Customer Reviews

Enchanter Book 2 of the Axis Trilogy

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

I have to say, I was downright appalled by the time I finished reading this book. In the first novel we are introduced to both Faraday, a compassionate and self-sacrificing heroine, and Axis, your typically courageous and quick-witted hero. The story is intriguing, and one starts on the second book with reasonably high hopes. Unfortunately, everything is torn down when Axis notices a strange chemistry between himself and Ahzure, and consequentially begins to fall in love with her. Not only is poor girlish Ahzure's character suddenly forced upon the reader (did Sara Douglass whip this idea out two days before sending in the draft?), but the only (rare) thoughts that Axis spares for his "ex-true-love" tend to be more selfish than guilty: Oh woe is me, I'll have to wed that hag who married my abomidable brother to save my life.

The majority of the other characters also become more and more dislikeable, and those few that retain their decent qualities tend to get mud shoved in their face for their troubles. To make matters even more unbearable, Axis appears to have picked up a bit of a Parzival quality; the various peoples can't seem to get enough of him no matter WHAT faults he posesses, and his infidelity is basically chalked up to 'boys will be boys'. He is quite generally hypocritical, condeming various people (eg. his ex-lover what's-her-name, or his father) for faults that he also posesses, and shelters Ahzure like she's some sort of feeble and emotionally-crippled child, when the hurt that really matters is inflicted by him; funny to think that this Starman who cooks up ingenious spur-of-the moment solutions and quick-fixes is so ignorant when it comes to those closest to him. Axis doesn't seem to know Faraday in the least, terrified that she will doom the world out of spite if he can't marry her first. He dosn't even seem to recognize the majority of Ahzure's emotional anguish, a CONSTANT and ever-present theme.

If Axis had acted like a man and confessed everything upon his reunion with Faraday, I probably would have been able to attempt the third book. Unfortunately, the most disgusting and abomidable stage in the story is the compilation of scenes following said reunion. (SPOILERS) He completely neglects to mention that he's fallen in love with, and make a brood of babies with another woman. Faraday is given a few days of false bliss before she is brought back to hell with a reverbrating impact when Axis announces(before the whole kingdom) that his son with Ahzure will be his true heir. Hopefully that apple will fall much further from the tree than our beloved 'hero' seems to have.

All in all, the only thing I can do is to warn all Faraday-sympathizers to please, for the love of God, purchase a different book. Sara Douglass is a talented writer, but her protagonist becomes so morally sadistic by the end of the story that we completely forget ever pulling for him in the first place. It would be best to just leave it at book one and make up your own happy ending, rather than looking back on the sequel two years later with just as much resentment as you had upon finishing.

Enchanter = book two of the Wayfarer Redemption series.

Pro = Continued in the same enjoyable, story telling form as the first book

Pro = Some nice plot twists. Never really sure what was going to happen next.

Pro = Same enjoyable characters and more background revealed.

Con = This book resolves the conflict between Axis and his half-brother, Bornheld. Felt the final conflict was a bit anti-climatic.

Con = the battle between the armies seemed poorly handled. There was no real stategy, flanking of forces, etc. It was one big crashing of two forces and seeing who wins. Kind of like a brawl vs. a technical boxing match. So much potential that the author didn't take advantage of.

Overall = worth continuing the series

Enchanter picks up immediately after the final events of The Wayfarer Redemption with the fall of Gorkenfort. There is no synopsis at the start of Enchanter to recount the events of the previous book. This would normally be a concern, however the author, Sara Douglass, presents the necessary background material during the course of the narrative.

As with the previous book, Enchanter is told from an omniscient point of view. The unseen narrator dips into the thoughts of one character after another, often jumping through several characters in a single page. One moment Axis is talking and the narrator states what he thinks and feels; the next moment the narrator states what Azhure feels in response. This fluid style of storytelling adds an interpretive layer between the characters and the reader that inhibits the formation of a deep, sympathetic bond.

