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Spirit Fox
Spirit Fox marks the first collaboration between bestselling fantasy writer Mickey Zucker Reichert and talented newcomer Jennifer Wingert.It is the story of a magic-filled land at war. A mythical battle of gods and goddesses. An epic struggle that could ultimately destroy an entire civilization unless a special young woman, spirit-linked to a fox at birth, can harness the gift that runs like a wild creature trapped within her soul....
368 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1998
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345 people want to read
About the author
Mickey Zucker Reichert
89 books183 followersMickey Zucker Reichert (pseudonym for Miriam Susan Zucker Reichert) is an American fantasy fiction author of several best selling novels. Perhaps her most famous work is the epic Renshai series, which offers an intriguing perspective on traditional Norse mythology. She is also a parent and paediatrician with a soft spot for critters great and small. She has been known care for a veritable zoo of creatures, at times including mice, horses, snakes, llamas, parrots, squirrels, possums, and foxes.
Alongside her twenty-two novels, Reichert has also published one illustrated novella and fifty-plus short stories.
Alongside her twenty-two novels, Reichert has also published one illustrated novella and fifty-plus short stories.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
January 5, 2011
I bought this book over ten years ago, back when I unabashedly consumed all things fantasy. I finally picked it up this month while moving bookshelves around, after I noticed it sitting patiently on a shelf, cover still pristine, waiting to be read. This one is a challenge to review. By most objective standards, this is a pretty bad book. And yet, I couldn't help but like it, due to its specific standout elements and to a sense of nostalgia.
Kiarda is a noblewoman among the people of the rural Marchlands, who live under a strict religious code of pacifism. Unbeknownst to her and everyone around her, she was destined at birth to be spirit-linked to a fox, a rare and revered condition that bestows longer life and an inseparable animal companion. However, the circumstances of her birth cause this link to be damaged, causing the link to manifest in a new way: shapeshifting. Meanwhile, a conquering army lands in the reclusive Marchlands, intent on wiping out the spirit-linked, who they see as a dangerous and contagious profanity.
I could probably write a more cohesive synopsis, but honestly, the plot of this one ranges all over the place, and isn't all that strong. There is a story, but it grows organically out of the characters. Which can make for the best kind of story in competent hands, but I'd hesitate to call the execution here competent. The book falls prey to both the cliches of the genre and the foibles of the greenhorn author. For example, Tell Not Show is in full effect, here. I can tell the world is lovingly crafted, but its particulars are introduced with awkward dialogue that the characters wouldn't ever actually speak.
"Good weather today, huh?"
"Yes, well, due to the unique cosmology of our world and the intrinsic nature of our magic, we always have good weather."
"Oh, naturally, everyone knows that. Well, I'm off to offer prayers to Archibald."
"You mean, the god of snack cakes and high-heeled shoes, who also has red hair?"
"Yup, that's the one!"
I exaggerate, of course, but you get the idea. This is mostly in the beginning and it gets better, but it also contributes to a distinct feeling of other world details being made up on the spot and churned out for color. As a result. I couldn't quite immerse myself in the book's world as much as I wanted to.
The narrative voice is also lacking. It wasn't outright bad, but there were places that could have used some polish. For example, I counted four uses of the word "agony" in three paragraphs on one page, which is a particular pet peeve of mine. The thesaurus is our friend.
But the characters themselves are another matter altogether. In another book review, I used a comparison to roleplaying game writing in a negative light; this is a more thorough and positive example of that sort of writing. These characters are lived in. The author(s) love them, and have put a lot of thought into them. The book doesn't read like a story played out by characters, but like a long transcription of characters interacting with one another, if that makes sense. This brought me back to my own experiences with collaborative writing (usually through games like the Realm, EverQuest, etc.), where a long, carefully maintained story arc would grow out of characters colliding with each other and evolving. This is why I happily kept reading this, despite the meandering story and questionable writing; it reminded me of those kinds of stories, which I contributed to and loved despite their own flaws.
Also of particular note are the unexpected twists that Reichert and Wingert put on the two conflicting societies. The Marchlanders, for example, are bound by superstitious taboos and appalling ignorance, for all of their medieval charm. And Imperial bad guys are, in fact, wise and benevolent (especially their monotheistic religious representative, a favorite villain in most other fantasy treatments), and are operating underneath a well-intentioned misunderstanding- and yet are still willing to slaughter innocents without a moment of regret. Though these interesting concepts are not explored very deeply, they move past the level of gimmick, and did most of the heavy lifting when it came to pulling me as a reader into the world.
Unfortunately, a lot of this is undone by a rushed ending that sidesteps a lot of foreshadowed ugliness (including the unconscionable: skipping whole chunks of the climax and having it delivered as exposition in the epilogue) and gives everybody everything they want. Blech. Setting aside for the moment that it wasn't really explained how an invading commander had the authority to negotiate peace with a regional lord, the happy funtime ending didn't seem to fit very well with the moral ambiguity that suffused the rest of the book. Or with the characters' behavior in the previous chapters, for that matter.
I'm ambivalent, here. There is a lot wrong with this book, but I honestly liked it. There is no logical reason to like it, but I do. I'm reluctant to recommend it, except on the basis of its thorough characterizations and interesting take on morality. It's not a great book, but I definitely enjoyed it for what it was.
Kiarda is a noblewoman among the people of the rural Marchlands, who live under a strict religious code of pacifism. Unbeknownst to her and everyone around her, she was destined at birth to be spirit-linked to a fox, a rare and revered condition that bestows longer life and an inseparable animal companion. However, the circumstances of her birth cause this link to be damaged, causing the link to manifest in a new way: shapeshifting. Meanwhile, a conquering army lands in the reclusive Marchlands, intent on wiping out the spirit-linked, who they see as a dangerous and contagious profanity.
