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Exiles #1
The Ruins of Ambrai
The first book of the Exiles trilogy introduces a magical world of political intrigue and family secrets that may determine the fate of an entire nation.
A thousand years ago, Mageborns fled prejudice and persecution to colonize the planet Lenfell—pristine, untouched, a perfect refuge for those whose powers were perceived as a threat by people not gifted with magic. But the greater the magic, the greater the peril—and Lenfell was soon devastated by a war between rival Mageborn factions that polluted land, sea, and air with Wild Magic and unleashed the hideous specters known as Wraithenbeasts.
Generations after that terrible war, with the land recovered from crippling wounds and the people no longer threatened by genetic damage, Mageborns still practice their craft—but under strict constraints. Yet so long as the rivalry between the Mage Guardians and the Lords of Malerris continues, the threat of another war is ever-present. And someone has been planning just such a war for many long years, the final strike in a generations-old bid for total power....
A thousand years ago, Mageborns fled prejudice and persecution to colonize the planet Lenfell—pristine, untouched, a perfect refuge for those whose powers were perceived as a threat by people not gifted with magic. But the greater the magic, the greater the peril—and Lenfell was soon devastated by a war between rival Mageborn factions that polluted land, sea, and air with Wild Magic and unleashed the hideous specters known as Wraithenbeasts.
Generations after that terrible war, with the land recovered from crippling wounds and the people no longer threatened by genetic damage, Mageborns still practice their craft—but under strict constraints. Yet so long as the rivalry between the Mage Guardians and the Lords of Malerris continues, the threat of another war is ever-present. And someone has been planning just such a war for many long years, the final strike in a generations-old bid for total power....
836 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1994
111 people are currently reading
6186 people want to read
About the author
Melanie Rawn
77 books1,236 followersMelanie Rawn received a BA in history from Scripps College and worked as a teacher and editor before becoming a writer.
She has been nominated for a Locus award on three separate occasions: in 1989 for Dragon Prince (in the first novel category), in 1994 for Skybowl (in the fantasy novel category), and again in 1995 for Ruins of Ambrai (in the fantasy novel category).
She has been nominated for a Locus award on three separate occasions: in 1989 for Dragon Prince (in the first novel category), in 1994 for Skybowl (in the fantasy novel category), and again in 1995 for Ruins of Ambrai (in the fantasy novel category).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 215 reviews
May 22, 2012
I loved this book, but I would recommend against picking it up. If you read this and the sequel, the story draws you in and leaves you wanting to know what happens next, along with a bit of what happened in the past as some of the backstory has not yet been revealed. But the third book in the series is MIA, and has been for decades. It may come out one day, it may not. However, my feeling is that reading something that leaves you this hungry for more is just an exercise in futility until that one is released. If you want to read some Melanie Rawn, read her Dragon Prince/Star books, or the new ones she's been working on.
December 26, 2016
Like a multitude of fantasy readers of my generation, I was a big fan of Melanie Rawn's Dragon Prince and Dragon Star series back in the 90s. And when The Ruins of Ambrai, first volume in the Exiles trilogy, was published in 1994, I purchased the hardcover edition as soon as it came out. Did the same when its sequel, The Mageborn Traitor, was released. Daunted by the proliferation of big fantasy series on the market, like I did with several other SFF sequences, I elected not to read them until the entire trilogy was done. Which, in this case at least, was a good thing. For as most of you know, the final installment, The Captal's Tower, has yet to see the light. But now that Rawn began working on the third volume last year, I've decided that it was high time to give this series a shot.
According to most of the author's fans, Exiles is by far Rawn's best work to date. Understandably, I had lofty expectations when I sat down to read The Ruins of Ambrai. Other than her latest high fantasy series, The Glass Thorns, published by Tor Books, I've read everything she has written. Hence, I know what she brings to the dance, so far be it from me to doubt anyone's claim that this trilogy is Melanie Rawn writing at the top of her game. But as I've said before, expectations have a way to come back and bite you in the ass, and this is exactly what happened to me with this one.
After a confusing beginning and an uninspired few hundred pages, I had a feeling that this novel would be a complete disaster. I mean, nothing worked for me and this was by far the author's weakest book that I had ever read. I should have known better than to throw in the towel, for Rawn came through with a captivating engame and an interesting finale. Sadly, it wasn't enough to save the book. It's not a total loss, mind you, and I do want to read the subsequent volumes to discover what happens next. But even though it got better toward the end, The Ruins of Ambrai suffers from too many shortcomings to be a satisfying reading experience in its own right. Given how much love this series has been getting over the years, one has to wonder if The Mageborn Traitor raises the bar to another level, for the first installment cannot possibly warrant that much appreciation. Only time will tell. . .
Here's the blurb:
A thousand years ago, Mageborns fled prejudice and persecution to colonize the planet Lenfell—pristine, untouched, a perfect refuge for those whose powers were perceived as a threat by people not gifted with magic. But the greater the magic, the greater the peril—and Lenfell was soon devastated by a war between rival Mageborn factions that polluted land, sea, and air with Wild Magic and unleashed the hideous specters known as Wraithenbeasts.
Generations after that terrible war, with the land recovered from crippling wounds and the people no longer threatened by genetic damage, Mageborns still practice their craft—but under strict constraints. Yet so long as the rivalry between the Mage Guardians and the Lords of Malerris continues, the threat of another war is ever-present. And someone has been planning just such a war for many long years, the final strike in a generations-old bid for total power…
Worldbuilding is a facet in which Melanie Rawn usually shines and to a certain extent that's the case with this novel. She created an intriguing matriarchal society and is in complete control of the genealogy and the convoluted history of her universe. Problem is, the presentation of everything leaves a lot to be desired. As far as the setting is concerned, the world and its people truly come alive through the author's vivid narrative. But most of the information is conveyed to the reader through some massive info-dumps that really bog down the narrative. Too often the reader is subjected to a barrage of names/family trees/family connections/history. This is as confusing as it is overwhelming, and makes it quite difficult to keep track of everyone's loyalty and where they fit in the greater scheme of things. Interestingly enough, I didn't have any problem with the over-the-top matriarchal society and its ramifications until I got to the Selective Index at the end of the novel. When I learned the planet was colonized during what is referred to as the Second Great Migration by thousands of mainly Catholic settlers following a 7-year intergalatic voyage, things immediately went downhill. Since Rawn doesn't elaborate on any detail that could have explained the shift from a more patriarchal to a decidedly hardcore matriarchal society, all of a sudden one of the underpining elements of the series' backdrop lost most of its credibility and didn't make any sense anymore.
The political intrigue at the heart of the tale is also a bucket that doesn't always hold much water. True, there are many unexpected political twists and turns, but the inherent details suffer from just a little bit of analysis. Ambrai, for example, appears to have been one of the world's largest economic and cultural centers. And yet, when the city gets destroyed gratuitously, the majority of its citizens murdered like vermin, an act of utter cruelty and violence, the council doesn't seem to mind much. For all that one of the greatest cities that world has ever known has been devastated with extreme prejudice, it's pretty much business as usual afterward. Even an incredibly ineffectual organisation like the UN would have, pointless as the exercise would have been, vehemently criticized and condemned in no uncertain terms such a barbarous act. The same thing occurs following the apparent destruction of the Lords of Malerris. In addition, the political system as a whole doesn't always make much sense. Early on, we learn that a democracy governs the various provinces. Be that as it may, it is evident that Anniyas rules over the council with an iron fist in what is essentially a dictatorship. And yet, when the time comes for a meaningless motion to be accepted, an extremely tight vote is necessary to see it go through. I understand what the bad guys are attempting to accomplish, but it's just that the politicking involved is at times quite gauche in its execution. And the much-anticipated revolution, when it finally comes, occurs "off screen." As a result, unless you can overlook such weaknesses in the backdrop of this tale, the overall plot finds itself on very thin ice throughout the entire book.
Moreover, having what could be one of the most pivotal plot points of the story rely on the decryption of an old nursery rhyme did stretch the bounds of credulity past their breaking point. Melanie Rawn is not usually a writer that takes cheap shortcuts, so it was disappointing to see the good guys puzzle out this secret so easily.
