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Tales from Ysthar
Till Human Voices Wake Us
Behind the corners of our world, there is magic.
As the Lord of Ysthar, Raphael is responsible for it.
An honest man, his lies are legion. An infamous recluse, his social circle includes Scheherezade, Shakespeare, and the Crown Prince of Faerie. He is a great mage to his enemies, a movie star to strangers, and a hundred pseudonymous half-lives to history. He is dutifully trying to prevent the end of the world when his long-lost twin brother Kasian gate-crashes his life.
Raphael is prepared to sacrifice his soul, his reputation, and his crown to save his beloved Ysthar. Saving himself is another matter entirely.
There is magic. It’s not enough.
As the Lord of Ysthar, Raphael is responsible for it.
An honest man, his lies are legion. An infamous recluse, his social circle includes Scheherezade, Shakespeare, and the Crown Prince of Faerie. He is a great mage to his enemies, a movie star to strangers, and a hundred pseudonymous half-lives to history. He is dutifully trying to prevent the end of the world when his long-lost twin brother Kasian gate-crashes his life.
Raphael is prepared to sacrifice his soul, his reputation, and his crown to save his beloved Ysthar. Saving himself is another matter entirely.
There is magic. It’s not enough.
360 pages, Paperback
First published July 12, 2014
46 people are currently reading
418 people want to read
About the author
Victoria Goddard
43 books777 followersI walked across England in 2013, fulfilling a long-held dream. I'm currently the sexton of an Anglican church in Nova Scotia, which means I am keeper of the keys and opener of doors (and shutter-off of alarms). I have a PhD in medieval studies from the University of Toronto, looking at poetry and philosophy in the works of Dante and Boethius -- both the poetry and the philosophy come into my stories a great deal (and occasionally the Dante and the Boethius).
I like writing about the ordinary lives of magical people on the other side of the looking glass ... and the extraordinary deeds of ordinary folk, too. Three of my favourite authors are Patricia McKillip (especially 'The Riddle-Master of Hed' trilogy and 'The Bell at Sealy Head'), Connie Willis ('Bellwether' and 'To Say Nothing of the Dog,' which latter would make my top-ten books on a desert island), and Lois McMaster Bujold ('The Curse of Chalion' and its sequels).
I like writing about the ordinary lives of magical people on the other side of the looking glass ... and the extraordinary deeds of ordinary folk, too. Three of my favourite authors are Patricia McKillip (especially 'The Riddle-Master of Hed' trilogy and 'The Bell at Sealy Head'), Connie Willis ('Bellwether' and 'To Say Nothing of the Dog,' which latter would make my top-ten books on a desert island), and Lois McMaster Bujold ('The Curse of Chalion' and its sequels).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
November 13, 2022
hm. this is by far the saddest book i've read in victoria goddard's oeuvre, and kind of a jumble of grief and trauma and literary allusion, but stunning nonetheless. i liked reading the way that our earth fits into the nine worlds, and the strange combination of magic and fiction that lives below its surface.
i am beginning to realize that victoria goddard has a theme to her work, and it is enormously competent people learning to let back in the people they've shut out, and untangling the complicated mix of resentment and grief and hurt underlying their enduring and difficult-to-express love at the heart of it all. this is a very good version of this theme and not a bad orpheus story, though i don't actually know how i felt about the ending.
i am beginning to realize that victoria goddard has a theme to her work, and it is enormously competent people learning to let back in the people they've shut out, and untangling the complicated mix of resentment and grief and hurt underlying their enduring and difficult-to-express love at the heart of it all. this is a very good version of this theme and not a bad orpheus story, though i don't actually know how i felt about the ending.
October 8, 2025
2.5 stars
A very strange book. Set in Yshtar, the world that resembles ours, it follows Raphael the Lord Magus, as a great Game of Power comes to an end. Along with the magical battle, there is a fight for his own soul as he drifts further from himself.