I could probably write a more cohesive synopsis, but honestly, the plot of this one ranges all over the place, and isn't all that strong. There is a story, but it grows organically out of the characters. Which can make for the best kind of story in competent hands, but I'd hesitate to call the execution here competent. The book falls prey to both the cliches of the genre and the foibles of the greenhorn author. For example, Tell Not Show is in full effect, here. I can tell the world is lovingly crafted, but its particulars are introduced with awkward dialogue that the characters wouldn't ever actually speak.
"Good weather today, huh?"
"Yes, well, due to the unique cosmology of our world and the intrinsic nature of our magic, we always have good weather."
"Oh, naturally, everyone knows that. Well, I'm off to offer prayers to Archibald."
"You mean, the god of snack cakes and high-heeled shoes, who also has red hair?"
"Yup, that's the one!"
I exaggerate, of course, but you get the idea. This is mostly in the beginning and it gets better, but it also contributes to a distinct feeling of other world details being made up on the spot and churned out for color. As a result. I couldn't quite immerse myself in the book's world as much as I wanted to.
The narrative voice is also lacking. It wasn't outright bad, but there were places that could have used some polish. For example, I counted four uses of the word "agony" in three paragraphs on one page, which is a particular pet peeve of mine. The thesaurus is our friend.
But the characters themselves are another matter altogether. In another book review, I used a comparison to roleplaying game writing in a negative light; this is a more thorough and positive example of that sort of writing. These characters are lived in. The author(s) love them, and have put a lot of thought into them. The book doesn't read like a story played out by characters, but like a long transcription of characters interacting with one another, if that makes sense. This brought me back to my own experiences with collaborative writing (usually through games like the Realm, EverQuest, etc.), where a long, carefully maintained story arc would grow out of characters colliding with each other and evolving. This is why I happily kept reading this, despite the meandering story and questionable writing; it reminded me of those kinds of stories, which I contributed to and loved despite their own flaws.
Also of particular note are the unexpected twists that Reichert and Wingert put on the two conflicting societies. The Marchlanders, for example, are bound by superstitious taboos and appalling ignorance, for all of their medieval charm. And Imperial bad guys are, in fact, wise and benevolent (especially their monotheistic religious representative, a favorite villain in most other fantasy treatments), and are operating underneath a well-intentioned misunderstanding- and yet are still willing to slaughter innocents without a moment of regret. Though these interesting concepts are not explored very deeply, they move past the level of gimmick, and did most of the heavy lifting when it came to pulling me as a reader into the world.
Unfortunately, a lot of this is undone by a rushed ending that sidesteps a lot of foreshadowed ugliness (including the unconscionable: skipping whole chunks of the climax and having it delivered as exposition in the epilogue) and gives everybody everything they want. Blech. Setting aside for the moment that it wasn't really explained how an invading commander had the authority to negotiate peace with a regional lord, the happy funtime ending didn't seem to fit very well with the moral ambiguity that suffused the rest of the book. Or with the characters' behavior in the previous chapters, for that matter.
I'm ambivalent, here. There is a lot wrong with this book, but I honestly liked it. There is no logical reason to like it, but I do. I'm reluctant to recommend it, except on the basis of its thorough characterizations and interesting take on morality. It's not a great book, but I definitely enjoyed it for what it was.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 2, 2015
Personally, I feel as though I've never read a book that ran so much on a massive misunderstanding as well as a society's desire to stick their head in the sand.
With the summary on goodreads as well as the prologue, I had thought that the book would be drastically different than it actually was. I wish that I could tell you that this was a book that revolved around the titled spirit fox, but I think that somewhere along the way, the authors completely forgot about that little aspect.
The story mainly revolves around four people who live in a society in which "spirit links" are highly sought after. A spirit link is when a human baby and an animal are born at about the same time, and they become linked, that is to say, if one dies, then the other will die shortly, and they can also read/understand the others thoughts. But, those who are linked will live for very long times.
The book probably wants for the readers to feel as though Kiarda is the main character, but I sort of felt as though literally everything that happened to her was much too quick to be brushed under the rug. In the prologue of the story, her mother is pregnant with her, and her parents ride off to go assist some neighboring (???) village because some child, Adan, was kicked in the head by a horse. But along the way, the mother goes in labor, and the father somehow or another, ends up finding a dead fox and her baby. He kills the fox kit, not thinking about the spirit link and his wife, in labor a few feet away, but the baby is okay, so he doesn't think anything of it.
Fast forward like... 16-some years? Kiarda is having some rather peculiar things happen to her, like she wakes up on top of the hen coop, completely naked. Also, her hair, orignally blonde, is slowly starting to change to red.
Enter Maddock. I guess that he's the son of some stable hand or something. His hobby is to sneak off into the woods to train with the exiled swordsmaster, Gaer. Gaer has been exiled based purely upon the simple fact that he is a swordsmaster. Literally nothing else, as far as I could tell. In the place where they live, all citizens are under strict orders for peace, although Gaer is quick to tell Maddock that the peace is a lot like sticking a bandage over a severed limb (see the abovementioned "sticking their heads in the sand).
Anyway, Maddock has known Kiarda his entire life, and he's also madly in love with her. But since Kiarda is the society's equivalent of a princess and she's going to run the town once her parents die, and Maddock is only the son of a stable hand, it's an ill-suited match.
Enter plot movement part one. It's the middle of winter, and Maddock goes to the forest to see if Gaer is still alive. While walking along, he comes across a woman who is face down in the snow, completely naked. It's Kiarda. Regardless of the fact that it's his childhood sweetheart and the future lady of the town, Maddock takes her back to the town, but literally everybody is very quick to exclaim that Maddock raped Kiarda.
