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No One's Chosen
Librarian's Note: This is an alternate-cover edition for No One's Chosen — ISBN 9781497560598
For fifteen-thousand years, the elves have battled the hippocamp races to protect their homeland. Though it has been this way for untold ages, war will always touch some more than others.
Socair has dedicated her life to being a warrior. She is a pillar of strength and justice, but those around her do not always share her purity of motivation.
Óraithe has never led a gifted life and neither would she wish for one. The highborn elves of the desert have made her life miserable and she can think of no better way to repay them but in kind.
Rianaire is the carefree ruler of the mountain elves of the north. While her rule has given the elves of Spéirbaile an age of prosperity, not all among her court appreciate the way she has moved from the values of the past.
Aile is a Drow who loves coin and secrets. Far too pragmatic to be called a hedonist, she goes where the trail of coin leads and does what is asked, no matter the cost to those upon whom her blades are turned.
Each of them will find that war does not just occur on the fields of battle. Each of them will be touched by the cost of their own war, some more than others.
For fifteen-thousand years, the elves have battled the hippocamp races to protect their homeland. Though it has been this way for untold ages, war will always touch some more than others.
Socair has dedicated her life to being a warrior. She is a pillar of strength and justice, but those around her do not always share her purity of motivation.
Óraithe has never led a gifted life and neither would she wish for one. The highborn elves of the desert have made her life miserable and she can think of no better way to repay them but in kind.
Rianaire is the carefree ruler of the mountain elves of the north. While her rule has given the elves of Spéirbaile an age of prosperity, not all among her court appreciate the way she has moved from the values of the past.
Aile is a Drow who loves coin and secrets. Far too pragmatic to be called a hedonist, she goes where the trail of coin leads and does what is asked, no matter the cost to those upon whom her blades are turned.
Each of them will find that war does not just occur on the fields of battle. Each of them will be touched by the cost of their own war, some more than others.
- GenresFantasyHigh Fantasy
592 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2014
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August 11, 2016
I wanted to like this book but I didn't. It's not just one thing but a sort of supply chain of them each urging the other onward. The story is about four women in a mythical world. One is a warrior, one an orphaned young girl, one a sovereign, one a mercenary. All are elves of one sort or another. Each has their individual introductory chapter in the beginning of the book. All have different strengths and weaknesses and I enjoyed the way the author wove one story into the next. The world they inhabit is at war and the author does a good job describing the warring factions, landscapes, the unique populations and the political and societal intrigues.
I found much of the dialogue sexually suggestive and coarse. I don't live with my head in the sand. Sexuality is natural and I understand the author was making a point about the place and time and the protagonists' sexual choices. But the character's sexual encounters felt strained and contrived, their proclivities just another literary element to be checked off a list of necessary strategies for writing a contemporary novel. Unfortunately, rather than making the women appear strong and sexually confident their language and actions caused them to come across as caricatures and I pitied them to be used so.
The profanity seems to materialize out of nowhere. One minute the character is speaking organically the next... shock value. It felt forced. As if the author thought, "Hmmmm, this looks like a good spot to toss in a four letter word...." Profanity doesn't traumatize or offend me. I've even been known to toss out a few colorful words now and then. But what does offend me is when base profanity is used merely to marvel me, as a reader I feel played. It felt stilted and unnecessary and took me outside the story. Its use is quite arbitrary, without any foreshadowing or inspiration. It has no legs. The dialogue just doesn't come off, and awkwardly doesn't line up with the voice I believe the author was attempting to give his characters. It felt exactly like what it was, a man writing dialogue for women in an attempt to make them sound tough, edgy and capable in roles conventionally held by men. Even though the convention is flawed and anachronistic. There are better ways and the author would do well to explore them.
So for me the book started off awkwardly, something very few authors can correct in time to pull me back into the story. Other than this, the biggest problem for me is when the author attempts to voice his women in first person. This is no Madame Bovary. This author fared far better when he switched to third person because then as a reader I wasn't forced to buy into the lack of it. It is commendable but often a minefield for a male author to even attempt first person female. To be fair, authors of all genders are capable of empathetic gender dialogue. Although rare it can be done and done richly and authentically. Two more current books I've read in which I remained happily unaware there was a man behind the women's dialogue are William Boyd's, Brazzaville Beach and Arthur Golden's, Memoirs of a Geisha. I was so immersed in these stories that I was three-quarters through them before I realized this singular revelation.
