Customer Reviews

The Blackgod (Chosen of the Changeling, Bk 2)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I read the previous reviews on this book before I decided to write one of my own, and the review that stated that the sequel was poor compared with The Waterborn was very different (not wrong-everyone's entitled to their own opinion)than what I concluded about The Blackgod. It was as good-if not better-than The Waterborn. For one thing- it was easy to pick up on after reading The Waterborn--only a few months had passed. The characters start out as being the same people you remember-but they change dramatically by story's end. Hezhi begins to grow into womanhood and starts to notice her physical and emotional changes. She also realizes her childhood is gone and that she has been robbed of the one place she felt she belonged-by her own father, the River. Perkar begins to understand that the mistakes he made--the people killed and the lives ruined--has forever severed him from the life he would have had among his people. But he also learns that pity and remorse for himself and the people deceased will do nothing but prevent him from moving on. This book is definite "gotta read" for people 13 (like me) to 99. If you like this book you gotta check out Philip Pullman's Dark Materials Series, Andre Norton's "Imperial Lady", and Jane Routley's "Mage Heart" and it's sequel, "Fire Angels".

Perkar's rash, ham-handed efforts to respond to Hezhi's almost unwitting call for help have opened a hornet's nest of trouble. Their flight from the city of Nohl to escape the Changeling has left behind them a trail of mayhem, death and destruction - Perkar's people, the cattle farmers, and the Mang, accomplished horse breeders, riders and worshippers are now at war; Perkar has slain and beheaded Ghe, the Jik assassin, but through the intervention of the Changeling's power, Ghe has been resurrected as a powerful ghoul who now claims to "love" Hezhi; and, in the fashion of the Greek and Roman pantheon, gods and half-gods squabble and tamper with the lives of man but their motives are murky, confusing and a good deal less than altruistic. Karak, the Raven, or the Blackgod, seems to have developed a particular fondness for Perkar, Hezhi and their small band of travelers. Much to Hezhi's utter dismay, fear and anger, he discloses to her that her destiny is at She'leng, the source of the River, where she will find the power to defeat the Changeling. But all Hezhi really wants is to be left alone. As the story unfolds, the gods' relentless tinkering with the world results in nobody knowing who to believe in or who to trust.

In The Blackgod, Keyes has moved well beyond The Waterborn and expanded Chosen of the Changeling into a truly mature epic fantasy with amazing breadth and scope. The animist pagan theology introduced in The Waterborn is explored in wonderful depth and detail. In a concept strikingly reminiscent of the Christian idea of Trinity and yet still wonderfully original and imaginative, Perkar's and Hezhi's gods - Balati the One-Eyed Lord, Karak the Raven, Ekama the Horse Mother and the Huntress - are revealed as manifestations of a single god united in their quest to eliminate the incessant, overpowering evil of the Changeling. As the war between them advances to a climax, the Mang and Perkar's people, the cattle farmers, come alive with rich and colourful detail including traditions and beliefs, costumes, history and language. Questions about the history and meaning of the priesthood and their temple in Nhol left unanswered at the end of The Waterborn are resolved with a dazzling twist. Heroes, heroines and villains alike are well-constructed, realistic and are allowed to develop and mature into different characters with strengths, weaknesses and human frailties.

Although we are reasonably certain of the eventual "winner" of the conflict, the story-telling never becomes maudlin or trite and remains entirely unpredictable and compelling. Of course, that has a great deal to do with the fact that until the very end, we're not really certain of who the bad guy really is. I said it about The Waterborn and I'm thrilled to be able to say it again for The Blackgod: "An unforgettable fantasy replete with all the requisite elements - a pretty damsel in distress, heroes and their sagas, gods, battles, good and evil, with lots of credible dialogue to bring it home! Did I mention a couple of plot twists that would make the most jaded thriller or mystery reader's eyes light up?"

If you enjoy an epic fantasy, you won't want to miss The Blackgod, second entry in The Chosen of the Changeling.

After reading The Waterborn you think you understand the world of the Changling, but then The Blackgod reveals secrets you didn't suspect in the first book, and suddently the lines between friend and foe become blurred and you don't know who to trust. This is the experience of the heroine, Princess Hezhi, in The Blackgod. As she learns to wield her power it seems that everyone is trying to influence her. She even grows unsure of Perkar, the warrior from the cattle lands that she unwittingly summonned to aid her escape from the city of Nohl in the first book.

