Six of Swords

Irissa and Kendric #1

by Carole Nelson Douglas

Irissa was the last of the sorcerous Torlocs, untutored in magic and abandoned upon this decaying world by her people. Kendric was one of the Six of Swords, gifted with a legendary weapon to guard the Realms from harm. But now he was an outcast, and his death was sought with reason by the other Five. Sorceress and swordsman, they were thrown together; each filled with ancient prejudices against the other. But only by combining her uncertain powers with his remaining skills could they survive. Survive they must, however. Rule was a world formed upon magic - but now magic was failing and there would soon be no place for it. And destiny in strange guise had chosen them to make one last stand against the dark forces that were waiting at the Gate of Valna, seeking to destroy their world

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Science Fiction, High Fantasy, Speculative Fiction, Novels

276 pages, Paperback

First published June 12, 1982

About the author

Carole Nelson Douglas is the author of sixty-four award-winning novels in contemporary and historical mystery/suspense and romance, high and urban fantasy and science fiction genres. She is best known for two popular mystery series, the Irene Adler Sherlockian historical suspense series (she was the first woman to spin-off a series from the Holmes stories) and the multi-award-winning alphabetically titled Midnight Louie contemporary mystery series. From Cat in an Alphabet Soup #1 to Cat in an Alphabet Endgame #28.
Delilah Street, PI (Paranormal Investigator), headlines Carole's noir Urban Fantasy series: Dancing With Werewolves, Brimstone Kiss, Vampire Sunrise, Silver Zombie, and Virtual Virgin. Now Delilah has moved from her paranormal Vegas to Midnight Louie, feline PI's "Slightly surreal" Vegas to solve crimes in the first book of the new Cafe Noir series, Absinthe Without Leave. Next in 2020, Brandi Alexander on the Rocks.

Once Upon a Midnight Noir is out in eBook and trade paperback versions. This author-designed and illustrated collection of three mystery stories with a paranormal twist and a touch of romance features two award-winning stories featuring Midnight Louie, feline PI and Delilah Street, Paranormal Investigator in a supernatural-run Las Vegas. A third story completes the last unfinished story fragment of Edgar Allan Poe, as a Midnight Louie Past Life adventure set in 1790 Norland on a isolated island lighthouse. Louie is a soldier of fortune, a la Puss in Boots.

Next out are Midnight Louie's Cat in an Alphabet Endgame in hardcover, trade paperback and eBook Aug. 23, 2016.

All the Irene Adler novels, the first to feature a woman from the Sherlock Holmes Canon as a crime solver, are now available in eBook.

Carole was a college theater and English literature major. She was accepted for grad school in Theater at the University of Minnesota and Northwestern University, and could have worked as an editorial assistant at Vogue magazine (a la The Devil Wears Prada) but wanted a job closer to home. She worked as a newspaper reporter and then editor in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. During her time there, she discovered a long, expensive classified advertisement offering a black cat named Midnight Louey to the "right" home for one dollar and wrote a feature story on the plucky survival artist, putting it into the cat's point of view. The cat found a country home, but its name was revived for her feline PI mystery series many years later. Some of the Midnight Louie series entries include the dedication "For the real and original Midnight Louie. Nine lives were not enough." Midnight Louie has now had 32 novelistic lives and features in several short stories as well.

Hollywood and Broadway director, playwright, screenwriter and novelist Garson Kanin took Carole's first novel to his publisher on the basis of an interview/article she'd done with him five years earlier. "My friend Phil Silvers," he wrote, "would say he'd never won an interview yet, but he had never had the luck of you."

Carole is a "literary chameleon" who's had novels published in many genres, and often mixes such genre elements as mystery and suspense, fantasy and science fiction, romance with mainstream issues, especially the roles of women.

Reviews

[Kivrin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite fantasy books. First read it as a teenager, and many times since then. Maybe I'll do an in-depth review the next time I read it.

[Dawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I so enjoyed this book 30 years ago! Having lost it over the years, I'm planning on buying a new copy of it, and its companions, to introduce my children to this particular world. Lots of excitement and adventure, but also, if I remember correctly, a great deal of growing up, learning to get along with others different from oneself, and learning to play to your strengths and bolster your companions along the way. A very good book, worth buying all over again!

[Donna Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book when I was in middle school. I loved it then, and after rereading it, I still love it. I love the story and I love the fact that the characters go through struggles with themselves, just as you or I would if we were in their situations. This is a good read and if you like the fantasy genre, I highly recommend this book.

[Gingaeru · Rating 1 out of 5]

I enjoyed "Probe," the author's 1985 modern-day science fiction novel, solely for its excellent similes and metaphors (the characters and story were... not great). I was hesitant to read this medieval fantasy, knowing she would've been limited to metaphors pertaining to things actually existing within the setting. The result was worse than I'd feared; not only are they very weak, but they're overused to the extreme in this, her third novel (e.g., "... a tension as potent as a panther straining on its leash." or, "... the sun was a burning hole of gold, a coin cursed by an ignoble purpose, blistering always like a conscience."). That's far from the book's only issue, however. I honestly can't believe it was published as is.

A more accurate title would've been "Moonweasels." In just 276 pages, the fictional creatures are mentioned by name 108 times (often in unnecessary similes). While the titular "Six of Swords," appearing only three or four times in the narrative, refers to the six "Wrathmen," knights bound by some oath or other, whose sole qualification appears to be a stature ideal for wielding their five-foot-long greatswords. I don't think even the author knew what their duties entailed; at one point, she practically admits to as much (p. 269). This novel is a mess.

We follow Irissa, a sheltered, untutored Torloc sorceress with power in her silver eyes. (If she were to make eye contact with her reflection, it would evidently sap away her magic.) She'd been killing time by staring into a dark, reflectionless pool in her people's forest when she decides (for no particular reason) to venture in the exact direction of one of the six Wrathmen, Kendric, who just happens to lie wounded after an unexplained scuffle with another of his order. She initially mistakes him for Thrangar, the only Torloc Wrathman, and all he has to say is, "My sword" and "Sword!" Up until this point, she'd never bothered to use her gift, but she does so now in fetching his heavy greatsword and healing his lance wound. Later that day, her entire race suddenly vanishes, her matriarch offering no explanation or comfort of any kind before disappearing in a puff of smoke. Leaving the directionless Irissa as the only remaining Torloc.

Kendric inexplicably escorts the unwilling girl to the capital, Rule. En route, they encounter another "Wrathman," also eager to do battle with Kendric (for some reason). Upon arriving at Rule, Irissa is declared an enemy of the government by the megalomaniacal guy in charge, and Kendric, refusing to kill her as ordered, breaks his oath. The duo travels aimlessly (along with Felabba, the ancient talking cat from Irissa's homeland) for the remainder of the novel, unrealistically running into two more of the six scattered Wrathmen (and a host of other unlikely-to-be-met characters). I don't know how to describe their relationship, but it's awkward at best. It's revealed that a Torloc woman can grant a wizard power by losing her virginity to him, which is just plain gross. Rather than give a certain powerful wizard the satisfaction, however, Irissa chooses to lose hers to Kendric simply because he's the only other guy around at the time. They copulate again before the end, but Kendric still calls Irissa "Torloc," and whenever she comes close to falling from great heights, he grabs her by her hair instead of, I don't know, an arm... Yeah, it's weird.

Characters make questionable decisions, like leaving behind a large pile of valuable "coldstones" (Irissa's solid tears, which count as currency).

Sometimes characters will be unreasonably oblivious. On p. 192, they're preparing to escape a cave on the back of a winged creature, and Kendric asks Irissa to find a bridle. She does so on p. 193, but then (on the same page) she asks, "But with what do you control it?" She'd literally just handed him the very bridle with which to control the beast... Back on p. 192, Kendric had glanced up at the sky through the opening above after saying, "... perhaps our way out of Geronfrey's crumbling chimney," and "Irissa followed his look up..." But on p. 194, she asks, "But how will we escape the cave?" Seriously, just how dense can you be?!

