Reviews by Crooty

This 3182-line-long Anglo-Saxon poem tells the story of Beowulf, a mighty Geat hero warrior, who comes to the rescue of the Danish king, Hrothgar, when the latter's mead hall Heorot is attacked by the monster Grendel. Beowulf kills the beast bare-handed and gains great renown, and later sets off to slay Grendel's mother as well. After going back to Sweden and reigning for over fifty years, he'll die wresting with yet another creature, a dragon.

The poem has a nice cadence, which pushes you forward, and Seamus Heaney's modern English translation is very enjoyable to read. I regret not having been able to concentrate on the poem all the time (I was sometimes distracted by personal concerns and my mind started wandering off), and I think this is something I'll definitely read again.

Our Man in Havana takes place in the late fifties, during the Cold War. It tells the story of Wormold, an English, divorced vacuum cleaner salesman in Cuba.

Sales are not very good these days, and when his 17-year-old daughter's latest caprice turns out to be a horse, he knows he can't afford it. That's when he's accosted in the toilets of a local bar by Hawthorne, a cryptic man with an interesting offer: 300$ a month, to become a secret agent. All he has to do is recruit sub-agents and send regular reports to London.

Wormold uses the money to buy presents for his daughter, sending fake reports and sketches of an imaginary war machine from vacuum cleaner designs. Very pleased with his work, the MI6 decide to send him a secretary...

This was my first encounter with Graham Greene's work. I read this book as a background preparation for the Cambridge Proficiency exam, and even though it's not a genre I am used to (I usually read fantasy), I must say I enjoyed it thoroughly. The story is timeless and could as well have happened nowadays, it's funny and sarcastic, and the characters are extremely human. A great experience!

This is the fourth and final book in The Artefacts of Power tetralogy (following Aurian, Harp of Winds and The Sword of Flame).

After failing to make the terrible sacrifice that would have allowed her to claim the Sword of Flame, Aurian and some of her friends find themselves trapped in a time breach. They reappear some eight years later, only to discover nothing but chaos and destruction.

Indeed, not only did her failure release the evil-minded Phaerie who, wasting no time, immediately started ransacking Nexis and raping its inhabitants, sowing terror upon the city, but in the meantime Eliseth has also stolen the Cauldron of Rebirth from Miathan and is about to take the last steps that will finally allow her to quench her thirst for absolute power. Aurian has to stop her at any cost if she wants to save the world and the people she loves. Mustering her troops, she embarks on yet another journey to the Southern Kingdoms, towards the final confrontation.

Even though I was glad to read more about loveable characters such as Grince the young thief, Chiamh the Xandim Windeye or Shia the great cat, I was quite disappointed by Anvar's almost complete absence from this volume, for he was my favourite. The idea of time travel was quite unexpected too, and even though it was interesting to find out what Hargorn and Hebba, or Zanna, Dulsina and the Nightrunners had become in the eight years that had passed, this device didn't serve any other useful purpose and might have been more thouroughly explored, used to more enriching ends.

Although I can say I liked Dhiammara as a whole, I also found this volume somewhat messy and rather grim. Too many things happen and it seems that too many subplots have to be solved. And a fairly high number of people die in bloodshed too. Most of all, I found it was a tad insipid and lacked the suspenseful action of Harp of Winds or The Sword of Flame, and finally the end wasn't very spectacular either. Shame, it looked so promising...

This is the third book in The Artefacts of Power tetralogy (after Aurian and Harp of Winds, and before Dhiammara).

Reunited at last, the Mages Aurian and Anvar are ready to set off again in search of the last Artefact of Power, the legendary Sword of Flame. Together with their new friends, they travel to the Xandim fastness, where the shortsighted Windeye Chiamh can help them locate the lost artefact. There they'll have to face the demented former Healer-Mage Meiriel who has but one obsession, to kill Aurian's son. Meanwhile, rebellion is slowly fermenting among the Xandim people.

At the same time in Nexis, young Zanna is trying to rescue her father from the clutches of the fiendish Archmage, while as always, the cupid Eliseth is coming up with more devious ploys to thwart Miathian and seize the power of the Cauldron of Rebirth.

The Sword of Flame is what you could call a typical middle volume, in which many events take place but where the overall story in itself isn't really getting much further. Mark you, I found it quite enjoyable, but as a whole, I was less impressed, less taken aback than I had been by the richness of Harp of Wind. I guess I read it faster because I was in a hurry to jump to Dhiammara, the final volume. Consider this one a bonus.

This the second book in The Aterfacts of Power series (following Aurian, and followed by The Sword of Flame and Dhiammara).

After their harrowing ordeal in the blinding desert of glittering gem shards where they recreated the Staff of Earth, one of the lost Artefacts of Power, the Mages Aurian and Anvar find themselves victims of yet another treachery.

