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The Seven-Petaled Shield #1
The Seven-Petaled Shield
A Kirkus June 2013 top pick!
Elemental magic existed before mankind was born, and for good or ill, some of this magic seeped into the world, eventually coalescing into a monstrous entity of Fire and Ice, a threat to all humanity. Aided by his six brothers, a legendary king found the means to stand against this incarnation of the Seven-Petaled Shield. With it, they subdued the entity and imprisoned it in the far North.
But with the passing of generations, the king's line faltered and his once-great city, Meklavar, diminished until it was all but forgotten. Yet within its walls the remnants of the Shield still held power. Unaware of the legendary Shield and hungry only for a mighty empire, the king of Gelon has begun a march of conquest. But what could have been merely ruthless ambition becomes potentially cataclysmic when his unstoppable army turns toward Meklavar.
As the city falls, its newly widowed queen, Tsorreh, flees with her adolescent son, Zevaron, and the heart-stone of the Shield, seeking refuge in her mother's homeland. But with the removal of the heart-stone, the ancient power of Fire and Ice strengthens, spreading its malevolent influence across the land. And this time there is only Tsorreh and her son, desperate heirs to a shattered Shield, to stop it. The Seven-Petaled Shield is the first installment of the thrilling Seven-Petaled Shield series.
Elemental magic existed before mankind was born, and for good or ill, some of this magic seeped into the world, eventually coalescing into a monstrous entity of Fire and Ice, a threat to all humanity. Aided by his six brothers, a legendary king found the means to stand against this incarnation of the Seven-Petaled Shield. With it, they subdued the entity and imprisoned it in the far North.
But with the passing of generations, the king's line faltered and his once-great city, Meklavar, diminished until it was all but forgotten. Yet within its walls the remnants of the Shield still held power. Unaware of the legendary Shield and hungry only for a mighty empire, the king of Gelon has begun a march of conquest. But what could have been merely ruthless ambition becomes potentially cataclysmic when his unstoppable army turns toward Meklavar.
As the city falls, its newly widowed queen, Tsorreh, flees with her adolescent son, Zevaron, and the heart-stone of the Shield, seeking refuge in her mother's homeland. But with the removal of the heart-stone, the ancient power of Fire and Ice strengthens, spreading its malevolent influence across the land. And this time there is only Tsorreh and her son, desperate heirs to a shattered Shield, to stop it. The Seven-Petaled Shield is the first installment of the thrilling Seven-Petaled Shield series.
454 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published June 4, 2013
12 people are currently reading
231 people want to read
About the author
Deborah J. Ross
91 books100 followersDeborah J. Ross writes and edits fantasy and science fiction. Her novels include Jaydium, Northlight, Lambda Finalist first-contact Collaborators, and The Seven-Petaled Shield epic fantasy trilogy. Besides continuing the "Darkover" series created by Marion Zimmer Bradley, she's edited the Darkover anthology series and the award-nominated Lace and Blade series. Her short fiction has appeared in Asimov's, F & SF, Realms of Fantasy, and many others, earning multiple Honorable Mention in Year's Best SF. When she's not writing, she knits for charity, plays classical piano, and goes hiking in the redwoods.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
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July 6, 2013I don't know if anyone else is tired of the debate about whether "grimdark" is great or evil. Readers are going to read what they like to read, and of course they will invest it with all kinds of importance if they are passionate.
But for me, grimdark is yet another version of horror, which has been around a long time, and I'm just not interested. There is nothing new there for me, nor does it evoke any of the sensations or stimulate the insights I go to reading for.
So I am always on the lookout for epic fantasy that isn't about amoral people struggling to survive in a crapsack world. And it looks like this series will satisfy my own tastes, which demand interesting women as well as men, varied worlds with a sense of history, magic that evokes a sense of wonder, poetry, laughter as well as exciting action.
In this first book of three, we mostly follow Tsorreh, married at thirteen to the king of a small mountain country rich with magic and history. She bore a son, Zeveron, and did her best to be step-mother to the king's son by another woman, though Tsorreh was near his own age.
When the book opens, war comes in the form of the Gelon, whose style of empire seems inspired by Rome at its height. Only the king of the Gelon has gradually come under the influence of a new god, who craves further conquering in the search of . . . what?
Whatever it is, there is a good chance it's related to the seven-petaled shield with which Tsorreh is entrusted by her grandfather when the Gelon break through and begin systematically dismantling the mountain kingdom. She, with the magical shield encased inside her, and her son have to flee, and this is the mere beginning of their adventures.
The only things that poked at me were the villains being a tad one-dimensional, which makes them great at plot motivators, but less interesting as characters, and also, occasionally (especially at the beginning) the narrative voice couldn't resist breaking into third person POV, offering data that the character couldn't possibly have known. But there are very small things, noted then swept aside by the grand tapestry of story.
