The Twisted Citadel / Sara Douglass

The Twisted Citadel

category: fantasy, author:

Sara Douglass

book 2 of Darkglass Mountain
original copyright 2008,
read in September 2010

Agamedes' opinion: 6 out of 10

Here's an interesting observation: Reading in fits and starts allows more involvement with the story. It's a one-off observation -- yet to be tested -- on my own reading style. It is interesting to me. Perhaps, also, to you...?

And here's another observation: The Search PissWeakly toolbar does not work. It does not find the second book in the PissWeakly list... It really is time for me to go back to my original index idea, a Google spreadsheet which can be sorted, searched and used as a link back to
PissWeakly... Now back to that first observation:

I recently read Darkglass Mountain book one: The Serpent Bride. I had read it before, I read it quite quickly, I enjoyed it the second time. Enjoyed it -- but was not greatly involved in the story. Why not?

Reading The Twisted Citadel, I was much more involved with the story: I wondered what was coming next, I wondered what was about to happen to the characters, I began to see more "character" in the characters. This was -- I think -- because I was reading more slowly.

Some books, you read a mile a minute... un-put-downable. Get to the end and wonder... What just happened? There is no time to think... no time to absorb. If it's a good book, I'll read it again, and possibly find more detail to the story.

I read Citadel in bits and pieces, with other -- non-reading -- activities in between. So I had time to absorb, to digest, to remember, to understand.

Did I enjoy it more? No, not really... It was just a different experience!

Read The Twisted Citadel for good fantasy. Not just fantasy the genre, but fantasy in the ideas: Infinity becomes a glass pyramid becomes a walking, talking villain; gods plan for millennia, mess up, change sides, lose their god-powers; super-evil-villain, arrival forecast for centuries, finally arrives and is eaten by an even-more-super villain... All very fantastic, all totally unbelievable... all perfectly acceptable in this tall tale of heroic heroes, evil villains and star-crossed lovers.

The star-crossed lovers -- and there are several pairs of them -- are the main themes of this book. Sure, they live in a fantastic, fantasy world. So what? Star-crossed love provides the real drama... And -- thank goodness -- it looks as though the various lovers may, eventually, get together. At least until the next trilogy begins...

So is this "fantasy" or is it really "romance"?

I categorised Twilight as both "fantasy" and "romance": the romance was essential, the fantasy element made the romance unique. Citadel has strong romance -- but the romance is based in the fantasy. I believe that a romance reader could read and enjoy Twilight. I believe that you would need to be a fantasy fan to enjoy the romance of Citadel.

That's my belief. For what it's worth. Which is -- in the context of this blog -- an awful lot of worth:-)

This second book of the trilogy is a lot of fun. Better yet -- for my preferences -- the book itself has a conclusion. Yes, there is a major storm brewing on the horizon. But the book concludes many of the plot threads.

Okay, "concludes" is probably too strong a word for it!

The Twisted Citadel could be read alone -- and enjoyed. It would make a lot more sense if you had read book one of Darkglass Mountain. To get a solid background on the characters -- rather than the quite effective back-story references -- there are at least three other books that you should read.

When you reach the end of this book, you can sit back and think, that was fun! Not, I wonder how they will get out of that? but, That was fun, and it ended well... It would be nice to find out what happens next -- but there have been enough satisfactory conclusions already.

Read, enjoy, and look forward to many more books to continue Douglass' fantastic saga.

..o0o..

These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

The Serpent Bride / Sara Douglass

The Serpent Bride

category: fantasy, author:

Sara Douglass

book 1 of Darkglass Mountain
original copyright 2007,
read in September 2010 (and before, a year or two ago...)

Agamedes' opinion: 6 out of 10

I enjoyed this book. I also enjoyed it the first time that I read it. Why did I read it a second time?

When I picked up this book at the local library, I did not recognise it. As soon as I started reading -- it was familiar. Still... an Australian author, no PissWeakly review, need to write a review... Anyway: I was enjoying the book! So, read on...

This book is easy to read. Easy to enjoy. Satisfactory ending. Just don't expect a fairytale ending!

I've read one other book by Douglass, The Wayfarer Redemption. Which -- strangely enough -- I have also read twice. Well, not so strange: that one changed its name, just to confuse me. Anyway:

Wayfarer was, I think, Douglass' first novel. A whole lot of strong interesting characters, battles against evil, indifference and lust, and a to-be-continued ending. In books two and three of that trilogy the hero moved from general to leader to god. Then got the girl -- and died.

In Serpent -- he's back from the dead!

So too are lots of other characters from the first trilogy. Okay, they were not all dead, just otherwise disposed of. In Serpent, they all seem to be getting together again. Not that there's anything wrong with that! Then there's the main character... As far as I can tell, he was an un-deposed king in yet another Douglass book. Now, he's revealed as being the long lost heir to a very mythic and magical lord and master of all he surveys... Wow!

Still, the villains are new. (As far as I can tell, having missed many books in the sequence!) And they are evil, and overwhelming, and they pervert past minions to be even more nasty than before. Wow again!

Douglass has built a world. Now she is telling us long and complex stories of the people who live in that world.

The action is fun -- occasional sharp and brutal small fights, then entire cities are wiped out -- but action is not a main theme. The main theme... is tangled romance. Sure, the hero gets his army -- but he certainly doesn't get his girl! Not in book one, at least.

This is a Mills & Boon soap opera. Larger than life, over dramatic, over nice. This is, in other words, a lot of fun. With a very... possibly old... Mills & Boon view of gender roles:

The men are all handsome, sometimes unconventionally handsome. They are charismatic, amazingly so. Often driven. Deeply emotional, often deeply flawed. One of the gods puts the millennia-old plans at risk because he wants to bed the heroine...

And the women are strong -- but subservient. One woman displays her inner strength by slapping the god (in human form ) -- and then looking down in embarrassment and fear! Ooooohh! The main role for women is, it seems, to seduce and be seduced. All the "real" work is done by men. Flutter... blush... swoon.

Easy to read, no real need to have read the previous books. I have the next book in this series -- and look forward to continuing the saga.

..o0o..

These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

The Wayfarer Redemption: book one / Sara Douglass

The Wayfarer Redemption: book one

(aka BattleAxe)
(category: fantasy)
book 1 of Wayfarer Redemption by

Sara Douglass

published by Tor / Tom Doherty, original copyright 1995
Nick read a library book, in April 2010
(and before, several years ago?)

Nick's rating: 7 out of 10

Nick's opinion:

The cover of this book says that, "Sara Douglass is the best and most exciting writer of commercial fantasy fiction to emerge from Australia." Commercial fantasy fiction? I wonder what that means?! Anyway... Douglass is Australian and she writes a good fantasy novel.

I know that I've read this book before. Just can't remember when. Not from a library, either... perhaps I have a copy, somewhere in the house? I remember most of the incidents. I also remember that I was confused, that first time. This time, though, I read more carefully -- occasionally checking back, to the Prologue or to the central Prophecy -- and it all makes sense.

Not that the entire plot is sensible! Who are these people who appear in the 54th of 58 chapters -- just in time to get the good guys home on time? On the other hand... One of the strengths of this book is the gradual introduction of characters. As an example of bad introduction of characters, The Edge of the World throws a dozen characters at the reader, in the first dozen chapters, with each character having their own, apparently unrelated adventures. In Wayfarer, Douglass starts with a small number of characters and gives us time to get to know them. Those characters meet a few others, we get to know and follow those others. By the end of the book we are following a relatively small number of characters -- and we know how each of them relates to the main plot.

Mind you, the story's point of view does change regularly -- often, several times within a single scene.

Most of the characters are overdrawn. The hero is truly heroic and all the soldiers are willing to follow him to their deaths. As the villain attempts to belittle the hero, the villain laughs an evil laugh which, even to himself, sounds forced. The heroine is madly in love with the hero -- so in love that she marries the villain in order to save the hero's life. Ah! true love!

This is a straightforward book. By the end of the book, all the sensible people know that the hero will save the world (after several more books of love and battles, anyway). Good guys turning bad are clearly flagged; mysterious strangers point to characters and tell us that this person will soon be a major character. Straightforward, good versus evil, swords (and axes) and sorcery. An enjoyable book and a lot of fun.

..o0o..

These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes & documents, email nick leth at gmail dot com.