If there is one specific aspect Rawn habitually excels at, it would have to be characterization. She has a knack for creating endearing characters and her works are usually filled with memorable protagonists. The Ruins of Ambrai does indeed feature a few, but there are also too many characters that don't remain true to themselves and act in ways that goes against everything we've been told about them. I liked the idea of having three sisters seperated and warded so they can't remember each other and I was looking for some kind of balance between the different perspectives. That didn't quite happen and this lack of balance influenced the plot in a negative way. There is too much of Sarra, period. And a good portion of the scenes she appears in are ultimately unnecessary and could have been replaced by a brief summary of her comings and goings. All that traveling across the world to retrieve Mage Guardians turned out to be extraneous for the most part and did little but bloat an already too large pagecount. Regarding Sarra, I'm still trying to understand why anyone in the Rising would defer to a petulant, annoying, and often clueless adolescent girl. Sarra and her sister Glenin are two sides of the same coin. The former is over-the-top good, in that she wants to end poverty, inequalities, etc. Glenin, on the other hand, due to her upbringing is the polar opposite and is over-the-top evil and cruel. In the end, their being too much, one way or the other, makes it impossible to relate to either sister. Collan, the bard, was interesting at the start, but the inevitable love story with Sarra more or less killed whatever he had going for him. Which leaves young Cailet, by far the most compelling of the sisters. Her storylines offers the most fascinating surprises and I'm looking forward to discovering what Rawn has in store for her in the future. The supporting cast is made up of quite a few engaging men and women, chief among them Gorynel Desse, many of which die before the end of the novel. Melanie Rawn has never been afraid to kill off important characters, so it was nice to see her add a few to the bodycount in this one. I just wish Sarra would have been part of those dead bodies. I found her to be insufferable throughout and I'm aware that she's in for the long haul. So there's no helping that. . .
Having everyone warded and not remembering each other makes for some confusing storylines and it can be rough going through some sections. And once the wards finally come down, it defies comprehension how quickly everything comes together between Collan and Sarra and Cailet and their entourage. The final showdown, with the rebellion not even part of the narrative, is also a bit weird. Also, the aftermath of the Captal's battle with the man responsible for so many atrocities is never truly explained. I'm still not sure how or why everything happened the way it did.
In terms of pace, The Ruins of Ambrai is a slog for more than two-thirds of its length. The beginning introduces all four main protagonists before they are warded and is very slow-moving. The action takes place over the course of 25 years, and it is often confusing because at this juncture it is impossible to know how these different threads are connected. In the next few hundred pages, Sarra, Collan, and Cailet don't remember who they are, so again the reader is often left wondering what the heck is going on. Gorynel Desse appears to be the only one who knows and he's definitely not telling anyone. The last hundred pages or so see the rhythm pick up as we move toward the endgame. Things finally start to make sense and, even though a lot of storylines are rushed, the resolution of these elevates the plot to another level. Too bad all the info-dumps, the poor political intrigue, and the occasional clumsy execution prevented this book from achieving its full potential. In the long run, Rawn closes the show with style and aplomb with an ending that promises a lot of good things to come. It's just that you have to go through a lot of extraneous material to get to the good stuff.
Now that all of the groundwork has been laid out, I'm hoping that Melanie Rawn can return to form and that The Mageborn Traitor will be everything it can be. Unfortunately, although it gets much better at the end, all those aforementioned shortcomings make The Ruins of Ambrai Rawn's weakest work to date.
Please note that both The Ruins of Ambrai and The Mageborn Traitor are currently not available in digital format. I asked the folks at Daw Books and they said that they wouldn't be made into ebooks until they had a manuscript for The Captal's Tower in hand.
For more reviews, check out www.fantasyhotlist.blogspot.com
According to most of the author's fans, Exiles is by far Rawn's best work to date. Understandably, I had lofty expectations when I sat down to read The Ruins of Ambrai. Other than her latest high fantasy series, The Glass Thorns, published by Tor Books, I've read everything she has written. Hence, I know what she brings to the dance, so far be it from me to doubt anyone's claim that this trilogy is Melanie Rawn writing at the top of her game. But as I've said before, expectations have a way to come back and bite you in the ass, and this is exactly what happened to me with this one.
After a confusing beginning and an uninspired few hundred pages, I had a feeling that this novel would be a complete disaster. I mean, nothing worked for me and this was by far the author's weakest book that I had ever read. I should have known better than to throw in the towel, for Rawn came through with a captivating engame and an interesting finale. Sadly, it wasn't enough to save the book. It's not a total loss, mind you, and I do want to read the subsequent volumes to discover what happens next. But even though it got better toward the end, The Ruins of Ambrai suffers from too many shortcomings to be a satisfying reading experience in its own right. Given how much love this series has been getting over the years, one has to wonder if The Mageborn Traitor raises the bar to another level, for the first installment cannot possibly warrant that much appreciation. Only time will tell. . .
Here's the blurb:
A thousand years ago, Mageborns fled prejudice and persecution to colonize the planet Lenfell—pristine, untouched, a perfect refuge for those whose powers were perceived as a threat by people not gifted with magic. But the greater the magic, the greater the peril—and Lenfell was soon devastated by a war between rival Mageborn factions that polluted land, sea, and air with Wild Magic and unleashed the hideous specters known as Wraithenbeasts.
Generations after that terrible war, with the land recovered from crippling wounds and the people no longer threatened by genetic damage, Mageborns still practice their craft—but under strict constraints. Yet so long as the rivalry between the Mage Guardians and the Lords of Malerris continues, the threat of another war is ever-present. And someone has been planning just such a war for many long years, the final strike in a generations-old bid for total power…
Worldbuilding is a facet in which Melanie Rawn usually shines and to a certain extent that's the case with this novel. She created an intriguing matriarchal society and is in complete control of the genealogy and the convoluted history of her universe. Problem is, the presentation of everything leaves a lot to be desired. As far as the setting is concerned, the world and its people truly come alive through the author's vivid narrative. But most of the information is conveyed to the reader through some massive info-dumps that really bog down the narrative. Too often the reader is subjected to a barrage of names/family trees/family connections/history. This is as confusing as it is overwhelming, and makes it quite difficult to keep track of everyone's loyalty and where they fit in the greater scheme of things. Interestingly enough, I didn't have any problem with the over-the-top matriarchal society and its ramifications until I got to the Selective Index at the end of the novel. When I learned the planet was colonized during what is referred to as the Second Great Migration by thousands of mainly Catholic settlers following a 7-year intergalatic voyage, things immediately went downhill. Since Rawn doesn't elaborate on any detail that could have explained the shift from a more patriarchal to a decidedly hardcore matriarchal society, all of a sudden one of the underpining elements of the series' backdrop lost most of its credibility and didn't make any sense anymore.
The political intrigue at the heart of the tale is also a bucket that doesn't always hold much water. True, there are many unexpected political twists and turns, but the inherent details suffer from just a little bit of analysis. Ambrai, for example, appears to have been one of the world's largest economic and cultural centers. And yet, when the city gets destroyed gratuitously, the majority of its citizens murdered like vermin, an act of utter cruelty and violence, the council doesn't seem to mind much. For all that one of the greatest cities that world has ever known has been devastated with extreme prejudice, it's pretty much business as usual afterward. Even an incredibly ineffectual organisation like the UN would have, pointless as the exercise would have been, vehemently criticized and condemned in no uncertain terms such a barbarous act. The same thing occurs following the apparent destruction of the Lords of Malerris. In addition, the political system as a whole doesn't always make much sense. Early on, we learn that a democracy governs the various provinces. Be that as it may, it is evident that Anniyas rules over the council with an iron fist in what is essentially a dictatorship. And yet, when the time comes for a meaningless motion to be accepted, an extremely tight vote is necessary to see it go through. I understand what the bad guys are attempting to accomplish, but it's just that the politicking involved is at times quite gauche in its execution. And the much-anticipated revolution, when it finally comes, occurs "off screen." As a result, unless you can overlook such weaknesses in the backdrop of this tale, the overall plot finds itself on very thin ice throughout the entire book.
Moreover, having what could be one of the most pivotal plot points of the story rely on the decryption of an old nursery rhyme did stretch the bounds of credulity past their breaking point. Melanie Rawn is not usually a writer that takes cheap shortcuts, so it was disappointing to see the good guys puzzle out this secret so easily.
If there is one specific aspect Rawn habitually excels at, it would have to be characterization. She has a knack for creating endearing characters and her works are usually filled with memorable protagonists. The Ruins of Ambrai does indeed feature a few, but there are also too many characters that don't remain true to themselves and act in ways that goes against everything we've been told about them. I liked the idea of having three sisters seperated and warded so they can't remember each other and I was looking for some kind of balance between the different perspectives. That didn't quite happen and this lack of balance influenced the plot in a negative way. There is too much of Sarra, period. And a good portion of the scenes she appears in are ultimately unnecessary and could have been replaced by a brief summary of her comings and goings. All that traveling across the world to retrieve Mage Guardians turned out to be extraneous for the most part and did little but bloat an already too large pagecount. Regarding Sarra, I'm still trying to understand why anyone in the Rising would defer to a petulant, annoying, and often clueless adolescent girl. Sarra and her sister Glenin are two sides of the same coin. The former is over-the-top good, in that she wants to end poverty, inequalities, etc. Glenin, on the other hand, due to her upbringing is the polar opposite and is over-the-top evil and cruel. In the end, their being too much, one way or the other, makes it impossible to relate to either sister. Collan, the bard, was interesting at the start, but the inevitable love story with Sarra more or less killed whatever he had going for him. Which leaves young Cailet, by far the most compelling of the sisters. Her storylines offers the most fascinating surprises and I'm looking forward to discovering what Rawn has in store for her in the future. The supporting cast is made up of quite a few engaging men and women, chief among them Gorynel Desse, many of which die before the end of the novel. Melanie Rawn has never been afraid to kill off important characters, so it was nice to see her add a few to the bodycount in this one. I just wish Sarra would have been part of those dead bodies. I found her to be insufferable throughout and I'm aware that she's in for the long haul. So there's no helping that. . .