Against Hezhi and Perkar there are a huge range of powers: a mysterious Mang shaman, various warriors trying to enhance their reputation, and, rising from the beheaded corpse of a man that Hezhi once considered a friend, comes a monstrous avatar of the River god; a being powerful enough to consume gods; a man who does not remember his own past; the man formerly known as Ghe.

Keyes manages to introduce new twists and interpretations to the beliefs and social systems of this fantasy world. We learn that the priests are not what they seemed, and, as the Changling rises from his muddy bed and begins his inexorable passage across the land in pursuit of Hezhi, we see the hand the Blackgod has played in the saga, and learn why only Hezhi can defeat the Changling.

This is even more of a page turner than The Waterborn. But, don't worry if you (shock, horror!) haven't read the first book, Keyes re-visits the formers' climactic battle to present us with the re-birth of Ghe and proceeds from there to take the story through new locations to the birthplace of the Rivergod--the only place he can be killed. Of course, readers of The Waterborn will enjoy meeting old friends such as Ghan and Brother Horse again.

In short, Hezhi, a fourteen-year-old one-time princess, is truly one of the most interesting heroines in fantasy fiction, and the world Keyes has created is striking in its originality.

Greg Keyes has done it again! The final story of the Changeling saga is a great mix of folk, fantasy and mythology. A must read after The Waterborn.

J. Gregory Keyes has done it again: a book that can be shared with an emerging young adult. For the young adult reader there is high adventure and the exploration of emerging relationships and friendships. For adults there is the story as well as the continued buildings of a belief system and religion. It a story that builds on itself, growing more powerful with its main characters of Hehzi and Perkar. Even though Keyes ends this book on calmer ground than "The Waterborn" we can only hope that he has more in store for us

Since the Blackgod completes the story begun in The Waterborn, the entire story must be reviewed together. Neither book stands up alone, though the first could have ended slightly differently, precluding the second, and remained self- contained. The second is not strong enough on its own.

Keyes portrayal of ancient polytheistic and animist cultures, as well as the tension between cattle raising versus farming cultures, are well portrayed throughout. The second volume goes overboard insofar as direct action by "Gods." This heavyhanded divine intervention detracts from his well constructed characters and a sound basic plot line. The conclusion is well linked to the basic motives of the main characters--it just seemed FX intensive at the end.

Keyes' depiction of both the ancient urban setting and ancient cattle based societies were refreshing, and there was never a question that this tale was set in another time and place. A good read, and well paced. It is tough to find contemporary fantasy that has as many unorthodox twists, so for that alone, this series is worth reading.

this book is great!!! Keyes is good with suspense. But don't read it until you've read the first (Waterborn) book.

This review relates to the Kindle edition specifically. The book itself I might have rated a four, but the Kindle edition had MANY typographical errors throughout the last half as well as what seems to be pages of missing text in the digital version. I was able to power through and decipher the errors ("ufe"=life for expample)because I was interested in what was going to happen. I still enjoyed the book mostly, but the missing text and all the errors made reading this edition not nearly as enjoyable as it could have been.

"The Blackgod" was written with the intention of achieving dull competency rather than greatness, or at least it certainly seems that way. The story begins with Hezhi and Perkar hiding out among the Mang. Meanwhile Ghe, last seen getting dismembered at the end of "The Waterborn", awakes as a ghoul with a mission. The situation is unstable, however. The Changeling still hopes to reclaim Hezhi for his own purposes, a rival Mang Shaman shows interest, and the titular Blackgod and others are scheming their own schemes.

As I said, it has competency. In the end everybody's motives are revealed and they all make sense. There's acceptable pacing, and everything wraps with a massive seventy-page action sequence. But the ending is unbelievably trite and Disney-esque. Various minor characters get carelessly killed off while the big boys (and girls) are never in any danger. "The Blackgod", in the end, totally fails to stand out from the common herd. Focused as it is on hitting all the exposition necessary for making a coherent story, it provides nothing special.

This one is very good, not as good as the first, but I still majorly recommend it. If you liked the first one then you will definatly like this one.