One of the first lessons writers hear when they study the craft of writing fiction is "show, don't tell." It is more effective for an author to show what a character's actions and allow the reader to interpret the meaning. Don't tell the reader that Black Bart is evil; rather show him kicking a puppy across the street as he is on his way to rob a little old lady. Let the reader draw his own conclusions from what he sees Black Bart doing. Often, the narrator in Enchanter interpreted the feelings and thoughts of the characters rather than allowing their actions and expressions to speak for themselves, preventing the reader from being an active participant in the story.

Prophecies are tricky, not only for characters, but for authors as well. If a prophecy is vague, it may not make sense even after it is fulfilled. At the other extreme, a prophecy that is transparent leaves no room for misinterpretation and becomes a blueprint for the plot of the story. An effective prophecy needs the delicate level of murkiness that appears clear only in hindsight.

Unfortunately, The Prophecy of the Destroyer falls closer to the blueprint end of the spectrum. All the characters know the first two verses due to a convenient enchantment that ensures all who hear it will never forget it. They frequently discuss the meaning, carefully avoiding correct, and often obvious, interpretations beforehand. Whenever a fragment of the prophecy is fulfilled, one of the characters provides and unambiguous statement confirming what everyone just saw.

Despite these narrative weaknesses, the plot of Enchanter is compelling. As the relationships evolve through the course of this novel, they head toward disaster, often knowingly. Even though there is little doubt that the heroes will win the day, they often do so in a manner that causes a great deal of pain.

Enchanter is an ambitious novel. It has a strong plot filled with powerful characters. Overall, it is an interesting early novel from one of Australia's most successful fantasy authors.

"Enchanter" is the second volume of the series begun in "Battleaxe", by Australian author Sara Douglass. The myriad of characters introduced in the first volume are joined by a host of new ones as the story grows ever more complex.

Axis, brought up as the Battleaxe of the Seneschal, leader of the war against the perceived evil of the forest wilderness and the Forbidden races of Icarii and Avar, must begin now to confront his heritage. The mysteries of his past are linked to the inexorable changes now taking place in the land of Tencendor. And over all hangs the dark threat of Gorgrael, the Destroyer.

The plot developments in "Enchanter" display a quicksilver unpredictability. Any assumptions laid down by the first volume of the series quickly go out the window as Douglass reshapes her characters' lives against the standard expectations one might have of them. This certainly turns the standard, sometimes cliched elements of "Battleaxe" on their heads. Perhaps herein also lies the flaw of the book: on first reading, I found myself unsympathetic to the changes taking place, some of which struck me as awkward or out of character when taken in the context of the first book's premises. However, having finished the series and re-read it, these events fall into their natural place in the big picture.

Douglass' style suffers from occasional uncomfortable moments but is still pleasantly readable throughout. Add an intriguing story and characters with more than a passing spark of life, and this makes a good read.

I assume you have read the first book, but I won't post any major spoilers (beyond what you might read in the book's summaries).

Like the first book, Enchanter had some cliches (most of which were not major) but some surprises and twists, keeping the story interesting.

It expanded on the world and the cultures--where the first book gave us much information on the Avar (and Acharites), this book explained more about Icarii culture. In all cases the cultures have a lot of beauty, a lot to respect, but also some glaring faults. This is realistic and great to see.

The same goes for the characters: the heroes are great people in some ways but have some flaws that annoy me so much that I want to slap them sometimes. This is realistic also, to some extent. But occasionally it gets too ridiculous. For example, one woman sleeps with a guy knowing he's in love with someone else, and the next day she decides to not have to do with him, to walk away and live her own life. It makes me wonder, for one thing, if she is acquainted with the facts of life. After all, if she gets pregnant then she can't exactly walk away from what she did. And she doesn't care if she wasn't loved in return, she just loves the guy and had always had this idealistic dream of giving herself to a hero. I was appalled at this scene in which she puts the man on a pedestal where he shouldn't be while disrespecting herself and naively thinking she can just move on. I lost respect for her after this (and I notice that this was a common reaction, though others liked her even more). Changing her into a warrior does not make her a strong character; if anything, it raised my expectations, which turned out to be unfortunate.

