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The Ropemaker #1
The Ropemaker
Copyright date 2001, first edition, fourth printing. Michael L. Printz award for excellence and young adult literature Winner, label attached. Tan and purple cover over boards with gold lettering and design on the spine. No tears, bent pages, nor any writing. Dust Jacket, no tears bent flaps nor is it price clipped. Dust jacket now in a clear protective cover. Text is bright and clean, binding is secure, a solid book.
Hardcover
First published November 13, 2001
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About the author
Peter Dickinson
142 books156 followersPeter Malcolm de Brissac Dickinson OBE FRSL was a prolific English author and poet, best known for children's books and detective stories.
Peter Dickinson lived in Hampshire with his second wife, author Robin McKinley. He wrote more than fifty novels for adults and young readers. He won both the Carnegie Medal and the Whitbread Children's Award twice, and his novel The Blue Hawk won The Guardian Award in 1975.
Peter Dickinson lived in Hampshire with his second wife, author Robin McKinley. He wrote more than fifty novels for adults and young readers. He won both the Carnegie Medal and the Whitbread Children's Award twice, and his novel The Blue Hawk won The Guardian Award in 1975.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 202 reviews
August 27, 2015
Well, this book took me a long time. This was my longest read in awhile, and though that was mostly due to life getting super busy, the book was also just really slow. And so I liked it, but it just kinda dragged on and on, and I am a little relieved to be finished with it now. I am glad I revisited this one years later, because I do think that Peter Dickinson is a talented writer and is able to craft a nice story. But there were some parts I would have to read a few times just to understand what was going on. This might be due to the kind of vague aspect of time that he touches at in this book. So while it was unique and fun, it also was slow. I think he did a nice job at the end though and he definitely was able to weave a great story. Some parts I just loved his descriptions so much, and I think that added a lot. There were great moments and there were ehhhh kind of moments. I definitely liked it more when I read it as a kid.
May 29, 2019
"Ah, but have you ever read a book twice? Books change each time you read them."
Of all the quotes from any film in the world I could use to describe my relationship with this book, I think the one that has always stuck with me was this particular quote from Mr. Koreander from the second "NeverEnding Story" movie. "Books change each time you read them." Of all the things I could ever have imagined, a logical-minded child when I was younger and first saw that movie, that was absurd. Printed word certainly didn't change, what a ridiculous concept, even if the NeverEnding Story film played with it! Needless to say that child me had quite a few things to learn yet, including the concept that later editions of books could have editing changes made to them for any number of reasons.
Prepare yourself for a tale of my history with this book.
The first time I picked up The Ropemaker, it had never been my intention to pick it up. My grandmother was taking me on a jaunt to the library, which was commonplace for us, and mentioned she'd heard good things about it and thought I should give it a go. I was 12 years old, intrigued, and checked it out. The pace of the story was a bit slow for me, but the writing was rich and lush, and I was dazzled. Sadly, I didn't get to finish reading it; my parents announced seemingly out of nowhere that we were going to be moving soon, to another city, and I was made to return The Ropemaker to the library. My parents didn't want to have to pay potential fees if we returned the book late or it got lost among the packing, and for a long time, the book passed out of my mind and memory.
The summer after graduating high school, I was working full-time hours with part-time pay. At some point my parents pressured me to go help out my aunt in another state, as she was trying to sell her house and work full-time, and needed someone to watch her kids. I reluctantly asked my boss at work to let me go for at least a few months until this got sorted, and was hauled off to Kansas City to play nanny. While there, I did frequent the nearest library for something to do in my personal down time whenever my aunt would arrive home at the end of the day, and on one of these visits, I happened to spy a copy of The Ropemaker sitting out at one of the reading tables, and snatched it up to read.
I thought I'd had a fairly good memory for what I had managed to read of it from 6 or 7 years prior. I was very wrong. The writing was lavish, that much was true, but the details weren't what I recalled. Something about the book appeared to have changed, and all at once I remembered Mr. Koreander near the start of the second NeverEnding Story movie saying "books change each time you read them." But that surely didn't make sense; how could it have changed? I checked the book out, and almost ended up finishing it this time around. But alas, my nanny-ing kept me busy, and come the holiday season, I ended up returning home without having finished reading the book again.
Then in January of 2013, a month before I got married, I was headed off to work. My shift started later in the morning, so I was able to stop by the library beforehand and poke through the stacks to find something to read, as my own belongings (including my books) were largely all packed away to be taken to the apartment I would eventually move into with my husband-to-be. I had snatched up a few and was ready to walk up to the self-check-out service, when I spied something familiar in my peripherals on a table I was passing, and there it was again. The Ropemaker. I hesitated, because it felt a little strange to realize that this book always seemed to show up when I least expected it, and each time now it was during some either stressful or major event happening in my life, and twice before I hadn't finished it. To say nothing of how it hadn't even seemed to be the same book the second time I read it! Twice is a coincidence, but three times?
The moment of hesitation ended.
I grabbed the book then and there, checked out, hauled my butt to work to wait for a while before my shift started, and sat down with a messy sandwich to crack open this book as the snow started falling outside. And yet again, it was like the book had changed somehow. Still the writing was elegant and evocative of mythological or legendary storytelling, and this time around, a couple of details did strike me as familiar, but still it was somehow different in a way I couldn't explain. When this realization hit me three chapters in, I shut the book and spend a long time pondering this, to the point it occupied more than half my thought process during my workday.
Maybe the book had never changed at all, but it had come to me at such different points in my life that I read the story in different ways and remembered it differently, took different things away from it, because it was always at such pivotal moments of change.
This time I finished the book, found myself in love with the story it told and utterly satisfied, because I realized it is a coming-of-age sort of twist on the classic structure of the Hero's Journey told in loquacious and rambling prose not unlike old stories or fairy tales, in settings that range from a mysterious little village in a mountain to a desert city that feels reminiscent of the Arabian Nights. I returned the book to the library, but made no mistake about forgetting it this time around.
Two years later, I purchased two copies--one paperback, one hardback--to add to my personal library, but when my husband asked if I was going to re-read The Ropemaker right away, I told him that I was waiting for the right moment. I would know, I was certain, when it was the right time to revisit this story.
And this, a year after we've moved into our first house, seemed finally time. I couldn't get the thought of the book out of my head, and now here we are.
I still love this book. I love it so much that my bias is probably embarrassing for a lot of you to read through, but I don't quite care. This story has carried me through some intense things in the past by sparking my imagination and keeping a sense of mystery for me. And yes, in a way it still seems to change each time I read it. Not so much this time around, but there were still things I got out of this that I didn't before, things I didn't remember as they were, and this gave me a strange sort of comfort, like walking back into a favorite old room with a favorite, well-loved armchair and blanket to curl up in and simply enjoy.
Read The Ropemaker, if you ever have the opportunity. Understand the writing isn't for everyone, and the storytelling takes some getting used to. But it's worth it. I like to think that this book has changed me for the better, even if only in small ways, each time I've opened it.
Of all the quotes from any film in the world I could use to describe my relationship with this book, I think the one that has always stuck with me was this particular quote from Mr. Koreander from the second "NeverEnding Story" movie. "Books change each time you read them." Of all the things I could ever have imagined, a logical-minded child when I was younger and first saw that movie, that was absurd. Printed word certainly didn't change, what a ridiculous concept, even if the NeverEnding Story film played with it! Needless to say that child me had quite a few things to learn yet, including the concept that later editions of books could have editing changes made to them for any number of reasons.
Prepare yourself for a tale of my history with this book.
The first time I picked up The Ropemaker, it had never been my intention to pick it up. My grandmother was taking me on a jaunt to the library, which was commonplace for us, and mentioned she'd heard good things about it and thought I should give it a go. I was 12 years old, intrigued, and checked it out. The pace of the story was a bit slow for me, but the writing was rich and lush, and I was dazzled. Sadly, I didn't get to finish reading it; my parents announced seemingly out of nowhere that we were going to be moving soon, to another city, and I was made to return The Ropemaker to the library. My parents didn't want to have to pay potential fees if we returned the book late or it got lost among the packing, and for a long time, the book passed out of my mind and memory.
The summer after graduating high school, I was working full-time hours with part-time pay. At some point my parents pressured me to go help out my aunt in another state, as she was trying to sell her house and work full-time, and needed someone to watch her kids. I reluctantly asked my boss at work to let me go for at least a few months until this got sorted, and was hauled off to Kansas City to play nanny. While there, I did frequent the nearest library for something to do in my personal down time whenever my aunt would arrive home at the end of the day, and on one of these visits, I happened to spy a copy of The Ropemaker sitting out at one of the reading tables, and snatched it up to read.
I thought I'd had a fairly good memory for what I had managed to read of it from 6 or 7 years prior. I was very wrong. The writing was lavish, that much was true, but the details weren't what I recalled. Something about the book appeared to have changed, and all at once I remembered Mr. Koreander near the start of the second NeverEnding Story movie saying "books change each time you read them." But that surely didn't make sense; how could it have changed? I checked the book out, and almost ended up finishing it this time around. But alas, my nanny-ing kept me busy, and come the holiday season, I ended up returning home without having finished reading the book again.
Then in January of 2013, a month before I got married, I was headed off to work. My shift started later in the morning, so I was able to stop by the library beforehand and poke through the stacks to find something to read, as my own belongings (including my books) were largely all packed away to be taken to the apartment I would eventually move into with my husband-to-be. I had snatched up a few and was ready to walk up to the self-check-out service, when I spied something familiar in my peripherals on a table I was passing, and there it was again. The Ropemaker. I hesitated, because it felt a little strange to realize that this book always seemed to show up when I least expected it, and each time now it was during some either stressful or major event happening in my life, and twice before I hadn't finished it. To say nothing of how it hadn't even seemed to be the same book the second time I read it! Twice is a coincidence, but three times?
The moment of hesitation ended.
I grabbed the book then and there, checked out, hauled my butt to work to wait for a while before my shift started, and sat down with a messy sandwich to crack open this book as the snow started falling outside. And yet again, it was like the book had changed somehow. Still the writing was elegant and evocative of mythological or legendary storytelling, and this time around, a couple of details did strike me as familiar, but still it was somehow different in a way I couldn't explain. When this realization hit me three chapters in, I shut the book and spend a long time pondering this, to the point it occupied more than half my thought process during my workday.
Maybe the book had never changed at all, but it had come to me at such different points in my life that I read the story in different ways and remembered it differently, took different things away from it, because it was always at such pivotal moments of change.
This time I finished the book, found myself in love with the story it told and utterly satisfied, because I realized it is a coming-of-age sort of twist on the classic structure of the Hero's Journey told in loquacious and rambling prose not unlike old stories or fairy tales, in settings that range from a mysterious little village in a mountain to a desert city that feels reminiscent of the Arabian Nights. I returned the book to the library, but made no mistake about forgetting it this time around.
Two years later, I purchased two copies--one paperback, one hardback--to add to my personal library, but when my husband asked if I was going to re-read The Ropemaker right away, I told him that I was waiting for the right moment. I would know, I was certain, when it was the right time to revisit this story.
And this, a year after we've moved into our first house, seemed finally time. I couldn't get the thought of the book out of my head, and now here we are.
I still love this book. I love it so much that my bias is probably embarrassing for a lot of you to read through, but I don't quite care. This story has carried me through some intense things in the past by sparking my imagination and keeping a sense of mystery for me. And yes, in a way it still seems to change each time I read it. Not so much this time around, but there were still things I got out of this that I didn't before, things I didn't remember as they were, and this gave me a strange sort of comfort, like walking back into a favorite old room with a favorite, well-loved armchair and blanket to curl up in and simply enjoy.