Having everyone warded and not remembering each other makes for some confusing storylines and it can be rough going through some sections. And once the wards finally come down, it defies comprehension how quickly everything comes together between Collan and Sarra and Cailet and their entourage. The final showdown, with the rebellion not even part of the narrative, is also a bit weird. Also, the aftermath of the Captal's battle with the man responsible for so many atrocities is never truly explained. I'm still not sure how or why everything happened the way it did.
In terms of pace, The Ruins of Ambrai is a slog for more than two-thirds of its length. The beginning introduces all four main protagonists before they are warded and is very slow-moving. The action takes place over the course of 25 years, and it is often confusing because at this juncture it is impossible to know how these different threads are connected. In the next few hundred pages, Sarra, Collan, and Cailet don't remember who they are, so again the reader is often left wondering what the heck is going on. Gorynel Desse appears to be the only one who knows and he's definitely not telling anyone. The last hundred pages or so see the rhythm pick up as we move toward the endgame. Things finally start to make sense and, even though a lot of storylines are rushed, the resolution of these elevates the plot to another level. Too bad all the info-dumps, the poor political intrigue, and the occasional clumsy execution prevented this book from achieving its full potential. In the long run, Rawn closes the show with style and aplomb with an ending that promises a lot of good things to come. It's just that you have to go through a lot of extraneous material to get to the good stuff.
Now that all of the groundwork has been laid out, I'm hoping that Melanie Rawn can return to form and that The Mageborn Traitor will be everything it can be. Unfortunately, although it gets much better at the end, all those aforementioned shortcomings make The Ruins of Ambrai Rawn's weakest work to date.
Please note that both The Ruins of Ambrai and The Mageborn Traitor are currently not available in digital format. I asked the folks at Daw Books and they said that they wouldn't be made into ebooks until they had a manuscript for The Captal's Tower in hand.
For more reviews, check out www.fantasyhotlist.blogspot.com
October 14, 2012
This has to be my ultimate favorite book. Not 'one of my favorites' but THE favorite book of my collection. There are so many things that I love about this series.
First, I love how the author tells the story. Specifically, how she spends chapters describing the journey/events of one character's life, and then goes back in time and describes those same events from the perspective of another, opposing character. It's such a neat way to give the reader an understanding of what happens and why things happen. Ultimately, you find yourself cheering for both characters, and gives so much depth to the story.
Second, I love the society the author has created. People aren't necessarily citizens of a nation/country/state, they are citizens of a family. It's a brilliant idea. It focuses on the connections and loyalties between people and family members.
Third, the author has no problem killing off main characters -- not that this happens often. But, you're constantly sitting on edge because you never know if the character you've grown to love is going to live past the next few pages.
First, I love how the author tells the story. Specifically, how she spends chapters describing the journey/events of one character's life, and then goes back in time and describes those same events from the perspective of another, opposing character. It's such a neat way to give the reader an understanding of what happens and why things happen. Ultimately, you find yourself cheering for both characters, and gives so much depth to the story.
Second, I love the society the author has created. People aren't necessarily citizens of a nation/country/state, they are citizens of a family. It's a brilliant idea. It focuses on the connections and loyalties between people and family members.
Third, the author has no problem killing off main characters -- not that this happens often. But, you're constantly sitting on edge because you never know if the character you've grown to love is going to live past the next few pages.
December 8, 2008
In 7th or 8th grade around the holidays my English teacher passed out journals as gifts (she was really sweet like that). Mine had the cover art from The Ruins of Ambrai on it (could that lady spot a nerd, or what?!), and eventually, a year or two later, I got around to actually reading the book.
Guilty pleasure? Maybe, but the pleasure certainly outweighs the guilt in this case. This is one of those books I go back to as "comfort food" when I need to take a break from school-related reading and get lost in something fun, and it, along with the sequel, were good enough that I still find myself occasionally checking to see if the third book in the trilogy has been completed yet. I'm not holding my breath waiting for that to happen, but if Melanie Rawn ever does finish/publish it, I know I'll be able to spend a few happy days curled up on the couch revisiting Lenfell.
Guilty pleasure? Maybe, but the pleasure certainly outweighs the guilt in this case. This is one of those books I go back to as "comfort food" when I need to take a break from school-related reading and get lost in something fun, and it, along with the sequel, were good enough that I still find myself occasionally checking to see if the third book in the trilogy has been completed yet. I'm not holding my breath waiting for that to happen, but if Melanie Rawn ever does finish/publish it, I know I'll be able to spend a few happy days curled up on the couch revisiting Lenfell.
August 6, 2010
Sigh. I love it when an author takes the time to build a complex, interesting world. But in this one, it's so complex that at times the plot gets drowned out by the explainitis going on from the writer -- this was a book that was gorgeous in tone, and in language, but really needed an editor to trim it down. Hence the three star review. And I keep hearing rumours of a third book in the series, but haven't seen anything yet.
For the complete review, please go here:
http://www.epinions.com/review/Exiles...
For the complete review, please go here:
http://www.epinions.com/review/Exiles...
October 5, 2020
Incredibly detailed political fantasy.
I enjoyed this, however I do think it would have benefitted from a little editing. At just over 900 pages it does drag at times. The worldbuilding is rich and I liked the treatment of gender (women were in positions of power and the head of their homes - men were generally seen as subservient and mostly for continuing the female line), as well as sexuality (gay and bisexual characters are common and are not cliche - so often the case in fantasy if it includes any LGBTQ characters at all!). So it was an engaging and escapist read.
I will read the next in the series - I know Rawn never got round to writing the third but I want to see what happens anyway!
I enjoyed this, however I do think it would have benefitted from a little editing. At just over 900 pages it does drag at times. The worldbuilding is rich and I liked the treatment of gender (women were in positions of power and the head of their homes - men were generally seen as subservient and mostly for continuing the female line), as well as sexuality (gay and bisexual characters are common and are not cliche - so often the case in fantasy if it includes any LGBTQ characters at all!). So it was an engaging and escapist read.
I will read the next in the series - I know Rawn never got round to writing the third but I want to see what happens anyway!
March 29, 2013
Good god, this is a long, boring book. At page 233, I still didn't feel like the actual story had begun and that the introduction to characters was still being made. The characters were too many, with horrible, unpronounceable names, and they failed to differentiate themselves from each other in any interesting way. I had to give up. There are too many good books out there to waste more time on this snoozer.
February 6, 2022
This is officially my most enjoyed book of all time. A million stars!
May 27, 2009
Yarg! Reminds me of Celia Dart Thornton and her unending dictionary descriptions of irrelevant rooms, only here it seems to be pocket 1-dimensional sketches of completely irrelevant characters. I swear I've been introduced to 200+ characters by name, almost none of whom I remember or care about because they're mostly walking stereotypes anyways. In fact, I was remarking on this very fact to myself just before reading the following line from the book:
"Veller Granfallin, for instance, figured as a villain in all the histories, but was never portrayed any more deeply than a layer of dust on the tabletop"
This, in addition to being a great example of the ridiculously over-the-top metaphorical language that seems to be required of modern fantasy, perfectly describes most of the forgettable characters in the book.
Which is a shame, really, because unlike Ms. Thornton, Ms. Rawn actually appears to have a story to tell. There is an interesting world here with an intriguing matriarchal society and some interesting political twists in an otherwise run-of-the-paper-mill evil wizards taking over the world story.