Axis, being a two-timer, might be a realistic person by being a great leader with a large fault, but then the summary in the back had no business calling him a "hero in every sense of the word." And I think that his fault was simply too extreme for a hero. Perhaps the worst thing is that fact that Axis decides that the two women he loves will simply have to share him, and that while Faraday wouldn't like it, she will accept it. This is appalling behavior and he shouldn't be surprised if she reacts a little worse than he expected.

My favorite character was the woman who called herself GoldFeather for a time. She had once escaped an unhappy marriage to a happier one, but this marriage did not end up being successful either, though they parted amicably. She was the best good character, not idealized, and flawed but not overly so.

Another problem is that near the beginning Axis wonders about Azhure's mysterious past and asks her if Hagen really is her father. She says "of course, who else?" but it's obvious from this exchange that he isn't her real father. And despite this, the idea that her father is unknown becomes very important later when they try to figure out someone's identity, and yet Axis does not think of it.

The last problem is that characters' choices don't seem to be those, but the result of their genetics/heritage (the Beltide part, Borneheld, and Gorgrael), the Prophecy (Beltide, Gorgrael), or too much to drink (Beltide again). E.g., it's hard to see Gorgrael as truly evil when he doesn't seem to have ever learned right from wrong; he was simply born and raised by the wraiths who see people as food, and manipulated by the Dark Man to fit as the Destroyer of the Prophecy. And Borneheld is similar. Not only was he born and raised badly, which is not his fault, but all of the dukes of Ichar have been bad men. The gatekeeper asks for a gruesome punishment for Borneheld because she doesn't like any of the dukes of Ichar and he is the last one. This seemed a rather weak reason to treat Borneheld as he was treated.

But again, this book seems to portray a world that is not at all just, no one gets exactly as bad or good as he or she personally deserves, and this is just one aspect of the book that makes it interesting and thought-provoking. I am disappointed with some of the character development and plot points, and for that reason I didn't like Enchanter as much as I did Battleaxe/Wayfarer Redemption. But this book had an interesting enough story for me to want to finish it and read the sequel, and I recommend it as long as you liked the first book well enough, are not looking the best of the best, and not getting too emotionally involved with the characters.

Regarding the cover art, it depicts Azhure and Axis in the foreground, with the Icarii in the back. Azhure isn't supposed to have a sword there, but a bow (and much was made of this fact in the book), and I think her grey tunic and pants covered more of her than that. Axis is more accurate, with his golden tunic, though he doesn't seem properly dressed for snow either. And I thought the Icarii have more diverse coloring of their hair, wings, etc. Otherwise the art is more accurate than that of the first book, but both are still wonderful jobs by Royo.

The first book in this series, "The Wayfarer Redemption", was something of a puzzle, but a very good book nonetheless. There were many questions that were asked in that book that were left unanswered.

Some of those questions are answered in the second book in Douglass' series, "Enchanter". We learn more about the mysterious Azhure, one of the two loves of Axis' life. We learn (or guess, at least) who the Dark Man has to be - Douglass doesn't come right out and say so, but I would be very surprised if my guess is wrong.

But there are still plenty of unanswered questions in this series, and Douglass still has a third and final book in which to answer them. For example, is the hint she gave about the traitor in Axis' camp that glaringly obvious, or is this just a red herring? And now that Faraday has given up her pursuit of (but not her love for) Axis, what exactly is her role in the prophecy?

Douglass has a lot of balls juggling in this series. So far she hasn't dropped any of them, and I hope she can catch all of them in the final book of her trilogy.

The Enchanter is the second book in the "Wayfarer Redemption" series by Sara Douglass. The first book, BattleAxe, impressed and excited me so much that I signed up to buy the Enchanter pre-release (American release, anyway, since it seems she is a widely published and respected author in Australia). Having devoured the book as soon as it arrived, I can safely say that I am not disappointed. Sara Douglass has a strong and unique voice; she creates a totally believable world, with well drawn characters. Each of these books is strong enough to stand on its own, and my only quibble with the quality of her writing is the sometimes clumsy and heavy hints, as events unfold, of what they portend in the next volume. Since she did concieve this as a series, prehaps we can forgive her for linking the books together in this fashion. This is very good, almost great fantasy, and I would compare her favorably with icons like Mercedes Lackey and Anne McCaffrey.

