getting into it. Her problems are with the point-of-view shifts, which I think are almost impossible to avoid in a series as complex as this one.  


I'm not sure what my problem is, but I suspect some of the difficulty is actually in knowing TOO MUCH. I actually read the second book of the series, The Bone House, before I read Book 3 (The Spirit Well). Only then did I go I went back and read Book 1 (The Skin Map).

Though the first pages of each book have a brief explanation of what transpired before, it's generally recommended to read the books in order so you're not lost. But I suspect I found The Bone House so fascinating in part because I was being thrown into the middle of the action. Then belatedly reading The Skin Map was a treat, seeing in effect the "backstory" of these characters.

Unfortunately, in The Shadow Lamp, I feel like there are relatively long stretches where characters are meeting and introducing each other and sharing their backstories (for the benefit of the other characters, but just as much for the reader). So even though I admittedly could sorely use a refresher myself, the beginning was slow for me because there was a certain amount of explanation.


In other words, it's a saga about traveling through time and space, and I suspect I may have enjoyed it more because I read it out of order!

The story has definitely picked up for me (I'm on page 270 now), so we'll see what happens. I hope I walk away loving it as much as I loved the first three.

But anyway, from a writer's standpoint, I think it's key not to give away too much in your writing. Sometimes the most fun for a reader is to piece things together.

Here are the tour participants!

Julie Bihn
Red Bissell
Thomas Clayton Booher
Thomas Fletcher Booher
Beckie Burnham
Jeff Chapman
Karri Compton
Theresa Dunlap
April Erwin
Timothy Hicks
Christopher Hopper
Becky Jesse
Becca Johnson
Jason Joyner
Carol Keen
Rebekah Loper
Shannon McDermott
Meagan @ Blooming with Books
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Mirriam Neal
Writer Rani
Nathan Reimer
Chawna Schroeder
Jojo Sutis
Rachel Starr Thomson
Robert Treskillard
Steve Trower
Rachel Wyant
Phyllis Wheeler
Deborah Wilson

*In conjunction with the CSFF Blog Tour, I received a free copy of this book.

CSFF Blog Tour - The Hero's Lot by Patrick W. Carr - Review

Julie once more for the CSFF Blog Tour!

 

Book: The Hero's Lot by Patrick W. Carr


Ridiculously simplified summary: Second in a series. The kingdom of Erinon, perhaps the whole world, is in grave danger. When the king dies, the kingdom's protection will expire as well, plunging the kingdom into chaos and war.

Martin the priest and his companions, nearly caught using predictive lots for forbidden purposes, have to flee the conclave to avoid discovery. While on the run, Martin discovers that the "unknowable" force Aurae is in fact knowable.

Meanwhile, town drunk-turned-warrior and reader of the future, Errol, is unfairly accused. He is compelled, condemned to journey to a far-off kingdom to kill the near-invincible Sarin Valon.

Content: This book shows its Evangelical colors, with a new group of (basically) Christians who follow the call of Aurae (the Holy Spirit) instead of the doctrines of the Church. Casting lots is not outright condemned, but Aurae is greater. (It was interesting to see such a heavy focus on the Holy Spirit...more than I recall seeing in any other novel I've read lately.)

There is quite a bit of violence in this one, including multiple beheadings, puddles of blood, and so forth--I got a bit nauseated at parts.

Rating:

Compelling: 7 out of 10. If you read my review of A Cast of Stones (Book 1 in the series), you probably realized I'm not a fan of epic fantasy.

I actually enjoyed several portions of this book, but I found it tricky to rate, given the multiple storylines. I had some interest in Errol's exploits even early on (and much moreso later).  But since I have no interest in the church arc and politics, I had almost no interest in Martin's thread until the very end of it (more on him later).

The last hundred pages or so got more interesting to me, though. Unlike A Cast of Stones, I thought this book built to a logical and satisfying conflict. As it's a trilogy, of course things weren't resolved by the end, but I felt it was structured better than the first book.

Characters: 4 out of 10. Many of the characters from A Cast of Stones are back in this one. Aside from Naaman Ru and Adora, I don't like any of the returning characters here more than I liked them in A Cast of Stones; in fact, I found Rohka less likable, bordering on unbalanced. There are a few new characters which, on the balance, I found about as likable as the ones we left behind in Book 1. Errol is still a good character, although he goes catatonic for a pretty long stretch. (That's not unrealistic, but I have no patience for characters who do that in any book; I want to read about people moving on, not moping.) I still strongly dislike the priests, and in particular Martin.

