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Warrior Crone
Generations of Tirawan kings have laid the groundwork for King Johahn. The peasants fear the Gohmdae people and everything connected to them. Their children play games of hunting them and burning them at the stake. His plan to wipe the Ghomdae out and take over their lands will be unquestioned.
The Ghomdae, wishing only for peace and to live life their own way, have kept their distance for generations. However, when reports of soldiers in the forest and on the Taarook plains start pouring in, they must send their own into the very heart of the danger to act as spies. After many years and many deaths, they find out what is going on.
To-Shora, second household to Crone Jeh-Gah, is one of these spies. During her mission, she is raped and has a child for each rape. Tar-Reesh, the eldest of these children, befriends the magistrate's daughter, Winaiva, and grows up playing games of hunting and burning Gohmdae.
Tar-Reesh, ever seeking acceptance, and Winaiva, ever searching for freedom, are taught the truth and are forced to choose their part in the conflict. But will they be able to live with their choice? Will they win the war to keep the Ghomdae free? What are the roles of the dragons and elves? What, exactly, does Fate have in store for these two girls, these two peoples, this peninsula?
The Ghomdae, wishing only for peace and to live life their own way, have kept their distance for generations. However, when reports of soldiers in the forest and on the Taarook plains start pouring in, they must send their own into the very heart of the danger to act as spies. After many years and many deaths, they find out what is going on.
To-Shora, second household to Crone Jeh-Gah, is one of these spies. During her mission, she is raped and has a child for each rape. Tar-Reesh, the eldest of these children, befriends the magistrate's daughter, Winaiva, and grows up playing games of hunting and burning Gohmdae.
Tar-Reesh, ever seeking acceptance, and Winaiva, ever searching for freedom, are taught the truth and are forced to choose their part in the conflict. But will they be able to live with their choice? Will they win the war to keep the Ghomdae free? What are the roles of the dragons and elves? What, exactly, does Fate have in store for these two girls, these two peoples, this peninsula?
226 pages, Paperback
First published May 21, 2013
3 people want to read
About the author
Jen Christopherson
2 books18 followersJen Christopherson is a person of dreams, realistic and extraordinary. Her favorite hobby is to read and her passion for writing is unparalleled. Nothing can stop her when she gets an idea and that is not necessarily a bad thing. She can be stubborn, bullheaded, and, sometimes, even sarcastic, but there is no better person to be around when she is in a good mood. As a child, she read a library and then wrote a library.
"In the heart of what is good there is a storm of sinister proportion." As said by the very same. Nothing is without balance. Some may see her books as grand acts of literature, while others may not think it worth the time to read it. These are two of the many viewpoints in the world and how do you know until you read her books. No one can please everybody and there is simply too many people to write a book tailored to each, but Jen Christopherson is one author who would try.
"In the heart of what is good there is a storm of sinister proportion." As said by the very same. Nothing is without balance. Some may see her books as grand acts of literature, while others may not think it worth the time to read it. These are two of the many viewpoints in the world and how do you know until you read her books. No one can please everybody and there is simply too many people to write a book tailored to each, but Jen Christopherson is one author who would try.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 30, 2013
This is a debut work for this Author, and my spidey sense started twitching as soon as I read the summary of the book; not is a good way.
This was a very strange book that had me feeling it was the second instalment in a series. I even put it to one side to search and see if I had missed the beginning of this tale; but no, this is where it starts. Despite this, I thought it may be one of those rare books in a series, that is perfectly happy standing all alone and making its mark as a solo act as well as part of a series; again that was not to be the case. The Author had a great vision when writing this book, but for some reason it really didn't translate well on to the page.
The characters, all of them throughout the book, seemed very underdeveloped to me and all spoke in the same formal manner, which made them very hard to separate from one another. They had no back-story to speak of, which again made it hard to relate to them in any way. Hence the feeling I had whilst reading this, of walking in halfway through a conversation and expecting to be able to successfully debate it. The protagonist was immediately on my ‘I really hope something despicable happens to you’ list, as they are arrogant, rigid and refuse to accept anyone else but they could possibly be right. The fact that this character provoked a response from me meant it was given at least a passing thought as to its development by the Author, as it managed to push all the right buttons when evoking that feeling of wanting to reach out and shake them. It is such a shame I felt I had missed out on their life story and why they were like this, I like characters to exhibit a few believable flaws instead of them expecting me to believe they could walk on water.
There were some wonderfully descriptive aspects to this book which, if they had been explored in more depth could really have gone a long way to helping the plot along. As it was they were dealt with in a rather perfunctory manner, as if they were of no import. The few snippets we had of this complex fantastical world were the kind that starts an image forming in the readers’ brain, but as it was coming into focus it was snatched away. This was the tone of the whole book for me; it was random and disjointed with bizarre little flashbacks happening that I had no clue as to where they came from, or what their purpose was.
This was a good fantasy read; that with a bit more tweaking and direction could become a great fantasy read. I would recommend it to lovers of this genre, but advise they go into not expecting an epic. If the Author decides to write a prequel to this, that started at the very beginning, and gave back-story to all the happenings in this novel, I would definitely read it before trying this book again as I feel it would give a lot more sense and meaning to the book I have just reviewed.
Originally reviewed on: http://catesbooknuthut.wordpress.com/...