The townspeople arrest Maddock, but he escapes by killing somebody, and runs off. Meanwhile, Kiarda discovers that she's pregnant... And since she has no evidence to the contrary, she believes that she carries Maddock's rape baby.
Enter Tynan, and his older brother, Adan. Since Kiarda is now viewed as "damaged goods" (yes, it's THAT kind of a story), Tynan, Kiarda's cousin, comes and offers to marry Kiarda. He says that he doesn't care about the babies (because the healer, Bevin, says that she's carrying twins), and would be more than happy to raise them.
This also starts off the plot with Bevin. She's a healer with some magical abilities, but I gathered that she's sort of in training. Adan likes her, Bevin likes Adan, and it's all one giant mass of miscommunication but oddly adorable. (Not the main miscommunication, however.)
Enter plot movement part two. There are a bunch of soldiers who are on a mission to destroy what the commander tells Brother Honesty is an abomination. Commander Swift explains that this abomination is something that corrodes at the souls of those around it until everybody is infected. The only real way to stop it is to kill everybody.
In the party, there are these three "hooded mages" who wield this super deadly magic. They basically go to the town where Kiarda, Tynan, Adan, Bevin, etc, all live, and they try to stop the abomination. Spoiler alert (but not really): the abomination is actually the spirit links. (See abovementioned massive misunderstanding.) However, this entire scene is told mostly from Bevin's point of view as she tries to fight off the hooded mages. They're first alerted that something is wrong when Tynan and his spirit-linked cat (whose name changes with every other chapter, which was a bit of a running joke) come into her "office" with this incredible pain.
Anyway, these mysterious mages attack everybody, Bevin is literally the only one who can hold them off... but a bunch of people die, including Kiarda's youngest sibling, who's probably a few days old at this point. The baby was spirit linked to a horse, and the horse dies, too. It's all very sad, and everybody start to blame Maddock, and says that he summoned the "dark court". (see abovementioned massive misunderstanding.)
Shortly after, Kiarda goes into labor. In a plot twist that I saw coming from the moment that Kiarda first mentioned all of the strange things that had been happening to her, her babies are these deformed fox things, but are also stillborn. Kiarda's father finally tells her about the fox kit he killed when she was born, and then Bevin tells her about the weird spirit link, which, rather than linking to another animal, links to Kiarda. She is literally her own spirit link, but at the same time, she started to transform into a fox, which was how she'd ended up naked, in the woods, with no footprints but fox prints around her. Like I said, I saw it coming from a mile away.
Kiarda is upset that she burnt all of her bridges after her "rape", so she sets out to right the wrongs. It's easy for her to forgive Bevin, but Kiarda has to go out and find Maddock. This entire thing with Kiarda's pregnancy is so quickly swept under the rug, it just makes me wonder why the book even bothered. I mean, the babies were stillborn, and they talked about it later for like... a page, but, that's that, then. Not gonna talk about it anymore.
Maddock, meanwhile, has somehow wandered into the camp of the soldiers, and, after some minor miscommunication, they accept him as one of their own. A bunch of people from town track Maddock not even minutes after he arrived at the camp, but the mages and soldiers kill all of them. Doesn't exactly make Maddock look any less guilty.
Anyway, the soldiers go and destroy this random town with some more "abominations" in it, which Bevin, Kiarda, Tynan, Adan, and Gaer go to as they're trying to track down Maddock. Please don't ask why Gaer is there, because I'm not even sure if the authors could tell you. He just randomly joins up with the four of them, and that's that.
Oh, and while they're all riding, seemingly at random, Kiarda manages to get some control over her fox form. It's a subplot that is like 99% useless to literally anything that's going on and serves no purpose other than just a general "special snowflake" effect for Kiarda (although, it's pretty much the only thing, so I can forgive it).
One night, the five of them are attacked by a small band of soldiers and at least one of the hooded mages, but Gaer kills most of them, and they capture Bother Honesty. Honesty, of course, has been brainwashed that the spirit links are abominations, and is afraid of Tynan and the cat. But eventually, GOOD CONQUERS ALL, YOU GUYS, and Honesty is shown the truth!!
Meanwhile, Kiarda is slinking around in her fox form and comes across Maddock. Like literally every subplot that has to do with her, this is over in a few seconds. Maddock is super angry that they accused him of raping her, but then confesses his undying love for her but then says that everything has changed.
The last chapter or so of the book was so completely rushed, it was super hard to follow. The five of them + "captured" Honesty ride back to the town to warn everybody of the approaching army, which seemed super forced. There was almost no warning that the army was even approaching at all, but, lol, they're right outside the town gates now!! More miscommunication, a massive heaping of burring their heads in the sand, and then there's this really dumbass battle, which never really gets resolved in the end?
But anyway, the book ends on a slightly high note. Tynan dies, for some reason or another, which leaves Kiarda free to marry Maddock without breaking Tynan's heart. Bevin and Adan are also getting married, because somewhere along the way, they confessed their undying love for one another. And Bevin manages to attach the broken spirit link of the cat to Kiarda's broken spirit link.
Everything was much too convenient, their motives and movements unclear and almost without a point, and the ending was rushed. This could have been something very interesting, but it ended up being something rather predictable and boring.
With the summary on goodreads as well as the prologue, I had thought that the book would be drastically different than it actually was. I wish that I could tell you that this was a book that revolved around the titled spirit fox, but I think that somewhere along the way, the authors completely forgot about that little aspect.
The story mainly revolves around four people who live in a society in which "spirit links" are highly sought after. A spirit link is when a human baby and an animal are born at about the same time, and they become linked, that is to say, if one dies, then the other will die shortly, and they can also read/understand the others thoughts. But, those who are linked will live for very long times.
