Five Odd Honors

Breaking the Wall #3

by Jane Lindskold

The Thirteen Orphans and their allies have opened the ninth gate into the Lands Born from Smoke and Sacrifice . . . and discover that the Lands have been altered almost beyond recognition, transformed by magic into an apparently uninhabited world where land shifts beneath one's feet and fire burns blue. Investigating, the Orphans learn that the Center of the world is sealed behind nearly-impassable barriers composed of each of the five elements of Chinese myth. Combining ancient and modern magics, a scouting party penetrates the barriers, only to be captured and given over to tortures designed to separate the Orphans from their magical abilities. On Earth, Pearl Bright, the Tiger, is attacked―is this treachery by our world's magical traditions or has one of the Orphans betrayed her? Brenda Morris learns of the Orphans' dangers when it is nearly too late―but along with the sidhe, who are drawn to her Irish heritage, Brenda risks her life to help rescue those trapped in the Lands. A story of betrayal and redemption, of bravery in the face of terror, and of loyalty and hatred that reach beyond the grave, Five Odd Honors continues Jane Lindskold's stunning Breaking the Wall series.

Genres: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Magic, China, Mythology

512 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 6, 2010

About the author

Jane Lindskold is the author of more than twenty published novels, including the eight volume Firekeeper Saga (beginning with Through Wolf’s Eyes), Child of a Rainless Year (a contemporary fantasy set in Las Vegas, New Mexico), and The Buried Pyramid (an archeological adventure fantasy set in 1880's Egypt).

Lindskold is also the author of the “Breaking the Wall” series, which begins with Thirteen Orphans, then continues in Nine Gates and Five Odd Honors. Her most recent series begins with Artemis Awakening, released in May of 2014. Lindskold has also had published over sixty short stories and numerous works of non-fiction, including a critical biography of Roger Zelazny, and articles on Yeats and Synge.

She has collaborated with several other SF/F writers, including Roger Zelazny, for whom, at his request, she posthumously finished his novels Donnerjack and Lord Demon. She has also collaborated with David Weber, writing several novellas and two YA novels set in his popular ”Honorverse.” She wrote the short story “Servant of Death” with Fred Saberhagen.

Charles de Lint, reviewing Changer, praised "Lindskold's ability to tell a fast-paced, contemporary story that still carries the weight and style of old mythological story cycles."[1] Terri Windling called Brother to Dragons, Companion to Owls "a complex, utterly original work of speculative fiction." DeLint has also stated that “Jane Lindskold is one of those hidden treasures of American letters; a true gem of a writer who simply gets better with each book.”

Lindskold was born in 1962 at the Columbia Hospital for Women, the first of four siblings and grew up in Washington, D.C. and Chesapeake Bay. Lindskold's father was head of the Land and Natural Resources Division, Western Division of the United States Justice Department and her mother was also an attorney. She studied at Fordham, where she received a Ph. D. in English, concentrating on Medieval, Renaissance, and Modern British Literature; she successfully defended her Ph.D. on her 26th birthday.

Lindskold lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico with her husband, archaeologist Jim Moore.

Reviews

[hadashi · Rating 2 out of 5]

in my review of #2 of this series, i expressed the hope that Lindskold wouldn't get bogged down in an unwieldy cast of characters and she'd continue to do her homework. count my hopes dashed. the five odd honors refer to five (mostly) all-new characters that get fleshed out just enough to get you interested, but then they all literally get tortured & killed. oh, did i mention a few other more-beloved characters also get horribly treated? Jane, you broke a cardinal rule of authorship: you betrayed your readers' trust. yes, our protagonists can go through difficulties and even have bad things happen to them, but you cannot go so overboard and beat ALL of them up, or have such an overload of violence, maiming, and death...with no potential resolution or salvation, or even purpose. who the hell do you think your audience is? Bret Easton Ellis fans? i know you've tread into dark territory before, but always you've managed to stay on the side of redemption and keep faith with your readers. i wonder if this time you went too far.
sadly, i really enjoyed the first two-thirds of the book; things got off to a great start and i was loving how Brenda's Irish heritage was starting to come into play. Lindskold seemed to be going down that same delightful path of exploring the ins and outs of Irish mythology, but that abruptly stopped when the two world combined in a less-than-satisfying encounter that seemed to be more of an afterthought. will i give a possible #4 a chance? probably. but i'll need some convincing to stick with it.