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
This was a very strange book that had me feeling it was the second instalment in a series. I even put it to one side to search and see if I had missed the beginning of this tale; but no, this is where it starts. Despite this, I thought it may be one of those rare books in a series, that is perfectly happy standing all alone and making its mark as a solo act as well as part of a series; again that was not to be the case. The Author had a great vision when writing this book, but for some reason it really didn't translate well on to the page.
The characters, all of them throughout the book, seemed very underdeveloped to me and all spoke in the same formal manner, which made them very hard to separate from one another. They had no back-story to speak of, which again made it hard to relate to them in any way. Hence the feeling I had whilst reading this, of walking in halfway through a conversation and expecting to be able to successfully debate it. The protagonist was immediately on my ‘I really hope something despicable happens to you’ list, as they are arrogant, rigid and refuse to accept anyone else but they could possibly be right. The fact that this character provoked a response from me meant it was given at least a passing thought as to its development by the Author, as it managed to push all the right buttons when evoking that feeling of wanting to reach out and shake them. It is such a shame I felt I had missed out on their life story and why they were like this, I like characters to exhibit a few believable flaws instead of them expecting me to believe they could walk on water.
There were some wonderfully descriptive aspects to this book which, if they had been explored in more depth could really have gone a long way to helping the plot along. As it was they were dealt with in a rather perfunctory manner, as if they were of no import. The few snippets we had of this complex fantastical world were the kind that starts an image forming in the readers’ brain, but as it was coming into focus it was snatched away. This was the tone of the whole book for me; it was random and disjointed with bizarre little flashbacks happening that I had no clue as to where they came from, or what their purpose was.
This was a good fantasy read; that with a bit more tweaking and direction could become a great fantasy read. I would recommend it to lovers of this genre, but advise they go into not expecting an epic. If the Author decides to write a prequel to this, that started at the very beginning, and gave back-story to all the happenings in this novel, I would definitely read it before trying this book again as I feel it would give a lot more sense and meaning to the book I have just reviewed.
Originally reviewed on: http://catesbooknuthut.wordpress.com/...
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
June 30, 2013
Full disclosure - I received a free copy of this book after entering a Goodreads First Reads giveaway (though I was never notified of winning it).
I found this book very problematic, and eventually had to give up on it. The book blurb describes a girl from a mystic minority, the Ghomdae,born to a spy, and raised as the companion of the Magistrate's (the ruler of the oppressive majority?) daughter. The girls eventually learn the truth about the girl's heritage, and join in the rebellion.
The story takes place at some time after the events told above, without any sort of explanation of who they are, or why the Ghomdae are oppressed. No backstory at all. I found it impossible to follow without referring to the back of the book. I actually think that it would have been a better choice to tell that story as it's own book, since it felt as though I was reading a sequel to an unknown story.
I had trouble with the style as well. There were odd little flashbacks, but it was unclear where they began or ended. The characters all have a very formal way of speaking, with very little to tell them apart. The world has flashes of wonderful detail (orange leaved plants, the Rixcritter) pop up at times, but the setting is only described in passing. I understand the author's choice of starting the story right in the middle of the action, but in a world as alien and complex as this one that choice left me out in the cold. It just felt random and disconnected (look, a dragon! People are afraid of the dragon, and it thinks that's funny! Elves are obnoxious and ancient, and no one's ever heard of them. They think they're better than we are! The protagonist shows them they're not!) The protagonist comes across as always right, those who oppose her are always wrong (which I found a boring choice).
Eventually I decided that slogging through the book wouldn't be worth it for me, but I'd be willing to give a prequel a try as long as the author slowed down, started from the beginning, and allowed her heroine (and her pet culture) a few flaws.
I found this book very problematic, and eventually had to give up on it. The book blurb describes a girl from a mystic minority, the Ghomdae,born to a spy, and raised as the companion of the Magistrate's (the ruler of the oppressive majority?) daughter. The girls eventually learn the truth about the girl's heritage, and join in the rebellion.
The story takes place at some time after the events told above, without any sort of explanation of who they are, or why the Ghomdae are oppressed. No backstory at all. I found it impossible to follow without referring to the back of the book. I actually think that it would have been a better choice to tell that story as it's own book, since it felt as though I was reading a sequel to an unknown story.
I had trouble with the style as well. There were odd little flashbacks, but it was unclear where they began or ended. The characters all have a very formal way of speaking, with very little to tell them apart. The world has flashes of wonderful detail (orange leaved plants, the Rixcritter) pop up at times, but the setting is only described in passing. I understand the author's choice of starting the story right in the middle of the action, but in a world as alien and complex as this one that choice left me out in the cold. It just felt random and disconnected (look, a dragon! People are afraid of the dragon, and it thinks that's funny! Elves are obnoxious and ancient, and no one's ever heard of them. They think they're better than we are! The protagonist shows them they're not!) The protagonist comes across as always right, those who oppose her are always wrong (which I found a boring choice).
Eventually I decided that slogging through the book wouldn't be worth it for me, but I'd be willing to give a prequel a try as long as the author slowed down, started from the beginning, and allowed her heroine (and her pet culture) a few flaws.
May 21, 2013
I have to admit, I am a bit biased. After all, I wrote it! LOL However, I think this is a good book with a good story! Tar-Reesh kinda goes with the flow, even when all she wants is the opposite! Winaiva, her favorite companion, is there to take her place while Tar-Reesh is healing. Find out how Tar-Reesh makes it to the end of the war!!!
July 21, 2013
It was a great book, though it missed some key elements. It was as if the front of the book was missing, the background and training and that. Flashbacks did not go far enough, but I loved the ending!
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews