Amberlight [Hardcover]

Sylvia Kelso (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 15, 2007

Tellurith, the head of a great ruling House in Amberlight, inexplicably finds a battered outlander left for dead in the streets of the legendary city - and an oracle reveals that he must not die. The man, although stripped of his memory, may know of a threat to Amberlight's unique possession: the motherlodes of the qherrique, the pearl-rock that gives their world its most powerful tool. Tangled in intrigue, insurrection and brutal warfare, it will take a cataclysmic upheaval for Tellurith and the stranger to begin to grasp the more-than-human mystery that brought them together.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Kelso (Everran's Bane) paints a hypnotic but prose-drowned portrait of a complex matriarchal society powered by qherrique, a semisentient stone that can control minds and power machinery. When a male Outlander is found on the streets of Amberlight, robbed, raped and left for dead by a girl gang, the qherrique informs Tellurith, the powerful head of Telluir House, that he must be kept alive. As Tellurith's household nurses the stranger back to health, he reveals the terrible truth about the nearby rulers who purchase qherrique statuettes from Amberlight and use them to enslave people and wage war. As Tellurith comes to see and question the rampant poverty and bias in Amberlight, she opens a furious debate over the Houses' responsibility to make sure qherrique is used wisely at home and abroad. Kelso's self-consciously overwrought verbiage (Crafters' coats and cloaks festoon the pearl-grime) distracts from an otherwise intriguing exploration of sexual politics and the difficult calculus of leadership. (Nov.)
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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Juno Books (December 15, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0809572478
• ISBN-13: 978-0809572472
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,838,336 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Sylvia Kelso lives in North Queensland, Australia, and writes fantasy, SF and mystery/time-travel, with analogue Australian settings. Her novels *The Moving Water* (2006)and *Amberlight* (2007) were finalists for best fantasy novel in the 2007 and 2008 Australian Aurealis genre fiction awards. *Riversend*, the sequel to *Amberlight*, was released in January 2009. Her third published long/short story, "The Sharp-Shooter" appeared with New Ceres Press in *New Ceres Nights* in April 2009. Some of her fiction appears for free access and electronic purchase on Book View Café (http://www.bookviewcafe.com/index.php)

She is currently preparing a third Amberlight novel ms for a possible publisher, waiting to hear about a mystery/time-travel novel from a second publisher, and has just finished judging the Writers in Townsville inaugural poetry award. http://members.iinet.net.au/~sakelso/

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good, but I had trouble., February 27, 2008

By 

S. S. White "Calico Reaction" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Amberlight (Paperback)

Amberlight is an interesting fantasy that focuses on a matriarchal society, gender reversals, and even touches (but not through said guy's POV) male rape. It's a short read, and an interesting one, and while I had some problems getting through it (the third-person, present tense POV did not make for an easy read), I'm glad I did. I'll be happy to pick up the sequel.

1.0 out of 5 stars HUH?, September 7, 2010

By 

Ashley Shrout "Book Carnivore" (Mt. Sterling, Ky) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Amberlight (Paperback)

How, how, how???? How did this book get these great reviews? I don't consider myself an English major/ not by far...but how can you write the first 34 pages without using one complete sentance? I struggle with knowing who is speaking, to whom, and what in the world are they talking about???? And I say "Struggle" in present tense b/c I hate knowing I wasted money. I'm still trying to tuff it out; like making a child eat brussel sprouts with out cheese on it. The story line is great, just wish it was written by someone else. I'm not trying to be mean, but I was realy excited about reading this book, due to previous reviews on the first novel. Wish I didn't buy book #2 before knowing what I was in for. Very dissapointed.

5.0 out of 5 stars Diamond-hard prose, February 17, 2008

By 

Nicole Lowery (WI) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Amberlight (Paperback)

Sylvia Kelso's prose in Amberlight is perfectly suited to her story; it is terse and diamond-hard, much like the main character herself. Tellurith is the head of one of the Thirteen Houses of Amberlight. She is a capable administrator, though somewhat naive about her own, and Amberlight's, role in the unrest growing in the land.

Tellurith and her house leaders find what they initially think is a beaten woman. It turns out to be a badley beaten man, instead, but since they are already emotionally involved, they take him back to Telluir House, bringing both joy and doom on themselves.

Kelso writes with a stern eye toward her characters and setting, but not without a sense of hope. What made Amberlight so good to me was the balance of story and romance, with neither overwhelming the other. I really liked these characters, and felt that they were real within the context of this richly drawn world.