Read The Ropemaker, if you ever have the opportunity. Understand the writing isn't for everyone, and the storytelling takes some getting used to. But it's worth it. I like to think that this book has changed me for the better, even if only in small ways, each time I've opened it.
August 26, 2016
This book has something that came as a very welcome surprise for me: it deals with the troubles of a girl traveling to the outside world to save her whole village from an evil that threatens to destroy it while having absolutely no power and no means, and in the process she NEVER, not even for a moment, has any sort of romantic plot whatsoever. In fact, it's not even mentioned any sort of involvement with anyone because why would you even put a love plot where you have to deal with surviving magical assassination attempts from an empire that wants to destroy your entire people? The story gives the portrayal of someone whose development as a person as a full competent woman comes from life changing experiences that do NOT involve any sort of romantic feelings to make her into a rounded character.
This is such a unique finding it made me wonder why aren't there any more stories of female characters that don't need to resort to romantic feelings to advance their plot. There should be more of this. Things to show girls that they can be as important and as powerful as they wish in their own right without the need for anyone else. Stories that show girls they don't have to fall in love, that they can just live their lives on their own for themselves if they want to. It should tell a girl that it's alright to be on her own, that she doesn't need someone else to validate her worth.
This has been said for boys for centuries. It's time girls also get the chance to validate themselves for themselves, without needing anyone in their lives.
This is such a unique finding it made me wonder why aren't there any more stories of female characters that don't need to resort to romantic feelings to advance their plot. There should be more of this. Things to show girls that they can be as important and as powerful as they wish in their own right without the need for anyone else. Stories that show girls they don't have to fall in love, that they can just live their lives on their own for themselves if they want to. It should tell a girl that it's alright to be on her own, that she doesn't need someone else to validate her worth.
This has been said for boys for centuries. It's time girls also get the chance to validate themselves for themselves, without needing anyone in their lives.
January 7, 2012
This book was a short fairytale padded and padded and padded out into a 300+ page novel. The story plodded along in a fairytale fashion--and then, and then, and then--and the magic was vague undefined fairytale magic with only the most basic vaguely-defined magic-system underlying it all. Tilja and Tahl and their grandparents meet people. They get saved. They meet more people. People tell them things. They go. They meet more people. They get told more things. They travel more. Etc.
The main characters do have some character and personality, but everything is distant. It feels like yes, they are real people, but you just don't get to know them all that well or even really care about them beyond the immediacy of the story, which is not very immediate and therefore I don't care about them very much.
The plot has as much plot as a fairytale: We have a problem, so we go to the magic person to solve it, and must follow the magic person's peculiar unexplained inexplicable directions to the letter, and then all will be well. Hooray. And there's some Ropemaker guy who, despite being the titular character, is barely in the story and mostly deus ex machinas all the troubles the main four run into.
The Ropemaker would have been much better condensed and tightened into a 100-page story rather than endless descriptions of walking along a road prodding a recalcitrant horse and getting long paragraphs of exposition from random people about what to do next.
The main characters do have some character and personality, but everything is distant. It feels like yes, they are real people, but you just don't get to know them all that well or even really care about them beyond the immediacy of the story, which is not very immediate and therefore I don't care about them very much.
The plot has as much plot as a fairytale: We have a problem, so we go to the magic person to solve it, and must follow the magic person's peculiar unexplained inexplicable directions to the letter, and then all will be well. Hooray. And there's some Ropemaker guy who, despite being the titular character, is barely in the story and mostly deus ex machinas all the troubles the main four run into.
The Ropemaker would have been much better condensed and tightened into a 100-page story rather than endless descriptions of walking along a road prodding a recalcitrant horse and getting long paragraphs of exposition from random people about what to do next.
March 11, 2011
I think this started off really strong and then got dragged out towards the end. I also think this suffers from really unfortunate cover art. The descriptions of magical events were really vague, sometimes confusing, and important events were over too briefly. Several times I kept thinking, "Oh, so it's over already? Those last three sentences were the whole battle? Hmm." One last problem was the lack of editing. Many of the sentences were incomplete or simply didn't make sense and weren't worded correctly. Each time I came to these I had to stop and trip over it and then figure out what she was trying to say. I wish this had been edited more heavily.
However, this was still one of the most enjoyable fantasy stories I have read in awhile. There was a great background history to this story, and the plot itself was imaginative and interesting. The world-building is also very good, (the evil empire taxes everything, including death, and if you can't afford to pay the taxes there's a city you can go to that will help you "take care of it" for free) and the magic system was a bit confusing and paradoxical at times but still interesting. I just with the writing/editing had been a bit stronger.
However, this was still one of the most enjoyable fantasy stories I have read in awhile. There was a great background history to this story, and the plot itself was imaginative and interesting. The world-building is also very good, (the evil empire taxes everything, including death, and if you can't afford to pay the taxes there's a city you can go to that will help you "take care of it" for free) and the magic system was a bit confusing and paradoxical at times but still interesting. I just with the writing/editing had been a bit stronger.
December 15, 2011
Tilja's home is in the Valley, protected by magic from the powerful Empire. When the magic begins to fade, Tilja must set out with three companions on a quest to renew the magic; along the way, she finds her own unusual powers. This is a really good YA fantasy, with excellent worldbuilding, interesting magic, and a heroine I liked very much (and also her crotchety grandmother). I'd only read a couple of Dickinson's other YAs, both science fiction, and didn't like them as much as this, but I'll certainly seek out his other fantasy.
September 19, 2016
More reviews available at my blog, Beauty and the Bookworm.
The Ropemaker has been one of my favorite fantasy stories for a long time, but I hadn't read it in a while, which meant that it was a perfect candidate for my reading challenge category of "A book you haven't read since high school." I knew that I hadn't read this since high school because I lent my copy to someone and they never gave it back! Don't you have when that happens? But now I have the Kindle version, so all is well--though really, the Kindle version could so with some updating format-wise. Also, did you know that Peter Dickinson was married to Robin McKinley? I didn't!
So. The Ropemaker is the story of Tilja, a girl who lives in the peaceful Valley, which has been cut off from the Empire to the south and the land of the horse tribes to the north for twenty generations due to an act of magic that has been maintained by two families, one of them Tilja's own. The story starts with the slow failure of the magic that protects the Valley, and Tilja ends up going with her grandmother and two members of the other family who protect the magic to find Faheel, the magician who cut the Valley off in the first place, to renew the spells that keep them safe.
This is, at its heart, a simple story, but I love it. I think Dickinson has managed to create one of those worlds that might seem simple on the surface, but you absorb a very deep sense of it while reading. From the Valley to the Empire's capital of Talagh, to the city of the dying in the south, to all of the things and people and customs that Tilja and her companions encounter in between, it's just a very rich world and one that has a lot of cultural characteristics that aren't very commonly seen in fantasy novels. Tilja is also a simple character, but one that I think makes her approachable for a wide variety of readers. She's a little bit of a misfit, being the elder daughter in her family but not being on track to inherit her family's farm because she can't hear the cedars in the forest that protects the Valley. Indeed, Tilja is actually the least magical person, well, ever, and as she goes on her journey she learns to grow into that and use it to her own advantage, turning it into her own sort of special ability. And while we know Tilja isn't a full adult, it's hard to get a handle on exactly how old she is until about two-thirds of the way through the book, which I think allows you to read her as a variety of ages...and they pretty much all work.
Honestly, this book is a lot like The Hobbit to me: a simple, magical journey with what is ultimately a very simple goal, but also a story that is enveloping and beautiful at the same time. (I don't have the same feelings for the main Lord of the Rings trilogy.) I was so happy when this received a sequel, Angel Isle, years after I first read it, and I was very pleased to have an excuse to read it again.
5 stars.
The Ropemaker has been one of my favorite fantasy stories for a long time, but I hadn't read it in a while, which meant that it was a perfect candidate for my reading challenge category of "A book you haven't read since high school." I knew that I hadn't read this since high school because I lent my copy to someone and they never gave it back! Don't you have when that happens? But now I have the Kindle version, so all is well--though really, the Kindle version could so with some updating format-wise. Also, did you know that Peter Dickinson was married to Robin McKinley? I didn't!
So. The Ropemaker is the story of Tilja, a girl who lives in the peaceful Valley, which has been cut off from the Empire to the south and the land of the horse tribes to the north for twenty generations due to an act of magic that has been maintained by two families, one of them Tilja's own. The story starts with the slow failure of the magic that protects the Valley, and Tilja ends up going with her grandmother and two members of the other family who protect the magic to find Faheel, the magician who cut the Valley off in the first place, to renew the spells that keep them safe.
This is, at its heart, a simple story, but I love it. I think Dickinson has managed to create one of those worlds that might seem simple on the surface, but you absorb a very deep sense of it while reading. From the Valley to the Empire's capital of Talagh, to the city of the dying in the south, to all of the things and people and customs that Tilja and her companions encounter in between, it's just a very rich world and one that has a lot of cultural characteristics that aren't very commonly seen in fantasy novels. Tilja is also a simple character, but one that I think makes her approachable for a wide variety of readers. She's a little bit of a misfit, being the elder daughter in her family but not being on track to inherit her family's farm because she can't hear the cedars in the forest that protects the Valley. Indeed, Tilja is actually the least magical person, well, ever, and as she goes on her journey she learns to grow into that and use it to her own advantage, turning it into her own sort of special ability. And while we know Tilja isn't a full adult, it's hard to get a handle on exactly how old she is until about two-thirds of the way through the book, which I think allows you to read her as a variety of ages...and they pretty much all work.
Honestly, this book is a lot like The Hobbit to me: a simple, magical journey with what is ultimately a very simple goal, but also a story that is enveloping and beautiful at the same time. (I don't have the same feelings for the main Lord of the Rings trilogy.) I was so happy when this received a sequel, Angel Isle, years after I first read it, and I was very pleased to have an excuse to read it again.
5 stars.
November 2, 2015
This book sat sitting on my shelf for the longest of times. I kept telling myself that I would pick it up and read it and yet I always ended up reading something else instead. When I finally got around to reading it I was exceptionally surprised.
The book itself was much better than I’d been expecting. Whilst there were some predictable moments the storyline did manage to keep me hooked from start to end, without my mind running off at different angles as I questioned whether it would do me better to be reading something else. The characters are easy to fall in love with, the book is well written and well-paced – as a whole it is well worth a read instead of letting it gather dust on a shelf!
The book itself was much better than I’d been expecting. Whilst there were some predictable moments the storyline did manage to keep me hooked from start to end, without my mind running off at different angles as I questioned whether it would do me better to be reading something else. The characters are easy to fall in love with, the book is well written and well-paced – as a whole it is well worth a read instead of letting it gather dust on a shelf!
December 19, 2017
It's a shame this book didn't live up to its promise. The world building was good, the magic interesting. But I felt no emotional connection to the story or its characters. This book was missing heart and emotion and so I couldn't really bring myself to care.
May 26, 2014
I really wanted to like this novel. I've actually been wanting to read it for quite some time, but it's one of those that kept getting pushed back, so I finally put my foot down and said, "I'm going to read the shit out of this!"
Unfortunately, that didn't happen. It felt like it took me forever to read this. I just couldn't get into it. Frankly, I just didn't care. Things happened, and there were characters that met people and did things, but I wasn't invested in any of them.
There were some interesting ideas and characters buried in here, and that's what kept me reading in the hopes that it would all come together in some grand fashion, but if you're not into those first few chapters, you're not going to like the book any better by the end. While I enjoyed a large portion near the end, it wasn't enough to save the ridiculously padded 300+ pages that preceded that "good stuff."
Still more, the epilogue.... the epilogue... ugh.