I’ve read quite a few of the author’s stories - thinking of it, this might be one of the first written? There is beauty and heart in it, but it’s extremely stream-of-thought. There’s poetry and introspection, legends and allusions, and a lot of the time I didn’t even understand what was happening. Conversations with loved ones never fully take place and conclude.
Somehow, I grew to like Raphael, anyway, and I liked a lot of the themes, but I do not recommend this as a starting point.
A very strange book. Set in Yshtar, the world that resembles ours, it follows Raphael the Lord Magus, as a great Game of Power comes to an end. Along with the magical battle, there is a fight for his own soul as he drifts further from himself.
I’ve read quite a few of the author’s stories - thinking of it, this might be one of the first written? There is beauty and heart in it, but it’s extremely stream-of-thought. There’s poetry and introspection, legends and allusions, and a lot of the time I didn’t even understand what was happening. Conversations with loved ones never fully take place and conclude.
Somehow, I grew to like Raphael, anyway, and I liked a lot of the themes, but I do not recommend this as a starting point.
March 30, 2024
"...the candle flame flickered low. The light caught traces of tears on his face, as if someone had brushed gold leaf across his cheekbones."
Victoria Goddard is masterful at writing. "Tales from Ysthar" is no exception. Staged in Goddard's Nine Worlds, characters are developed from fables we know and otherwise. "Till Human Voices Wake Us" is about trust and friendship. The first, hard to learn. The second hard to accept. Secretly, our main character is The Lord of Ysthar. He carries a tremendous burden, which he does not share. He is an actor. Such skills are used throughout this tale to keep things from friends. Until... No spoilers here.
The book is a tad slow at the beginning. Well worth the read, though.
The rest of this series is broken into short stories, which provide back stories of the characters. Goddard has a proposed order of reading on her web page: https://www.victoriagoddard.ca Not just Ysthar, but all her Nine World books. She admits that books will continue to be forth coming. I doubt the Nine World series will ever be finished. I believe Goddard is having too much fun writing.
Victoria Goddard is masterful at writing. "Tales from Ysthar" is no exception. Staged in Goddard's Nine Worlds, characters are developed from fables we know and otherwise. "Till Human Voices Wake Us" is about trust and friendship. The first, hard to learn. The second hard to accept. Secretly, our main character is The Lord of Ysthar. He carries a tremendous burden, which he does not share. He is an actor. Such skills are used throughout this tale to keep things from friends. Until... No spoilers here.
The book is a tad slow at the beginning. Well worth the read, though.
The rest of this series is broken into short stories, which provide back stories of the characters. Goddard has a proposed order of reading on her web page: https://www.victoriagoddard.ca Not just Ysthar, but all her Nine World books. She admits that books will continue to be forth coming. I doubt the Nine World series will ever be finished. I believe Goddard is having too much fun writing.
December 16, 2022
I love how this author is constantly giving you a different story than the one you expect. I'm having a hard time categorizing this one, it's very different than the other stories set in the Nine Worlds that I've read. (This is not, by any means, a bad thing. The book is purely and perfectly itself.) So this was... part Orpheus retelling? Part millennia-long magical competition. Mostly about feelings and letting the people who love you in. I love feelings, so that was my favorite part. 😂 And Raphael is a lovely protagonist. It's worth reading this if you enjoy this series, but also in its own right.
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January 6, 2023Till Human Voices Wake Us was Victoria Goddard's first published book. While it is set in the same universe as the later books which I'd already read, and mentions characters who appear in those, it has a quite different feel, and is also different in being set in a version of modern London (Ysthar, in Goddard's Nine Worlds, turns out to be Earth). The central character is Raphael, lord magus of Ysthar, who is coming to the end of a centuries-long magical competition for the role of lord magus when his long-lost brother reappears in his life. It's largely a story about processing and moving on from trauma, and about someone learning to let people in after years of shutting them out, and although it is hopeful and sometimes funny it does feel a bit sadder than the other books I've read. I enjoyed it a lot, though; it reminded me a bit of Fire and Hemlock (the title is taken from 'The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock' and Eliot pervades the novel in a similar way), and also quite a lot of Sandman.
