11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A good book with some problems, April 10, 2000
By A Customer
This review is from: Beneath a Mountain Moon (Paperback)
I got my start in the Craft with To Ride A Silver Broomstick. I became such a fan of Silver RavenWolf's non-fiction work that I thought her fiction work would probably be just as good. It's a book that should be read in about 1 to 3 sittings, without tons of time inbetween sittings, so you don't lose track of who is who. There are a lot of characters to keep track of in this book, because nearly all of them have an important role to play. While Silver does a good job of juggling them throughout most of the book, I feel, as another reviewer did, that the ending somewhat fizzles.
I can't help but wonder if Silver is planning a sequel to Beneath a Mountain Moon because of the way she ends the book. I could certainly see a sequel for a few of the minor characters whose fates we are left to ponder where there is no resolution.
I found it hard at times to get behind Elizabeyta, the protagonist of this book. I would have liked to have known more about her as a person, not just that she's been coming to Whiskey Springs for two years on a regular basis, that she has this mission to defeat the evil forces who want to kill her family and that the minister next door likes her. I feel that the reader isn't given the chance to really get inside the protagonist's head (and I think a major reason for that was the focus on all the other characters) and while I wanted her mission to succeed, I found myself caring less and less what happened to her personally as the story went on. I started caring more about some of the minor characters who are fleshed out more emotionally than Elizabeyta ever is.
I liked a lot of the elements of the Craft Elizabeyta practises. Some of it was quite fantastic, but I think it's all right to take some artistic licence with fictional writing, and Silver's fantastic happenings in this book are grounded at least partly in reality. I also liked the echoes of lessons from Silver's non-fiction books throughout this book.
The only thing I didn't like with Craft practises in this book was how the Belladonna family was so secretive with the fact they were witches. I found it especially odd that Silver, who from her non-fiction seems so progressive in the Craft, would portray this as a norm for a family of witches. I think this book would have benefited from Elizabeyta fighting the evil forces with more members of her family; I think it would have allowed us to get to know her better as a person for we would have seen more of her emotional connections. I found a lot of things about the Belladonnas to be ridiculous, but I don't want to spoil the plot on anyone, so I won't mention them. But I'm sure you'll notice them if you read the book.
To sum up, it's a good tale for the most part, with a few problems with plot endings and development of characters. But if you like Silver RavenWolf's work, I recommend reading this book.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
An interesting concept with a somewhat confusing thread, December 6, 1999
This review is from: Beneath a Mountain Moon (Paperback)
I've read and thoroughly enjoyed various works of Silver Ravenwolf. However, this is the first time I've read one of her fictitious works. I liked the way it started out but about a third of the way into the novel I began to get confused and would have to go back to check on who's who again. Of course being a fictitious work it offers an exaggerated slant on the rituals of the solitary - at least I've never personally known a solitary or a coven for that matter who was able to conjure up an entity with whom they were able to bond with on a very physical level accompanied with suitable fireworks of the fire and brimstone sort.
The premise of the book vaguely (only very vaguely) reminded me of the love-hate relationship between Sybil Leek and Aleister Crowley, except in the case of the Belladonna and Blackthorne clans it was pure hate, no love at all.
Overall I have to say I was disappointed in the book. I couldn't seem to latch onto any one particular character, including Elizabeyta, that I could say I emphatized with. I didn't care for the ending and felt that several threads were left dangling: while we could pretty much draw our conclusions with the major thrust of the story, the fate of some of the minor characters was not clear.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Raven, February 28, 2000
This review is from: Beneath a Mountain Moon (Paperback)
First off I must say that I am an avid reader of all of Silver's works and am looking forward to her next ficticious work, but I believe she should have included more of the true side of the Craft and have made the villian a bit more 3-demensional. I was able to fall right into the book like a comfey couch and re-read many times over. It is a lovely book and I would recommend it to anyone interested in a tale about the Craft by one of its most well-known practioners.
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