Unfortunately for me, many pages of this novel are from Martin's point of view, and the scenes did little to endear him to me. His story arc features him thinking he's not good enough (instead of being too physically weak and drunk, like Errol, he considers himself too physically weak and fat). Despite the shortcomings for which Martin despises himself, he is Chosen for some sort of greatness. If you like Martin, you might think that is a fun parallel to Errol's arc, granted.

Writing/editing: 4 out of 10. I thought the writing style in this was worse than in A Cast of Stones, or maybe I just noticed problems more.

First, there are many scenes from Martin's point of view, and I was expecting at least a subtle change in the character's thought processes and narrative style to match who he was. Instead, I felt like Martin's scenes were written in an identical style to Errol's. So instead of any quirks of the style being due to getting into Errol's head, I now see the style was simply the author's own style, since an older priest and a young man think the same way. I think there was a real missed opportunity here--seeing two substantially different voices would have been compelling.

The fight scenes are full of action verbs, but I think that causes some odd phrasings. For instance, on page 101, (crossbow) "Bolts sprouted from the flesh of the bowmen like quills" and then 4 paragraphs later, an arrow "sprouted in a man's throat." Since things that sprout come from beneath the surface, I thought "sprouted" was an odd term to use for objects that are likely penetrating, at least as far as Errol can see.  And to see this unusual phrasing twice in such close succession distracted me. Every author has some of these words that they use more often than an editor might expect (I could've sworn my co-author and I had a blog entry where we listed ours, but I can't find it--"just" and "back" were two of our simple ones).  In a perfect world, I imagine an editor would go through and ensure overused and notable words are used carefully.

I hadn't been distracted by the "telling" in A Cast of Stones--if every emotion and thought were "shown" it probably would have been an extra 200 pages long! But in The Hero's Lot I thought some of these "telling" instances should have been expanded to draw the reader in.  On page 397, to describe what Errol thought may have happened to someone he cares about, it simply says "Errol's imagination conjured images that disturbed him. The tenor of his heartbeat increased until it pounded against his ribs." For myself, I'm not feeling his anguish--I feel like I'm being told he had some bad thoughts that made his heart pound.

I actually enjoyed the ending and some other parts of the book, but this enjoyment was due to the plot. The writing isn't terrible by any means, but I think another round of editing could have made the story shine.

Plausibility/believability: 2 out of 5. I have many of the same concerns I had from A Cast of Stones, but there are fewer of the weaponry details I enjoyed so much in Book 1, though I thought I "saw" the new places visited better.  I did think it was rather strange and convenient that numerous people were forced into doing what the plot required by being compelled by the church...if not for compulsion, one character may not have appeared in this book at all.

Positive: 3 out of 5. Things aren't going great at the end of this book, but Christianity finally makes an appearance here. I think most of this book is darker than A Cast of Stones (which was pretty dark itself!) but this one ends happier so I found it less depressing.

Gut reaction: 3 out of 5. The more optimistic ending gave me a better feeling about the end of this book.  I actually got more interested as the book progressed (provided we weren't following Martin!).

But the treatment of women drove me absolutely up the wall. On page 341, a woman in a city's council expresses interest in Martin the priest (during a meeting!), then kisses him on the lips and says if he tires of the priesthood, he "would make a fine husband."  (While there were other women in the council, the one who wasn't eying the priest like a catch doesn't even get a name, as far as I can see.)

Two pages later, a ship captain talks to his wife or lover and "swatted her on the rump." Seriously?!

Adora and Rokha are all right, in fairness, but I still get the feeling that women are just there to be love interests and daughters, not generally valued in their own right.

Then again, this is a plot-heavy book; few of the plot points occur due to the purposeful actions of any of the heroes, male or female. In fact, one could probably argue that Adora is one of the few characters who chooses multiple courses of action for herself, instead of being outright forced into it by others. She might truly come into her own in the final book.

Bonus points: 5 out of 5.

Recommended for: Fans of Christian epic fantasy.

Total Rating: 2.8 out of 5 stars

Here are the tour participants!

Julie Bihn
Jennifer Bogart
Keanan Brand
Beckie Burnham
Jeff Chapman
Laure Covert
Pauline Creeden
Emma or Audrey Engel
April Erwin
Nikole Hahn
Jason Joyner
Carol Keen
Krystine Kercher
Shannon McDermott
Meagan @ Blooming with Books
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Writer Rani
Nathan Reimer
Chawna Schroeder
Jojo Sutis
Steve Trower
Phyllis Wheeler
Rachel Wyant

*In conjunction with the CSFF Blog Tour, I received a free copy of this book.

CSFF Blog Tour - A Cast of Stones free - August 2013

Julie again for the CSFF Blog Tour! (Coming to you from the past. Ooooh.)

Being on the western side of the US, I have to write my posts the night before...so tonight (Monday night) I'm going to try to plow through the last 100 pages of Patrick W. Carr's The Hero's Lot (or sacrifice my Tuesday writing/lunch period). So hopefully I'l have a review by Wednesday.

But I'll try to keep it brief, as I'm pretty sure it'll be like my review for A Cast of Stones. If you like that sort of story, you'll like the series. If you don't like epic tales of kings and corrupt churches and kingdoms falling into darkness and such, then it's probably not for you. I was hoping that characterization would pull me through (it actually worked for me with Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy) but (aside from Errol) I just couldn't get into the characters.

But if you do like that sort of thing, or want to give it a try for free, I understand for the rest of August 2013, A Cast of Stones is free on Kindle and Nook. (Always double-check that it's still free before downloading, unless you don't mind buying it!)

As of this moment, it's still at 4.5 stars on Amazon, so I'm guessing that it is a very good read for the kind of people who like that sort of thing.

As for me, well...it is kind of interesting to learn what kind of things I really don't like!


Here are the tour participants!

Julie Bihn
Jennifer Bogart
Keanan Brand
Beckie Burnham
Jeff Chapman
Laure Covert
Pauline Creeden
Emma or Audrey Engel
April Erwin
Nikole Hahn
Jason Joyner
Carol Keen
Krystine Kercher
Shannon McDermott
Meagan @ Blooming with Books
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Writer Rani
Nathan Reimer
Chawna Schroeder
Jojo Sutis
Steve Trower
Phyllis Wheeler
Rachel Wyant

*In conjunction with the CSFF Blog Tour, I received a free copy of this book.

A Cast of Stones by Patrick W. Carr - Review - CSFF Blog Tour

Julie here for the CSFF Blog Tour! Like last time, I'm going to post the review at the start.

 

Book: A Cast of Stones by Patrick W. Carr


Ridiculously simplified summary: In a vaguely-Medieval world, drink-addicted teen Errol Stone takes a mysterious message to a local priest's remote home. When an assassin tries to murder him on the way, Errol finds himself caught up in a world of intrigue. He discovers he has an amazing talent, which is much coveted by the Church. When he is separated from his party, he learns to fight. But he's needed in the capital, where he must help choose the next king...

Content: The Church is less than likable, and there's very little reference to Christianity, though there are references to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (with new names) and a scene of taking Communion early on. The Church casts lots and reads hidden words in these lots in order to discern the future.

There are references to the Holy Spirit, but for whatever reason, their significance flew by me as insignificant until they were bluntly recapped in Book 2 of the series, The Hero's Lot.

There is quite a bit of violence--I don't remember being disgusted, exactly, but sometimes it was described in detail--and some monsters.

Rating:

Compelling: 4 out of 10. The first chapter was interesting enough to draw me in and make me request to be in the blog tour. But I'm actually not a fan of epic fantasy with tales of kings or church conspiracies. And Errol is a character who doesn't know what is going on and shows very little initiative or interest in doing anything at the beginning. By the end, the other characters as much as admit he's a pawn!

So it was my own fault for requesting a book I should have known wouldn't interest me. But I didn't really care for the whole arc with Luis and Martin from the church, which starts early on and continues until about page 146. And after page 300 or so, when the story returned to the church and the monarchy, I lost interest again, with more than 100 pages to go. I didn't feel the ending had any resolution to speak of, either. Aside from surviving, I don't feel like any goals were achieved in the last portion. Not only did I feel it wasn't a complete story, but it didn't even cut off at a part I found interesting.

I know I've gotten irritated at books lately for adding a chapter where everything goes wrong just to make the reader want to continue. But this book doesn't even wrap up neatly to begin with, and then there's an extra chapter that I didn't find surprising at all, given the entire story is about Errol.

Those concerns aside, between these "epic fantasy" bookends, Errol has his own journey. During this lengthy break, Errol is on his own, learns to fight, and otherwise has goals of his own (okay, near the end of this portion, his goal is caused by a compulsion cast on him, but still). The characters with him have relatable goals as well. (Yes, wanting to be rich is a tangible goal that I can sympathize with.) I enjoyed this middle portion, and if the whole book would have been more like it, I would have come away liking the book.

