Customer Reviews

Guardian of Honor (The Summoning, Book 1)

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Lladrana is in a desperate situation and they need help or their world could perish. But the help they seek is not for the asking, they must "summon" their warriors, their marshalls. They are bound by magic, yet within the universe where they live the magic is waning, so they cannot fight the terrible monsters waiting to invade their beautiful kingdom. The Marshalls of Lladrana are bound to follow their ancient traditions to fight in the only way they can...summon the warrior from a distant land, one who leaves behind the desire for their own world, one who will pick up the sword. Or else Lladrana is doomed.

Alexa Fitzwalter is an everyday lawyer on unmagical earth. She's on an errand in the mountains of Colorado that has her doubting her sanity - she's following a song. Her life is at a point where she's not happy. She's filled with remorse over the death of her close friend, and worse, she is hearing things no one else does, such as chants and a gong. Only, this isn't the Gong Show. She's not expecting to be "summoned". To Alexa a summons is a legal paper served, telling you need to show up in court. This summons as is far from that as...well Alexa is in for a BIG shock. Alexa's journey starts with the words, "Help us. Come to us. We need you here as no one there ever will." Unable to resist the lure, she follows the summoning, dropping into Lladrana almost Alice-through-the-rabbit's-hole, into a realm of monsters, of guardians losing their power, and a whole world that will depend upon her to save them. She lands - literally in this foreign realm, no by your leave, no welcome wagon, no take me to your leader. And that is just the beginning.

She little understands the intricacies of this unusual land, cannot understand the language. Yet, armed with only her wits, the help of a mystical companion and the sexy chevalier Bastien, Alex must assume her new role as one of the Marshalls of Lladrana. Alexa must discover skills from within herself she had no idea existed in order to battle the encroaching menace. Then she will have to face the ultimate decision, return to her world or stay with Bastien in this new land where she is needed.

Once again, Robin D. Owens gives us an alternative world, as richly defined as few futuristic/paranormal writers can deliver. In this one, instead of the Heartmates and kitty Fams of Celta, we have the first of three ordinary women, who are summoned to save Lladrana and learn they have the power within them to make a difference, to be more than they thought they could be. Owens has always impressed me with her magical ability to create a paranormal realm, people it with interesting characters that you care about and within a highly developed alternative universe. You just don't read about her 'worlds', you enter them. I especially compliment Owens on her deft use of Multi-POV (Point of View) that permits the readers the fullest enjoyment of knowing all the characters and their emotions. It's the difference between a paint-by-numbers landscape and the sheer brilliance of a Turner watercolor.

In a time when the market is screaming for new directions within the Romance Genre, looking for stories with more substance, this is just what you need. Futuristic/Fantasy with heart, soul and endless adventure. On occasion, I see comments on this style of book as not an "easy" read. Maybe. It depends upon the commitment of the reader. Frankly, I think it's so much more - it a worthwhile read, that delivers on all levels that take you away to a magic world where all things are possible, even within yourself. 'Guardian" is the first of three "Summoning Books". Based on this tale, I eagerly await the next two.

Alexa Fitzwalter is pulled from our world to Lladrana through a gate. The Sword and Shield Marshalls of Lladrana are seeking a hero to save their world. Only at certain times can help be summoned. As soon as she arrives Alexa is subjected to several tests. Unable to speak the language she doesn't understand what is going on at first. Nevertheless she passes the tests and with courage confronts those who have kidnapped her. However, she is very cautious in trusting these people.

The Marshalls have their own agenda but Alexa is stronger than they know or expect. It takes her a little while to figure out what is going on. The amount of power a person has is reflected in the amount of silver in his black hair.

Bastian is a black and white, he has no silver in his hair, only white and black. They are considered flawed because they cannot control their power. Alexa meets Bastian the son of her most vocal opponent, while she is in disguise. During a volitile encounter with him she corrects his flaw.

Now with her power and his they must somehow work with the Marshalls to reset the guardian boundary between Lladrana and the monsters outside it. Neither of them are able to fully trust the Marshalls. And even if they are bonded they have trouble trusting each other.

At the end we find more heros are to be summoned. I look forward to the next book. Just as wonderful as her Celta series.

