Customer Reviews

The Divided

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

 

 

The Divided was a special read for me. In 1996, by accident or by twist of fate, I met Katie Waitman on a trip to Egypt/Jordan and spent two weeks rooming with her. (The trip was months before her first book, The Merro Tree, had been published.) During this trip she was always writing, taking photographs, drawing; taking in what was around her and putting it into words and pictures. I was unaware that she was working on The Divided at the time. Two years later, when I was reading The Divided I was amazed by scope of her talent. Her ablity to absorb what is around her and weave it into perfect word is somthing that only a few people posess. Seeing how she interpreted the terrain, environment, what she saw on this trip, and how she incorporated it into The Divided is truly remarkable. Katie Waitman shows us that creative inspiration can come from anywhere at anytime. For those who were also on this trip; The Divided isn't just a good read with a wonderful heroine, it's a visual reminder of a wonderful trip. BRAVO Katie, keep them coming!

I discovered Katie Waitman through her first novel, THE MERRO TREE, a year or two ago. THE MERRO TREE quickly became one of my favorite novels, because of the intriguing story, the exploration of the dramatic arts, and the very well written characters- and this was the author's first book. When I found out that the she had a new book out, I bought it immediately. I was impressed that Waitman was able to write another excellent book, that was very different from her first, yet retaining the same elegant and interesting style. Many authors are stuck writing the same exact type of book over and over again (e.g. McCaffrey), while Waitman's first two books are better than many seasoned writer's later books. I have to admit that I did not like THE DIVIDED quite as much as THE MERRO TREE, but it was still an excellent book, and I am eagerly awaiting her next book.

I really enjoyed this book the characters were so normal you wouldn't think this book was a sci-fi.Although like most book there were a few parts that got the story off track, but when they got back into it it was inpossible to put it down.On a scale of 1-10, I would have to rate it a 10.If you are in the mood for a dramatic love story you should pick up a copie of The Divided.

This is a diverting but not particularly memorable novel. The parallels to the Middle-East and even Iraq are obvious and may be too heavy-handed for some. Much of the world's workings go unexplained, which lends a sense of weight and depth to the setting. The author handles the rest competently enough to make you think this is intentional and not capricious.

My criticism would be that the author's attention to detail was inconsistent. Many plot turns were well thought-out. Others of equal importance were given short shrift in the hurry to get from point A to point B.

I think some more polishing would have greatly improved it.

P.S. As a charter "hot chick who kicks [...]" fan club member, I am greatly chagrined to admit that it's getting old.

The Maurkheti and the Tel-Mari have been at war as long as anyone remembers, with the mysterious, aloof notion of "peace" only hinted at in ancient chronicles. The war continues for no perceptible reason short of religious zeal and the fact that cheap Tel-Mari labor profits the industrial nation of Maurkhet. But decadence and a tradition of bloodshed is fertile ground for seeds of radical change that is about to take on unheard-of forms...

Here we find a work of scifantasy that is innocuous and straightforward, whose characters rarely speak out more than two or three at a time, always speak as equals, say what they are expected to say, and ALWAYS keep an open mind. It is no wonder that the human interactions in the permanently wartorn world of "The Divided" seem artificial, contrived, and rather predictable. Nevertheless, the prose is quick-moving and descriptive. The book maintains readability throughout and consistently captures the reader's attention, if not imagination or some other faculty. Ms. Waitman clearly has yet to discover a great deal of her considerable literary talent.

In all honesty, this is the only work of fiction where you likely to find passages like "Excuse me, Captain, but I suddenly have a terrible headache and must lie down". As you might have realized, the speaker of this line is the Emperor of a nation of zealots. To all appearances, he has no guards save one, his palace, though it is a titanic gold-sheathed dome on the outside, appears to be a simplified royal hovel, and one needs to follow no specific rules of conduct when addressing him. Character development is frequently as light and unrealistic. Even the ending, despite its vibrant messages of peace and reconciliation, answers few questions and is antithetical to the novel's apparent premise. The jo are never adequately explained, masses of war-tired soldiers break down all too quickly, and the line between good and evil is too sharply drawn and obvious. This is hardly a worthwhile pick from a sea of good literature.

The book was great. I was easily drawn within the first few pages. In this book action speaks louder than words. There is always something happen to keep my interest afloat. Sekme the main character was a no hold bars female character who can hold her own. When I read this book I sensed that Katie Waitman must have gotten her ideas and influence from the middle-east. The sun, desert, bloodshed and a never-ending war I thought would be a little redundant like other sci-fi military fiction but the way Ms. Waiteman carry the story into the unknown was outstanding. This book wasn't predictable at all and Katie Waitman is a wonderful story teller.

I find this book to be a somewhat interesting read, but not in the particular style that I happen to enjoy.

Like many of the other reviewers, I find the prose a bit too purple for my taste.

The story itself is fairly interesting, and the world is sufficiently interesting to be worth understanding, without being so different as to be incomprehensible. This is a fairly rare gifts, where alien cultures are too alien.

The ending of the story itself does leave a lot to the imagination, but I don't think this is a bad thing as such. The contrast between the two parts is remarkable, and shows a fair amount of talent to be able to make the transition from a story of a warrior to the spiritual journey that is the second part.

Overall, well worth reading, should the prose be something you can deal with.

It's hard not to see the Arab-Israeli conflict in this novel of two people at war. The parallels are too strong. I'm sure the author used it as a basis for the plot, characters and background. I agree with another review that the author loves to use flowery adjectives and prose that at times gets in the way of the narrative. At times I was thinking, 'Just get on with it.' But after a couple of chapters, I got used to the style and just got into the flow of the novel. The book has a weak ending, with an ambiguous resolution, but I liked the author's style, it was different. I have to say though, I don't think I'll read another by this author. I like a little more substance behind all the artful use of language.

I really enjoyed this book the characters were so normal you wouldn't think this book was a sci-fi.Although like most book there were a few parts that got the story off track, but when they got back into it it was inpossible to put it down.On a scale of 1-10, I would have to rate it a 10.If you are in the mood for a dramatic love story you should pick up a copie of The Divided.

Did I read the same book as everyone else? This was the most poorly written novel I've read in the past year. The tortuous, overelaborate prose style hindered my efforts to plow through the book, and the cliched plot and characters gave me no reason to try. Why does Ms. Waitman need to say "Another bend had been added to his already labyrinthine olfactory organ" when she could just say "His nose was broken again"? Pee-yew.