I thought that this book was written with good detail and a story that was east to follow. But I was finding myself enjoying it less and less the more I read. What happens to Faraday after she marries Axis's cruel half-brother?!? She gets put aside as Axis decides that he actually likes Azhure. Wow I mean she suffers for Axis and he runs off with another woman. I think that the only characters I liked up until the end were Faraday, Axis's mother, and Yr. The only characters that seemed to have to actually suffer for their rewards. I mean Azhure didn't even have to work at all the get the bow and the hounds. They just showed up and automatically obeyed her. Now suffering or work just poof. I think that if you want to read a detailed book that is good other then the actually story then you should read this. I know there are some who love Azhure all the more because she comes out from behind, but I stayed loyal to Faraday the whole time. And now that I've seen Faraday returns in the second book of the next series I will continue to read just to see what happens to her. Faraday is a great herione who suffers and in the end has to give up everything for Axis. I would say read if you didn't like the first don't continue to read this series.

I liked this book even better than the first, mainly because one of my favourite characters had a more significant role. Azhure really comes into her own in this book - Mastering the lengendary bow Wolvern and taming (well sort of) a pack of legendary hounds. In this book, Axis develops more than just a passing attraction for Azhure and as his love for her deepens, he begins to wonder just who is the Lover mentioned in the Prophecy. Is it Faraday his first love or Azhure the mother of his child? As Axis heads towards a battle between his forces and Borneheld's, Azhure too begins to worry. Will she lose the man she has grown to love to the woman he loved first? Once again, Azhure is fantastic although the same can't be said for Faraday. Although Borneheld is a horrible man, she can barely disguise her contempt for him and practically glows whenever Borneheld is defeated. Faraday also annoys me when she rambles on about her love to Axis and how she dreamt about him last night (every night and day actually) and constantly looks forward to... um... well, spending intimate time with him. However, she is also a woman looking for reassurance as she keeps wondering if he still loves her or not. While even Axis himself doesn't know the answer to this, his infidelity to both Azhure and Faraday weighs heavily upon his mind. In the end, Faraday redeems herself in my eyes and Axis triumphs. Meanwhile, there's both heartache and happiness for Rivkah. Marriages between Icarii (the race of birdmen that Axis' father StarDrifter is descended from) and humans have never ended happily. Mainly because of the Icarii living several lifetimes longer and their rather lustful nature. Not to worry though, Rivkah survives without StarDrifter and finds happiness in an old friend.

Douglass' Enchanter is definately a stronger effort than her first book, Wayfarer's Redemption. I found this book on the whole more satisfying as well. The writing and plot and character development showed more maturity - maybe because all of the setup had been taken care of and we're can finally get down to business.

Enchanter clips along at a good pace and keeps the usual "cast of thousands" of fantasy epic to a manageable number, although if you haven't just finished WFR it might take you a couple of chapters to reconnect with all the characters. I liked that the expectations Douglass developed in the first book were often turned on their head, yet at the same time some of the changes of direction seemed forced.

The Icarii names she uses continue to grate as juvenile and lazy. And a particular example of this tendency became my pet peeve. Here you have this exotic race of magical creatures and she calls their bathing pool, "The Chamber of Steaming Waters"? Please, don't even bother if that is the best you can do. But I digress...

Overall a cut above some of the fantasy out there, and I especially liked the storyline involving WolfStar, a powerful enchanter from the past who may just have turned up disguised as an intimate of Axis' camp and not necessarily there to help...I am especially looking forward to seeing how his role plays out. Although Faraday seemed to be the heroine based on WFR, it is definately the mysterious Azhure who is coming into her own and the majority of the book really revolves around her. The ending will reveal some of Azhure's mystery but there is plenty of story left to make the conclusion of the trilogy something to look forward to.