Or perhaps I should say there would be an interesting world and political twists if only the details held together at all, which they mostly don't. For example, the government is a representative democracy, but its leader has taken over enough power single-handedly to completely destroy one of the 15 member-states, apparently without comment or protest from any of the others. So shes really an absolute dictator with a puppet government, right? But no, mere chapters later she is scrabbling for votes in council and not doing things because they might be perceived badly. Hello? You just had every single man, woman, and child in California executed and every building in the state burnt to the ground, and you're pushing for votes in Congress about tax laws? Do whatever the hell you want; they obviously can't stop you. Which reminds me; she has the state of Ambrai invaded by the army because they attempt to thwart her. Ambrai was apparently one of the biggest economic and cultural centres on the planet and yet apparently every single person who lived there was killed or driven off, and noone even came back to loot the bodies - much less re-settle - for 17 years. That is so fantastically wildly improbable - both the efficiency of its destruction and the lack of resettlement - that I hadn't gotten over it before some refugees finally wander in and start living off the food left lying around 2 decades before! And in a world where we continuously get it pushed down our throats how poor and downtrodden the average peasant is!
It goes on (people risking their lives based on the assumption that an ancient nursery rhyme about pigs refers to a particular (modern) toy store; a matriarchy of Victorian-era sexism reversed, but with over a third of its prime governmental body males - and almost all of the members of the cult of bad guys; a Muslim-like stricture against males going outside with their heads uncovered... which is apparently followed by every other male in the society except all of the main characters; etc...) but I'll stop. The worst thing is that half the time the contradictory details weren't even necessary to the story - just leave them out and you're fine!
But I persevered, because I did at least want to see how the few more interesting characters got along, and see what happens with their little rebellion, and to find out how the evil baddie gets it in the end. Wish I hadn't bothered. The baddy gets eaten by the Ghost of Christmas Past (or some other previously unmentioned spiritual Deus Ex Machina plot device, I forget,) the baddy's henchman turns to good apropos of nothing and his daughter forgives him his extensive list of brutal butcheries on the basis of blood ties she didn't even know existed 5 minutes before, and the rebellion happens off camera with the good guys just turning up and shouting "Hurrah! We won!" The interesting characters? They fall in love and get married in direct contrast to everything they stood for up to that point - but thats fairly standard grade-school hair-pulling romance, and so the most believable thing by far about the end of the book.
"Veller Granfallin, for instance, figured as a villain in all the histories, but was never portrayed any more deeply than a layer of dust on the tabletop"
This, in addition to being a great example of the ridiculously over-the-top metaphorical language that seems to be required of modern fantasy, perfectly describes most of the forgettable characters in the book.
Which is a shame, really, because unlike Ms. Thornton, Ms. Rawn actually appears to have a story to tell. There is an interesting world here with an intriguing matriarchal society and some interesting political twists in an otherwise run-of-the-paper-mill evil wizards taking over the world story.
Or perhaps I should say there would be an interesting world and political twists if only the details held together at all, which they mostly don't. For example, the government is a representative democracy, but its leader has taken over enough power single-handedly to completely destroy one of the 15 member-states, apparently without comment or protest from any of the others. So shes really an absolute dictator with a puppet government, right? But no, mere chapters later she is scrabbling for votes in council and not doing things because they might be perceived badly. Hello? You just had every single man, woman, and child in California executed and every building in the state burnt to the ground, and you're pushing for votes in Congress about tax laws? Do whatever the hell you want; they obviously can't stop you. Which reminds me; she has the state of Ambrai invaded by the army because they attempt to thwart her. Ambrai was apparently one of the biggest economic and cultural centres on the planet and yet apparently every single person who lived there was killed or driven off, and noone even came back to loot the bodies - much less re-settle - for 17 years. That is so fantastically wildly improbable - both the efficiency of its destruction and the lack of resettlement - that I hadn't gotten over it before some refugees finally wander in and start living off the food left lying around 2 decades before! And in a world where we continuously get it pushed down our throats how poor and downtrodden the average peasant is!
It goes on (people risking their lives based on the assumption that an ancient nursery rhyme about pigs refers to a particular (modern) toy store; a matriarchy of Victorian-era sexism reversed, but with over a third of its prime governmental body males - and almost all of the members of the cult of bad guys; a Muslim-like stricture against males going outside with their heads uncovered... which is apparently followed by every other male in the society except all of the main characters; etc...) but I'll stop. The worst thing is that half the time the contradictory details weren't even necessary to the story - just leave them out and you're fine!
But I persevered, because I did at least want to see how the few more interesting characters got along, and see what happens with their little rebellion, and to find out how the evil baddie gets it in the end. Wish I hadn't bothered. The baddy gets eaten by the Ghost of Christmas Past (or some other previously unmentioned spiritual Deus Ex Machina plot device, I forget,) the baddy's henchman turns to good apropos of nothing and his daughter forgives him his extensive list of brutal butcheries on the basis of blood ties she didn't even know existed 5 minutes before, and the rebellion happens off camera with the good guys just turning up and shouting "Hurrah! We won!" The interesting characters? They fall in love and get married in direct contrast to everything they stood for up to that point - but thats fairly standard grade-school hair-pulling romance, and so the most believable thing by far about the end of the book.
October 5, 2012
This is apparently the first book in a series. At >800 pages it probably should have been two books. However I understand why it wasn't broken-up; looking back I have no idea where I would have chosen to split the novel.
On the minus side this book was a slog. A SLOG. It was very hard to keep track of characters: there is a metric fuck-ton of them and they all have very similar (and in some cases identical, damnit) names. And then there are only a set and small amount of clans (called Names) in the entire world anyway, complicating the issue even more. The Slogginess and Character recognition problem is also not helped by the fact that everyone dies. Seriously: don't get attached. Apart from the main three (or four, depending on how you look at it) main characters, no one is safe in the B-listers. All the secondary characters die, save for a very small handful. Oh, the backbenchers all live, but I had no idea who any of them were, nor did I care. The last chapter of the book is full of paragraphs that I'm sure are meant to be meaningful about how So-andSo and Whatsit are now married or Hoodiehoo, Thingie and Blhblah are now the Captal's official honor guard and et cetera, but, since the book spent almost no time at all with any of the characters, I really don't give a crap. They will probably figure largely in the next book, being as how they are the only ones left alive, but don't throw them in at the very end and then assume I'm going to have any sort of emotional response to their triumphs.
Another minus was a Plot Badger. The very first line of the book's description on both the publisher's website and the inside flap on the book itself is something that never, ever, ever comes up in the story itself. 1000 years ago, a highly advanced civilization landed on this empty planet to escape persecution they faced on their home world because they were all magic users. The society in modern day is medieval and has no interest or idea about their origins. It simply doesn't come up. Maybe in an offhanded conversation or two about certain banned historical books, and about language-shift, but that's it. What the fuck is the point? Does it figure into the next book? The one after that? Why even say that's what the book is about on the flap if the book has NOTHING TO DO WITH THAT?
On the plus side, it was so well written and several of the characters were so well developed that I managed to totally ignore all the minus' most of the time. It was really compelling and the world was so interesting that I didn't want to quit reading it. I won't be reading any more of these, but I'm very glad I finished this one.
Neither recommended or not recommended, but if you're interested in epic fantasy, then you might like to give this a try.
On the minus side this book was a slog. A SLOG. It was very hard to keep track of characters: there is a metric fuck-ton of them and they all have very similar (and in some cases identical, damnit) names. And then there are only a set and small amount of clans (called Names) in the entire world anyway, complicating the issue even more. The Slogginess and Character recognition problem is also not helped by the fact that everyone dies. Seriously: don't get attached. Apart from the main three (or four, depending on how you look at it) main characters, no one is safe in the B-listers. All the secondary characters die, save for a very small handful. Oh, the backbenchers all live, but I had no idea who any of them were, nor did I care. The last chapter of the book is full of paragraphs that I'm sure are meant to be meaningful about how So-andSo and Whatsit are now married or Hoodiehoo, Thingie and Blhblah are now the Captal's official honor guard and et cetera, but, since the book spent almost no time at all with any of the characters, I really don't give a crap. They will probably figure largely in the next book, being as how they are the only ones left alive, but don't throw them in at the very end and then assume I'm going to have any sort of emotional response to their triumphs.
Another minus was a Plot Badger. The very first line of the book's description on both the publisher's website and the inside flap on the book itself is something that never, ever, ever comes up in the story itself. 1000 years ago, a highly advanced civilization landed on this empty planet to escape persecution they faced on their home world because they were all magic users. The society in modern day is medieval and has no interest or idea about their origins. It simply doesn't come up. Maybe in an offhanded conversation or two about certain banned historical books, and about language-shift, but that's it. What the fuck is the point? Does it figure into the next book? The one after that? Why even say that's what the book is about on the flap if the book has NOTHING TO DO WITH THAT?
On the plus side, it was so well written and several of the characters were so well developed that I managed to totally ignore all the minus' most of the time. It was really compelling and the world was so interesting that I didn't want to quit reading it. I won't be reading any more of these, but I'm very glad I finished this one.