Late in the story, Irissa's magic sword goes haywire, and Kendric is about to sever it from the cord at her waist. But she protests, having absolutely no faith in a skilled swordsman's ability to cut a simple thread without maiming her in the process; it's actually quite funny: "... you can hardly see it in this light; it hangs by my side like a Siamese twin. You will cut me in twain if you strike... You will have off my arm and half my side... No one could do it. Why should you try it? Oh, I may live from such a blow, but would I want to?" (p. 255). Also, Irissa, a fantasy character, apparently knows of the existence of Thailand (Siam)...

Towards the end, for whatever reason, the entire map is suddenly swallowed up by the ocean, leaving nothing but the preexisting marshlands, which doesn't make a lick of sense if you think about it... [cough] mountaintops [cough]. And the characters just impassively fly over the fading landscape...

My rating is further brought down by the abstract, nebulous prose of action scenes (specifically those involving magic). Despite all the undefined fantasy vocabulary tossed around from the first page on, I could follow events relatively fine until a certain confrontation in Chapter Thirteen, wherein I had no notion as to what transpired. But it only got worse. From the end of Chapter Twenty-eight to the very end of the novel, the narrative was as unbelievably vague as Poul Anderson at his worst. A reader shouldn't be completely in the dark for 75 pages straight. I just wanted it to be over. I'll regrettably have to pass on the sequel that was patiently awaiting its turn on my shelf. (There's no way I'm reading books three to five.) I'm not sure if "Probe" was just a fluke or what, but I think I've given the author enough of a chance at this point.
...

Continuity:
As of p. 70, Kendric had abandoned his armor. Yet, impossibly, on p. 107, he hands Irissa the helmet he should no longer possess...
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On p. 198, the party note, "Another rider... most likely, Geronfrey." But in all the mess to follow, this isn't explained. They eventually come across a winged bearing-beast later on, but there's no connection made between it and the sighting at the end of Chapter Twenty-eight. Perhaps I missed something, as it was a very murky portion of the story.
...

Repetition:
As in "Counterprobe," the author seemingly forgot she'd already used various phrasings and descriptions... so she repeats them. As a result, the reader is struck by some serious déjà vu at times:

Here's an excerpt from page 43: "His foot sent the diamond-shaped formation of mountainous purple rolling like a child's toy. The mock island of Clymarind skated across the cerulean surface that represented the Abyssal Sea and crashed on the coastal topography..."
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And this is from page 58: "... the blue that represented the Abyssal Sea... Ronfrenc gave the representation of Clymarind a shove with his silk-clad foot. The bit of wheeled topography skidded across the tiles like a toy a child had tired of; it rolled destructively..."
______________________________

The phrase "great silly children" is used at least three times (pp. 175, 181, 185). Whether this is intentional or not, it annoys me.
______________________________

"Something round and white... waved a disreputable posterior plume like a battle flag gone tattered..." (p. 185)
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"... a ragged cat, perched on its forward lip, her tail streaming like a particularly disreputable pennant." (p. 269)
______________________________

Felabba asks the same question two pages in a row:
"Not gone? And why not, perchance? I cannot believe you lacked for opportunity." (p. 257)
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"Oh, why did you not go? You cannot claim lack of opportunity." (p. 258, the very next page...)
______________________________

I'm not 100% sure, but I could almost swear she'd already used something similar to "... as viciously glittering as Mauvedona's star-axes." (p. 195)
...