The book probably wants for the readers to feel as though Kiarda is the main character, but I sort of felt as though literally everything that happened to her was much too quick to be brushed under the rug. In the prologue of the story, her mother is pregnant with her, and her parents ride off to go assist some neighboring (???) village because some child, Adan, was kicked in the head by a horse. But along the way, the mother goes in labor, and the father somehow or another, ends up finding a dead fox and her baby. He kills the fox kit, not thinking about the spirit link and his wife, in labor a few feet away, but the baby is okay, so he doesn't think anything of it.
Fast forward like... 16-some years? Kiarda is having some rather peculiar things happen to her, like she wakes up on top of the hen coop, completely naked. Also, her hair, orignally blonde, is slowly starting to change to red.
Enter Maddock. I guess that he's the son of some stable hand or something. His hobby is to sneak off into the woods to train with the exiled swordsmaster, Gaer. Gaer has been exiled based purely upon the simple fact that he is a swordsmaster. Literally nothing else, as far as I could tell. In the place where they live, all citizens are under strict orders for peace, although Gaer is quick to tell Maddock that the peace is a lot like sticking a bandage over a severed limb (see the abovementioned "sticking their heads in the sand).
Anyway, Maddock has known Kiarda his entire life, and he's also madly in love with her. But since Kiarda is the society's equivalent of a princess and she's going to run the town once her parents die, and Maddock is only the son of a stable hand, it's an ill-suited match.
Enter plot movement part one. It's the middle of winter, and Maddock goes to the forest to see if Gaer is still alive. While walking along, he comes across a woman who is face down in the snow, completely naked. It's Kiarda. Regardless of the fact that it's his childhood sweetheart and the future lady of the town, Maddock takes her back to the town, but literally everybody is very quick to exclaim that Maddock raped Kiarda.
The townspeople arrest Maddock, but he escapes by killing somebody, and runs off. Meanwhile, Kiarda discovers that she's pregnant... And since she has no evidence to the contrary, she believes that she carries Maddock's rape baby.
Enter Tynan, and his older brother, Adan. Since Kiarda is now viewed as "damaged goods" (yes, it's THAT kind of a story), Tynan, Kiarda's cousin, comes and offers to marry Kiarda. He says that he doesn't care about the babies (because the healer, Bevin, says that she's carrying twins), and would be more than happy to raise them.
This also starts off the plot with Bevin. She's a healer with some magical abilities, but I gathered that she's sort of in training. Adan likes her, Bevin likes Adan, and it's all one giant mass of miscommunication but oddly adorable. (Not the main miscommunication, however.)
Enter plot movement part two. There are a bunch of soldiers who are on a mission to destroy what the commander tells Brother Honesty is an abomination. Commander Swift explains that this abomination is something that corrodes at the souls of those around it until everybody is infected. The only real way to stop it is to kill everybody.
In the party, there are these three "hooded mages" who wield this super deadly magic. They basically go to the town where Kiarda, Tynan, Adan, Bevin, etc, all live, and they try to stop the abomination. Spoiler alert (but not really): the abomination is actually the spirit links. (See abovementioned massive misunderstanding.) However, this entire scene is told mostly from Bevin's point of view as she tries to fight off the hooded mages. They're first alerted that something is wrong when Tynan and his spirit-linked cat (whose name changes with every other chapter, which was a bit of a running joke) come into her "office" with this incredible pain.
Anyway, these mysterious mages attack everybody, Bevin is literally the only one who can hold them off... but a bunch of people die, including Kiarda's youngest sibling, who's probably a few days old at this point. The baby was spirit linked to a horse, and the horse dies, too. It's all very sad, and everybody start to blame Maddock, and says that he summoned the "dark court". (see abovementioned massive misunderstanding.)
Shortly after, Kiarda goes into labor. In a plot twist that I saw coming from the moment that Kiarda first mentioned all of the strange things that had been happening to her, her babies are these deformed fox things, but are also stillborn. Kiarda's father finally tells her about the fox kit he killed when she was born, and then Bevin tells her about the weird spirit link, which, rather than linking to another animal, links to Kiarda. She is literally her own spirit link, but at the same time, she started to transform into a fox, which was how she'd ended up naked, in the woods, with no footprints but fox prints around her. Like I said, I saw it coming from a mile away.
Kiarda is upset that she burnt all of her bridges after her "rape", so she sets out to right the wrongs. It's easy for her to forgive Bevin, but Kiarda has to go out and find Maddock. This entire thing with Kiarda's pregnancy is so quickly swept under the rug, it just makes me wonder why the book even bothered. I mean, the babies were stillborn, and they talked about it later for like... a page, but, that's that, then. Not gonna talk about it anymore.
Maddock, meanwhile, has somehow wandered into the camp of the soldiers, and, after some minor miscommunication, they accept him as one of their own. A bunch of people from town track Maddock not even minutes after he arrived at the camp, but the mages and soldiers kill all of them. Doesn't exactly make Maddock look any less guilty.
Anyway, the soldiers go and destroy this random town with some more "abominations" in it, which Bevin, Kiarda, Tynan, Adan, and Gaer go to as they're trying to track down Maddock. Please don't ask why Gaer is there, because I'm not even sure if the authors could tell you. He just randomly joins up with the four of them, and that's that.
Oh, and while they're all riding, seemingly at random, Kiarda manages to get some control over her fox form. It's a subplot that is like 99% useless to literally anything that's going on and serves no purpose other than just a general "special snowflake" effect for Kiarda (although, it's pretty much the only thing, so I can forgive it).