[Jennybeast · Rating 3 out of 5]

The thing I cannot understand about this series is that I find it overly complex and not particularly satisfying, and yet, I cannot seem to put it down. Wierd.

[VMom · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars is being kind --- I actually found this disappointing. Too many new povs, dragging, then a horrible thing happens to one of my favorite characters. Ugh.

[Sherry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved everything about the first two books in this series, and most of this one. I especially loved how Brenda's Irish heritage came into play and seeing Irish mythology and Chinese mythology come together. What an delightful combination/juxtaposition of worlds and systems of magic! But the ending left me feeling unsettled. All through the sometimes too graphic descriptions of torture, rape, and mutilation, I kept thinking, "Something good must come out of all of this. A deity of some sort will heal these characters of their physical injuries and they'll be given a chance at beginning emotional healing, too." I guess the second part sort of happened, but we really weren't given much detail about that. Maybe it would have helped if we had seen the original group, or at least as many as remained alive, reunited back at Pearl's, hard at work on their next project, with frequent travel between the Lands and even a visit with the ghosts. I guess there's no chance of a fourth book to either wrap things up properly or continue their adventures. I'd snap it up in a heartbeat if it's ever written.

[MaryL · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just a lovely ending to this trilogy. This is the final of the three books Jane Linndskold wrote about thirteen exiles from The Land Born of Smoke and Sacrifice. The thirteen exiles were people each associated with an animal in the Chinese zodiac. Through the books the reader came to know each character. The exiles in the earthly plane had a counterpart still in the Land Born of Smoke and Sacrifice. It was believed that the magical powers of the earthly exiles was sapping the magical powers of their counterparts who were in the Land... Smoke & Sacrifice. In this final book of the earthly exiles travel to the LBoS&S to set right what had been lost. I enjoyed all the magic - especially when it involved the Mah Jongg tiles. The characters in this book were written in a richer way. Except that I felt the character Riprap lost some depth in this book. I suppose with so many characters to write, the author had to give one of them short shrift. All in all, this was a very good book.

[Walt Boyes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Breaking the Wall is a terrific mixin

What happens when you combine ancient Chinese culture, modern Chinese Culture, the Sidhe, and the Rosicrucians? You get three fantastic books by Jane Lindskold. If you have never read anything by Jane, start here. I have to confess that one of the treats for me in reading this series is that I was born and raised three blocks from the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum in San Jose, which forms a major part of the story. I loved this series.

[Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing end to the trilogy. The end was most unsatisfying, there were so many loose ends, it was just like the author shrugged here shoulders and said she was done with this and put minimal effort into finishing or she didn't know how she actually wanted to finish but had to so just wrote something down. Kinda feel like I wasted a trilogy.

[Laronda Blessing · Rating 4 out of 5]

Glad to finish the series, and glad every detail wasn't tied up nicely. The side trek into the sidhe lands still seems a bit like a weird tangent that doesn't exactly fit. And this one is far more brutal than the first two. I'd been thinking my 11 and 14 yos might like the series, but may have to rethink that for the 11 yo. Overall and engaging and enjoyable series.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many people didn't like book #2 because the author got too involved with too many characters. In my experience, this happens fairly often with group action adventures so I didn't count it against the book.

This book, though, brought it all back together. It was satisfying.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great addition to the series. I was a bit disappointed with some of questions the book left unanswered. I enjoyed the series and I will definitely read it again in the future.

[Catching Shadows · Rating 3 out of 5]

The previous book had some marginal successes and victories, and the possibility of something Very Big and Very Bad happening in the Orphan’s previous homeland,and they have made allies of their counterparts from the Lands Born of Smoke and Sacrifice. Five Odd Honors begins with the discovery of the treachery of the previous Tiger, Thundering Heaven, who has managed to trick the Monkey, Bent Bamboo. He declares that he will only allow them to talk to the Monkey to ask him to join them in going back to the Lands Born of Smoke and Sacrifice if his daughter Pearl (the current Tiger) steps down from her position. The other Orphans are less than enthused by this option, and Pearl resolves the situation by having a duel with her father. (When they finally get into contact with Bent Bamboo, he is immediately agreeable to the plan, and is upset that Thundering Heaven had tricked him.

The Orphans and allies get ready to create the Gate to return to the Lands (the biggest problem had been gathering the people necessary for the spell, and was most of content in Nine Gates). When they create the Gate to the Lands, they discover a strange, apocalyptic, and uninhabitable landscape. It is immediately decided that they need to send outan expedition before wandering around without knowing where they are.

At that point, Brenda’s father Gaheris decides it is time for Brenda to go to college.Brenda definitely does not want to leave her new friends hanging, but Brenda goes anyway. At college, she tries to settle in, while worrying about what might be happening to the Orphans who are scouting ahead.

Shortly after she arrives at the college, she meets a strangely familiar person named Parnell. She eventually learns (and remembers) that she had met both Parnell and his aunt Leaf in dreams. These two are representatives of the sidhe, who would like to help the Orphans, because whatever is happening in the Lands is part of some larger danger, and anything that happens in the Lands will also affect things for the sidhe. Parnell and Leaf have definite plans for Brenda,as they want her to convey this message to the Orphans. (Though many are reluctant with the idea, because Brenda is at first unsure and slightly xenophobic about the sidhe).

I was not sure what to think of the introduction of the sidhe. In a lot ofseries, it feels like the hodgepodge of various supernatural traditions stuffed together (often with sidhe dominating) is a loose stab at cultural diversity,without any real consideration for the traditions the other beings come from.)In this case, much the way she introduced the idea of multiple and often contradictory magical traditions, Lindskold manage to keep it all together without homogenization. I liked that Brenda was not only confused with the sidhe because she had just gotten used to her version of a Chinese magical system,and now was being confronted with a completely different system—who don’t resemble or act quite the way they do in fairy folklore and legends.

The ending of Five Odd Honors was a little anti-climactic. Since it was also a very open ending, with many things not really explained, I am hoping for another sequel. (Though I am not sure how there could be, since Lindskold tied up the situation with the Orphans pretty firmly.)

[zjakkelien]

Five odd honors is a fitting final instalment of the series. That is to say, it has competent heroes both male and female, old and young. The heroes have flaws, but are sympathetic. It has interesting magic and weird creatures.
I'm not sure I'm entirely a fan of the fact that large parts were written from the perspective of a new character, The Horse. He was ok, but I was personally more interested in Brenda, Pearl, and Riprap.
In a way, I think it is admirable that Jane Lindskold doesn't make this book end like a fairytale. Although things get resolved, other things don't, and part of the ending is not completely satisfactory, or even clear as to how it will turn out. That feels a little more like real life than a story. On the other hand, part of the ending disturbed me a bit. There is a considerable amount of hardship for some of the characters (which, incidentally, I didn't necessarily want to know about), especially some of the dead people. It seems to me that after all that, they are dismissed quite easily. They should have gotten at least something to show for it... Sure, a few characters mention that life is not fair, and I suppose that is true, but there were higher powers in play here. They could have made things a little more fair. I'm not saying that the dead should not have returned to death, but surely they could have gotten some compensation for all the trouble they went through?
Then there is the coming of age of Brenda, and her conflict with her father. Again, admirably realistic and un-fairytalelike. Still, I would have wished that Brenda had actually talked more to her dad instead of talking to others, doing what she feels is right without telling him, and then simply taking a stand when he wants her to go home. Already in college she is upset about his behaviour, and she never really confronts him. Even when she takes her stand, she never addresses all the issues, and that, I feel, is a shame.

Several other things are left not completely resolved, and although I can admire it, it also makes me feel a little unsettled. It's not that I want a happily ever after, but I wouldn't have minded just a little more closure. The one thing I don't mind not being resolved too clearly is the romance bit. It's been clear for three books that Brenda and Flying Claw are attracted to each other, but I'm fine with there not being a declaration of eternal devotion and undying love.

[Larisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm sorry the series is over--it definitely went out with a bang of a climax. Though Lindskold does seem to leave it in a way that I could envision some of the characters showing up again in other novels. This book added in the new twist of Brenda's magical heritage from her mother's side, which brings her in touch with the "sidhe" (Celtic fairies), along with a potential new love interest in the form of Parnell. More suspense than the second book but also lots of descriptive torture scenes. All in all a satisfying wrap-up of the trilogy.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this third installment in the Breaking the Wall series, though not as thoroughly as the first two books. I was most captivated by Brenda's learning of the sidhe people, but felt like it lacked complete development and dropped off at the end leaving the reader with a lot of questions. Overall this book was good not great, mainly due to many new characters and not enough resolution. I really hope there is a next book to satisfy my curiosity of whats next.

[Jenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I plowed through this book after finishing nine gates. I had trouble putting it down. I had to take break just so that my nook could recharge. The story is well driven. It never felt too slow or too fast. At the end, I became so invested in the characters that I went looking to see if there is next one. Not yet. An exciting read about learning that everybody is more than meets the eye and that discovering and learning about your culture can be an adventure.

[Kalyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this installment, we learn more about some of the Orphans we hadn't seen as much of during previous novels. In addition, we get some insight into Brenda's past and family history (including how that could complicate things). We also get a lot of character development for Brenda and Pearl in ways that I didn't really expect. It's a good addition to the series and leaves things in a really interesting place to go forward.

[Liriel27 · Rating 2 out of 5]

This would have been three stars, if not for the oddly unfinished ending. The major conflict is resolved, but a lot of character notes are just left hanging, and I was not especially a fan of the brutality - not because it didn't make sense, but because there were no real consequences from it. If horrible things happen to the characters, they have to deal with it - otherwise, there is no real point beyond engaging the basest voyeuristic impulses or the cheap sympathy button of the readers.

[Unwisely · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had some more bits of clunky exposition, but retained the appeal of the earlier books. It was a cracking good adventure...but when it was over, there were so many things left unresolved I went looking for the next book. Which doesn't appear to exist.

The book itself delves a little farther into some of the mysteries alluded to earlier, but after it was over I felt like I was left hanging. So that was sort of frustrating. But I would have hated to not read it.

[RealmsQueen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Final in the new trilogy, just as good as the previous two but rather brutal in the end which was quite surprising as it is out of character for the other Lindskold books I have read.

The Orphans finally reach the Lands and heal the rift they created when the original thirteen orphans left the lands so long ago.

I really enjoyed this trilogy despite the lumps and bumps along the way. I hope Lindskold comes out with more along these lines one day.

[Lynn · Rating 1 out of 5]

Utterly unreadable. I've read everything the author has written and enjoyed it until this book. The first two in this series were pretty good too. I had to put it down after 65 pages. 65 pages of the characters (way too many of them) talking. And talking. And talking some more. Oh and some ghosts fought or something. Whatever.

[Joli · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this series a lot. The characters are all really endearing and you pull for them. There is a lot of sitting around and talking in the first book (Thirteen Orphans) in particular, and I think it's funny that even the characters complain about the lack of action and their propensity for talking things to death! I would recommend to others who like fantasy elements imposed on the real world.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just not as good as the two other books. I still enjoyed the characters and unique system of magic, but the injection of Western (well, Celtic) myth grated...a lot.

It was worth the read, despite the little annoyances, and if this is the end of series, I'm sorry it didn't even on a better note.

[Elaine Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I definitely need to read all the books in a row again, because although I was mostly able to pick up the plot threads & characters, I definitely felt like I was missing something. Great book, though, deeply engaging. Love the consistency and imaginativeness of her invented magic worlds & systems.

[Noelle Sleitweiler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it

This is such an amazing book, a good read all around. I never knew how much I needed this series in my life until I finished it. Jane Lindskold have this book so much character and it was so unique I couldn't put it down!

[Peculiar Monster · Rating 2 out of 5]

Review in May 2010 Romantic Times.

[Janice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Better than the first two--this book wraps things up fairly well, and the disorienting shifting from point of view to point of view is reduced compared to the preceding novels

[Steven · Rating 2 out of 5]

The series was okay, but didn't grab me like her Wolf series. I was hoping for more.

[Ruth Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Similar to #1&2 in series.

[Rae · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recommended to people who like Charles De Lint

[Basil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably the most brutal thing I've read by Jane Lindskold.