Godbond

Sea King #3

by Nancy Springer

Tassida, Dannoc, and Korridun are determined to find Sakeema, the only one who can save their world

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction

278 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published December 31, 1988

About the author

BIO -- NANCY SPRINGER


Nancy Springer has passed the fifty-book milestone, having written that many novels for adults, young adults and children, in genres including mythic fantasy, contemporary fiction, magical realism, horror, and mystery -- although she did not realize she wrote mystery until she won the Edgar Allan Poe Award from the Mystery Writers of America two years in succession. DARK LIE, recently released from NAL, is her first venture into mass-market psychological suspense.
Born in Montclair, New Jersey, Nancy Springer moved with her family to Gettysburg, of Civil War fame, when she was thirteen. She spent the next forty-six years in Pennsylvania, raising two children (Jonathan, now 38, and Nora, 34), writing, horseback riding, fishing, and birdwatching. In 2007 she surprised her friends and herself by moving with her second husband to an isolated area of the Florida panhandle, where the birdwatching is spectacular and where, when fishing, she occasionally catches an alligator.

Reviews

[Jean Triceratops · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did not read Godbond in good faith.

The books that came before it were too extra: nothing but flaring jealousy, lovers running away in the middle of the night, husky declarations of love, and so many tears. It was exhausting until it was dull.

There were things I liked, naturally. The small and atrophying world intrigued me, and there were questions to which I wouldn't have minded answers. But those weren't the reasons I kept reading.

It's damn clear at the end of Mindbond how critical it is that Kor, Dan, and Tass come together. On top of this, we have endless innuendo between Dan and Kor, and the love triangle between them and Tass.

I'm generally not one to make crass jokes, but I half expected a threesome and you can't just quit reading a series where you suspect a three-way will save the world.

Godbond is much like Madbond and Mindbond , with one significant difference: Dan and Kor spend most of the novel apart. Dan seeks the world's savior while Kor must protect his tribe from raids. As we're limited to Mahela (the villain) or Dan's point of view, this means we hardly see or hear from Kor. I expected this to be an improvement—maybe Dan could stop with the constant promises of eternal love. Instead, he spends much of this time thinking and feeling about Kor. Mainly, he longs for Kor and curses himself for leaving his bondbrother behind when he doesn't have a clue where to look for this supposed savior.

Tass is a little more active than in previous books, but she's still Tass: conveniently present when the plot needs a helping hand and just as conveniently absent when the plot calls for added tension.

I think people who genuinely care about the characters will appreciate Godbond no matter what. Dan, Kor, and Tass remain consistent, so if you loved them in the past, you'll love them here. That said, the plot lags, multiple big questions are answered via info-dumps, other questions aren't answered at all, and the conclusion is somehow convenient, heavy-handed, and vague. So if you're coming at Godbond from the opposite angle—sick of the characters but curious about the world/plot—I don't see how you could close Godbond happy.

If you want to dig more into how this series wraps up, I have more thoughts, all of them spoilery, over at my blog where I review obscure vintage woman-authored sff.

[Jennifer (bunnyreads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review is for the whole series-

This is quite a bit different than book of the Isle series. It still has the trademark Nancy, deep love and affection, conquering your fears, acceptance, bromance, horses (always horses) but it’s post-apocalyptic (generations later) with more of an Native American tribe inspiration which is quite refreshing. It’s also a little more adult as there is a bit of sex.

The series begins with Dan from the tribe of the Red Hart tribe awakening, captive in the Seal Kindred tribe…. or somewhat captive; he’s been restrained for his own and everyone else’s protection. He doesn’t remember what happened to get him where he is, as he was quite mad at the time.

Kor the King of the Seal tribe befriends him and they embark on journey to find the God Sakeema, to bring him back to help them conquer the Death Goddess Mahela and return the creatures of the world that she has stolen.

They are joined by Tassida a wandering horse rider, whom both the men love.

This is classic fantasy- a time when God’s wander the earth and the world is full with colorful people(literally) lore, songs, animal transformations and magic. This series as a whole is beautiful and is a quick read and by today’s standards this easily would have worked as one novel, instead of three and is probably the only issue I had with it. Each novel alone felt a little… well, I hate to say lacking, because the story was still enjoyable and I couldn’t put it down, but I also kept wondering where it was going and why it was split into three books.

So, as a whole, this series would be 5 stars. But as individuals I am going to have to say more like 3-4.

[Shaitarn · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this final book of the trilogy, Dannoc goes in search of Sakeema, the mystical healer god who he believes is the only one who can save the dying world. As he travels he sees more evidence of the world's end - the plains and forests are empty of creatures; he meets his own people, the Red Deer tribe, who are starving. Meanwhile his bond brother Kor must lead his people in their last defence against the fanged horse tribe and the otter river people, who have joined forces against them.

I have to say I was reading through this book rather impatiently; it was well written, but the world was so dark (in a despairing, end-of-the-world way rather than a grimdark way), and the way to solve the problem was so obviously I was muttering 'oh, come on' several chapters before the end. And the characters are ridiculously overpowered.

But those are my only problems with it; aside from the overly powered bits, the characters are well-drawn and the world with its six clans is refreshingly different to the usual 'medieval Europe that wasn't' fantasy setting. If you don't mind overly-powered characters, you may enjoy this.

[Booksofdoom · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is fantasy. Maybe at its very best.

It is a romantic, yes thrilling series of three books. The main three characters all have their nicer and uglier qualities.

The story is not the usual in fantasy. It follows a bit different path than hero-magic stone-fighting evil-happiness forever.

I recommend this series to all fantasy-fans everywhere. Just maybe not to the youngest. It is pretty sexually explicit at some points.

[LaTrica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I do like the ending but all this over a lover's quarrel?