One night, the five of them are attacked by a small band of soldiers and at least one of the hooded mages, but Gaer kills most of them, and they capture Bother Honesty. Honesty, of course, has been brainwashed that the spirit links are abominations, and is afraid of Tynan and the cat. But eventually, GOOD CONQUERS ALL, YOU GUYS, and Honesty is shown the truth!!
Meanwhile, Kiarda is slinking around in her fox form and comes across Maddock. Like literally every subplot that has to do with her, this is over in a few seconds. Maddock is super angry that they accused him of raping her, but then confesses his undying love for her but then says that everything has changed.
The last chapter or so of the book was so completely rushed, it was super hard to follow. The five of them + "captured" Honesty ride back to the town to warn everybody of the approaching army, which seemed super forced. There was almost no warning that the army was even approaching at all, but, lol, they're right outside the town gates now!! More miscommunication, a massive heaping of burring their heads in the sand, and then there's this really dumbass battle, which never really gets resolved in the end?
But anyway, the book ends on a slightly high note. Tynan dies, for some reason or another, which leaves Kiarda free to marry Maddock without breaking Tynan's heart. Bevin and Adan are also getting married, because somewhere along the way, they confessed their undying love for one another. And Bevin manages to attach the broken spirit link of the cat to Kiarda's broken spirit link.
Everything was much too convenient, their motives and movements unclear and almost without a point, and the ending was rushed. This could have been something very interesting, but it ended up being something rather predictable and boring.
July 15, 2013
I love this book, and it's one of my favourites.
But it also reminds me of something pretty embarrassing:
I first read it when I was about 13 (ie: puberty), and, as it happened, I started getting a patch of red hair in my bangs, much redder than the rest of my hair. So, of course, I jumped to the only logical conclusion: OH MAH GAWD I"M TURNING INTO A FOX!!!!!1
But it also reminds me of something pretty embarrassing:
I first read it when I was about 13 (ie: puberty), and, as it happened, I started getting a patch of red hair in my bangs, much redder than the rest of my hair. So, of course, I jumped to the only logical conclusion: OH MAH GAWD I"M TURNING INTO A FOX!!!!!1
June 11, 2017
I loved the story in this book. The cat that kept changing his name was one o my favorite characters. I enjoyed how it played out the ending seemed a bit rushed though. The writing seemed simple but I still loved the book for the story itself.
August 19, 2020
There is a lot of telling and not enough showing of the lore and culture in this book which detracts from the world depth that they could have shown and breaks immersion a little bit. These characters are obviously loved by the authors and it shows in their interactions with each other. I rather liked reading the dialogues, and the relationships felt natural and not forced. The plot twists are pretty obvious but as a reader, I kind of enjoyed knowing the outcome before the characters did and delighted in reading their reactions. The ending is a little too convenient happily ever after, but overall, this was a fun little fantasy read.
May 22, 2013
This is the first fantasy book I ever read in high school. It drew me in and kept me captivated with its interesting story and lovable characters. I love the concept of sharing a soul with an animal. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone.
March 15, 2021
This was a middling book for me. There were aspects I really loved about it, but also aspects I really didn't. I didn't find Kiarda and her story particularly compelling, but some of the secondary characters and story lines were great. I loved Cat-Who-Constantly-Changes-His-Name. 2.5/5
May 26, 2012
Light reading. I liked most of the story, but it suddenly wrapped up in a nice, clean, everyone-is-happy ending.
January 11, 2020
I'm kinda mad that I finished this book.
There were some interesting things that kept me reading when I normally would have put it down, but I shouldn't have, because it all came to nothing. There's a girl who transforms into a fox. Awesome, right? She trains to control her power like this was a plot point that was going to be relevant somehow, but actually no. You'll have to forgive me for thinking the thing the book was titled after was going to be important in some way.
There's a cool interplay between magic and religion, and that's kinda carried through but only very minimally and the final revelations are things you know from the very beginning. There's nifty notions of an intricate magic system, but towards the end it's all kinda hand-waved and you never get anything deeper (There are five types of constructive magic and a sixth destructive magic. What are the five types? We'll never know, because it's never mentioned). There's a neat character who's very good at this magic, but you never know why or how, she just is.
All of the conflicts are born of misunderstandings. This can be a fun plot device if done correctly, but here it was done incorrectly. All of the misunderstandings are heavily contrived and could be cleared up if the right people just said anything. Early on, they have a character condemned to death for something he didn't do, and he said he didn't do it, and there are magical people who can tell when someone is telling the truth, and they say he's telling the truth about not committing the crime, and then they go ahead and condemn him to death and pretend like the magic truth-knowing people never said anything at all. Like, it's never mentioned again. I had to go back and re-read that part to make sure I wasn't crazy.
So... he's telling the truth, and they confirm that he's telling the truth, but because he was lying about something else and they do not investigate further, he's still getting condemned to death, and everyone goes on talking as if he was guilty until they put together that it wasn't him much, much later, and it drove me insane. I had to convince myself that the authors just straight-up forgot about the magical truth-knowers, because everyone else in the book certainly did.
Furthermore, there's just a lot of melodrama. Most of the characters are young adults or teens, and whining and moaning and pining and heartache and agony are all ramped up to 11 in a way that I doubt even people who like that kind of thing would enjoy.
Further furthermore, for all the time spend pining and aching, the plot just wraps up. The final conflict ramps up incredibly fast and resolves just as quickly. All loose ends dealt with; a love triangle isn't a problem when one of the members conveniently dies at the end.
Also this book is just a long dumb argument against gun control. People made a lasting peace and outlawed gu- I mean swords, and then other people with swords came in and OH NO! The only people who can stop the bad sword people are good people with swords! "The simple presence of a competent soldier in their midst seemed to quell their many fears about violence." Spoken like someone who open-caries to the grocery store and feels like a Brave Protector. Barf barf barf barf barf.
There were some interesting things that kept me reading when I normally would have put it down, but I shouldn't have, because it all came to nothing. There's a girl who transforms into a fox. Awesome, right? She trains to control her power like this was a plot point that was going to be relevant somehow, but actually no. You'll have to forgive me for thinking the thing the book was titled after was going to be important in some way.
There's a cool interplay between magic and religion, and that's kinda carried through but only very minimally and the final revelations are things you know from the very beginning. There's nifty notions of an intricate magic system, but towards the end it's all kinda hand-waved and you never get anything deeper (There are five types of constructive magic and a sixth destructive magic. What are the five types? We'll never know, because it's never mentioned). There's a neat character who's very good at this magic, but you never know why or how, she just is.
All of the conflicts are born of misunderstandings. This can be a fun plot device if done correctly, but here it was done incorrectly. All of the misunderstandings are heavily contrived and could be cleared up if the right people just said anything. Early on, they have a character condemned to death for something he didn't do, and he said he didn't do it, and there are magical people who can tell when someone is telling the truth, and they say he's telling the truth about not committing the crime, and then they go ahead and condemn him to death and pretend like the magic truth-knowing people never said anything at all. Like, it's never mentioned again. I had to go back and re-read that part to make sure I wasn't crazy.
So... he's telling the truth, and they confirm that he's telling the truth, but because he was lying about something else and they do not investigate further, he's still getting condemned to death, and everyone goes on talking as if he was guilty until they put together that it wasn't him much, much later, and it drove me insane. I had to convince myself that the authors just straight-up forgot about the magical truth-knowers, because everyone else in the book certainly did.
Furthermore, there's just a lot of melodrama. Most of the characters are young adults or teens, and whining and moaning and pining and heartache and agony are all ramped up to 11 in a way that I doubt even people who like that kind of thing would enjoy.
Further furthermore, for all the time spend pining and aching, the plot just wraps up. The final conflict ramps up incredibly fast and resolves just as quickly. All loose ends dealt with; a love triangle isn't a problem when one of the members conveniently dies at the end.
Also this book is just a long dumb argument against gun control. People made a lasting peace and outlawed gu- I mean swords, and then other people with swords came in and OH NO! The only people who can stop the bad sword people are good people with swords! "The simple presence of a competent soldier in their midst seemed to quell their many fears about violence." Spoken like someone who open-caries to the grocery store and feels like a Brave Protector. Barf barf barf barf barf.
November 14, 2020
Spirit Fox has a unique premise (albeit one that’s thrown by the wayside a little), a slow start, and a fast-paced finish.
My time spent in the Marchlands felt completely wrought with sadness. Tragedy upon unnecessary tragedy unfolded in every chapter, usually caused by misunderstandings, half-truths, or unhappy silences. I was so frustrated by the fact that almost none of the painful losses and heartbreaks were inevitable. A large portion of the book also concerned the merit and destruction of the souls of animals; tying their innocence into the sorrowing hit harder each time.
Just don’t keep secrets. People are innocent until proven guilty. And how about maybe don’t be blinded by religious fervour that leads to genocide without any shred of evidence to support your moronic superiority complex?
Spirit Fox is unlike many other fantasy novels I’ve read in pacing, plotting, and premise (much less about foxes than you might expect), and although it was so frustrating to be bombarded with constant needless sadness, I also did ultimately care about these characters and got swept up in the story enough to not want to put it down at the end.
The characters are where Spirit Fox really shines. Everyone absolutely has their own unique motives, appearance, secrets, etc., and while I didn’t ever empathise with the “villains,” I did like that they believed they were acting under a good cause, as most do. The best character is obviously Furry Purry/Cat-Of-The-Lightning-Swift-Paws, etc.
I think this is a 4/5 for me because it did evoke emotion.
My time spent in the Marchlands felt completely wrought with sadness. Tragedy upon unnecessary tragedy unfolded in every chapter, usually caused by misunderstandings, half-truths, or unhappy silences. I was so frustrated by the fact that almost none of the painful losses and heartbreaks were inevitable. A large portion of the book also concerned the merit and destruction of the souls of animals; tying their innocence into the sorrowing hit harder each time.
Just don’t keep secrets. People are innocent until proven guilty. And how about maybe don’t be blinded by religious fervour that leads to genocide without any shred of evidence to support your moronic superiority complex?
Spirit Fox is unlike many other fantasy novels I’ve read in pacing, plotting, and premise (much less about foxes than you might expect), and although it was so frustrating to be bombarded with constant needless sadness, I also did ultimately care about these characters and got swept up in the story enough to not want to put it down at the end.
The characters are where Spirit Fox really shines. Everyone absolutely has their own unique motives, appearance, secrets, etc., and while I didn’t ever empathise with the “villains,” I did like that they believed they were acting under a good cause, as most do. The best character is obviously Furry Purry/Cat-Of-The-Lightning-Swift-Paws, etc.
I think this is a 4/5 for me because it did evoke emotion.
January 4, 2021
I was so close to giving this book 5 stars! I want to start with saying I really enjoyed this book, and wish that there was a sequel for me to read. The authors created a new way of imagining magic, and as an animal lover the idea of spirit links really appealed to me. I especially enjoyed the interactions between Tynan and his spirit linked cat. It was also really nice how chapters swapped between different character's viewpoints. Not only did this allow for greater investment in the character whose viewpoint you were reading, but it also gave me a greater understanding of the world this story takes place in. The reason I held off on giving 5 stars is because although the title character Kiarda is central to some of the main story line, her story with the fox spirit link wasn't explored until quite late in book, and not in very much depth. The ending also seemed quite rushed and I would have enjoyed more resolution with the characters and their relationships.