May 2, 2021
My one line review is that I genuinely loved this book.
The style is very different from the other works by this author. It's written in a much more lyrical, poetic tone, almost dream-like; I was reminded strongly of Patricia McKillip. It's also one of those books that does not hold your hand--there are frequent quotations and references to classics of western Literature (in particular, Shakespeare and T.S. Elliot), and at least one reference to the Mahabharata. You don't have to know the references to understand the book, but it's a much richer experience if you do.
One of the things that I thought was really interesting was that the ostensible plot--the culminating battle of a 5,000 year long Great Game with the literal survival of the world at stake, and what happens after--would normally make this a sweeping, epic fantasy. Big personalities, epic battles, etc. etc., ...but this story is tender and intimate. It's about a man navigating how to relate to the people who he loves most. Goddard keeps the perspective close third with the main character, Raphael, and does an excellent job. One of the pleasures of the book is being able to eavesdrop on what Raphael is thinking, why he's doing what he's doing, and how he thinks of himself, and seeing (through his interactions with the other characters, and without switching POV characters) how his friends and brother think of him, and the gaps between the two. Some of them are deliberately created by Raphael, and some are not.
This probably isn't a book for everybody. It's lovely, and beautiful, and more than a bit strange.
The style is very different from the other works by this author. It's written in a much more lyrical, poetic tone, almost dream-like; I was reminded strongly of Patricia McKillip. It's also one of those books that does not hold your hand--there are frequent quotations and references to classics of western Literature (in particular, Shakespeare and T.S. Elliot), and at least one reference to the Mahabharata. You don't have to know the references to understand the book, but it's a much richer experience if you do.
One of the things that I thought was really interesting was that the ostensible plot--the culminating battle of a 5,000 year long Great Game with the literal survival of the world at stake, and what happens after--would normally make this a sweeping, epic fantasy. Big personalities, epic battles, etc. etc., ...but this story is tender and intimate. It's about a man navigating how to relate to the people who he loves most. Goddard keeps the perspective close third with the main character, Raphael, and does an excellent job. One of the pleasures of the book is being able to eavesdrop on what Raphael is thinking, why he's doing what he's doing, and how he thinks of himself, and seeing (through his interactions with the other characters, and without switching POV characters) how his friends and brother think of him, and the gaps between the two. Some of them are deliberately created by Raphael, and some are not.
This probably isn't a book for everybody. It's lovely, and beautiful, and more than a bit strange.
September 19, 2015
Set in London where characters from history and literature live amongst mortals. The immortals grapple with very human problems of sibling relationships, friendships and lost and unrequited loves. The main action arc of a epic battle that plays out for the future of the universe gets a little lost in the interweaving of personal histories and time jumps that move forward and back. A little more side action would help with pacing of this story. However the world and characters are fully described and I really enjoyed the associated short stories. I look forward to meeting these characters again in future stories. The associated short stories provided shifting perspectives that helped clarify the characters. A fantasy novel for the literate, full of references, the title is taken from T.S Eliot whose works are rich in reference to western literature. T.S. Eliot is a personal favourite of mine so I was already won over.
May 30, 2020
https://wordnerdy.blogspot.com/2020/0...
I wanted to remain immersed in Goddard's world, so read this one, which was new to me. It was slightly jarring, because in this one, her fantasy world overlaps with modern England, where a powerful mage is moonlighting as an actor and hanging out with Shakespeare, Robin Goodfellow, and Scheherazade. And also about to wrap up a centuries-long Game of good versus evil. This character is similar to the protagonist of Hands of the Emperor, in that he struggles to deal with/reveal his feelings (though this book was written first). And this does fill in some of the gaps of Goddard's world, too, which makes me eager to read the other ones I haven’t yet. B+.
I wanted to remain immersed in Goddard's world, so read this one, which was new to me. It was slightly jarring, because in this one, her fantasy world overlaps with modern England, where a powerful mage is moonlighting as an actor and hanging out with Shakespeare, Robin Goodfellow, and Scheherazade. And also about to wrap up a centuries-long Game of good versus evil. This character is similar to the protagonist of Hands of the Emperor, in that he struggles to deal with/reveal his feelings (though this book was written first). And this does fill in some of the gaps of Goddard's world, too, which makes me eager to read the other ones I haven’t yet. B+.