Again, I wanted to like this, as I'm always curious when a book wins or is an honor for the Printz award and isn't a contemporary/realistic novel. But this one didn't do it for me.
Unfortunately, that didn't happen. It felt like it took me forever to read this. I just couldn't get into it. Frankly, I just didn't care. Things happened, and there were characters that met people and did things, but I wasn't invested in any of them.
There were some interesting ideas and characters buried in here, and that's what kept me reading in the hopes that it would all come together in some grand fashion, but if you're not into those first few chapters, you're not going to like the book any better by the end. While I enjoyed a large portion near the end, it wasn't enough to save the ridiculously padded 300+ pages that preceded that "good stuff."
Still more, the epilogue.... the epilogue... ugh.
Again, I wanted to like this, as I'm always curious when a book wins or is an honor for the Printz award and isn't a contemporary/realistic novel. But this one didn't do it for me.
August 13, 2012
"The Ropemaker" is a young adult fantasy novel. This fantasy world had some unique customs and interesting reasons for having them, but the author spent more time on travelogue than world-building details. The characters had some depth, but they weren't really fleshed out. Yet they were engaging enough that I wanted them to succeed.
Unfortunately, I felt it lacked suspense. The few exciting scenes were over quickly. We're told they were a struggle for the characters, but the description of the struggle made it seem simple. The characters also always knew exactly how to handle each situation that came up, and they choose the exact right way to handle it. While things didn't always go exactly as planned, they never actually failed.
There was a very minor amount of "he cursed" style of bad language. There was no sex. There was some fantasy magic and magical creatures. Overall, I found the story rather forgettable and unexciting, but it's not a bad story.
Unfortunately, I felt it lacked suspense. The few exciting scenes were over quickly. We're told they were a struggle for the characters, but the description of the struggle made it seem simple. The characters also always knew exactly how to handle each situation that came up, and they choose the exact right way to handle it. While things didn't always go exactly as planned, they never actually failed.
There was a very minor amount of "he cursed" style of bad language. There was no sex. There was some fantasy magic and magical creatures. Overall, I found the story rather forgettable and unexciting, but it's not a bad story.
October 26, 2019
Printz Honor Book 2002...my first thoughts, YA fantasy has come a LONG way in the last 17 years. This is a good book, but I don't think it holds up as excellent any more.
It is a good book, though. It has a bit of a slow pace to begin with, but instead of boring, I found this rich of character and setting, without the detail being overwhelming. The story unfolded nicely, and the pace picked up with the action. The plot kept me wondering and eager for more. I did, though, find the quicker paced portions with a lot of new magic to be somewhat confusing, so I lost the drive of the plot for a bit about two-thirds of the way through.
This book is well worth reading, but if you're only looking to read one YA fantasy deserving of literary credit, I would look at some more recent authors first.
It is a good book, though. It has a bit of a slow pace to begin with, but instead of boring, I found this rich of character and setting, without the detail being overwhelming. The story unfolded nicely, and the pace picked up with the action. The plot kept me wondering and eager for more. I did, though, find the quicker paced portions with a lot of new magic to be somewhat confusing, so I lost the drive of the plot for a bit about two-thirds of the way through.
This book is well worth reading, but if you're only looking to read one YA fantasy deserving of literary credit, I would look at some more recent authors first.
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March 18, 2019HOW HAD I NEVER HEARD ABOUT PETER DICKINSON? I only learned about him from Philip Pullman's book of essays, Daemon Voices, and he's already a new favorite author of mine. Brilliant. And he's written so much! This is going to make 2019 a great reading year, I think.
September 22, 2007
This was excellent, and I'm glad that it was a Printz honor, or I might not have ever gotten to it. The sequel is on my TBR list.
October 22, 2014
I liked this story better than some of the other reviewers here, but I agree that it did drag a bit in sections, and could possibly have been shortened somewhat without losing its impact.
June 8, 2021
Lamentavelmente parecia-me muito interessante, mas não sei explicar, há algo na escrita deste autor que me faz perder o interesse e torna-se difícil ler os seus livros. É uma história interessante, penso que o início de outras sequelas, mas não fiquei interessada o suficiente.
August 3, 2019
I'm going to have to pick up more Peter Dickinson books. Great world-building, interesting characters...and a great dedication to another of my favorite authors.
January 6, 2018
This is a coming to age book involving magic and adventure (and a bit of romance).
The first two chapters I found a bit boring, longwinded. The sentences were long and hard for me to follow. And it didn’t make much sense. Also, the chapters are really long.
The first chapter is about a girl whose mother sings to the cedar trees at the first snowfall. And this year is weird. I was confused. After that, the second chapter is spent giving the backstory. There’s a village in a valley that’s part of an empire and is forgotten about half the time. It’s invaded by tribes when the emperor’s ruling goes lax but the emperor always overtakes it again. Neither of those are good for the valley’s people. They’re looted, killed and raped.
One year they know the tribes are going to come and kill them again and they’re speaking about how they can prevent it when a soldier who fell in love with a valley girl and was hidden for three years until the other soldiers deserted the place, tells of a woman named Astora. She helped the Emperor once against pirates and he’s sure she could help them. They don’t take him seriously but years later they’re sick of being taken advantage of on every side and decide to ask for her help.
A group of men and women set out to find her. They don’t succeed and all but two - one man and one woman, give up. Those two continue looking and eventually, they do find her. She’s dying and can’t help them but tells of a man named Faheel who can help them. She gives them a ring to give to him. They find him, after a lot more searching and he helps them. He tells the woman to put two bags of barley out in the cedar forest after the first snow and sing to the trees. And he tells the man to go sing to the river by his house and pour a flask of water he was given by Astora into its source.
They do that and it snows too much for the tribesmen to come up the pass leading to the valley every year since then. On the side of the forest there becomes a sickness which doesn’t let men who stay in it too long live. They’re protected from both the empire and the tribes. For twenty generations. And, now it’s the twentieth generation and they have to renew their borders. So, after that the story started making more sense, but it wasn’t the most interesting chapter. And, it was all narrated and not shown.