Neither recommended or not recommended, but if you're interested in epic fantasy, then you might like to give this a try.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 2, 2015
I read this book when I was around fourteen and I'm not sure what possessed me to read it again but I did. When I was fourteen I really enjoyed this book. It was the first book in the genre that I had read and it was wonderful.
As an adult, I loved it even more. I understood the connections better, the need for the rising. I enjoyed e-learning Collan, Sarra, Glenin and Cailet's back story and watching them grow into their roles. The heartbreak as the rising continued kept me enthralled as well as the spats between Collan and Sarra, which had me laughing. All the characters where well rounded and the story is one of my favourites.
The only thing that annoyed me was that the end seemed a little rushed and anticlimactic. It seemed like the big fight scene at the end really didn't matter and I wanted it to to so much more than it it.
This story is about family, loyalty and the need to stand up for what you believe in, regardless of which side you are on.
As an adult, I loved it even more. I understood the connections better, the need for the rising. I enjoyed e-learning Collan, Sarra, Glenin and Cailet's back story and watching them grow into their roles. The heartbreak as the rising continued kept me enthralled as well as the spats between Collan and Sarra, which had me laughing. All the characters where well rounded and the story is one of my favourites.
The only thing that annoyed me was that the end seemed a little rushed and anticlimactic. It seemed like the big fight scene at the end really didn't matter and I wanted it to to so much more than it it.
This story is about family, loyalty and the need to stand up for what you believe in, regardless of which side you are on.
October 31, 2023
I feel that this is a case of fantasy with too much 'world-building' - the blurb starts off "a thousand years ago the Mageborn fled prejudice and persecution to colonize the planet of Lenfell", but in fact this has nothing to do with the story, and is only hinted at once, as a plot-irrelevant aside hundreds of pages into a doorstep of a book. So far as I can make out the sole function of giving the humans off-world origins is to explain the rather gratingly American scenario where fantasy characters are drinking coffee, eating chocolate and 'orange and almond torte' , and throwing eggs at Halloween when people don't pay up, while carrying 'journeysacks', hunting 'galazhi' and wearing 'longvests'. It is something that could perfectly well be left until a later book in the series to unveil (where, as in Anne McCaffrey's Dragonflight novels, it could have formed an effective twist), but it serves no function here.
Likewise, the concept of a world where all the characters are named with variants of a handful of calendar saints is something that I can see as an excellent piece of 'lore' (and which indeed reflects mediaeval reality), but is entirely impractical for a novel with far too many characters in it to start off with, especially when so many of them share a very limited number of surnames. There was one point where I genuinely had to turn back the page and reread in confusion to work out that a Maurgen and a Maugir were two different people, both of them named after Saint Maurget...
And there really are too many characters to keep track of; I imagine the author had an entire notebook/spreadsheet to keep track of them, and who is related to whom where this is significant, but as a reader I simply couldn't. Again, it's realistic that the heroes travel all over the place and meet new people everywhere, all of whom have names and personalities of their own, but it doesn't work - especially when some of them are supposed to be important to the plot at a later stage. On page 457 Collan is devastated by the death of "Verald Jescarin", and I didn't even remember who this Verald was (the gardener who had helped him with his flower messages at Roseguard on pages 389 to 396, with some pretty intense action happening in between... but the narrative doesn't give you any associations to remember this, it just throws the name at you.)
The attempted gender-reversal didn't really work for me, either; we are told that men are obedient, oppressed creatures waiting for their dowries to be paid and sitting around doing crochet, but all the ones we actually see are running around fighting, casting spells, holding powerful council positions, arguing etc., and the occasional simpering aside about how flighty and unreliable they are and how sexually aggressive women eye them up doesn't convince me of this world. I've read fantasy matriarchal societies that felt like a natural and inherent state of affairs, and I'm afraid this one feels like someone trying to make a contrived point to please her audience. Oddly enough, the most vividly successful part of the book is perhaps the opening sequence focusing on Collan, which is pretty much exclusively male - and different from most of the rest of the novel.
The body count is quite high, and the author isn't afraid to kill off major characters in relatively insignificant confrontations , but after a bit I just felt she was burning through her cast rather rapidly, rather than being horrified on behalf of the survivors. It becomes a matter of decreasing returns when the protagonists keep establishing new relationships with people who keep dying - and again, I have the feeling that the author cared more about the characters than she managed to make me do. Auvry Feinan is clearly supposed to be a fascinating fallen idol, and by presenting him at the start of the book through Glenin's eyes the author has us initially feel for him... but he is so much in the background for so much of the book that he doesn't really function as an antihero for whose redemption we are (I assume) meant to aspire. And I'm not all that convinced by the relationship between the sisters separated from childhood, though it is better handled than some parts - the supposed bantering attraction between Collan and Sarra is just annoying most of the time.
The whole Ambrai thing felt as if it could have been a book on its own, rather than a history referred to only in the memories of the characters. But I think that, as with so much else in this book, that's a problem of execution rather than of inherent construction. There are many, many books (The Dispossessed being only the first to come to mind) where major events in the past are covered more or less in parallel to their present-day consequences, and with great success. This one just sort of dumps it all in as yet more world-building... thinking about it, I have the impression that the whole novel feels like somebody's poorly digested research notebooks.
Which is unfortunate, because in many ways Melanie Rawn can write. By and large she is just trying to stuff too much in. She can do politics, and gripping action scenes, and warring schools of magic, and she can do generic fantasy of the sword and sorcery type pretty well. The book is just unbalanced by an unholy mixture of too much explaining (e.g. of why a character didn't do something that wasn't convenient to the plot) coupled with hand waving ('our side' suddenly win the war offscreen despite about 95% of them having been slaughtered pretty much without succeeding in resistance). I have definitely read something of hers before- the names "Andry" and "Sunrunner" ring a bell - probably about thirty years ago, but I don't remember any details at all... At any rate I'm not planning to read the sequels to this one, which is just as well since I would have a lot of trouble getting hold of them!
(Oh, and what's the intended genetics behind the idea that (almost) everyone is virtuously dark-skinned, but Our Heroes are dazzlingly blonde or red-haired?)
Likewise, the concept of a world where all the characters are named with variants of a handful of calendar saints is something that I can see as an excellent piece of 'lore' (and which indeed reflects mediaeval reality), but is entirely impractical for a novel with far too many characters in it to start off with, especially when so many of them share a very limited number of surnames. There was one point where I genuinely had to turn back the page and reread in confusion to work out that a Maurgen and a Maugir were two different people, both of them named after Saint Maurget...
And there really are too many characters to keep track of; I imagine the author had an entire notebook/spreadsheet to keep track of them, and who is related to whom where this is significant, but as a reader I simply couldn't. Again, it's realistic that the heroes travel all over the place and meet new people everywhere, all of whom have names and personalities of their own, but it doesn't work - especially when some of them are supposed to be important to the plot at a later stage. On page 457 Collan is devastated by the death of "Verald Jescarin", and I didn't even remember who this Verald was (the gardener who had helped him with his flower messages at Roseguard on pages 389 to 396, with some pretty intense action happening in between... but the narrative doesn't give you any associations to remember this, it just throws the name at you.)
The attempted gender-reversal didn't really work for me, either; we are told that men are obedient, oppressed creatures waiting for their dowries to be paid and sitting around doing crochet, but all the ones we actually see are running around fighting, casting spells, holding powerful council positions, arguing etc., and the occasional simpering aside about how flighty and unreliable they are and how sexually aggressive women eye them up doesn't convince me of this world. I've read fantasy matriarchal societies that felt like a natural and inherent state of affairs, and I'm afraid this one feels like someone trying to make a contrived point to please her audience. Oddly enough, the most vividly successful part of the book is perhaps the opening sequence focusing on Collan, which is pretty much exclusively male - and different from most of the rest of the novel.
The body count is quite high, and the author isn't afraid to kill off major characters in relatively insignificant confrontations , but after a bit I just felt she was burning through her cast rather rapidly, rather than being horrified on behalf of the survivors. It becomes a matter of decreasing returns when the protagonists keep establishing new relationships with people who keep dying - and again, I have the feeling that the author cared more about the characters than she managed to make me do. Auvry Feinan is clearly supposed to be a fascinating fallen idol, and by presenting him at the start of the book through Glenin's eyes the author has us initially feel for him... but he is so much in the background for so much of the book that he doesn't really function as an antihero for whose redemption we are (I assume) meant to aspire. And I'm not all that convinced by the relationship between the sisters separated from childhood, though it is better handled than some parts - the supposed bantering attraction between Collan and Sarra is just annoying most of the time.
