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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Taken by Surprise, August 10, 2009
Where do I start with this book? There is so much that I would like to say about it. I guess I can start with the first thought that came to mind... Wow! This is one of the few fantasy books that I have ever read that completely engrossed me into its world. Calhoun paints a glorious picture of Avielle's world leaving very little unanswered. The reader understands their religion, their history, their customs.. you name it, Calhoun included it. This aspect is only one of many things that I loved about this book.
The plot was paced well, but not too fast. For this story, this is not a bad thing since I believe that the reader needs to fully understand all aspects of what is going on this world. Avielle (I LOVE this name) is an interesting heroine. She has flaws, but you cannot help but love her. The other characters are wonderful, and add much to the story. The only character I did not fully understand was Edard. Calhoun gives the reader hints about his hatefulness, but never comes right out and explains it. I also would not have minded a bit a romance. The possibility is there for Avielle, but it is never explored.
There are two things (three if you count the cover) that I absolutely loved about this book. First, was Avielle's world, which I already discussed. The other is how Calhoun dealt with racism and prejudice. Both issues are handled flawlessly, and leave the reader with a nice message. This would be a great book to use in middle/early high school classrooms to highlight those issues.
The only question I have about the novel is: Where is the sequel??? The ending leads you to believe that there is much more to explore, and I really, really want to, but Calhoun has not written a sequel yet.
This book is definitely going on my keepers list. It is well written, has a beautifully explored world, great characters, has a great underlying message for its readers. I honestly do not have any thing bad to say about it... except that there is no sequel in site (the book was published in 2006). If you decide to read this, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Terrorism: the fantasy allegory, June 1, 2009
A careful reader, who can make it past the saccharinely pale and angelic portrait on the cover, will note that Dia Calhoun dedicates this novel to "all victims of terrorism." It's a worthy thought, but an unnecessary one. No one could mistake this plodding, preachy, and sappy story for anything but a lesson about love, compassion, and tolerance in the face of thinly veiled Islamic terrorism.
Princess Avielle has the silvery skin and unusual bone structure of the Dodranians, inherited from her evil grandmother and a source of shame and torment for her at the intolerant Rhian court. When her entire family is wiped out by a magical terrorist attack at the hands of the Black Brethren (read: the Taliban), the ruling fundamentalist cabal of Dodrania, Avielle survives and must go into hiding, using and coming to terms with her gifts as a weaver and magician in a cheerful neighborhood of picturesque and eccentric commoners. Meanwhile, both the terrorist threats from Dodrania and the backlash against Rhians of Dodranian descent are increasing, allowing Calhoun to preach many lessons of tolerance and courage.
Some of the characters are interesting (although notably NOT the too-perfect, too-kind, too-naive and too-talented Avielle), and the story might be passable if it weren't for the heavy-handedness with which the morals are provided. There are awkward scenes, such as Avielle's encounter with refugee boys from the oppressive Brethren and consequent stirrings of compassion, where characters make textbook flips from prejudiced to tolerant, and a similarly predictable finale where Avielle summons the courage to fight the good fight on behalf of her country and all humankind.
It is hard to imagine the target audience of this book: 10-14 year old girls who like fairy-tales but are passionately Islamiphobic? As a member of the choir (and admittedly, rather out of the target age-group) I found them merely trite, and I cannot imagine that any child would not find them insulting.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Avielle of Rhia, February 24, 2007
A Kid's Review
This book has an interesting cover- to be sure. I was excited to get this book, but when I read it I was faintly dissapointed. The writer hung on to topics too long for my taste. She also made the main character way too nice. From what I think- the character in the book does not match a leader's character. The writer also skips events too. Like in one area she talks about Avielle teaching this guy who discriminates against Drendorians- to read. But then she skips all the lessons. At the end the guy says something about being able to treat "silverskins" ok. (Silverskins are people who look like Drendorian which is a 'evil' country, because of their partial Dredorian blood) She did not take step by step towards that outcome, therefore I was quite surprised when he said that. (I know it's confusing to read what I mean) OK... so what is good about this book to raise it into a four? The topic's are good and she talks throughly about the discrimination part. The plot is pretty good even though its got some errors. The writings really good to. Even though she uses mostly simple language- she uses it well. The main plot is to make Avielle true hearted and kind enough to rule. Avielle has to also learn to use her magic which she dispises. I thought that was kind of unique. The 'bad' country just didn't have all evil. Something evil was stalking THAT country. I thought THAT was pretty good, too. I enjoyed this book but not as much as Eragon or Tamora Pierce books. I reccomend this for GIRLS who like to read fantasy on something warlike but not so gorey. This book doesn't have any of that LOVE disease (luckly). So you won't find a romance of some sort in here. You should read Firegold if you like this book. It has some of the discrimination too from this book, but it tends to be more warlike.
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