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25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Still a great novel, but..., August 3, 2009
This review is from: Cast in Silence (Chronicles of Elantra, Book 5) (Paperback)
I love Sagara's writing style. I love all the characters in the Cast In... series. This book has a great story, and it's terrific to get more information on Kaylin's history. We also learn more about how the world works and some of the ways that magic works (or doesn't). Like all the previous books, I still devoured this one as quickly as possible. (And yes, I do think you need to have read the other books in the series, first.)
Why only four stars, then? I am starting to grow frustrated with the lack of forward movement in the relationships Kaylin has with the two main men in her life: Nightshade and Severn. There are some events that happen in this book that *should* have led to some real movement, one way or the other, in her relationships. Are she and Severn friends? Lovers? Brother/sisterly? Does she want to jump Nightshade's bones or just use him for his knowledge? I feel like I'm missing out on conversations, feelings, discussions that would give me a much better sense of how she feels about either of these men--even if it's increasing confusion. And, for goodness sakes, it's written in 3rd person with views from both men's points of view, so there's plenty of opportunity to give us some insight into their feelings about her. But we don't get anything at all.
Don't know if you read your reviews, Ms. Sagara, but please, oh please, give us some kind of evolution in either (preferably both) of her relationships with these guys in the next book!
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22 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good, a bit slow paced, but still not what I wanted, August 3, 2009
This review is from: Cast in Silence (Chronicles of Elantra, Book 5) (Paperback)
I have to start out by admitting that I've reached the point that I want something very specific (Nightshade) from this series and will find it lacking until that happens. The book probably deserves closer to 4 stars but I personally can't give it that rating. I also admit that the more I like an author/series the tougher I am with ratings. I'll try to list out the pros/cons for those not as Nightshade obsessed.
PROS:
1. Maturity. We are seeing increasing signs of Kaylin gaining some maturity here. A lot of reviews from past books have complained about Kaylin's immaturity and I think readers will be happy with this development.
2. Great ending. I'm not going to give anything away but I absolutely loved how the book wrapped up its plot line.
3. Nice background. I enjoyed learning about Kaylin's background. I liked how the author integrated the background story with the rest of the book. We learned quite a bit of background but there were only a small number of flash backs. It was nicely done.
CONS:
1. Slower paced. I'm not sure why but the book felt a lot slower paced. I'd guess it was because it had more self-reflection and less running around. This is actually a very small con because I enjoyed the slower paced scenes it was just not quite the right balance for me.
2. Nightshade. Obviously this was coming. I want more Nightshade. The scenes with Nightshade far exceeded my expectations and surprised me with the content (again not giving away spoilers here). However, there were far too few of them. It was obvious by the end of the book that these scenes were thrown in as set up for future books. I don't want to wait anymore even if the next book hints at having a lot more Nightshade.
Again, I have to admit that until I see significant progression with Nightshade I'm just not going to be happy. I'm sure once I've gotten to read that plot line, I will enjoy going back and reading these books. I just can't find as much satisfaction when I want something else.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Learn more about the fiefs, but Kaylin is irritating, August 30, 2009
This review is from: Cast in Silence (Chronicles of Elantra, Book 5) (Paperback)
This is the fifth book in the Chronicles of Elantra series by Sagara. Originally Sagara was contracted for five books, but it looks like that's been extended to eight books total. This was definitely not the best book in the series. It was still a good read, but at times I was really bored.
In this book Kaylin is sent to investigate some strange goings on in the fiefs. For once her journey doesn't take her to the fief of Nightshade, but to the fief of Barren where Kaylin lived out 6 months of her life that she would rather forget and has never shared with anyone. Kaylin, Severn, and the dragon end up finding more about the dark heart of the fief than they had ever imagined.
There was a lot of good stuff in this book. You learn more about Kaylin's past and more about the fiefs. In fact the majority of the story takes place in the fiefs. I liked this a lot since the fiefs have kind of remained a mystery. You also learn more about the dark heart of the fiefs, about the dragons as a race, and about Nightshade's past. I really like Nightshade as a character so more info about him was a good thing. Overall the book was well-written, but there were quite a few things that bothered me.
So...on to the things I didn't like. Severn was mostly present as a place holder for most of the book. In fact there were many scenes where he was supposedly in the scene but he did so little I couldn't remember if he had left the scene or not. He talked rarely and mostly just stood there and let Kaylin do her thing. Kaylin spent a lot of the beginning on the book talking about how awful her past in Barren was, but when it all came down to it, most of the the people around her knew most of her past and didn't care. So, I had some trouble figuring out why Kaylin made such a big deal about all of that.
The story was going along okay until they got into the scene where they enter the Tower the first time. Then the book really starts to drag and get pretty darn boring. I had a lot of trouble enjoying the second half of the book because it just went too slow. I also get a little sick of the fact that Kaylin always seems to be exhausted and stressed out about everything. I was also a little surprised, that Kaylin doesn't even have a second of time to deal with her relationships with Severn and/or Nightshade. She kind of ignores them most of the time. I guess with Nightshade I can understand that since he has all the time in the world, but I was surprised Severn's role was so truncated.
Overall it was an okay read. I think all the things that we learn about the fiefs and the origins of the Empire outweigh the bad pacing and whiny Kaylin; but I really was bored the last half of the book. I am still interesting to see how things pan out in the next book, now that we know more about the heart of the fiefs. So, I will read the next book, but I will get it from the library.
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