December 27, 2023
This was more readable the second time through, after I had immersed myself on the Nine Worlds and understood all of the in-world references. It was still somewhat hard going. It was the author‘s first novel, and I get the feeling of lots of stories all trying to bubble out at the same time.
April 18, 2025
Published back in 2014, this was author Victoria Goddard's debut novel -- and unfortunately, it shows. There are a few neat ideas with interesting implications for the writer's wider Nine Worlds saga, like how the empire of Astandalas originally fell, but it's an odd piece overall that only hints at her eventual talents. I do think existing fans should seek it out at some point, but I know that if I had started my journey through her work here, I likely would have never continued any further.
It's part of the basic premise and so not a spoiler, but the biggest revelation is that the setting of Ysthar, one of the titular linked realms in this fictional universe, is actually contemporary Earth. The worldbuilding here is pretty bare-bones, resembling Sandman or the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen at best and a generic urban fantasy at worst, as the fantastical elements are restrained and unnoticed by all regular people. Although there are magical folks like the main characters, they're a very small community whose membership mostly entails a preternaturally extended lifespan. Thus the protagonist's friends include William Shakespeare and Scheherazade under modern pseudonyms, while he himself is later revealed to have been the mythical Orpheus. (He's also an internationally famous movie star and the son of adventurers in the infamous Red Company, whose exploits are detailed elsewhere.)
A lot of these items represent impulses that Goddard has thankfully tempered as she's matured in her writing, and they're harder to swallow in the rough form herein. Too much is left oblique, especially concerning the centuries-long contest that the hero is locked into with his mortal foe Circe. We don't really get a good sense of the game or its rules, which means we likewise don't have the proper context for when those get broken. It sure feels as though the ramifications should be dire, but like many things about this story, that's presented vaguely and ultimately kept unexplained. Meanwhile, in lieu of any thoughtfully-constructed cultural diversity, we're given heavy Christian overtones in a divine messenger named Gabriel and an arch-enemy of God who used to be an angel called the Morning Star before he fell.
The emotional aspect is handled better. Raphael is a clear prototype of a sort of figure Goddard writes frequently: the soul suffering its traumas in lonely silence, yearning for the catharsis that estranged relations could provide but unable to muster the courage to ask them for it. Nobody in the mage's life even knows that he's secretly the grand Lord of Ysthar, responsible for keeping the world's magic on track, and he's withdrawn into himself so gradually that by the time they recognize it, no one seems able to bridge the divide. The surprise arrival of his long-lost brother helps kickstart a process to eventually fix that, and the back half of the text (after an anticlimactic apparent end to the deadly peril midway through) is all about him slowly learning to voice his problems and let them go.
It's nice for the most part, and if you're a reader who coasts on vibes, I imagine you might appreciate it more than I have. But having seen a similar atmosphere applied to a stronger plot framework and more distinctive / coherent fantasy trappings in works like The Hands of The Emperor, this title is a definite second fiddle.
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It's part of the basic premise and so not a spoiler, but the biggest revelation is that the setting of Ysthar, one of the titular linked realms in this fictional universe, is actually contemporary Earth. The worldbuilding here is pretty bare-bones, resembling Sandman or the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen at best and a generic urban fantasy at worst, as the fantastical elements are restrained and unnoticed by all regular people. Although there are magical folks like the main characters, they're a very small community whose membership mostly entails a preternaturally extended lifespan. Thus the protagonist's friends include William Shakespeare and Scheherazade under modern pseudonyms, while he himself is later revealed to have been the mythical Orpheus. (He's also an internationally famous movie star and the son of adventurers in the infamous Red Company, whose exploits are detailed elsewhere.)