The whole Ambrai thing felt as if it could have been a book on its own, rather than a history referred to only in the memories of the characters. But I think that, as with so much else in this book, that's a problem of execution rather than of inherent construction. There are many, many books (The Dispossessed being only the first to come to mind) where major events in the past are covered more or less in parallel to their present-day consequences, and with great success. This one just sort of dumps it all in as yet more world-building... thinking about it, I have the impression that the whole novel feels like somebody's poorly digested research notebooks.
Which is unfortunate, because in many ways Melanie Rawn can write. By and large she is just trying to stuff too much in. She can do politics, and gripping action scenes, and warring schools of magic, and she can do generic fantasy of the sword and sorcery type pretty well. The book is just unbalanced by an unholy mixture of too much explaining (e.g. of why a character didn't do something that wasn't convenient to the plot) coupled with hand waving ('our side' suddenly win the war offscreen despite about 95% of them having been slaughtered pretty much without succeeding in resistance). I have definitely read something of hers before- the names "Andry" and "Sunrunner" ring a bell - probably about thirty years ago, but I don't remember any details at all... At any rate I'm not planning to read the sequels to this one, which is just as well since I would have a lot of trouble getting hold of them!
(Oh, and what's the intended genetics behind the idea that (almost) everyone is virtuously dark-skinned, but Our Heroes are dazzlingly blonde or red-haired?)
April 13, 2011
I'm not typically a fan of the swords-and-magic corner of scifi/fantasy, but this book did hold my interest. More than anything else I think it's because there's humour in the writing that really makes some of the other bits easier to swallow. Most of the characters are fun to hang out with, and the magic isn't a big pile of Handwavium, either. There seem to be rules, and magic is used casually but rarely so it doesn't end up mucking up the scenes too much.
I did finish the book perplexed about certain motivations. Frankly, I have no clue why the event that ruined Ambrai (and that can't be a spoiler, it's the title of the book) happened. The gains don't seem to outweigh the risks for the individual who set that in motion. The gender switch is interesting without being absurd, and I think Rawn does a pretty good job of sketching a society where men generally fill the role of helper and companion rather than primary actors. She manages to show the societal flip without emasculating the men or making the women seem outlandish. It really is a pretty neat trick - I've seen it done elsewhere with much less finesse, and I think it's easy to get wrong, so good work.
I also very much appreciate the absence of portends or prophecies, thank you very much. There's a lot of intricate political plotting going on, but luckily whenever someone leans over a child and murmurs how important they are, it's more hope than certitude.
It's an interesting book. Which is why I also read the next one.
I did finish the book perplexed about certain motivations. Frankly, I have no clue why the event that ruined Ambrai (and that can't be a spoiler, it's the title of the book) happened. The gains don't seem to outweigh the risks for the individual who set that in motion. The gender switch is interesting without being absurd, and I think Rawn does a pretty good job of sketching a society where men generally fill the role of helper and companion rather than primary actors. She manages to show the societal flip without emasculating the men or making the women seem outlandish. It really is a pretty neat trick - I've seen it done elsewhere with much less finesse, and I think it's easy to get wrong, so good work.
I also very much appreciate the absence of portends or prophecies, thank you very much. There's a lot of intricate political plotting going on, but luckily whenever someone leans over a child and murmurs how important they are, it's more hope than certitude.
It's an interesting book. Which is why I also read the next one.
September 9, 2016
I started off really liking this, but it completely lost my interest about a fourth of the way through. Some of that is my fault, since I didn't pay much attention while chugging through the gigantic infodumps with names and regions and yadda yadda. As a result, when some of the first characters die , my only real reaction was one of relief: Fewer miscellaneous characters means fewer names to keep straight, hooray! (I was particularly happy to see those two go first, though, because the plot device of was one of the dumbest things, and about where I gave up on enjoying the book.) There's also the ridiculous deus ex machina ending as well, but I won't go into that because I was just breezing through pages and forcing myself to finish by that point, so it wouldn't really be fair.
This really seemed like it'd be a book I would love, but, unfortunately, it just wasn't working. I would say I'd give the next one a shot, but it looks like the trilogy was never even finished, so I'm gonna cross that one off the list. I might give some of her other books a chance one day, since I enjoyed this one so much at the start.
This really seemed like it'd be a book I would love, but, unfortunately, it just wasn't working. I would say I'd give the next one a shot, but it looks like the trilogy was never even finished, so I'm gonna cross that one off the list. I might give some of her other books a chance one day, since I enjoyed this one so much at the start.
July 29, 2011
Yes, this is a thick book. Rawn's books tend to be. But please don't be put off by how much space this sucker takes up among your paperbacks! It's a fabulous book: witty, imaginative, and intricate, with completely unique characters at every turn. Rawn's societies are amazingly detailed, completely thought out and thoroughly planned. Most of her books include a fair amount of politics as well as a ridiculously large number of characters - this book is no exception. I admit, I had trouble keeping the names straight. Luckily, Rawn juggles her huge casts amazingly well... and often provides a 'whos who', just to help you out.
Sometimes the politics got to be a bit much for me... a little long-winded in parts, leaving me wanting the story itself to continue. I felt like that detracted from my enjoyment of the plot occasionally. But Rawn gets you through by presenting these parts through the eyes of a character who is utterly fascinated with them, or by making the events and politics essential to the plot.
The book, in my opinion, was a little hard to get into, but once you are through the first chapter, you should be hooked. Just give it that much of a chance, and forget how long it is. You will fly through it once you get started.
Sometimes the politics got to be a bit much for me... a little long-winded in parts, leaving me wanting the story itself to continue. I felt like that detracted from my enjoyment of the plot occasionally. But Rawn gets you through by presenting these parts through the eyes of a character who is utterly fascinated with them, or by making the events and politics essential to the plot.
The book, in my opinion, was a little hard to get into, but once you are through the first chapter, you should be hooked. Just give it that much of a chance, and forget how long it is. You will fly through it once you get started.
April 11, 2012
Not sure how I feel about this book at the end: I really liked it for the first half (up to ~p260), but then it started to seem that all the female characters were the same person (I guess Cailet seemed a bit distinct from her sisters), and inconsistency within the same character (I seem to recall Sarra first urging Alin to try at suspected Ladder, and then when they come across another suspected one, completely forbidding him from trying it until they had given it careful consideration. Although, on further thought, it's possible the latter Ladder was the one into Malerris castle, in which case extra caution would be understandable).
I continue to be Displeased about Alin and Val dying, since they were great, and naturally they "had" to die to give some emotional impact, while still being able to have expendable deaths. (Contrsast to Martin, who killed Ned Stark off in an unexpected way, and kept the predictability of character deaths to a minimum).
I can't recall anymore what drove Auvrey Feiran and Glennin over to the Malerris side--will have to review that.
The book needs another reading, basically.
I continue to be Displeased about Alin and Val dying, since they were great, and naturally they "had" to die to give some emotional impact, while still being able to have expendable deaths. (Contrsast to Martin, who killed Ned Stark off in an unexpected way, and kept the predictability of character deaths to a minimum).
I can't recall anymore what drove Auvrey Feiran and Glennin over to the Malerris side--will have to review that.
The book needs another reading, basically.
March 29, 2012
Well, this is sort of standard fantasy, but enjoyable. There's nothing particularly new about the plot, but I would say it is nicely done. Magic is present but not constantly in use. The book is pleasantly chunky, full of descriptions and explanations that give the world quite a bit of depth and make it seem real, which can either be fun to read if you find that sort of thing interesting, or dull if you're not particularly fond of lengthy tidbits. I found it interesting, so I enjoyed the book rather than yawned at it. Also of interest to me was the more female-led society presented in the story, which is definitely refreshing, and, I will admit, a large reason why I enjoyed the book.
August 21, 2011
This book starts the second trilogy/series I've read from Melanie Rawn and it's better than the Sunrunner books, in my opinion. Fantastic characters, fantastic story world, fantastic plot. The book was an easy read from cover to cover and left me wanting more. Fiesty Sarah is fun and she and the Bard deserve eachother. In more ways than one.
I laughed, I sat on the edge of my seat and oohed ad aaahed with each new chatper or development. I'd recommend it for anyone with the following warnings.
There is violence. There is some nudity and adult situations, but not a lot of them.
I laughed, I sat on the edge of my seat and oohed ad aaahed with each new chatper or development. I'd recommend it for anyone with the following warnings.
There is violence. There is some nudity and adult situations, but not a lot of them.
October 23, 2011
While I absolutely love Melanie Rawn, I was sorely disappointed that she did not finish this series. The books were outstanding, hence the five star review. But I would like to see this series finished. I don't know the reasons behind why she did not, but I have seen recent works of hers out on bookshelves and it still makes me wonder. Oh well.
March 26, 2024
Boring as all hell! No wonder the author didn’t finish the trilogy.