Beware, this book ends with the biggeest ARRRRGH! of a cliff-hanger, making me desperate to get my hands on book two!
But for me, grimdark is yet another version of horror, which has been around a long time, and I'm just not interested. There is nothing new there for me, nor does it evoke any of the sensations or stimulate the insights I go to reading for.
So I am always on the lookout for epic fantasy that isn't about amoral people struggling to survive in a crapsack world. And it looks like this series will satisfy my own tastes, which demand interesting women as well as men, varied worlds with a sense of history, magic that evokes a sense of wonder, poetry, laughter as well as exciting action.
In this first book of three, we mostly follow Tsorreh, married at thirteen to the king of a small mountain country rich with magic and history. She bore a son, Zeveron, and did her best to be step-mother to the king's son by another woman, though Tsorreh was near his own age.
When the book opens, war comes in the form of the Gelon, whose style of empire seems inspired by Rome at its height. Only the king of the Gelon has gradually come under the influence of a new god, who craves further conquering in the search of . . . what?
Whatever it is, there is a good chance it's related to the seven-petaled shield with which Tsorreh is entrusted by her grandfather when the Gelon break through and begin systematically dismantling the mountain kingdom. She, with the magical shield encased inside her, and her son have to flee, and this is the mere beginning of their adventures.
The only things that poked at me were the villains being a tad one-dimensional, which makes them great at plot motivators, but less interesting as characters, and also, occasionally (especially at the beginning) the narrative voice couldn't resist breaking into third person POV, offering data that the character couldn't possibly have known. But there are very small things, noted then swept aside by the grand tapestry of story.
Beware, this book ends with the biggeest ARRRRGH! of a cliff-hanger, making me desperate to get my hands on book two!
March 13, 2014
This is the first book by this author that I have read. I greatly enjoyed her writing style - at times, she reminded me of Lian Hearn who wrote the Tales of the Otori series. Beautiful, poetic prose and the ability to capture the emotion and psychological eddies that swirl through the characters. This was a refreshing book that was devoid of much of the grim and gruesome imagery Joe Abercrombie and Geo. R.R. Martin pen. The spirituality of the characters also drew me in and their confrontation with evil was a bonus that is often missing or discounted if not discouraged by other fantasy authors (i.e., Terry Goodkind). I am looking to read the second in the series and made a special trip to the bookstore to pick it up even before I had finished this first installment. Now, if only Patrick Rothfuss would finish his third installment, I will be very happy. Thank you Deborah J. Ross - you are one of my new favorite authors and I'll have to make room on my shelves for you among Abercrombie, Martin, Gemmel, Feist, McKiernan, and
August 25, 2016
I... don't know what to do with this book. It starts out very good. I LOVE the concept and the world building. I love the idea of doing a fantasy story around Israel and the Middle East and the LONG history there. However, I can't go higher then a two because of the structure of the book. First, this is not a complete story. This is one of those books that is part of a 'trilogy'. However, there isn't really a plot in this book either, it's all set-up and world building. Strike one. Strike two happens because the character we follow through out the entire novel, the one you think is the hero of this trilogy, is actually not. So again, it's all set-up and there isn't even a reason to have the novel as an introduction to the character.
In fact, the last 10% of the novel pissed me off so much I have no desire to read anything further in this series or by this author. Kiss of death.
In fact, the last 10% of the novel pissed me off so much I have no desire to read anything further in this series or by this author. Kiss of death.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 12, 2014
Being the last book I borrowed from the library and planning a trip to get a new stack of books tomorrow I had high hopes for one last good story to end the night with. The cover art is cool and the back cover blurb made it sound great. Sadly the story didn't quite match my expectations. Its not bad and would be a pretty decent for beginners to the fantasy genre being spoiled by many other fantasy author's books however it wasn't good enough for me.
June 28, 2015
This felt unoriginal - very; if you've read any high fantasy before, you've read this story - but at least it centered around a female character.
August 7, 2015
This book takes us to a world Ross originally created when she was writing as Deborah Wheeler for Marion Zimmer Bradley's Sword and Sorcery anthologies. I remember buying all of these until Bradley's death and now wish I had kept them to go back and read Wheeler's original stories.
This book follows Zevernon and Tsorrah, the prince and queen of the small country of Meklavar, as their country is invaded and eventually conquered by Gelon. We follow them as they struggle to escape and survive the Gelonian attack. Tsorrah is granted magic that is central to the spiritual traditions of Meklavar. We learn that this magic was originally used to defeat the great evil which is destined to once again rise.