The great granddaughter of the woman and the great grandson of the man and their granddaughter and grandson set out to renew the protection. Tilja and Meena (People call their grandparents by their first names in the Valley) and Tahl and Alnor, his grandfather.
The first two chapters I found a bit boring, longwinded. The sentences were long and hard for me to follow. And it didn’t make much sense. Also, the chapters are really long.
The first chapter is about a girl whose mother sings to the cedar trees at the first snowfall. And this year is weird. I was confused. After that, the second chapter is spent giving the backstory. There’s a village in a valley that’s part of an empire and is forgotten about half the time. It’s invaded by tribes when the emperor’s ruling goes lax but the emperor always overtakes it again. Neither of those are good for the valley’s people. They’re looted, killed and raped.
One year they know the tribes are going to come and kill them again and they’re speaking about how they can prevent it when a soldier who fell in love with a valley girl and was hidden for three years until the other soldiers deserted the place, tells of a woman named Astora. She helped the Emperor once against pirates and he’s sure she could help them. They don’t take him seriously but years later they’re sick of being taken advantage of on every side and decide to ask for her help.
A group of men and women set out to find her. They don’t succeed and all but two - one man and one woman, give up. Those two continue looking and eventually, they do find her. She’s dying and can’t help them but tells of a man named Faheel who can help them. She gives them a ring to give to him. They find him, after a lot more searching and he helps them. He tells the woman to put two bags of barley out in the cedar forest after the first snow and sing to the trees. And he tells the man to go sing to the river by his house and pour a flask of water he was given by Astora into its source.
They do that and it snows too much for the tribesmen to come up the pass leading to the valley every year since then. On the side of the forest there becomes a sickness which doesn’t let men who stay in it too long live. They’re protected from both the empire and the tribes. For twenty generations. And, now it’s the twentieth generation and they have to renew their borders. So, after that the story started making more sense, but it wasn’t the most interesting chapter. And, it was all narrated and not shown.
The great granddaughter of the woman and the great grandson of the man and their granddaughter and grandson set out to renew the protection. Tilja and Meena (People call their grandparents by their first names in the Valley) and Tahl and Alnor, his grandfather.
May 28, 2018
4,5 stars
The first time I tried to read The Ropemaker, I only got to about 50 pages before I decided that it wasn't for me. It was boring and slow-paced and I couldn't understand what was going on. Since then, The Ropemaker has been collecting dust on my bookshelf for nine years. A week before my exams started, I decided to give The Ropemaker another try. I was looking for a slow-paced book that I could take my time reading. However, I ended up forgetting about my exams and completed The Ropemaker in two days. Maybe, it's because I knew what to expect. Maybe, it's because I'm much older. Maybe, I was just in the mood for a book like The Ropemaker.
In The Ropemaker there is a village in the Valley that has been isolated from the rest of the world in order to protect it from the evil Empire and nomadic conquerors. Two families, the Ortahlsons and the Urlasdaughters, keep the magic that protects the Valley alive by singing to the snow and the cedar trees respectively. However, the magic that protects the Valley is dying, so four people, two Ortahlsons and two Urlasdaughters, set off on an adventure to find a sorcerer who can help them save their Valley.
The Ropemaker has a mystical fantasy fairytale atmosphere. The world may seem simple at first, but it's beautiful and intricate. The magic that exists in The Ropemaker is quite vague and I'm fine with this vagueness, because it adds to the mysticism and the fairytale atmosphere.
Tilja Urlasdaughter is an ordinary girl. She doesn't have the ability to sing to the cedars nor can she hear what they say and she feels like an outsider. In The Ropemaker, Tilja's journey isn't only about saving the Valley but it's also where she discovers herself and finds her place in the world. Tilja's grandmother, Meena, is my favourite character in The Ropemaker. She's an old women who speaks her mind, doesn't take nonsense from anyone and busts everyone's chops. The two Ortahlsons who embark on an adventure with Tilja and Meena is Tahl and his grandfather, Alnor. Tahl is friendly, curious and clever and Alnor is reserved and likes to be in control of every situation that he encounters.
I'm so glad that I gave The Ropemaker another chance. It's one of those books where you find yourself slowly falling in love with the world and the characters the more you read.
"Time, I tell you, is a great rope." (Faheel)
The first time I tried to read The Ropemaker, I only got to about 50 pages before I decided that it wasn't for me. It was boring and slow-paced and I couldn't understand what was going on. Since then, The Ropemaker has been collecting dust on my bookshelf for nine years. A week before my exams started, I decided to give The Ropemaker another try. I was looking for a slow-paced book that I could take my time reading. However, I ended up forgetting about my exams and completed The Ropemaker in two days. Maybe, it's because I knew what to expect. Maybe, it's because I'm much older. Maybe, I was just in the mood for a book like The Ropemaker.
In The Ropemaker there is a village in the Valley that has been isolated from the rest of the world in order to protect it from the evil Empire and nomadic conquerors. Two families, the Ortahlsons and the Urlasdaughters, keep the magic that protects the Valley alive by singing to the snow and the cedar trees respectively. However, the magic that protects the Valley is dying, so four people, two Ortahlsons and two Urlasdaughters, set off on an adventure to find a sorcerer who can help them save their Valley.
The Ropemaker has a mystical fantasy fairytale atmosphere. The world may seem simple at first, but it's beautiful and intricate. The magic that exists in The Ropemaker is quite vague and I'm fine with this vagueness, because it adds to the mysticism and the fairytale atmosphere.
Tilja Urlasdaughter is an ordinary girl. She doesn't have the ability to sing to the cedars nor can she hear what they say and she feels like an outsider. In The Ropemaker, Tilja's journey isn't only about saving the Valley but it's also where she discovers herself and finds her place in the world. Tilja's grandmother, Meena, is my favourite character in The Ropemaker. She's an old women who speaks her mind, doesn't take nonsense from anyone and busts everyone's chops. The two Ortahlsons who embark on an adventure with Tilja and Meena is Tahl and his grandfather, Alnor. Tahl is friendly, curious and clever and Alnor is reserved and likes to be in control of every situation that he encounters.
I'm so glad that I gave The Ropemaker another chance. It's one of those books where you find yourself slowly falling in love with the world and the characters the more you read.
"Well, you'll have to make a life of your own like most people do. No point moping about it. Sooner you get used to the idea, the better you'll be." (Meena Urlasdaughter)
January 24, 2009
I picked this one up at the library because I liked the sound of the blurb but sadly, it was an immense disappointment and I got bored with it about halfway through.
Tilja and her family live in the Valley, an area that was surrounded by an impenetrable forest to one side and a glacier to the other, placed there by magic to protect them from the ravages of the Empire and raiding tribesmen. As part of the magic, a woman of Tilja's family has the job of singing to the trees, while another family has the hereditary role of singing to the snows, in order to keep the magic going. However, it's starting to break down, exposing the families who live in the Valley to danger for the first time in many generations.
Tilja's talents lie in other areas, in that she appears to be very much the Anti-Magic, in that she can hold something magic and hide its presence so it can't be detected. Along with her grandmother and two representatives of the other family, Tilja sets off into the mysterious Empire to find a magician to renew their magic.
It's a fantastic idea, and the Empire is quite scary in its bureaucratic niceties (like taxing people for permission to die, forcing them to go to a particular place to do so and fining their families if they don't get there), but sadly the characterisations leave much to be desired. I was left really not caring whether any of the characters lived or died - Tilja is very two-dimensional and the boy from the other family appears to be there in a spear-carrier role and nothing more. I can't say this has filled me with enthusiasm to look out anything else from Dickinson, since I can't bear to see a good idea go to waste...
Tilja and her family live in the Valley, an area that was surrounded by an impenetrable forest to one side and a glacier to the other, placed there by magic to protect them from the ravages of the Empire and raiding tribesmen. As part of the magic, a woman of Tilja's family has the job of singing to the trees, while another family has the hereditary role of singing to the snows, in order to keep the magic going. However, it's starting to break down, exposing the families who live in the Valley to danger for the first time in many generations.
Tilja's talents lie in other areas, in that she appears to be very much the Anti-Magic, in that she can hold something magic and hide its presence so it can't be detected. Along with her grandmother and two representatives of the other family, Tilja sets off into the mysterious Empire to find a magician to renew their magic.
It's a fantastic idea, and the Empire is quite scary in its bureaucratic niceties (like taxing people for permission to die, forcing them to go to a particular place to do so and fining their families if they don't get there), but sadly the characterisations leave much to be desired. I was left really not caring whether any of the characters lived or died - Tilja is very two-dimensional and the boy from the other family appears to be there in a spear-carrier role and nothing more. I can't say this has filled me with enthusiasm to look out anything else from Dickinson, since I can't bear to see a good idea go to waste...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 13, 2015
Right from the beginning, I knew that I was going to have a problem with Peter Dickinson's writing style. It's not that I don't like Fantasy, quite the opposite, it is my favorite genre. My main problem was that I couldn't keep my mind from wandering while I was reading. I would read half a page and realize that I couldn't remember what I just read. The only time this didn't happen was in the middle of the story. Maybe it was just me...maybe I had too many things on my mind...who knows? Maybe it won't happen to you.
Another thing that surprised me was the size of the book. This is a full-sized Fantasy tale that I felt was appropriate for all ages, not just young adults, but for adults also. I did enjoy reading about Tilja's powers. But I would have liked for her to learn how they work, not just that DO they work.
The story is good, but the way it was told leaves me wishing that I could have focused more on it. I never really bonded with the main character, and maybe that was the problem. But the younger audience who reads this book may be able to bond, and they may think this book it terrific. Yes, the bad guys do get killed in this story, but there really isn't anything graphic about the deaths.
Overall, the concept The Ropemaker is good, but I felt that the writing was listless.
I rated this book a 5 out of 10.
Another thing that surprised me was the size of the book. This is a full-sized Fantasy tale that I felt was appropriate for all ages, not just young adults, but for adults also. I did enjoy reading about Tilja's powers. But I would have liked for her to learn how they work, not just that DO they work.
The story is good, but the way it was told leaves me wishing that I could have focused more on it. I never really bonded with the main character, and maybe that was the problem. But the younger audience who reads this book may be able to bond, and they may think this book it terrific. Yes, the bad guys do get killed in this story, but there really isn't anything graphic about the deaths.
Overall, the concept The Ropemaker is good, but I felt that the writing was listless.
I rated this book a 5 out of 10.
April 23, 2020
I read this book in phases. I started, flew through some chapters and then had to put it down for days or a week before I could muster the strength to continue it again. It is just too long. There are too many gaps between the action. This difficult to understand until you've read the book and see how tedious and unnecessary so much of the writing is.When action does come - it feels hurried and almost thrown away. It is over quicker in a tenth of the time spent to set it up.
Despite this all, I enjoyed it. I nearly gave it four stars and I think up until the last 50 or so pages. Those were the most excruciating and continued on and on and on in a way that felt almost unnecessary. Instead of tying a neat bow on an already too long and dragged out story(Perhaps could have been three smaller books.) the author chooses to drag and drag and drag the last few pages of the book out. In the end, I only finished due to commitment to the characters but I suffered a lot.
Otherwise, I thought this was good.I recommended to anyone who enjoys fantasy worlds that are well built but still keep a lot of mystery. A lot of people criticised this book for a vague magic system but I found that's where the wonder and fantasy lies. Magic is not supposed to be understood neatly like a science and it often - as in this story - just works out perfectly every time.
Despite this all, I enjoyed it. I nearly gave it four stars and I think up until the last 50 or so pages. Those were the most excruciating and continued on and on and on in a way that felt almost unnecessary. Instead of tying a neat bow on an already too long and dragged out story(Perhaps could have been three smaller books.) the author chooses to drag and drag and drag the last few pages of the book out. In the end, I only finished due to commitment to the characters but I suffered a lot.
Otherwise, I thought this was good.I recommended to anyone who enjoys fantasy worlds that are well built but still keep a lot of mystery. A lot of people criticised this book for a vague magic system but I found that's where the wonder and fantasy lies. Magic is not supposed to be understood neatly like a science and it often - as in this story - just works out perfectly every time.
July 24, 2011
Meet Tilja, an unremarkable girl without a lick of magic in her, cannot sing to the cedars nor hear their voices. Yet the cedars say she must take a journey to safeguard the Valley. Tilja and Meena her grandmother travel on the river with Tahl and his grandfather, Alnor. Meena can sing to the cedars to learn what must be done, and Alnor, although he is blind, directs the raft on the water by muttering to it.
Along the way Tilja learns she has an ability to cloak magical items from detection and remove magical abilities from magicians. Dickinson has created a book worthy of becoming a beloved legend or fairy tale.
The story is both fantasy and adventure as Tilja and her group travel to the empire in search of a man who can strengthen the magic in the forest that protects them from the control of outsiders. Rife with battling magicians and clever plot twists including one that returns Meena to a young girl readers will be eagerly turning each page and end the book satisfied with the story, but sad there is none left to read.
I highly recommend this book.
Rating 5 of 5
Printz Honor Book 2001
Along the way Tilja learns she has an ability to cloak magical items from detection and remove magical abilities from magicians. Dickinson has created a book worthy of becoming a beloved legend or fairy tale.
The story is both fantasy and adventure as Tilja and her group travel to the empire in search of a man who can strengthen the magic in the forest that protects them from the control of outsiders. Rife with battling magicians and clever plot twists including one that returns Meena to a young girl readers will be eagerly turning each page and end the book satisfied with the story, but sad there is none left to read.
I highly recommend this book.
Rating 5 of 5
Printz Honor Book 2001
January 27, 2013
The Ropemaker is an okay formulaic fantasy that could have been so much better. A teen girl, Tilja, along with three others from her homeland, go on a quest to find a powerful magician who can re-cast the spell that protects their valley home from invaders. There are lots of obstacles to overcome, a few surprise events, and of course, it turns out that Tilja is a lot more than a messenger on a noble journey to save her people. Peter Dickinson's explanations of what magic is, and who can use it, are quite interesting and the descriptions are captivating. His character development is much less compelling. The reader learns little about Tilja until halfway through the book, and even then, it feels incomplete. I suspect most of Tilja's character is left to be revealed in the sequel. The Ropemaker is also an interesting character, and could have added much to the tone and pace of the story, but a lack of character development makes him one dimensional. The Ropemaker is a fairly entertaining story, but seems to be mostly an introduction for the rest of the series, which has the potential to be excellent with more in depth explanations, descriptions and characters.
January 20, 2025
Ok okay first I did NOT get why this had an award it just didn’t seem that good but then I read the whole thing and wow that was good. Like halfway through I was like “weird the book seems like it should end right about now and then Peter did a 180 and suddenly there’s half the story left. I loved loved loved that the main character was useful despite having no magic. All the characters were unique, except some traits just appeared randomly, which is a mistake I’ll probably make in my own writing lol, I can imagine Peter being like “I should give this trait to this character so he can do this” and then never give that character the trait before then. The world building was peak omg river of dead people death-leaves giant road of whatever amazing! Also the characters were distinct and unique.
November 3, 2016
I would like to talk about Tilja from this book. She is a girl in a family who each have powers. Her mother cam sing to the cedars, her grandma (Meena) can sing to the cedars, too, and her cousin and grandpa can listen to the words of the river. She feels of no use, but when she sets out on a perilous journey, she finds out her special power. She can channel magic and sense magic. With that newfound power, she can tell whether there is dangerous magic coming up,or whether there are Watchers or wards shielding magic. Because she is not very powerful, if strong magic comes, she will most likely faint or pass out. As protection, Jex, a spirit in her mind, helps her my [protecting her and a sorceress in a village gives her an amulet. When she takes them off, she is vulnerable to magic.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 11, 2016
I'm confused. I don't know if I liked this or not. At times I was bored; at other times, often when not reading it, I found myself wondering what would happen next. Sometimes it seemed to rush, at other times drag -- I think regardless of a proper opinion, I'd say that the pacing was off, and for most of the book, the characters didn't have a very clear goal, so I didn't feel all that invested in their journey. Things were just left too vague. That said, I did at least stick with it until the end... which must be a good sign, right?
Yeah, I have no idea what to say about this. I was going to review it for my blog, but I'm not sure I can. I'm just sort of stuck as to what my opinion actually was.
Yeah, I have no idea what to say about this. I was going to review it for my blog, but I'm not sure I can. I'm just sort of stuck as to what my opinion actually was.
May 24, 2008
Honestly, I think that overall I had tried to get into this about 4 times and then finally I just really stuck to it, and I found that once I got about halfway through then I really started enjoying this book. I liked how the characters all shared things in common, but then how they were all kinda tied together. I really liked all the places that the author took the characters to. It made me feel like I was there experiencing it. overall a really good book.
May 17, 2010
I had a difficult time reading this book. It seemed to start off slowly and did not have enough concrete details and back ground for me to feel absorbed by the story. I felt as though I was simply skimming along the surface of the story line rather than being enveloped by it. However the plot could have been a great one was it developed more. But then again it is also just my personal take on the book.
February 24, 2013
This was a disappointing book. The world building was lacking for me and the rules of the magic that governs the land seemed illogical and without any rules. Also the plot was lacking for me. The main character goes on a quest with a few other charaters. They go somewhere learn some stuff and then they go somewhere and learn some stuff. Save the day without knowing how. The whole book just felt really random and poorly thoughtout.
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