Also, there are so many odd and unusual terms, place and character names I kept losing my way. I needed a scorecard. A listing of characters, places and terminology with perhaps a map or two would help immeasurably. Hopefully the finished novel will contain such. And speaking of characters I didn't connect with many of them and could have cared less what became of them. The author did try. He gave me every opportunity to connect with some strange idiosyncrasy, flaw, angsty background or heroic deed but I failed. I did like Aile. I felt she was the most three dimensional character and had the most authentically written backstory to make it interesting. So at least a partial victory.
In its favor, the action sequences are well written, a combination of show and tell which I prefer to an author just trying to show me everything. It's okay to tell me the couch is brown and shabby and the prince is tall and handsome. Mr. Fitzgerald is a talented author. His descriptive powers are well honed, his characters do come to life and his story idea is interesting. But even with these positives I had to force myself to finish the book. It was a chore not a delight. I think I'll pass on the next book in the series.
Two and a half of five stars.
I was generously provided an ARC of this book via Story Cartel for my honest review. I wish to thank the author and Story Cartel.
I found much of the dialogue sexually suggestive and coarse. I don't live with my head in the sand. Sexuality is natural and I understand the author was making a point about the place and time and the protagonists' sexual choices. But the character's sexual encounters felt strained and contrived, their proclivities just another literary element to be checked off a list of necessary strategies for writing a contemporary novel. Unfortunately, rather than making the women appear strong and sexually confident their language and actions caused them to come across as caricatures and I pitied them to be used so.
The profanity seems to materialize out of nowhere. One minute the character is speaking organically the next... shock value. It felt forced. As if the author thought, "Hmmmm, this looks like a good spot to toss in a four letter word...." Profanity doesn't traumatize or offend me. I've even been known to toss out a few colorful words now and then. But what does offend me is when base profanity is used merely to marvel me, as a reader I feel played. It felt stilted and unnecessary and took me outside the story. Its use is quite arbitrary, without any foreshadowing or inspiration. It has no legs. The dialogue just doesn't come off, and awkwardly doesn't line up with the voice I believe the author was attempting to give his characters. It felt exactly like what it was, a man writing dialogue for women in an attempt to make them sound tough, edgy and capable in roles conventionally held by men. Even though the convention is flawed and anachronistic. There are better ways and the author would do well to explore them.
So for me the book started off awkwardly, something very few authors can correct in time to pull me back into the story. Other than this, the biggest problem for me is when the author attempts to voice his women in first person. This is no Madame Bovary. This author fared far better when he switched to third person because then as a reader I wasn't forced to buy into the lack of it. It is commendable but often a minefield for a male author to even attempt first person female. To be fair, authors of all genders are capable of empathetic gender dialogue. Although rare it can be done and done richly and authentically. Two more current books I've read in which I remained happily unaware there was a man behind the women's dialogue are William Boyd's, Brazzaville Beach and Arthur Golden's, Memoirs of a Geisha. I was so immersed in these stories that I was three-quarters through them before I realized this singular revelation.
Also, there are so many odd and unusual terms, place and character names I kept losing my way. I needed a scorecard. A listing of characters, places and terminology with perhaps a map or two would help immeasurably. Hopefully the finished novel will contain such. And speaking of characters I didn't connect with many of them and could have cared less what became of them. The author did try. He gave me every opportunity to connect with some strange idiosyncrasy, flaw, angsty background or heroic deed but I failed. I did like Aile. I felt she was the most three dimensional character and had the most authentically written backstory to make it interesting. So at least a partial victory.
In its favor, the action sequences are well written, a combination of show and tell which I prefer to an author just trying to show me everything. It's okay to tell me the couch is brown and shabby and the prince is tall and handsome. Mr. Fitzgerald is a talented author. His descriptive powers are well honed, his characters do come to life and his story idea is interesting. But even with these positives I had to force myself to finish the book. It was a chore not a delight. I think I'll pass on the next book in the series.
Two and a half of five stars.
I was generously provided an ARC of this book via Story Cartel for my honest review. I wish to thank the author and Story Cartel.