This is a classic, epic fantasy story line done well and with compelling characters. The four stars is perhaps a little forgiving as we spend most of our time with Tsorrah and, while I felt drawn to her as a character, her story if generally one of inertia and waiting as she learns about the Gelonian conquerors. Zevernon's story is much more one of action, but we are only with him at the beginning and ending of this book. I very much look forward to the sequel and finding out what happens as the great evil slowly gains in power.
This book follows Zevernon and Tsorrah, the prince and queen of the small country of Meklavar, as their country is invaded and eventually conquered by Gelon. We follow them as they struggle to escape and survive the Gelonian attack. Tsorrah is granted magic that is central to the spiritual traditions of Meklavar. We learn that this magic was originally used to defeat the great evil which is destined to once again rise.
This is a classic, epic fantasy story line done well and with compelling characters. The four stars is perhaps a little forgiving as we spend most of our time with Tsorrah and, while I felt drawn to her as a character, her story if generally one of inertia and waiting as she learns about the Gelonian conquerors. Zevernon's story is much more one of action, but we are only with him at the beginning and ending of this book. I very much look forward to the sequel and finding out what happens as the great evil slowly gains in power.
February 17, 2015
I've not decided if I'll continue to read through this trilogy. And, I'm not disappointed by the ending as some people seem to, I don't mind that plot device, if anything the story might need it.
For me the story is 90% commentary and 10% story. I feel that a lot in the book was implied when not much at all has happened. When it seems that an adventure story will blossom, it turns more into a mythical soap opera. The story definitely steers away from any great story action; there are flashes of fights and there are implications of coming action, but fizzles into commentary instead of action. It's not that I don't like a good dramatic narrative. I just want the sense of action and adventure to not be a tease.
As I've invested into the first book, I'm not sure I'll go further, but if I do I'm hoping the story opens up somehow. AS is, the book is only a forgetful one at best. It's like, I want to know what happens, but do I (care)?
For me the story is 90% commentary and 10% story. I feel that a lot in the book was implied when not much at all has happened. When it seems that an adventure story will blossom, it turns more into a mythical soap opera. The story definitely steers away from any great story action; there are flashes of fights and there are implications of coming action, but fizzles into commentary instead of action. It's not that I don't like a good dramatic narrative. I just want the sense of action and adventure to not be a tease.
As I've invested into the first book, I'm not sure I'll go further, but if I do I'm hoping the story opens up somehow. AS is, the book is only a forgetful one at best. It's like, I want to know what happens, but do I (care)?
August 23, 2014
I enjoyed the story line, but there was too much internal dialog, making this over descriptive.
September 9, 2024
"The Seven-Petaled Shield" was a book I'd been meaning to read for a long time, if only because it was on a "bought at a used book sale" to-read shelf for ages, it's epic fantasy, and it's the easy size of book I like because you can take it almost anywhere. That being said, while I'm not completely disappointed by how this book turned out in my opinion, it didn't feel like something momentous worth waiting for, and didn't even seem to live up to its own expectations.
Plot (especially since the back of the book doesn't give you much to go on: Tsorreh is the queen of Meklavar, a small mountain kingdom/city-state that is besieged by the larger and more violent empire Gelon. Among its neighbors, Meklavar has a reputation for being magical (although we don't see any) due to the legend of Khored, a warrior in the past who defended the land against elemental evil beings using his shield with six magic stones (the petals) and a center (the seventh petal) that has since been lost to time. When Gelon conquers Meklavar, Tsorreh flees with her son Zevaron and, secretly, the power of the Shield's Center within her. When they are separated, the story then follows Tsorreh's life as a prisoner-of-war in Gelon, with very brief stints following Zevaron's teenage adventures.
*Some spoilers below, but tagged.
Review: There are many things to like about this book. The plot and setting are obviously well thought-out, and I like that the author takes time to slowly build out the other cultures, giving us hints here and there about the other civilizations. She also takes time to make languages, and learning them as you go from place to place, an important task... something that is overlooked in most fantasies. You can tell that this is just the start of an unfolding plot of epic proportions.
However, for me, it was just not enough to keep going. The book mostly follows Tsorreh, who does very little except cautiously wait as a prisoner-of-war and submit herself to humiliation to avoid detection of the Shield-stone she carries. For the majority of the book, she is reactive, and does very little for herself. The few things she does end up doing are built up as if they have huge consequences, but nothing comes of them The only times something does happen is simply dependent on the whims of the king.
Meanwhile, Zevaron gets very little attention. It is only twice that we get the story from his point of view, so I would say maybe 1/4 of the book. While his portions are interesting, we miss most of his character growth from brash teen to confident young man . We start out with him having just turned fourteen, and he acts like it, but when we see him again years have passed (in a very surprising and fast "years passed" kind of statement.) Then the book quickly ends, with many events out of his hands.