Vocabulary:
I hate the verb "loom"; it's overly dramatic. But I hate it all the more as it seems every single author who uses it misunderstands its meaning. And they tend to use it frequently. They're like some misled hive mind; it's nuts. Carole Nelson Douglas (mis)used "loom" (verb) 23 times in this novel! She also used the homonym (noun) at least five times, which normally wouldn't bother me, but I sensed an association in the author's mind (both words nearly appear in the same paragraph, etc.).
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Also like many authors, she uses "gleam," "glisten," "glimmer," "glitter," and all the other shiny g-words far more than is welcome. And whenever one appears, you can be sure the others will follow, like a pattern. Rarer words that are overused include, but are not limited to, "quaff," "undulate," "ophidian," "crevasse," and "cacophony."
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Uses of "loom" (verb): 23! (+5 "loom" (noun))
Uses of "here and there": 2 (+1 "here or there", +1 "here, there")
Uses of "to and fro": 2
Uses of "ponderous": 9
Uses of "like so many/much...": 3+
Characters say/do something "needlessly": once
Characters "whirl": 15 times
Characters "shrug": 15 times
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"She kept her veiled eyes carefully on the mossy weepwater trunk that loomed over her like a wall." (p. 6)
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"... propping himself on his sword, until he loomed over her as surely as had the weepwater tree." (p. 7!)
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"[data corrupted]" (p. ??)
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"[data corrupted]" (p. ??)
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"A constellation of three loomed larger in the windy dark..." (p. 68)
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"Now the rest of the form loomed up." (Also p. 68!)
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"He uncoiled until his dark-thatched head loomed above the settle back like a sullen hillock." (p. 72)
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"... drawing up a stool and sitting at right angles to Kendric and the looming settle." (Also p. 72!)
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"'Here, now,' Kendric admonished, dismounting to loom over the ragged personage like a pine tree over a particularly unworthy mound of moss." (p. 75)
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"One moment they were barred about by dark pine trunks, and the next all that loomed before them were pulsing scarlet walls..." (p. 81)
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"... above in the faceless sky that loomed moonless and sunless over them." (p. 132)
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"... until a great, trembling, amorphous mass loomed shoulder-high from the cavern floor." (p. 191)
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"Irissa turned back with her trophy to see Kendric, a looming shadow..." (p. 193)
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"Ahead of her, something loomed over Kendric's shoulder." (p. 194!)
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"And Clymarind loomed at them, a glittering falgon's back of earth breaking water." (p. 202)
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"The light elongated into a bar and loomed above Kendric's right shoulder like a dagger." (p. 217)
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"Ah, you sound like a Feynwood owl, my looming friend." (p. 219)
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"... Valodec, looming Wrathman-high..." (p. 223)
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"... as Ludborg tilted what passed for his face up at the looming marshman." (p. 224!)
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"Each had hardened in some senseless way, becoming engraved upon the stalagmite looming at his rear." (p. 244)
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"Its face, if one could call the Wrathman-high visage of mottled green mold and scabrous scales that loomed there a face... (p. 245!)
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"The stinger was borne up and over the monster's back and weaved above like a lethal standard." (p. 250) (See, I think it went beyond a simple misunderstanding; she must've also been confusing the homonyms' meanings, associating "loom" with "weave," which doesn't necessarily belong in this context.)
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"She stared into his face and at his upraised arms looming over it at as sharp an angle as Falgontooth's slopes." (p. 254)
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"The creature's intelligent, dark head loomed over its withers..." (p. 260)
...

Alliteration:
I can't stomach intentional alliteration, which she uses sporadically (e.g., "... its hooded head seeming to sense the presence of prey.").
...

Sentence Length:
There's a 104-word-long sentence on p. 41...
...

(276 pages.)

A generous 3/10

[Ban · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know time clouds memory and a bunch of the books I'm adding here were read long ago but I DO remember liking this book and thinking, in my young mind, that it was quite 'different'. It's on my to be read again list.

[River · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gave up on page 229/276. Usually when I'm that close to an ending, I'll push through but I just couldn't this time.

The idea of this story was interesting to start and it had me hooked for the first hundred pages or so, until we get to the witch Mauvedona. This is when it felt like we were just following a random list of places and people to visit. Neither character had any real idea of what they were doing or where they were going, and voiced this a few times only to not answer their own question.

Having a main character as the last of her kind, a powerhouse of untouched talent, who must keep her eyes away from reflections - mirrors, armour, weapons, even other peoples eyes!- was quite the cool idea; how do you go through a medieval world while not doing any of those things, while also having a swordsman/Wrathman at your side covered in shiny armour and a five foot sword!?

It just doesn't do anything with it though. The main guy I can't remember the name to because he just has no personality. He was rude and annoying almost constantly, I know women had to deal with men like this in the past, but I just couldn't.

The author talked themselves in circles, repeated things and contradicted themselves several times. There were swaths of pages where I had no idea what was going on. It took me three re-reads to get that one of the Wrathmen had died. The purple prose is clunky and in your face.

Forgot to mention... moon weasels. In this world there are no other animals (at least the author never mentions any other creature than the riding beasts and moon weasels). It's like that Mean Girls joke, "stop trying to make fetch happen", "stop trying to make moon weasels happen"

Overall, maybe a good read for someone, but that someone isn't me. Which is a shame, since the start was so promising and interesting.

[Alan Baxter · Rating 3 out of 5]

I absolutely LOVED this book as a teenager. I enjoyed it again now, nostalgically. It starts really well but doesn't hold up entirely. I still plan to read through the series though!

[Amie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Six of Swords by Carole Nelson Douglas kicks off a 1980s fantasy duology with tarot flair. Blind seeress Irissa and grumpy swordsman Kendric get hurled into a wasteland ruled by six sorcerers, armed with a living deck and a strange prophecy. They bicker, battle shape-shifters, and try to save the world without killing each other.

I wanted nostalgic escapism and got it: zippy pace, purple prose, and random character banter. The tarot hook is fun, the romance less so. Breezy, silly, perfect for a rainy Sunday with zero mental lift.

[Daniel Sullivan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book back in 1982 when it came out. Back then, I was like fifteen, and simply enjoyed it as a good book. As a fifty one year old author, I read it through different eyes, and liked it more thirty-six years later.

In this age of strong female characters, this book's female protagonist, Irissa - the last of the Torlocs, truly shines. When her world is pulled out from under her, she adapts, grows, and takes her destiny in her own hands, carrying along the male protagonist, Kendric - former Wrathman and knight, whether he wants to or not.

Both characters grow and develop, and are markedly different by the end of the book.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this series in High School and loved it. It is one I am planning on going back to again.

[Deanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this years ago, and my copy has been round the world with me. One of those books I reread every so often.

[Karyn Silverman]

Forgot this book until Goodreads recommended it! I have a memory of having loved it. The cover certainly elicited a powerful surge of book nostalgia.

[Lyle Aryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let me preface this review with this: I really enjoyed this read.

This year, I set a goal to start writing a review for every book I read. I'm even thinking about making that retroactive, too. As a writer, I'm constantly frustrated by a lack of reviews, so I figure it would be hypocritical not to leave them myself. Sure, I've done so in the past, but now it's a GOAL.

Anyway, I had to decide how critical I want to be. Do I point out the flaws? Do I generalize? Tough call, but ultimately what I say doesn't really matter, does it? You, the reader, have no reason to take my word for anything. My opinion will mean less than the expiration date on a pack of Skittles.

That said, I decided to just free flow it. Whatever is strongest on my mind, follow.

Six of Swords seems like it would be a Tarot-themed book, but it isn't. It is a high fantasy, written from a 3rd person limited perspective. For the most part, the story follows Irissa, last of the Torlocs, which are a race of magical beings.

At first, I didn't particularly have any strong feelings about Irissa. I thought her bland. But the book was just intriguing enough to hold my interest, and what we get from Six of Swords is essentially the building of a character. Irissa is bland in the beginning because she has no real identity. Some of this is deliberate through the actions of other people in the story, and some of this, I believe, it due to the author still getting to know who she is.

Who we find at the end of the book is a complete person, and she's pretty interesting. Learning that there's a second book is exciting. I'm going to have to track it down. I gather that the author wrote two before focusing on a cat detective series (shame, really, as the fantasy elements are good.)

This is a feminine sword and sorcery book that doesn't feel a need to write weak male characters in order to elevate it's female lead. It's very refreshing in that aspect.

I'd recommend this book heartily to any fantasy lover. And if you enjoy writers like Robin McKinley, I think you would especially enjoy Six of Swords.