August 16, 2024
A slow start that, oddly, focusses on other characters far more than the main character Kiarda. Sadly, this leaves the reader less connected to her when she becomes more important in the second half (albeit still seeming like a side character in her own story?).
The second half of the book feels like it has so much to do, and that feeling continues as you draw closer and closer to the end. I half expected that maybe this book had a sequel that Goodreads didn’t display, but no, in a very whiplashy way the book manages to tie things up right near the end, giving it a very rushed feeling.
The world building is nice, as are some of the characters and their motivations. Some plot points were raised and never addressed (), whilst some were brought up often yet resolved in a moment as soon as the book addressed it ().
The second half of the book feels like it has so much to do, and that feeling continues as you draw closer and closer to the end. I half expected that maybe this book had a sequel that Goodreads didn’t display, but no, in a very whiplashy way the book manages to tie things up right near the end, giving it a very rushed feeling.
The world building is nice, as are some of the characters and their motivations. Some plot points were raised and never addressed (), whilst some were brought up often yet resolved in a moment as soon as the book addressed it ().
November 23, 2024
Fantasy and mysticism.
Through an extensive plot of characters that interact, collide and transform, a story emerges from a narrative arc that is long enough and meticulously crafted to, in the right hands, have given rise to a great saga.
The imagined world, full of medieval beliefs and charm, is lovingly and meticulously designed, with elaborate interactions between characters. But it lacks action, which ends up breaking the immersion.
Although the villains are wise and benevolent (but willing to slaughter innocents), the authors leave this interesting concept unexploited.
Ruined by a rushed ending, it leaves many issues unresolved and doesn't fit well with the moral ambiguity of the characters.
It's not an exceptional book, and there is no logical reason for me to like it, but I did.
Through an extensive plot of characters that interact, collide and transform, a story emerges from a narrative arc that is long enough and meticulously crafted to, in the right hands, have given rise to a great saga.
The imagined world, full of medieval beliefs and charm, is lovingly and meticulously designed, with elaborate interactions between characters. But it lacks action, which ends up breaking the immersion.
Although the villains are wise and benevolent (but willing to slaughter innocents), the authors leave this interesting concept unexploited.
Ruined by a rushed ending, it leaves many issues unresolved and doesn't fit well with the moral ambiguity of the characters.
It's not an exceptional book, and there is no logical reason for me to like it, but I did.
November 14, 2019
I had a good time with this book. Plenty of action, adventure, mystery, and some genuine chuckles.
Kitsune Sura is an incorrigible but loveable--not to mention highly talented--spirit fox. She is definitely the star here, not to mention the comic relief! Her daily antics are balanced out (and barely tolerated) by the ineffably proud Asodo Kuno, an Imperial samurai and master swordsman. She also travels with her friend Tonbo, a sworn protector of the Kitsune clan; and Nezumi Chiri, a shy, soft-spoken spirit rat with a talent for calling forth elemental friends from the lands around her.
Kitsune Sura is an incorrigible but loveable--not to mention highly talented--spirit fox. She is definitely the star here, not to mention the comic relief! Her daily antics are balanced out (and barely tolerated) by the ineffably proud Asodo Kuno, an Imperial samurai and master swordsman. She also travels with her friend Tonbo, a sworn protector of the Kitsune clan; and Nezumi Chiri, a shy, soft-spoken spirit rat with a talent for calling forth elemental friends from the lands around her.
January 10, 2025
DNF at 33%
I thought the premise of the spirit link was interesting (albeit a little similar to the hunter story by Michelle West).
But the story kept expanding and going round in circles. Got bored and stopped. Thank God for other reviews that summarised the whole plot.
I thought the premise of the spirit link was interesting (albeit a little similar to the hunter story by Michelle West).
But the story kept expanding and going round in circles. Got bored and stopped. Thank God for other reviews that summarised the whole plot.
August 27, 2023
Pretty unrelentingly sad, and an absolute example of, "If the characters would just TALK TO EACH OTHER the story would be over," so I didn't really enjoy it.
January 22, 2015
This review has been crossposted from my blog at The Cosy Dragon . Please head there for more in-depth reviews by me, which appear on a timely schedule.
At the moment of Kiandra's birth, her father kills a fox cub. Little does he know that he is going to pave the way for disaster, and inadvertently rescue his own people at the same time.
Despite liking the way this was written and connecting with the characters, I thought the storyline itself was uninspiring.
The ending that Bevin orchestrates - it's just too simple. It doesn't give me any idea of the state of the rest of things - are they going to accept the Priest of Light? Carry on with their own violent priesthood?
It wasn't clear to me what role Kiandra actually played. She seemed to lead the invaders, but that was it. I expected more! Not to mention her children. What was even the point of including them in the text?
Class hangups are always difficult. I wonder whether if I was Indian, I would understand them better. It seems annoying to me that you can't marry who you love. If they hadn't had that problem, there wouldn't have been any issues at all!
I didn't understand why the spirit link with Tynan stayed intact. Bevin should have been shielding everyone, right? And then after that episode, things just went back to normal - the loss of a human child seemed to mean nothing.
Well, I read it. I was expecting more brilliance from an author that I like so much, but I didn't get it. I probably won't reread this one - the characters were ok, but the storyline just didn't do it for me.
At the moment of Kiandra's birth, her father kills a fox cub. Little does he know that he is going to pave the way for disaster, and inadvertently rescue his own people at the same time.
Despite liking the way this was written and connecting with the characters, I thought the storyline itself was uninspiring.
The ending that Bevin orchestrates - it's just too simple. It doesn't give me any idea of the state of the rest of things - are they going to accept the Priest of Light? Carry on with their own violent priesthood?
It wasn't clear to me what role Kiandra actually played. She seemed to lead the invaders, but that was it. I expected more! Not to mention her children. What was even the point of including them in the text?