A lot of these items represent impulses that Goddard has thankfully tempered as she's matured in her writing, and they're harder to swallow in the rough form herein. Too much is left oblique, especially concerning the centuries-long contest that the hero is locked into with his mortal foe Circe. We don't really get a good sense of the game or its rules, which means we likewise don't have the proper context for when those get broken. It sure feels as though the ramifications should be dire, but like many things about this story, that's presented vaguely and ultimately kept unexplained. Meanwhile, in lieu of any thoughtfully-constructed cultural diversity, we're given heavy Christian overtones in a divine messenger named Gabriel and an arch-enemy of God who used to be an angel called the Morning Star before he fell.
The emotional aspect is handled better. Raphael is a clear prototype of a sort of figure Goddard writes frequently: the soul suffering its traumas in lonely silence, yearning for the catharsis that estranged relations could provide but unable to muster the courage to ask them for it. Nobody in the mage's life even knows that he's secretly the grand Lord of Ysthar, responsible for keeping the world's magic on track, and he's withdrawn into himself so gradually that by the time they recognize it, no one seems able to bridge the divide. The surprise arrival of his long-lost brother helps kickstart a process to eventually fix that, and the back half of the text (after an anticlimactic apparent end to the deadly peril midway through) is all about him slowly learning to voice his problems and let them go.
It's nice for the most part, and if you're a reader who coasts on vibes, I imagine you might appreciate it more than I have. But having seen a similar atmosphere applied to a stronger plot framework and more distinctive / coherent fantasy trappings in works like The Hands of The Emperor, this title is a definite second fiddle.
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August 11, 2023
eu coloquei 4 estrelas mas honestamente não sei que nota dar, foi uma leitura diferente?, em vezes monótono e em outros momentos absurdamente emocional, a história toda é um estudo sobre luto e sobreviver ao luto e o que vem depois, fez com que a leitura fosse um pouco mais densa, pois a maioria da história se passa dentro da mente do protagonista, os conflitos são todos mentais
e acho que a melhor coisa que eu fiz foi não ler a sinopse pois tem uma revelação no meio do livro que eu não sabia e me pegou de surpresa e todo aquele capítulo foi destruidor do meu emocional e quase chorei no ônibus e não sei se teria o mesmo impacto pois logo na sinopse tem essa revelação, ganho muito ao ler os livros da victoria goddard sem saber muito sobre
é um livro cheios de referência literárias e essas referências tem um papel importante na história então é recomendável procurar saber da onde elas vem caso não saiba, deixam a história ainda mais rica
e absolutamente insano que esse é o primeiro livro publicado de nine worlds, tem tanta revelação de lore nesse livro e honestamente não estava esperando, me deixou com mais vontade de continuar a ler essa série pois quero respostas!!
ainda acho que a melhor forma de começar nine worlds é por the hands of the emperor, mas se dependendo do quão insana é a pessoa tem ai till human voices wake us como ponto introdutório
“(Which way I turn is hell; myself am hell.)
Waiting for death, she was smiling.
Waiting for life, he was terrified.
(And where is your soul in all these errands of yours? )”
e acho que a melhor coisa que eu fiz foi não ler a sinopse pois tem uma revelação no meio do livro que eu não sabia e me pegou de surpresa e todo aquele capítulo foi destruidor do meu emocional e quase chorei no ônibus e não sei se teria o mesmo impacto pois logo na sinopse tem essa revelação, ganho muito ao ler os livros da victoria goddard sem saber muito sobre
é um livro cheios de referência literárias e essas referências tem um papel importante na história então é recomendável procurar saber da onde elas vem caso não saiba, deixam a história ainda mais rica
e absolutamente insano que esse é o primeiro livro publicado de nine worlds, tem tanta revelação de lore nesse livro e honestamente não estava esperando, me deixou com mais vontade de continuar a ler essa série pois quero respostas!!
ainda acho que a melhor forma de começar nine worlds é por the hands of the emperor, mas se dependendo do quão insana é a pessoa tem ai till human voices wake us como ponto introdutório
“(Which way I turn is hell; myself am hell.)
Waiting for death, she was smiling.
Waiting for life, he was terrified.
(And where is your soul in all these errands of yours? )”
July 21, 2024
Actual rating: 4.5
I put this of all Goddard's books off for a while because at some point I learned that the world this book takes place on is and always has been just our world with a secret magic society, with characters like Shakespeare being pretty central, and honestly that did not appeal to me at all. However! I was incredibly pleased to realize that finally having read this, also (I think?) her first novel, it was incredible. The poetry and the atmosphere is incredibly beautiful to read, and Raphael is the angstiest character I've ever read, and I love me some good justifiable angst with a happy ending. I can see where the character of Fitzroy stemmed from Raphael as they're quite similar (plus Kip's bad relationship and misunderstandings with relatives) but knowing this came first helped me put it into perspective. Also, unlike them, Raphael has done some pretty bad shit in his 12,000 years (!!) of life but honestly living that long sort of justifies it, at least for me. This was ultimately an incredibly poignent book about the saddest person in the world really Going Through It and coming out better at the end. And honestly? I'm here for it. Very excited to see more Raphael in the future.
I put this of all Goddard's books off for a while because at some point I learned that the world this book takes place on is and always has been just our world with a secret magic society, with characters like Shakespeare being pretty central, and honestly that did not appeal to me at all. However! I was incredibly pleased to realize that finally having read this, also (I think?) her first novel, it was incredible. The poetry and the atmosphere is incredibly beautiful to read, and Raphael is the angstiest character I've ever read, and I love me some good justifiable angst with a happy ending. I can see where the character of Fitzroy stemmed from Raphael as they're quite similar (plus Kip's bad relationship and misunderstandings with relatives) but knowing this came first helped me put it into perspective. Also, unlike them, Raphael has done some pretty bad shit in his 12,000 years (!!) of life but honestly living that long sort of justifies it, at least for me. This was ultimately an incredibly poignent book about the saddest person in the world really Going Through It and coming out better at the end. And honestly? I'm here for it. Very excited to see more Raphael in the future.
July 2, 2023
This is a rich and complex book despite being written from a single point of view. I am glad I read this book after Victoria Goddard's other books set in the nine worlds. I enjoyed the references to other characters and places. Raphael is Lord of Ysthar although even his closest friends do not know that. He has assumed numerous identities over the millenia of his life, the current one being a Holywood star and Shakespearian actor. He puts responsibility for the safety of his world before everything, living in loneliness and never sharing his burdens with his friends or with his twin brother who unexpectedly arrives on his doorstep. This is not only the rather gripping story of his centuries long, ruthless sorcerous competition for the rule of Ysthar, but of Raphael learning deal with grief and how to trust the people he cares for. Despite the violence of the sorcerous contest, I found this an appealingly gentle book about the kindness and loyalty of friends.
December 2, 2024
Usually the potential death of the protagonist (along with catastrophic consequences for the entire planet if he falls) would be adequate stakes, and
January 16, 2023
I'm really happy that in this book we find out why Astandalas fell. I'm still rather confused about the geography of Ysthar/Earth; the timeline seems clear, that the Fall of Astandalus happened millenia ago. The magic is beautiful as usual in VG's books; the hero is dutiful and rather melancholic, but attracting good friends. As usual with her books, it did not go where I expected it to go (although not as off the rails as some of her longer works) I've not idea how well this would stand alone.
November 10, 2019
I'd already fallen in love with Goddard's Greenwing and Dart series, and enjoyed The Sisters Avramapul novellas, so I dived into this book confidently. I absolutely love it. Though the plot seems to end somewhere halfway through the book, the story doesn't - and that story is about learning to accept love and friendship. It's a deeper story, and I could see how some might not like it, but I found it really beautiful. And Goddard's writing is also exquisite.
September 1, 2021
This book was beautifully written. The first half was tight and directed and came to a perfect but unexpected (to me) conclusion. The second half was much looser and almost felt like it came to no conclusion at all. That fits very well with what's going on with the main character, but I found it slightly less satisfying as a reader. Perhaps because of that, I keep thinking about this book and what it accomplished.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 21, 2022
I kind of wonder if this is an earlier book of hers, because it has some of the themes I love so much in her other books, but clunkier and more confusing.