For the weak points. There is a trope of the "newly minted 18-year-old-that-is-sheltered-easily-handles/manipulates-men" present. For being gullible/naive, Irissa proves rather shrewd at times to the point that it was a bit distracting. There's one interaction in particular that made me put the book down for a bit and chew it over because it felt out of character. Other than that, the romance between the two was not given the detail it deserved. I'm hoping the sequel does better in that regard. The writing is also just a bit messy in places, but nothing too egregious in my eyes.

So, a solid 4 out of 5 stars. While I don't feel as if this will be reread anytime soon, I can definitely see myself pulling it off the shelf some cold winter many years from now to reacquaint myself with the journey of Irissa the Torloc.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

What is it they say? Never go back?

I read Six of Swords back when it was first published in the early 1980s. So this was a bit of a nostalgia trip. At the time I really enjoyed it. Rereading it as a much older reader exposed its flaws.

Set in the world of Rule, made up of Six Realms, the story follows Irissa, a young sorceress, who finds a wounded Wrathman, Kendric (each of the Six Realms has a Wrathman, huge swordsmen meant to keep order within this world), who she heals. But as she returns to her home she finds that her people, the Torlocs, are retreating from Rule into another world, essentially removing magic from the world.

So begins a quest to find another gate for Irissa to pass through and join her people. Accompanied by Kendric and a talking cat called Felabba (who seems to know more about the situation that anyone else), we get a tour of the six Realms, with our mismatched twosome bickering most of the way.

They encounter would be dictators, fading witches and ancient wizards before a climax on the floating island of Clymarind. It’s all quite serviceable, well written, if a little ponderous and slow at times (the escape from the sorcerer Geronfry is interminable, and the final confrontation drags on too.)

So, a perfectly readable example 1980s fantasy, not bad but not great. Apparently there are several sequels but I honestly have no desire to read them.

[Rissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, I read this book because it's what I was named after and I see the appeal. I liked:

I enjoyed the characters after getting to know them for a little bit. Irissa is strong and has enough magic to defend herself and stand up to her male companion, Kendric. She is focused on as a way to showcase her power and that was really refreshing to see. While I didn't like Kendric in the beginning, he grew on me as the story went on. At first, I thought he forced Irissa to go with him but I realized that she is way too powerful for that. Furthermore, she had a choice to resist him physically but he managed to convince her with his words so he never physically forced her to go with him. He also shows that he is caring and brave throughout the story and by the end I liked him. Lastly, I thought that the talking cat was a fun addition that added some sass and spunk to the story.

I thought the plot was very interesting and kept me on my toes with the different layers to it. I want to know where Irissa's race went and how Kendric is meant to save the world. I want to know if Irissa's powers return or if they continue to diminish. It was enough that I am going to read the second one.

I disliked:

I did feel like the book could have been cleaned up and shortened down a bit. Some parts felt unnecessary/boring and I think that it would have benefited from being a little shorter to make a stronger plot.

Overall, a better version of the Hobbit.

[Susan Fehr · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was written early in Carole Nelson Douglas' career, and it shows. She has some good ideas and I remember liking the series when I was younger, but now...the characters are archetypes and the plot is ticking the boxes. I gave up this time round, as life is too short (after all, I have read it already) and there are too many other good books out there.

[David]

I read this a long time ago and really really loved it and the sequel, but I was an early teen when I read it over and over so I don't know if it was good or my choices were limited and my experience with fantasy novels small.

[Phylisha Stone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this series.

[Patty Geisinger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have re-read this over the years and I love it more each time!

[Hendrix Eva · Rating 3 out of 5]

T.S. Eliot meets Tolkien? A bunch of gobbledygook?

[Richard · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bloody Moonweasels! Are there no other creatures in the entire world?
I forget the story, but i think it was very generic. As were the characters. Harmless, but unmemorable.

[David Sarkies · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just another fantasy book
18 January 2013

Once again this is one of those books that I read a very long time ago that I pretty much remember nothing about (with the exception of the cover) and upon finishing it pretty much got tossed back onto the bookshelf to be forgotten forever. A quick glance over the synopsis on Goodreads, and a commentary by somebody who basically uses the phrase 'this is what is wrong with 70% to 80% of fantasy today' and 'this is why critics of the genre hate it so much' pretty much goes to show how bad this book really is. More so, since it had no connection whatsoever with the Dungeons and Dragons roleplaying game meant that even in my teenage years, this book did not really have much of an effect upon me.

I notice that the synopsis mentions that there is a trolloc sorcerer, and I believe that I have seen that name before. In fact I have, though it is unlikely that the author stole that word because this book was written long before the Robert Jordan Wheel of Time series appeared. You know, the series that seemed to stretch on forever and of which I only managed to read seven and a half of the books before they pretty much slowed down to a crawl, and a third of the last book that I read of the series simply seemed to have three women talking about absolutely nothing. Mind you, even the Wheel of Time series actually started out really good with a lot of premise (and I can still remember a lot of the books, to an extent). With this book I can remember nothing.

Another thing that appears is this whole idea of magic dying. Why is it that one of the standard themes that seems to appear in all of these fantasy novels is that the magic in the world is dying? Does this have to do with the fact that in our modern world we are beginning to explain away all of the magical aspects of our world with science (and I have even heard scientists turn a discussion of romantic love into an explanation using genetics). Maybe it is that as science tries to explain everything in cold scientific terms, the more magical aspects of our world begin to disappear. Okay, while we do not see lightning as Zeus throwing his thunderbolt to the ground, or earthquakes as Posiedon stamping his feet, the more that science tries to explain things, and the more that God gets pushed into the background as some sort of spectator, the less magical our world becomes. Maybe that is why such things seem to become popular in fantasy, and maybe it is that the writers are trying to snap us out of our dream worlds to come more face to face with reality.

[Ramón · Rating 2 out of 5]

This read was pure candy for me. I read it years ago and couldn't remember if I liked it, so I read it again. Now I know why I couldn't remember. There's really not much of substance here. It seems like she tries to put together several fantasy cliches into a single narrative which doesn't hold together.

While I enjoy having to work to understand the internal logic of various magical worlds, I felt like there was no payoff for the questions I put to the characters and the plot. The characters seemed shallow, the danger far too nebulous, and the plot too twisty. There is a magical world in danger, and I don't learn enough about it to care.

However, I didn't know this was part of a series until I saw that on Goodreads, so maybe I'll try reading the following books and see if things make more sense. Nonetheless, this didn't strike me as a captivating opening volume for a series.

[Dorian · Rating 3 out of 5]

The two stars is slightly ungenerous, I have to admit, but with limited options to choose from I opted to round the score downward rather than up. This must have been one of the first fantasy novels I read, about 30 years ago. I enjoyed it then and enjoyed re-reading it now. It's no more than a pleasant generic fantasy of no great substance or originality. The characters are superficial but engaging, I enjoyed their sparring, and the cat is very well written, the best thing about the book. The prose is often elaborate, but sometimes convoluted, and overburdened with metaphors and similes. There are times when the language obscures the action and the meaning to the detriment of the story. Overall, though, I would recommend this to someone interested in a light and entertaining fantasy.

[chloe the bookworm · Rating 1 out of 5]

ummm I'm sorry but this book was so longwinded and the guy (I can't even remember his name) was really annoying, he could have just not existed and the plot out have been 100% better. Plus the girl should've hooked up with the witch lady >:) the only good thing about this book was the cat, the cat gives the book a whole star.

[R Stanfill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantasy at it's finest

I read this book when it originally came out, but had forgotten it. Douglas is a brilliant word and world crafter, getting the reader to see all the details you wouldn't believe mattered. Kendric and Irissa are great together despite their differences. I'm eagerly awaiting the new edition of the next installment.

[Audrey Hare · Rating 2 out of 5]

Would be three stars for a decently interesting world had she not insisted on giving in to the temptation to needlessly connect the story to the King Arthur mythology. It really added nothing.

[Dralore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty decent, lots of good imagery use. Towards the end, the sheer volume of description got a bit in the way of narrative (ex. who is doing that again?)

[Helen Fleischer · Rating 4 out of 5]

middling decent sword & sorcery with a good cat

[Tome Addiction · Rating 3 out of 5]

From what I remember it was ok, not great.