Overall, this almost felt like it could have been greatly condensed. I haven't read the other books in the series yet, so I can't say how important these events were, but it feels like the author probably could have skipped a lot of things here or made them shorter. She definitely skipped over a lot of events, such as developments in Zevaron's life, in favor of Tsorreh looking at comets. I don't really feel hooked in at all, although I did like the conceit of the Shield itself, I found it a bit too abstract and not well-explained to be drawing me in. In tone, this reminded me a bit of the "The Magic of Recluce," but at least that book felt like it was going somewhere.
Plot (especially since the back of the book doesn't give you much to go on: Tsorreh is the queen of Meklavar, a small mountain kingdom/city-state that is besieged by the larger and more violent empire Gelon. Among its neighbors, Meklavar has a reputation for being magical (although we don't see any) due to the legend of Khored, a warrior in the past who defended the land against elemental evil beings using his shield with six magic stones (the petals) and a center (the seventh petal) that has since been lost to time. When Gelon conquers Meklavar, Tsorreh flees with her son Zevaron and, secretly, the power of the Shield's Center within her. When they are separated, the story then follows Tsorreh's life as a prisoner-of-war in Gelon, with very brief stints following Zevaron's teenage adventures.
*Some spoilers below, but tagged.
Review: There are many things to like about this book. The plot and setting are obviously well thought-out, and I like that the author takes time to slowly build out the other cultures, giving us hints here and there about the other civilizations. She also takes time to make languages, and learning them as you go from place to place, an important task... something that is overlooked in most fantasies. You can tell that this is just the start of an unfolding plot of epic proportions.
However, for me, it was just not enough to keep going. The book mostly follows Tsorreh, who does very little except cautiously wait as a prisoner-of-war and submit herself to humiliation to avoid detection of the Shield-stone she carries. For the majority of the book, she is reactive, and does very little for herself. The few things she does end up doing are built up as if they have huge consequences, but nothing comes of them The only times something does happen is simply dependent on the whims of the king.
Meanwhile, Zevaron gets very little attention. It is only twice that we get the story from his point of view, so I would say maybe 1/4 of the book. While his portions are interesting, we miss most of his character growth from brash teen to confident young man . We start out with him having just turned fourteen, and he acts like it, but when we see him again years have passed (in a very surprising and fast "years passed" kind of statement.) Then the book quickly ends, with many events out of his hands.
Overall, this almost felt like it could have been greatly condensed. I haven't read the other books in the series yet, so I can't say how important these events were, but it feels like the author probably could have skipped a lot of things here or made them shorter. She definitely skipped over a lot of events, such as developments in Zevaron's life, in favor of Tsorreh looking at comets. I don't really feel hooked in at all, although I did like the conceit of the Shield itself, I found it a bit too abstract and not well-explained to be drawing me in. In tone, this reminded me a bit of the "The Magic of Recluce," but at least that book felt like it was going somewhere.
July 31, 2017
I found the pace a little slow but I enjoyed the characters and non-cliché ending. Look forward to seeing where the story goes.
August 7, 2017
The book was exciting and had wonderful characters. Looking forward to reading the next book in the series.
March 6, 2018
lord, nothing must happens...it just goes on and on
i can go no further in series.....
the cover looks great, i was fooled
i can go no further in series.....
the cover looks great, i was fooled
January 14, 2014
This book has great writing and a strong heroine with a super compelling start - the city is falling under an invading army. Very dramatic and tons of great scenes! However, I am the kind of person who, after I get hooked, I check the ending to see if it's going to be worth my time to get there. And this time, right about the time the protagonists have to make their big run for it, I checked the end. So not worth it for me! I know that there is a ton of stuff in the middle that was probably awesome, but I get really angry when certain things happen in an ending, so I decided not to read it. Hence two stars.
July 18, 2013
First impression:
I'm only halfway through this, but loving it. My kind of fantasy: a world that feels very real, interesting characters I can care about, lots of depth in both world and characters, heroes and villains alike, action, suspense, thoughtfulness .... I'll be waiting eagerly for the sequels.
And now that I've finished: yes indeed, a great read. Can't wait for book ii. Highly recommended.
I'm only halfway through this, but loving it. My kind of fantasy: a world that feels very real, interesting characters I can care about, lots of depth in both world and characters, heroes and villains alike, action, suspense, thoughtfulness .... I'll be waiting eagerly for the sequels.
And now that I've finished: yes indeed, a great read. Can't wait for book ii. Highly recommended.
February 2, 2016
This is a fantasy kingdom, but explores how can an idividual respond to really difficult life situations, like being in a war. These days with ISIS, it's not just a theoretical question. I found reading it very compelling, so I wanted to read the next book right away.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews