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terrikoI had requested this one from the library, but I'm not exactly sure how it came to be recommended to me... might have been an impulse request from the library's website which helpfully enables impulse-reading by having a "Recently Reviewed Items" section on the front page with pretty covers for you to click on. Have I mentioned lately how much I love my library?
Redeeming the Lost by Elizabeth Kerner
Quick Review: I found the mechanics of telling the story more unusual than the plot in this tale of dragons and humans
(Much) Longer Notes: I probably shouldn't have started with this book, which seems to be the last in a series. But it did start with a lengthy description of past events told from the point of view of a few characters re-evaluating their lives. That actually worked pretty well from the point of view of getting me on the same page as other readers, but I admit I was almost ready to put it down unfinished because it was a bit too long to go without any driving plot.
In the end, I enjoyed the book, but I found it... very strange. Not in terms of the plot, which is somewhat standard fantasy fare with dragons and humans coming to an uneasy truce in order to defeat great evil together. But in terms of how it was told. It switched characters *constantly* in what I would have expected to be a nearly pathological way, but somehow it worked. I'm not sure if it's because the point of view switches were matched onto a consistent thread of story or what, but once I got used to the swapping I actually found it a great way to tell the story.
The other thing I found very weird about it was that the book felt incredibly easy to put down. Rather than just one big climax, it felt like there were many small ones after which I was happy to close the book and could have just let the story end there. I actually might have, but I knew I wanted to write a review and I'd feel silly saying I'd just given up after the first climax because it seemed like a good place to end. Glad I finished it, but it definitely felt odd.
Most of the weirdness I got used to and even learned to enjoy, but I did rather hate the archaic language often used by the dragons. I get that the author was trying to convey their age and alien-ness in another way, but I'm just not a fan of Ye Olde English esp in fantasy novels unless it's used quite sparingly. I've seen this language switch done way better without language that came across as a horrible fantasy cliché. Sorry.
Overall, one of Susan's friends nailed it when she commented that it looked like the sort of story we'd read in grade school back when we were obsessed with Mercedes Lackey and Anne McCaffery. It's a good enough story (if not a very novel one) and one that actually feels pretty suitable to a younger readership. What made it a little more interesting as an adult reader was the way in which the story was told, which was a little more unique than the story itself.
I probably won't go back and read the other novels now that I know how it all ends, but I don't regret reading the end first because it seemed like a good stand-alone novel once you got through the background section.
Redeeming the Lost
by Elizabeth KernerQuick Review: I found the mechanics of telling the story more unusual than the plot in this tale of dragons and humans
(Much) Longer Notes: I probably shouldn't have started with this book, which seems to be the last in a series. But it did start with a lengthy description of past events told from the point of view of a few characters re-evaluating their lives. That actually worked pretty well from the point of view of getting me on the same page as other readers, but I admit I was almost ready to put it down unfinished because it was a bit too long to go without any driving plot.
In the end, I enjoyed the book, but I found it... very strange. Not in terms of the plot, which is somewhat standard fantasy fare with dragons and humans coming to an uneasy truce in order to defeat great evil together. But in terms of how it was told. It switched characters *constantly* in what I would have expected to be a nearly pathological way, but somehow it worked. I'm not sure if it's because the point of view switches were matched onto a consistent thread of story or what, but once I got used to the swapping I actually found it a great way to tell the story.
The other thing I found very weird about it was that the book felt incredibly easy to put down. Rather than just one big climax, it felt like there were many small ones after which I was happy to close the book and could have just let the story end there. I actually might have, but I knew I wanted to write a review and I'd feel silly saying I'd just given up after the first climax because it seemed like a good place to end. Glad I finished it, but it definitely felt odd.
Most of the weirdness I got used to and even learned to enjoy, but I did rather hate the archaic language often used by the dragons. I get that the author was trying to convey their age and alien-ness in another way, but I'm just not a fan of Ye Olde English esp in fantasy novels unless it's used quite sparingly. I've seen this language switch done way better without language that came across as a horrible fantasy cliché. Sorry.
Overall, one of Susan's friends nailed it when she commented that it looked like the sort of story we'd read in grade school back when we were obsessed with Mercedes Lackey and Anne McCaffery. It's a good enough story (if not a very novel one) and one that actually feels pretty suitable to a younger readership. What made it a little more interesting as an adult reader was the way in which the story was told, which was a little more unique than the story itself.
I probably won't go back and read the other novels now that I know how it all ends, but I don't regret reading the end first because it seemed like a good stand-alone novel once you got through the background section.