Aurian, now several months pregnant and so bereft of her powers, ends up in the stronghold of the Tower of Incondor, prisoner of Harihn, Prince of the Khazalim, whereas Anvar is taken hostage by Blacktalon, High Priest of the Sky Folk, in the high-peaked city of Aerillia. Both are in league with Miathan, who covets Aurian's child, on which he's put a terrible curse.

Shia the great cat might be their only hope.

In this second volume, Maggie Furey takes the opportunity of Aurian and Anvar's confinement not only to develop background characters such as Vannor and his daughter Zanna, Parric, Forral's former horsemaster, or the Nightrunners, but also to introduce the reader with a whole cast of new characters, among which the winsome shapeshifting Xandim Chiamh and Shiannath, therefore letting the story unravel gently, without slowing the pace of action.

And all the while, the mountain is watching...

This is the first book in the Artefacts of Power tetralogy (followed by Harp of Winds, The Sword of Flame and Dhiammara).

Aurian is a red-haired young girl, daughter of the Magefolk, who lives with her mother Eilin in the crater left by the magical accident that killed her father. Upon hearing of the catastrophe, Forral, a skilled Mortal swordsman, friend of Aurian's late father, comes to offer his help. Although most unwelcome by Eilin at first, he'll take care of Aurian's education and physical training as she grows up. It won't take the little girl very long to fall in love with the man.

But soon it's time for Aurian to move to the city of Nexis and its Academy, to be trained among the Mages. Only then does she realize the social chasm and power struggle that exist between the Mage and Mortal casts.

Anvar is a slave boy working in the kitchens. Being regularly beaten by his master, he escapes one day from the Academy, and stumbles upon Aurian. Being of a gentle nature, she decided to takes him under her wing, as her personal servant.

For Miathan the Archmage, this is going to far, for he wants Aurian for himself. Before long, his jealousy and thirst for power will lead to a terrible confrontation, releasing deadly wraiths, unleashing Hell. Aurian has no choice but to sail away. But in the magical storm created by Eliseth the Weather-Mage, she stands no chance and she soon finds herself stranded on the shores of the beautiful yet hostile Southern Kingdoms, where she'll rediscover the history of the only weapons that can defeat Miathan: the Artefacts of Power.

Aurian is a wonderful fantasy, packed with action and unexpected turns. The world created by Maggie Furey is enchanting and mysterious, her characters endearing and real. And even though Aurian's capricious and impulsive temper sometimes had the tendency to get on my nerves, I grew very fond of Anvar and I'm looking forward to seeing their friendship evolve and the story unravel.

This is the fourth and last volume in the Riftwar Saga (after Magician: Apprentice, Magician: Master and Silverthorn).

After another year of peace, Arutha and Anita are about to present their newly-born twins to their subjects when Arutha is victim of a new attack by the black Moredhel.

And while Arutha's party is starting a perilous journey northwards to confront his mysterious enemy Murmandamus, also meeting some old acquaintances on the way, Pug and Tomas travel through space and time on the back of a dragon in search of Macros the Black, as only the legendary magician can help them defeat the Enemy. Going backwards through time, they'll witness the very birth of the universe.

On one hand, I thoroughly enjoyed reading Arutha's tremendous adventures, especially the absolutely gripping siege and formidable battle of Armengar, and Jimmy and Locky are also great, loveable characters. But on the other hand, Pug's part, and in a way the unraveling of the whole saga, was a trifle too mystical and somewhat far-fetched for me. I cannot make up my mind as to what to think of this book.

The Wood Boy short story °°°°
Nice. (written on 28th March 2002)
This Rifwar Saga short story takes place in the first year of the Tsurani invasion and tells us about Dirk, a young lad living on a certain Lord Paul's estate. The lord's domain has just been requisitionned by a band of Tsurani and even though everyone is treated as a slave, life goes by. Until one cold winter day, Dirk wakes up to find out everyone has been murdered...

This is the third book of the Riftwar Saga (after Magician: Apprentice and Magician: Master and before A Darkness at Sethanon).

In Krondor, while discreetly escaping on the roofs after robbing a rich local merchant, Jimmy the Hand stumbles across a Nighthawk, an assassin. Finding out the target was Arutha, who has just come back from Rillanon to wed Anita, Jimmy decides to warn the Prince and help him discover who wants his death.

As two Nighthawks are captured for questioning, one of them turns out a disguised Moredhel. But just after dying, the creature strangely rises up again and starts attacking the Prince. Only with much magic will they be able to kill the monster.

