26 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hard fantasy, exotic, mysterious and compelling, February 6, 2002
This review is from: Dreams of the Compass Rose (Hardcover)
This fantasy novel is a story cycle with a mystery. The action takes place in a world that resembles our own in many ways. Nazarian titles each of her chapters "Dreams" and like dreams, the narrative changes point of view. The narrative involving the central characters changes from first person to third person providing insights into various characters from the various points of view. I was reminded of another recent book, David Brin's "Kiln People" in which Brin's characters can make copies of themselves, so that the reader is provided with different perspectives of the same scene, and, at the same time perspectives of the same time from different places, by the same character.
Nazarian's rich imagery created for me a world of vast beauty, and the disappearance of the beauty of the world; and characters? longing for what was lost. There is a society based on justice, mercy, and compassion, that has become corrupted. I was reminded a bit of Stephan R. Donaldson Thomas Covenant series in which The Land is described as something that once so beautiful, but has been despoiled by Lord Foul, in his first novel of the series Lord Foul's Bane.
There are people possessed with magical abilities, but magic in Nazarian's world is subtle, and unlike in Rowling's world of Harry Potter, tends to be internalized. Nazarian's has a gift for page-turning dialog, and realizes her characters in a way that lets us know these are real people, torn by internal struggle and extraordinary external forces. These are people who react to circumstances in ways we know and ways that are surprising, like we know in life. For example, we get to know Nadir first as a young child who survived the desert. From a peripheral character, we see him again as a young man, touched by magic, and then, grown up intensely loyal, honest, and strong. Can he save the woman he thinks hates him? Should he? So why does he protect her? And yet, this book is not about Nadir.
Nazarian created a world I hope to read more stories from. It is a place of mythology and wonder, struggle and passion. It is a world of lands beyond the oceans, searing deserts, mist-filled mountains to the east, and a 1000-moon night. There are more stories waiting to be told.
By the last chapter, I felt that pang of regret knowing I was at the end. I didn't want it to end already. I look forward to reading more of Nazarian's work.
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16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Classic Fantasy, May 9, 2002
This review is from: Dreams of the Compass Rose (Hardcover)
I found Vera Nazarian's book to be a wonderful journey into foreign lands. It reinvents the old-time fantasy reminisent of a time before Tolkien and Tolkien wannabees. She creates a world rich in myth and culture. The places of the Compass Rose are places I wish to visit again and again. Her stories and characters take the reader by surprise. I highly recommend this book.
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36 of 46 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Amazing Reading Experience, February 11, 2002
This review is from: Dreams of the Compass Rose (Hardcover)
I have to say up front that I do not read much fantasy of the classical or "high" sort; and so I wasn't sure I'd like this book. I'm still a little surprised that I liked it as much as I did; it's not the kind of thing I would usually go for.
Perhaps that is the mark of a really good writer, that she can make you enjoy something you usually wouldn't read. Vera Nazarian certainly made it work for me.
This is not exactly a novel, and not exactly a collection; I'm not quite sure what you'd call it - basically a group of stories set in the same fantastic world, and linked together by various associations. Some of the characters appear in more than one story, but the individual stories could stand alone I suppose - but the cumulative effect is very powerful and evocative; the whole definitely is greater than the sum of its parts.
This book can be read as simple fantasy entertainment, and no doubt would be very enjoyable as such; but on a deeper level Vera Nazarian isn't just telling strange and exotic tales; she's saying some things about the human condition, and they are things worth saying.
The writing itself is excellent. That sort of high formal voice is very difficult to bring off - it may be the most demanding of narrative styles - but Vera Nazarian succeeds where more experienced writers have crashed and burned.
It's hard to come up with comparisons. Lord Dunsany comes to mind as perhaps the closest in style, but DREAMS OF THE COMPASS ROSE has flashes of mordant humor that you'd never find in Dunsany. I was also reminded of some of the early work of Vonda MacIntyre, and now and then a line or a scene would make me think of Roger Zelazny.
I knew Roger personally, and I feel certain he would have liked this book. I certainly did.
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