May 5, 2017
I picked up this book because I saw it on Instagram, loved the cover, and the caption said “If you like the Dragon Age video game series, you’ll love this book!” Well, I love the Dragon Age series by Bioware, but this was not that at all. It has elves just like Dragon Age, but the similarities end there. And they don’t even really feel like elves… But I’m getting ahead of myself. “No One’s Chosen” follows along as four very different elven women, a queen of sorts, a mercenary assassin (she’s a drow if you are familiar with the classic dungeons and dragons version of the dark skinned elves), a warrior, and a street rat orphan (she’s not as suave as Aladdin though), as they go about their lives in a mythical land where they are plagued by the horse people, centaurs and satyrs basically. But these villains only make an appearance for a few of the women, the rest of the time the elves do a very good job brutalizing their own kind.
Now, before I get into the meat of the review, I will start by saying that if profanity, violence, and sexual content including rape, bother you at all, then skip this book. The author has a tendency to treat language, violence, and even rape a bit casually. Language and sex is treated EXTREMELY casually, actually. I generally don’t care if swear words or sex are used in any kind of media, but they should be used with a purpose otherwise it comes off as just something to include for shock value. Especially when the swear words used are more of the “hardcore” variety, you know, those that start with “c” and automatically make you cringe? Fitzgerald uses THOSE words a lot, so fair warning.
There is a lot going on in this first book, almost too much as the story of these four different women gets muddled as they aren’t generally connected. Outside of two of the main characters gravitating in a bit of the same circle, the other two don’t encounter the others or even have to contend with the same sorts of issues. If this book had just focused on the drow and the queen, the two whose stories are the most interconnected, it would have read a great deal smoother and been easier to follow. While the warrior and the orphan’s stories weren’t uninteresting per-se, they also didn’t feel connected and so I struggled to see what value their experiences brought other than to perhaps do a built of world building. But there’s just so much fat in this book, whole chapters worth, where nothing really happens to move the story along and only serves to slow down whatever momentum was built with the last character. It’s a good practice in theory, have one characters chapter end on a cliff hanger so you want to keep reading the next to hurry up and get back to the meat of things, but that tactic is negated when you have two to three chapters of other characters in-between. Then it just becomes cumbersome.
Ultimately, that was my biggest issue. This story could have really benefited from a critique partner or editor going through it first and highlighting the unnecessary parts, the info dumps, the parts that are confusing and slow the reader down, or just not a good idea to include (I won’t spoil anything, but the ending of the book is awful because of that, it includes something that makes you hate a character and that’s where the book ends! Not a good Idea in my opinion), and then cutting those out to make for a cleaner story. The author could have also benefited from some editing with the dialogue as the character tones are not consistent and then tend to blend together where suddenly some of the warriors are speaking very, very proper when they hadn’t before, and same with the orphan… It just clashes with who these characters are supposed to be and what they should speak like because of that.
There is a good idea in there with characters that have potential for real growth, but it gets so lost that it prevented me from ever establishing an emotional connection with any of the characters and, therefore, because this first book was so long and I don’t feel like much was resolved, I don’t care to continue with the series. Also, I am a fan of changing the tropes around what you think elves should or should not be, but nothing about these elves felt like they were creatures of fantasy. They just felt like people, people with a loose sense of monogamy and sexuality, but people all the same. Some of them perform magic like the queen character, but then that’s just a mage really, not an elf mage. I’d have liked to encounter more of what made the elves unique and less of the orgies.
I wanted to like this book because I like fantasy and elves in particular (I mean, they are co-stars in my own fantasy series as well). But there was too much in the way for me to really get into this story, let alone the series. But because the potential is there for a compelling story, I’d give it 2.5 – 3 stars as is. If the author has later editions of this story where some things are cleaned up a bit, I may return and continue on in the world that Fitzgerald has created.
Now, before I get into the meat of the review, I will start by saying that if profanity, violence, and sexual content including rape, bother you at all, then skip this book. The author has a tendency to treat language, violence, and even rape a bit casually. Language and sex is treated EXTREMELY casually, actually. I generally don’t care if swear words or sex are used in any kind of media, but they should be used with a purpose otherwise it comes off as just something to include for shock value. Especially when the swear words used are more of the “hardcore” variety, you know, those that start with “c” and automatically make you cringe? Fitzgerald uses THOSE words a lot, so fair warning.