Characters: 4 out of 10. Again, the issue is that I feel like in a sense there are two books here. I found the characters in the middle of the book interesting, if not that finely drawn, and Errol's journey was somewhat interesting. I had a lot of trouble, however, because few of the characters had clear motivations, which made the characters more flat and also made the storyline harder to follow. Everyone wants to choose the new king, I guess, but I didn't find that motivation compelling. I'd go so far as to say that I dislike every person associated with the church, which includes many major characters. And I still don't know what Errol is after. (Near the end, a character Errol had considered a friend notes that Errol is looking for family, so I guess that's his goal? The character also coldly notes that none of the people he's spent a good time trying to befriend can be that. Ouch.)

Writing/editing: 7 out of 10. Some of the reviews on Goodreads have some rather harsh criticism of the writing style. I didn't have any major complaints on that front for this book...it is from Errol's point of view throughout, so if parts sound like they were written by a teenager (as at least one reviewer complained), that's not inappropriate. But I saw a few typos and several parts where the writing was confusing. One place near the end was so odd that I flipped back to the previous page and reread it more than once to make sure I hadn't missed anything.

(p. 407) Cruk signaled to a guardsman who passed by with a flagon of water. He took a long pull from it and then handed it to Errol. "Let's go see what the abbot can tell us."

Errol moved to follow, then scanned the crowd.

(next page)

He found her kneeling on the floor beside the king's steward, pressing her hands against a gaping wound in his side. The man wouldn't live, she had to know that, but no hint of it showed in her face or the glorious green of her eyes. Errol couldn't hear her words, but her face and posture carried assurance and comfort. Blood soaked her gown.

As far as I can tell, the "her" referred to here wasn't mentioned anywhere earlier in the chapter (though the middle of 407 does reference Cilla, a tavern-owner or ale server, which just adds to the confusion). The reader should have a guess who this person is from the color of her eyes, but I still feel like I was missing something. I think this book could have used some more editing, but overall I didn't feel that the writing got in the way of the story.

Plausibility/believability: 3 out of 5. I'm sure Carr put a lot of thought into the world, but somehow I just didn't feel drawn in. I don't feel like I "saw" the (nicely-named) Cripples area, the forests, even the towns. The idea of the lots is interesting, but also confounding, since it's unclear why they don't use the lots more often, and why these supposedly predictive devices fail so often (though the latter could be a plot point in a later book). The writing about the staff and fighting techniques were a highlight, and read "real" to me.

Positive: 2 out of 5. At first, I thought the whole idea that a drunken lout would be inexplicably Chosen was a parallel to the Christian life (and was honestly boring, because who wants to read about someone who can't better themselves but has to rely on God to do it?). At any rate, Errol seems to becomes a better, stronger person through his own free will and the teaching of a great warrior--certainly not through faith in or obvious assistance from any sort of higher power.

And everyone is considered a pawn in the quest to find a new king, but I still don't understand why finding that king is so important in the first place. It left me kind of depressed, since friendships seem to mean nothing in this world.

Gut reaction: 2 out of 5. Something else that really bothered me was the portrayal of women. Again, I thought the middle was better on that front, with two women warriors (!) out of a group of 15--nothing groundbreaking about those women, but they were there. Otherwise, women were relegated to minor and (I thought) dull roles. To the best of my recollection, the only other ones with any personality are a farm mother/daughter, an innocent herbalist (and they're all considered evil in this world), and a princess. At least three women--and certainly the two with the most personality--are in love with Errol. Actually, I felt like all the women of any importance who were portrayed as being in the right age range were in love with him, which I couldn't enjoy.

(I'm even more annoyed that he spends so much time thinking it's unfair that someone else from his town is so perfect and that the women all love him, when by the end he's unbelievably strong, apparently handsome, and several women are in love with him.)

Bonus points: 5 out of 5.

Recommended for: Fans of epic fantasy with lots of talking and reference to the church, but light Christian elements.

Total Rating: 2.7 out of 5 stars

Either Tuesday or Wednesday I'll talk about the second book, The Hero's Lot...not certain I'll be able to finish it, but I'm trying.

Here are the tour participants!

Julie Bihn
Jennifer Bogart
Keanan Brand
Beckie Burnham
Jeff Chapman
Laure Covert
Pauline Creeden
Emma or Audrey Engel
April Erwin
Nikole Hahn
Jason Joyner
Carol Keen
Krystine Kercher
Shannon McDermott
Meagan @ Blooming with Books
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Writer Rani
Nathan Reimer
Chawna Schroeder
Jojo Sutis
Steve Trower
Phyllis Wheeler
Rachel Wyant

*In conjunction with the CSFF Blog Tour, I received a free copy of this book.