May 4, 2015
TL; DR version:
With the intricacy of R.R. Martin's popular series A Song of Ice and Fire, the spywork and cultural undertones of Tamora Pierce's Daughter of the Lioness series, and Melanie Rawn's own unique and very clever gender role reversal twist, The Ruins of Ambrai is a must-read, especially for lovers of strong female characters.
Full review:
At nearly a thousand pages, this is a monster of a book, and I have to admit that I got stuck at the last 100 pages of resolution. Once I knew how the climax, which had been building for about 700 pages, turned out, it was hard to find the motivation to keep going. But as soon as I finished it, I ran downstairs to go pick up the next book, because these books may be long, but so worth it.
The political plotting and covert operations, all set in the fantasy world of Lenfell, reminded me a lot of Tamora Pierce's Daughter of the Lioness series, which is one of my absolute favorites. However, The Ruins of Ambrai is definitely not a YA pageturner; in fact, the intricacy of the political and cultural webs rivals the now-popular A Song of Ice and Fire. That means that sometimes you have to get through chunks of world-building before getting to a bit of action, but, like in A Song of Ice and Fire, it's so so worth it. And thankfully, Melanie Rawn is much more merciful to her characters than R.R. Martin.
Having compared this book to two other entire series, I'd like to go into what makes it totally unique from anything else I've ever read: it's set in a true matriarchal society. Sure, I've read books that called their societies matriarchal, but instead of women ruling like men have for centuries in the real world, these societies were just gender-equal, or attempted to be. It took reading Melanie Rawn's version to realize that they hadn't been very good imaginings of matriarchies. Here's what I mean: in The Ruins of Ambrai, men are constantly knitting. Knitting. And mending clothes. And decorating houses. And raising children. And arranging flowers. But it's not just that the men are doing all the "girly" things; Rawn even changes how people in the world of Lenfell perceive certain activities. Men are allowed to enjoy leisure activities like hawking and hunting, but these are considered the activities of the weaker sex. One of my favorite moments in the book is when a male character is being described as the perfect "modest male" for being covered in clothes from head to toe, including a hair-covering coif. It's just too funny.
Do you need to have some sort of perverse sense of feminist satisfaction to enjoy this book? Not at all! What I really enjoyed about this matriarchal world is the shock value of imagining this totally upside down society. I've always considered myself a woman-empowerer, but the fact that I was thrown off-balance every time a man sat down to knit in this book really opened my eyes to how deeply ingrained our patriarchal way of thinking is. So not only was the gender role reversal amusing, but it was also enlightening and thought-provoking.
Oh, and the magic and battling were super cool too.
With the intricacy of R.R. Martin's popular series A Song of Ice and Fire, the spywork and cultural undertones of Tamora Pierce's Daughter of the Lioness series, and Melanie Rawn's own unique and very clever gender role reversal twist, The Ruins of Ambrai is a must-read, especially for lovers of strong female characters.
Full review:
At nearly a thousand pages, this is a monster of a book, and I have to admit that I got stuck at the last 100 pages of resolution. Once I knew how the climax, which had been building for about 700 pages, turned out, it was hard to find the motivation to keep going. But as soon as I finished it, I ran downstairs to go pick up the next book, because these books may be long, but so worth it.
The political plotting and covert operations, all set in the fantasy world of Lenfell, reminded me a lot of Tamora Pierce's Daughter of the Lioness series, which is one of my absolute favorites. However, The Ruins of Ambrai is definitely not a YA pageturner; in fact, the intricacy of the political and cultural webs rivals the now-popular A Song of Ice and Fire. That means that sometimes you have to get through chunks of world-building before getting to a bit of action, but, like in A Song of Ice and Fire, it's so so worth it. And thankfully, Melanie Rawn is much more merciful to her characters than R.R. Martin.
Having compared this book to two other entire series, I'd like to go into what makes it totally unique from anything else I've ever read: it's set in a true matriarchal society. Sure, I've read books that called their societies matriarchal, but instead of women ruling like men have for centuries in the real world, these societies were just gender-equal, or attempted to be. It took reading Melanie Rawn's version to realize that they hadn't been very good imaginings of matriarchies. Here's what I mean: in The Ruins of Ambrai, men are constantly knitting. Knitting. And mending clothes. And decorating houses. And raising children. And arranging flowers. But it's not just that the men are doing all the "girly" things; Rawn even changes how people in the world of Lenfell perceive certain activities. Men are allowed to enjoy leisure activities like hawking and hunting, but these are considered the activities of the weaker sex. One of my favorite moments in the book is when a male character is being described as the perfect "modest male" for being covered in clothes from head to toe, including a hair-covering coif. It's just too funny.
Do you need to have some sort of perverse sense of feminist satisfaction to enjoy this book? Not at all! What I really enjoyed about this matriarchal world is the shock value of imagining this totally upside down society. I've always considered myself a woman-empowerer, but the fact that I was thrown off-balance every time a man sat down to knit in this book really opened my eyes to how deeply ingrained our patriarchal way of thinking is. So not only was the gender role reversal amusing, but it was also enlightening and thought-provoking.
Oh, and the magic and battling were super cool too.
February 16, 2013
The Ruins of Ambrai is a fantasy of epic proportions, and I would compare it to the Daughter of the Empire series. It's full of political intrigue, with three strong women as central characters.
The writing itself is very well done, except for a huge cast of characters that I had a difficult time keeping straight. There isn't much time used for character development, and each secondary character is, for the most part, described in a paragraph or two that the reader is expected to remember throughout the whole book. There are exceptions to this, of course, and I found myself liking these secondary characters very much.
The fine details of manipulative people are written in a way that describes their character without dictating what the reader thinks about them. The strength of character and determination in the others are done in the same skilful way.
It was also difficult to ascertain where the plot was going, and, for some time, to tell the three sisters apart. I consider it a triumph, though, that I didn't realize which sister was on the wrong side until almost halfway through. I think that is something the author should be proud of, since it shows her skill at painting both sides in grays, rather than just black and white.
The culture of the world Melanie Rawn has created emerges in bits and pieces. While it takes patience to understand the rules of Lenfell, once understood it makes for an engrossing world with a history all it's own. The rules and spells that belong to the mages are unique, as is the political structure and calendar. There are sword fights, fights with magic, arguments between characters, and underlying it all the mystery of the Ladders and the Lords of Maleriss.
There are many parts that I found hilariously funny (I would have a hard time reading them aloud without breaking into giggles), and some parts that my delicate sensibilities caused me to skip over. There is some bad language, and some of it quite strong. There are also some strong sexual themes that I wish had been left out; however I also have a very narrow idea of what should be in books and that opinion shouldn't stop others from enjoying a good book. It certainly didn't keep me from finishing it.
I personally would not advise anyone under the age of sixteen read this book, but that's just a personal opinion because of the sexual content.
All in all, I greatly enjoyed The Ruins of Ambrai, and would like to locate the next book(s) in the series.
The writing itself is very well done, except for a huge cast of characters that I had a difficult time keeping straight. There isn't much time used for character development, and each secondary character is, for the most part, described in a paragraph or two that the reader is expected to remember throughout the whole book. There are exceptions to this, of course, and I found myself liking these secondary characters very much.
The fine details of manipulative people are written in a way that describes their character without dictating what the reader thinks about them. The strength of character and determination in the others are done in the same skilful way.
It was also difficult to ascertain where the plot was going, and, for some time, to tell the three sisters apart. I consider it a triumph, though, that I didn't realize which sister was on the wrong side until almost halfway through. I think that is something the author should be proud of, since it shows her skill at painting both sides in grays, rather than just black and white.
The culture of the world Melanie Rawn has created emerges in bits and pieces. While it takes patience to understand the rules of Lenfell, once understood it makes for an engrossing world with a history all it's own. The rules and spells that belong to the mages are unique, as is the political structure and calendar. There are sword fights, fights with magic, arguments between characters, and underlying it all the mystery of the Ladders and the Lords of Maleriss.
There are many parts that I found hilariously funny (I would have a hard time reading them aloud without breaking into giggles), and some parts that my delicate sensibilities caused me to skip over. There is some bad language, and some of it quite strong. There are also some strong sexual themes that I wish had been left out; however I also have a very narrow idea of what should be in books and that opinion shouldn't stop others from enjoying a good book. It certainly didn't keep me from finishing it.
I personally would not advise anyone under the age of sixteen read this book, but that's just a personal opinion because of the sexual content.
All in all, I greatly enjoyed The Ruins of Ambrai, and would like to locate the next book(s) in the series.
December 3, 2008
Another one of those books I randomly plucked off the "Fantasy / SciFi" shelf in my local bookstore and, having not felt nauseous after the first page, decided to read through. The story itself is not particularly imaginative: a faraway place called Lenfell is suffused by magic, two warring factions vie for power after a horrid cataclysm and a worse cataclysm is coming unless a team of plucky young people can stop it. Against that background, the most interesting part of the book is the careful role reversal: women rule the world of Lenfell and men are subordinate to them. What's interesting about it is the careful way in which it's executed: the ruling women are not the screeching harpies of the misogynist's nightmare, nor are they the pulled-in-by-the-ears pseudo-Celtic "wisewomen" of Mists of Avalon. Instead, they are normal human females varying from saint to villain, except with somewhat (okay, vastly) more liberated libido and the easy-going confidence of a gender that's found itself on top (in all kinds of ways) for generations. Also interesting is the author's attitude towards this role reversal: it's not right, either, and she illustrates this by placing sympathetic male characters into the subjugated role, and having them rebel against the indignity. This setup does not always work as well as it could have and here it's chiefly Rawn's fault as a storyteller. Frequently, the intricacies of Lenfell's political structure (delivered with an infuriating thoroughness of a history book) lost me. Often, characters' comments on how a "proper, modest male" should behave sounded as a tin-eared attempt to make a point rather than a natural remark a person would make. And the incessant romances between beautiful people (not one character, except for one of the villains, was anything but some sort of muscular, sinuous, brilliant or eloquent) brought the story perilously close to a soap opera. Though, I must say, all that love in the air made the loneliness of one major character all the more poignant, and the scheming mating procedures of the villains all the more repugnant. Above all the book, though somewhat of a page-turner, definitely could have been shorter. That being said, I'll be seeking out the sequels becaues I really, really want to know what happens to all these beautiful people in that faraway matriarchal world.
August 3, 2020
I first read this way back when it first came out, and remember enjoying it. It's stayed on my bookshelf since, and recently I picked it up on a whim for a re-read. I don't think it's held up particularly well, tbh. The setting is interesting and full of detail, but the plot felt a little thin to me. I thought many of the characters lacked depth, and a central villain's motivation (upon which huge chunks of the plot hang) was more or less missing. There's a use of the Bury Your Gays trope (which, to be fair, wasn't yet a trope AFAIK at the time this book was published), which these days is a little exasperating. The romance between two of the main characters was also exasperating, with their argumentative banter seeming just tired and overdone to me these days. And a relationship between a main character and a supporting character now reads as flat-out skeevy (the main character is a young woman, the supporting character is much, much older, and she was most familiar with him in his role as her mentor/teacher, but . Finally, I wish the magic system had been more sensible and not just "it can do whatever the author wants for plot reasons". I'm not asking for a full-on Vance-ian/D&D system with spell mechanics and whatnot, just some kind of logic. We learn in the glossary that the people of Lenfell (the world in which the book is set) arrived there hundreds of years previously on a spaceship, and to me the combination of a SF universe in which colony ships are viable + hand-wavy magic that can be whatever the plot needs just doesn't work super well.
Oh, and I also didn't care for the persistent theme throughout the book that "Blood" (i.e., sharing DNA) can instantly create a bond between people who either have no idea they're related OR between people who are otherwise actively opposed to each other. (I'm phrasing it badly because I don't want to bother hiding more spoilers.)
Still, I kept reading, so I guess it's readable enough. Don't think I'll bother with the sequel, though.
Oh, and I also didn't care for the persistent theme throughout the book that "Blood" (i.e., sharing DNA) can instantly create a bond between people who either have no idea they're related OR between people who are otherwise actively opposed to each other. (I'm phrasing it badly because I don't want to bother hiding more spoilers.)
Still, I kept reading, so I guess it's readable enough. Don't think I'll bother with the sequel, though.
June 17, 2018
This novel is really great for about the first third of the book. Rawn sets up four main characters with background stories that are almost good enough for the price of the book. However, the story just falls apart after that, the novel loses its sense of time, and bogs down in its "social messages".
Rawn creates a world where all of the gender steotypes are reversed. This is done in a really clever and insightfull way, and if this was a stand alone book, would really be a memerable acheivement. However in a fantasy epic these kind of tricks very quickly become tiresome and distracting. Satire cannot carry an epic fantasy series, and in the end the odd mix of satire and melodrama sinks this book and this series into a hole she still hasn't writter helself out of more than ten years later. OH yes she still hasn't finished this series more that a decade after they published book two and has no solid plans to finish this series. While this book has some really great parts the overall series and story falls flat on its face.
Rawn creates a world where all of the gender steotypes are reversed. This is done in a really clever and insightfull way, and if this was a stand alone book, would really be a memerable acheivement. However in a fantasy epic these kind of tricks very quickly become tiresome and distracting. Satire cannot carry an epic fantasy series, and in the end the odd mix of satire and melodrama sinks this book and this series into a hole she still hasn't writter helself out of more than ten years later. OH yes she still hasn't finished this series more that a decade after they published book two and has no solid plans to finish this series. While this book has some really great parts the overall series and story falls flat on its face.
October 5, 2022
Wow, this book was quite the ride. I LOVED the beginning and Collan’s introduction as well as the way Melanie Rawn set up foreshadowing that even at the end of this first boom hasn’t happened. It creates a long game that ensures that readers are invested. I also loved the way she created a society that is in many ways the reverse of the American society. Is matriarchal, it’s obviously regulated by the 1% with little respect for democracy. They live by a strict code and some people are getting tired of it.
I both love and hate the way she just kills people off without a second thought. It’s more realistic than all the good guys surviving and living happily ever after, but some people died in the most anticlimactic ways that I was like wait, so-and-so is dead?
Overall a super interesting read with relationships that are often “different” sometimes in a good way, sometimes really REALLY bad. I felt like it dragged a little bit/kept me mired in a depression trench for a bit too long towards the end, but maybe that was because I didn’t have a whole lot of time on my hands.
I both love and hate the way she just kills people off without a second thought. It’s more realistic than all the good guys surviving and living happily ever after, but some people died in the most anticlimactic ways that I was like wait, so-and-so is dead?
Overall a super interesting read with relationships that are often “different” sometimes in a good way, sometimes really REALLY bad. I felt like it dragged a little bit/kept me mired in a depression trench for a bit too long towards the end, but maybe that was because I didn’t have a whole lot of time on my hands.
September 7, 2014
This book was three times longer than it needed to be. Normally I wouldn't complain at an author's choice to be detailed or even long-winded, but my god I didn't need to read about every council member or have the convoluted histories of the Names written out for thirty generations every time we met a new character. Even at the very end of the book, which should have been exciting and dramatic, there were paragraphs about a family's horse breeding down to the dates that certain breeds had been established. WHY. The entire book is filled to bursting with details that don't advance the plot or even make the setting or characters more interesting.
The writing itself was decent, and that makes it so much worse...it could have been a good, tight book that had me turning pages, but instead I found myself skipping paragraphs at a time--something I can't remember ever doing while reading fiction before.
The writing itself was decent, and that makes it so much worse...it could have been a good, tight book that had me turning pages, but instead I found myself skipping paragraphs at a time--something I can't remember ever doing while reading fiction before.
November 21, 2017
I was excited to pick this up, having greatly enjoyed other books by the author in the past. It starts out promising enough, bursting with flavor and the joy of discovering a new world... then, slowly at first, but then exponentially deteriorates about halfway through. My main issues included unrealistic character motivations, obvious and clichéd plot development (on the occasions the plot actually advances), and a lack of editing to the point where I wondered if the editor had quit after throwing up their hands in frustration after shouting "SHOW, DON'T TELL" one too many times. If requested, I'd be happy to pull some quotes the next time I'm not on mobile- I have a few selections bookmarked on my Kindle as examples of what not to do.
June 26, 2009
This book started off great, then devolved into a very messy and poorly written deus ex ending. I guess Rawn got tired of the book about halfway through but finished it because she had a deadline to meet. There are about 8000 characters in the book and most of them are little more than a family name. I knew I was in trouble when the ladder boy died and I didn't even care. And enough of the cutesy words! By the end of the book, I damn near gagged every time one of the women "dimpled" at someone. Dimple this and dimple that, yaargh!
It's too bad, too, since this book showed a lot of promise at the beginning...
It's too bad, too, since this book showed a lot of promise at the beginning...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 5, 2008
An 800 page book with a 300 page plot; thus, rather overwritten and, I must say, overwrought, since much of the overwriting takes the form of anguished internal dialogue. (Yawn). I must admit, though, that I did read all 800 pages (actually 825), so there must have been something compelling about the story. But I have no plan to run out and read the other two volumes in this series (if you can believe it). This was a random pick-up at a church book sale, so I knew I was taking a risk. From here on out, I plan to take my friend Suzanne's advise on the fantasy genre when I choose to read it.
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