There is a lot going on in this first book, almost too much as the story of these four different women gets muddled as they aren’t generally connected. Outside of two of the main characters gravitating in a bit of the same circle, the other two don’t encounter the others or even have to contend with the same sorts of issues. If this book had just focused on the drow and the queen, the two whose stories are the most interconnected, it would have read a great deal smoother and been easier to follow. While the warrior and the orphan’s stories weren’t uninteresting per-se, they also didn’t feel connected and so I struggled to see what value their experiences brought other than to perhaps do a built of world building. But there’s just so much fat in this book, whole chapters worth, where nothing really happens to move the story along and only serves to slow down whatever momentum was built with the last character. It’s a good practice in theory, have one characters chapter end on a cliff hanger so you want to keep reading the next to hurry up and get back to the meat of things, but that tactic is negated when you have two to three chapters of other characters in-between. Then it just becomes cumbersome.
Ultimately, that was my biggest issue. This story could have really benefited from a critique partner or editor going through it first and highlighting the unnecessary parts, the info dumps, the parts that are confusing and slow the reader down, or just not a good idea to include (I won’t spoil anything, but the ending of the book is awful because of that, it includes something that makes you hate a character and that’s where the book ends! Not a good Idea in my opinion), and then cutting those out to make for a cleaner story. The author could have also benefited from some editing with the dialogue as the character tones are not consistent and then tend to blend together where suddenly some of the warriors are speaking very, very proper when they hadn’t before, and same with the orphan… It just clashes with who these characters are supposed to be and what they should speak like because of that.
There is a good idea in there with characters that have potential for real growth, but it gets so lost that it prevented me from ever establishing an emotional connection with any of the characters and, therefore, because this first book was so long and I don’t feel like much was resolved, I don’t care to continue with the series. Also, I am a fan of changing the tropes around what you think elves should or should not be, but nothing about these elves felt like they were creatures of fantasy. They just felt like people, people with a loose sense of monogamy and sexuality, but people all the same. Some of them perform magic like the queen character, but then that’s just a mage really, not an elf mage. I’d have liked to encounter more of what made the elves unique and less of the orgies.
I wanted to like this book because I like fantasy and elves in particular (I mean, they are co-stars in my own fantasy series as well). But there was too much in the way for me to really get into this story, let alone the series. But because the potential is there for a compelling story, I’d give it 2.5 – 3 stars as is. If the author has later editions of this story where some things are cleaned up a bit, I may return and continue on in the world that Fitzgerald has created.
March 3, 2017
This is the second book by Randall P. Fitzgerald that I've read. Altogether different from Cyberpunk Trashcan - in a wonderful way.
No One's Chosen follows the story of four elven women living in a time of ongoing war. Each of the four main characters is from a different walk of life and Fitzgerald does a wonderful job of exploring their roles and responses to the chaos around them. From the ruler who responds to a threat of being overthrown, to an assassin for hire who must respond swiftly after being double crossed, the story is interesting and engaging from the first page to the last.
This high fantasy novel is a slow burn at the start, but by the midway point I couldn't put it down. No One's Chosen is the first book of a series and I look forward to visiting this world of elves, politics and war heroes again soon.
No One's Chosen follows the story of four elven women living in a time of ongoing war. Each of the four main characters is from a different walk of life and Fitzgerald does a wonderful job of exploring their roles and responses to the chaos around them. From the ruler who responds to a threat of being overthrown, to an assassin for hire who must respond swiftly after being double crossed, the story is interesting and engaging from the first page to the last.
This high fantasy novel is a slow burn at the start, but by the midway point I couldn't put it down. No One's Chosen is the first book of a series and I look forward to visiting this world of elves, politics and war heroes again soon.
October 23, 2017
I bought this (and other books) from Mr Fitzgerald at a convention in August 2016. I purchased the books on a whim thinking I'd help out a local author and I was intrigued by the descriptions. I'm extrmely glad I did. Once I started reading, I had a difficult time putting his books down.
No One's Chosen is really four stories intertwined into one excellent novel. All four take place in the same world and rarely cross paths. However, Mr Fitzgerald expertly conveys the consequences of the actions of one party to the remaining 3 groups. All four have very distinct personalities and Mr Fitzgerald keeps each one believable...annoyingly so at times.
Socair is the first character we're introduced to. My first thought was she was the typical cliché fantasy heroine. Rising through the ranks through talent and an almost supernatural ability to pull herself out of the fire. Not overly unique or impressive by itself and not a big pull for me to dig into the novel. However, she eventually distinguishes herself from a typical fantasy heroine. The choices she is forced to make and the tenacity of her conviction, despite the consequences that are apparent pulled me into the story and made her an enjoyable character.
Óraithe is the next character we meet and I almost immedately disliked her. Kudos to Mr Fitzgerald for writing her so well as to make me want to strangle her. Young and idealistic, but annoyingly naive. Óraithe quickly learns that all actions have consequences and not always ones we expect or choose. She gets some hard lessons along the way and it's not until her last section, or my reflection after reading, that I decided I really liked her.
Rianaire is next and I immediately fell in love with her. In short, she's the perverted best friend I wish I had. Changing the status quo is never an easy thing and she is forced to live up to her responsibilities whether she wants to or not. She gets a rude awakening as to how far people will go to preserve thier own self interests, but manages to rise above her challenges and still keep those qualities I liked best about her.
Aile is last but in no way least. Where Socair is the heroine, Aile is the anti-heroine but in no way a cliché. She is truly out for herself and will go to ANY lengths to achieve her goals. While her actions are definitely questionable, I'd stop just short of saying she's evil. Aile is an incredibly strong character to round out the book and probably my second favorite in the novel.
I highly recommend No One's Chosen and I will be reading this one again, likely multiple times. I feel I've done Mr Fitzgerald a disservice by waiting so long after reading to review this novel (due entirely to my own laziness). My apologies.
No One's Chosen is really four stories intertwined into one excellent novel. All four take place in the same world and rarely cross paths. However, Mr Fitzgerald expertly conveys the consequences of the actions of one party to the remaining 3 groups. All four have very distinct personalities and Mr Fitzgerald keeps each one believable...annoyingly so at times.
Socair is the first character we're introduced to. My first thought was she was the typical cliché fantasy heroine. Rising through the ranks through talent and an almost supernatural ability to pull herself out of the fire. Not overly unique or impressive by itself and not a big pull for me to dig into the novel. However, she eventually distinguishes herself from a typical fantasy heroine. The choices she is forced to make and the tenacity of her conviction, despite the consequences that are apparent pulled me into the story and made her an enjoyable character.
Óraithe is the next character we meet and I almost immedately disliked her. Kudos to Mr Fitzgerald for writing her so well as to make me want to strangle her. Young and idealistic, but annoyingly naive. Óraithe quickly learns that all actions have consequences and not always ones we expect or choose. She gets some hard lessons along the way and it's not until her last section, or my reflection after reading, that I decided I really liked her.
Rianaire is next and I immediately fell in love with her. In short, she's the perverted best friend I wish I had. Changing the status quo is never an easy thing and she is forced to live up to her responsibilities whether she wants to or not. She gets a rude awakening as to how far people will go to preserve thier own self interests, but manages to rise above her challenges and still keep those qualities I liked best about her.
Aile is last but in no way least. Where Socair is the heroine, Aile is the anti-heroine but in no way a cliché. She is truly out for herself and will go to ANY lengths to achieve her goals. While her actions are definitely questionable, I'd stop just short of saying she's evil. Aile is an incredibly strong character to round out the book and probably my second favorite in the novel.
I highly recommend No One's Chosen and I will be reading this one again, likely multiple times. I feel I've done Mr Fitzgerald a disservice by waiting so long after reading to review this novel (due entirely to my own laziness). My apologies.
August 8, 2016
Disclaimer: I received an ebook in exchange for a review.
I loved this book. I had no trouble following the 4 main characters, and loved how their stories intertwined in small moments throughout that the reader recognized while the characters did not. I found that each POV was clear and distinct from the others, which made the overall plot more interesting. There were some typos, but thankfully not enough to interrupt my enjoyment of the book. I want to share more of my thoughts but I don't want to ruin the build-up the book produces when read the first time. The ending made me very eager for the next installment.
I am putting this author on my must-read-everything-written list.
I loved this book. I had no trouble following the 4 main characters, and loved how their stories intertwined in small moments throughout that the reader recognized while the characters did not. I found that each POV was clear and distinct from the others, which made the overall plot more interesting. There were some typos, but thankfully not enough to interrupt my enjoyment of the book. I want to share more of my thoughts but I don't want to ruin the build-up the book produces when read the first time. The ending made me very eager for the next installment.
I am putting this author on my must-read-everything-written list.
August 4, 2016
Well written! Author put a lot investment developing a complex plot with some truly complex characters. From a sadistic assasin, warrior of truly noble ideals to a hedonistic-idealistic ruler. Waiting to read the next phase of the saga.
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