Class hangups are always difficult. I wonder whether if I was Indian, I would understand them better. It seems annoying to me that you can't marry who you love. If they hadn't had that problem, there wouldn't have been any issues at all!
I didn't understand why the spirit link with Tynan stayed intact. Bevin should have been shielding everyone, right? And then after that episode, things just went back to normal - the loss of a human child seemed to mean nothing.
Well, I read it. I was expecting more brilliance from an author that I like so much, but I didn't get it. I probably won't reread this one - the characters were ok, but the storyline just didn't do it for me.
December 9, 2023
The people of the River and the Marchlands have small healing magics and a gift where some people are linked at birth with an animal born at the same time. Their lands are at peace, and war and knowledge of warfare is outlawed.
Kiarda is the daughter of two nobles. Her spirit-link, a fox, was killed at her birth so that the fox's spirit entered her body. Nobody knows! Other major characters are Adan, oldest of the five sons at Sarn Moor; Bevin, a healer and powerful mage, who becomes Adan's beloved wife; Maddock, the son of the blacksmith, who practices warfare in secret and has always loved Kiarna in secret (as she in secret loved him); Tassi, Adan's younger brother, who is linked with the fabulous cat who changes his name all the time.
Tassi gets betrothed to Kiarna and really cares for her but neither are seriously in love. A foreign army invades. Nothing terribly awful happens and lots of great linkages (I gusessed about Claw being Gaer's beloved!). Great stuff. Would read again.
Kiarda is the daughter of two nobles. Her spirit-link, a fox, was killed at her birth so that the fox's spirit entered her body. Nobody knows! Other major characters are Adan, oldest of the five sons at Sarn Moor; Bevin, a healer and powerful mage, who becomes Adan's beloved wife; Maddock, the son of the blacksmith, who practices warfare in secret and has always loved Kiarna in secret (as she in secret loved him); Tassi, Adan's younger brother, who is linked with the fabulous cat who changes his name all the time.
Tassi gets betrothed to Kiarna and really cares for her but neither are seriously in love. A foreign army invades. Nothing terribly awful happens and lots of great linkages (I gusessed about Claw being Gaer's beloved!). Great stuff. Would read again.
Read
October 22, 2011The best character in this book was the cat who often changes his name, sometimes called Furry Purry, sometimes Cat Who Bites Priests. I'd have to read it again to report some more funny names, but he was totally adorable.
The foundation of magic is strong and reliable. The culture is absolutely amazing. Even the bad guys' agenda is totally believable. The characters are interesting, especially the eldest brother and his romantic interest. No spoilers!
The only thing that was a let down was the climax. It was a bit... is that it?
The foundation of magic is strong and reliable. The culture is absolutely amazing. Even the bad guys' agenda is totally believable. The characters are interesting, especially the eldest brother and his romantic interest. No spoilers!
The only thing that was a let down was the climax. It was a bit... is that it?
September 7, 2015
An amusing read, but not up to the standards of Mickey Zucker Reichert that I am used to. It seemed more like a love story set in a world of magic and war than a fantasy novel.
The first half of the book is rather slow, for example it takes too long before the Spirit Fox is actually recognized and explained. Contrary to the end: this is extremely rushed and left me with a lot of questions.
Still, I did enjoy reading it. There are plenty of interesting things happening and the characters are realistic in their beliefs and actions.
The first half of the book is rather slow, for example it takes too long before the Spirit Fox is actually recognized and explained. Contrary to the end: this is extremely rushed and left me with a lot of questions.
Still, I did enjoy reading it. There are plenty of interesting things happening and the characters are realistic in their beliefs and actions.
February 26, 2019
READ 4/12/1999
re-read Dec6, 2000
This was such a good book! Reichert doesn't usually write except in series, nor does she usually write with a partner, but IMHO this is her best book, and the Nightfall books are a hard act to beat!
I would have LIKED more story, but it would have probably detracted from the existing story, so I guess we'll have to accept that there will probably be no more of this story/world.
re-read 6-14-2015
re-read Dec6, 2000
This was such a good book! Reichert doesn't usually write except in series, nor does she usually write with a partner, but IMHO this is her best book, and the Nightfall books are a hard act to beat!
I would have LIKED more story, but it would have probably detracted from the existing story, so I guess we'll have to accept that there will probably be no more of this story/world.
re-read 6-14-2015
January 3, 2017
Picked this up completely at random from the fantasy section of my bookstore and didn't regret it. It recreates some typical cultural divides in a fantasy light. The story is a bit all over the place, but the characters are well-imagined and hold it all together. The way some of the loose ends were tied together felt messy, but overall I enjoyed it.
March 29, 2012
I wish I could give this book a higher rating. I really loved it to the end. IT was a fun read, I really liked the characters. They were all there own person. But the end was so rushed and not very believable to me.
June 13, 2009
The themes of miscommunication and defining the 'other' added to this fantasy/romance.
January 16, 2010
I loved this book - I read it first when I was about 14 and adored it so much that I went out, six years later, to find the exact edition I checked out of the library all those years ago.
November 15, 2015
I really like the one book Jennifer Wingert wrote, and I liked this earlier one she co-wrote. But I wish she would write another one.
May 16, 2012
I read this book in middle school, and have never forgotten it. I loved the story, characters, and plot. I will admit, the ending was rushed.
June 12, 2012
I've read this book at least twenty times. Its a great fantasy!!
July 4, 2012
I should admit I took one star away for killing off my favorite character. Otherwise the story was quite good, even if everything seemed to work out a little too perfectly at the end.
December 22, 2013
It was amazing. It was well written and the Storyline was beautiful. I couldn't put this book down!
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