It took me a while to get past the enormous amount of hinted backstory and into the plot, but once I did this was hard to put down. I was very entertained that the battle wasn't the climax, but was instead only halfway through, and the actual climax was about Raphael and his relationships.
It took me a while to get past the enormous amount of hinted backstory and into the plot, but once I did this was hard to put down. I was very entertained that the battle wasn't the climax, but was instead only halfway through, and the actual climax was about Raphael and his relationships.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 31, 2021
I’m incredibly confused, but that doesn’t mean this wasn’t lovely or moving (it was. Oh it was! I don’t think Victoria could ever write something that won’t make me emotional)
But definitely do not start your perusal of the Nine Worlds here 😅 I promise she’s gotten better at writing a bit more straightforward.
But definitely do not start your perusal of the Nine Worlds here 😅 I promise she’s gotten better at writing a bit more straightforward.
July 4, 2023
A book about letting go of grief and about trusting your friends. I think I would have liked it even better if I'd known my classics - lots of quoting famous authors. I feel like there was a bit of.. magical realism? I never know what to call it, that feeling of "I don't quite know what I'm reading but it's beautiful".
October 27, 2023
So far my least favorite of the 9 worlds books, and to me it felt early. So I think I might have enjoyed it more had I encountered it sooner, because I don't think it has the polish and the joy of her later works. I am fascinated at how her mind weaves Earth in, and glad to learn more of any of these stories. It just felt overly literary.
July 21, 2020
I have not read T. S. Eliot’s poem.
I am glad I read "In the Realms of Gold" before this. This book was entertaining and thought provoking. I act a role when I leave the house. I would like co-workers and causal friends to like me for me. My job and social expectations bind.
I am glad I read "In the Realms of Gold" before this. This book was entertaining and thought provoking. I act a role when I leave the house. I would like co-workers and causal friends to like me for me. My job and social expectations bind.
June 6, 2021
I absolutely loved it...I immediately reread most chapters. The story takes place over a week and mostly in Raphael's head, and it is just beautifully written. I want to read the stories of all the events that came before, and definitely what comes next.
December 27, 2021
Very strange
I’m still not quite sure what I read, there. It was fascinating to see Raphael change, and to learn more about his story and the Fall. Those time differences are really throwing me, though. This one felt kind of like a Michael Moorcock story, really.
I’m still not quite sure what I read, there. It was fascinating to see Raphael change, and to learn more about his story and the Fall. Those time differences are really throwing me, though. This one felt kind of like a Michael Moorcock story, really.
January 6, 2022
A Marvelous Puzzle
A puzzle that is assembled bit by bit through the course of the book- until we and the king of Isthar himself finally come to know and understand who, and what, and even why he is. Wonderfully well-written and engaging.
A puzzle that is assembled bit by bit through the course of the book- until we and the king of Isthar himself finally come to know and understand who, and what, and even why he is. Wonderfully well-written and engaging.
June 11, 2023
Amazing
Oh, my heart ached for Raphael. I don't know why I didn't read this sooner. This is one of those stories that needs to be savored instead of racing through. Perfect ending. Thank you, dear author.
Oh, my heart ached for Raphael. I don't know why I didn't read this sooner. This is one of those stories that needs to be savored instead of racing through. Perfect ending. Thank you, dear author.
January 1, 2024
I truly love this author but this is not like the rest of the red company books. As a consequence I did have a hard time getting into it. This book was more about emotions. The book is not about divorce but I seemed to read a lot of feelings I experienced in my divorce here.
July 8, 2024
I enjoyed this, but would not recommend reading it unless you are already well entrenched in the world of the nine realms. It gave a lot of interesting magical context and had a lovely story, but also took joy in its own esoteric nature.
March 7, 2022
The world building here is phenomenal! I really enjoy Goddard's books!
April 5, 2022
This HURT to read but I think in a good way--
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