After a raid in the Nighthawks' headquarters where the zombie assassins were neutralised by burning the whole building, peace returns and the wedding can take place. But as Arutha and Anita are walking down the aisle, Jimmy catches sight of Laughing Jack, a former colleague of Jimmy who he'd yet killed that night on the roofs, hiding in ambush in the cupola with a crossbow. Nimbly climbing up to try and prevent the worst, Jimmy only manages to deflect the arrow, which strikes Anita.

On closer inspection, they discover the arrow was poisoned: Anita is slowly dying. After exhorting Jack to tell them the name of the poison, Silverthorn, Arutha and his friends set out on a quest to find the antidote.

The story goes on to describe, on one hand, Arutha, Jimmy, Martin and Laurie traveling in search of the cure that'll save Anita, first to the library of Sarth abbey, then to Elvandar and finally to Moraelin, on the shores of the Black Lake in Moredhel territory, and on the other hand, Pug and his friends looking for an explanation to these mysterious events.

In this volume, the centre of attention has shifted from Pug to Arutha and Jimmy, whose characters are better developed and more believable. I really found this part more captivating than the previous ones, certainly because the goal was clearer, and I knew what the heroes were doing and why.

This is the second half of Magician, and second book in the Riftwar Saga (followed by Silverthorn and A Darkness at Sethanon).

After four years a slave in the great swamps of Kelewan, harvesting ngaggi trees the wood and resin of which the Tsurani use for paper, tools, or weapons, Pug discovers soon enough that one of those trees is rotten to save the place from devastation. Along with his slave mate and former minstrel Laurie, he is then hired by a noble Tsurani family: that of the Lord of the Shinzawai.

The lord's son Kasumi wants to be taught the barbaric ways of men on Midkemia, and especially to ride the horses that were captured in the invasion. As time goes by, this slave-master relationship will slowly become less formal. There Pug also meets a slave girl whom he will soon fall in love with: Katana.

One day though, a Great One, as are called the highly revered Kelewan magicians, upon visiting the Shinzawai discovers Pug's potential and decides to take him to the Assembly. Pug will spend another four years in the cells of this academy of sorts, repetedly questioned and brainwashed into a loyal servent of the Empire. After a final test on a vertiginously high tower where he dreams the whole History of Tsuranuanni, discovering the planet is in fact doomed, he finally becomes Milamber, a magician of immense power.

In the meantime on Midkemia Tomas, having donned the Dragon Lord's armour, is now a warrior hero, living with the elves and his boyhood love: the Elf Queen. But his Valheru armour of white and gold holds a strange power and Tomas is constantly tormented by terrible dreams.

After mourning Pug for years, Carline has finally turned her love towards Roland. Crydee is under siege, and with the help of Amos Trask the pirate, Prince Arutha goes to Krondor to seek help, only to discover the overambitious and treacherous Duke Guy du Bas-Tyra is now ruling.

In this book the reader discovers the Tsurani harsh climate and learns more about its Far-East-like society. This second part is a great improvement compared to the first: all bits fall into place, on both worlds people converge through political struggles to the final climax. However as a lover of long and minutious descriptions, I would have liked to see the characters being developed deeper, and in the end I realised I actually didn't care much for them.

Originally written as a stand-alone, Magician could easily be read as such, and I wonder what awaits me in the next two books.

This is the first half of Magician, the first book in the Riftwar Saga (followed by Silverthorn and A Darkness at Sethanon).

Pug is an orphan boy of thirteen. Seeing great potential in him, Kulgan, the Duke of Crydee's adviser and magician, takes him as apprentice. However, even after months of training, Pug can't master the arcane power, until the day he unexpectedly saves Princess Carline's life from a troll attack. He'll be made squire.

Later, when his best friend Tomas finds a mysterious ship stranded on the cliffs, the boys search the wreck looking for treasures. Discovering only two alien corpses and a scroll, they decide to go back to the castle. On the way though, they find a third creature. This one is still alive and with the help of the Duke's sons, is made prisoner. After Kulgan has deciphered the scroll, and from the information Father Tully, the priest, manages to get by reading its mind, it all becomes clear: the alien Tsurani are soon to invade Midkemia.

The story goes on to describe the Duke's party's journey around the world seeking for help, a journey in which Pug and Tomas will of course take part. From the first chapters, Magician seems very promising, but after a few it slowly deteriorates. As a whole it's very irregular and I didn't find it very passionating. Time passes too fast, sometimes skipping a whole year, and there are far too many races and villains. In short it's a fairly light fantasy about men, elves and dwarves vs. trolls, goblins, wraiths, the Tsurani and if you still can't get enough, there are also the Meredhel, a kind of black elves. Moreover, Pug is never really taught to use magic, not to mention that there's hardly a word about him in the last quarter of the book. I'll read the end of this trilogy all the same, in hope it gets better, but so far I have to say it has put me off reading the whole Midkemia saga.