This book is SOOOOO good. I rarely write reviews, generally only for books I've absolutely hated or absolutely loved. This book is one I absolutely love. When describing this book only superlatives come to mind! The world she's created is absolutely incredible. The people and images and ideas from her mind are wonderful, strong, and convincing. She has an awesome imagination. Everything about the book is so over the top, it's hard to pinpoint any one thing.
The heroine, Alexa, is strong and vulnerable at the same time. If ever one were to find oneself in such a circumstance (!) one can hope to behave as she did. And although Alexa was in a disadvantageous position, (being in a different world, a different language, etc), she was still brave and strong. I also like the fact that she was not treated badly by the natives, but treated with reverence and respect. The people of the land wanted and needed her. Also, the author gave her great power so that she was not taken advantage of.
Another thing I loved was the songs created between those who had a link or tie to each other, how they could hear the music when they linked minds. The more minds linked, the stronger and richer the song. How they could hear the individual chords that each person contributed to the song, and they could SEE the chords in colors that reflected each person's aura. That was beautiful and shows an incredible imagination.
The author's descriptions of the monsters, of different people's personalities, of the land, of the castle, of the Nom de Nom tavern, all of these things were richly described. She also gave us lots of other people's thoughts. It was very interesting to know what others' thoughts were regarding circumstances.
I was so wrapped up in the story that I read until 4 in the morning. Thankfully, it was Friday and I didn't have to work the next day! I slept for 3 hours (and dreamed about the book) then woke up and read again till I was finished. The story was truly wonderful, incredible. It takes you away, to a different land and time. I want to read it again, and I hate that the next book does not come out until 2006. This is only February now, I have so long to wait!!!

High in the Colorado Rockies, Alexa Fitzwalter follows a song in her mind wondering if the death of her closest friend and confidant has finally driven her over the edge of sanity. What is drawing her is an alternate universe's call for help. Nothing can lure Alexa stronger that the phrase, "we need you" So she steps bravely through the gate to the world of Lladrana.

The Shield Marshalls of Lladrana need a new marshall to combat the evil that is coming through the broken fence protecting their land. They need help to kill the monsters and to learn how to rebuild the fences. While they are more than willing to bring someone in, test them without their knowledge and throw them to the wolves or monsters as is the case here, they are not willing to change their ways or their vaulted opinion of themselves. Alexa finds the courage to face this new world she has stepped into, unable to understand the language, she manages to get through the tests, link herself with a small magical being and start the quest to find the secret to mending the magical fence. What she doesn't manage to accomplish is to gain the trust of those who have brought her here.

While the Marshalls train Alexa, the Chevaliers, another class of warriors, gather to protect the land in their own fashion. Chevalier Bastion, who is skeptical about the Marshalls to say the least, is curious about this new marshall. When the arrogance of the Marshalls alienates Alexa, who has been trying her hardest to learn, survive and do what is best for Lladrana, she turns to Bastion and his Chevaliers for help and support to save the land.

Robin D Owens is one of the very best around for the building of new magical worlds, her Heart series was proof of that. GUARDIAN OF HONOR reinforces that fact and enhances my belief that Ms. Owens has a very fertile imagination, one that is blessed with the gift of detail. The gift of detail is what makes her books so easy to read, you may be reading about a place that you've never heard of , a place that does things totally alien to what us Earthlings are used to, however, Ms. Owens brilliant descriptions and attention to detail allows us to follow along and learn as quickly as Alexa did in GUARDIAN OF HONOR. Her addition of familiars in her stories are a delight whether they are the shape-shifter Sinafin or the magical cats of the Heart series. One of the traits that I always look forward to in a Owens story is the thought patterns of all the characters. Her multi point of view add a dimension to the story that many others lack. I have already re-read GUARDIAN OF HONOR, I had to soak up the subtleties of her new world Lladrana, so when the next Guardian is pulled across the gate I'll be ready. Write faster Ms. Owens ! ! !

I'm not an excellent reviewer, but I really enjoyed this story. The main character is drawn from our world into the land of Llandrana where she is tested, used, and thrown into a battle against encroaching evil.

What stood out most to me was the excellent worldbuilding. It drew me into the story immediately. Llandrana is a world of underlying melodies and Songs connecting people to one another.

Secondly, the romance in the book was captivating. The hero really spoke to me. I could really understand him... his needs, wishes, dreams and desires.

I can't wait to read the next installment!

In this well written fantasy novel; Alexa Fitzwalter, a young woman who'd battled monsters in some form or another her whole life, finds herself summoned to Lladrana, another world, to do it again. This time it could end up costing her her very life.

Alex has to go up against politics, harsh manipulation and a language barrier before she can even get to the interpersonal relations of every day life. She must learn her true strength and find her place if she ever hopes to help these people who so badly need her.

Over the course of her journey she finds herself, finds a home and her other half to become whole, to help save innocent lives from the encroaching evil.

Ms. Owens spins a wonderful tale full of adventure, action, and awareness. Her characters are likeable and realistic with thier own unique flavours and faults. There is humour to be found in the pages as well as touching moments.

I would recommend this book to anyone looking for an excellent piece of fiction.

Guardian of Honor" is a Fantasy novel that takes place in a parallel universe. Alexa (a lawyer) is summoned there from our universe by a committee of mages who seek a powerful mage to defeat an invading horde of evil monsters. In that universe, Alexa has an incredibly powerful magical talent, more powerful than that of the most experienced mage (which is why they summoned her). She arrives confused & unable to speak their language & heartbroken over the death of a close friend. Without explaining what has occurred, the mages immediately test Alexa's abilities and character. This leaves Alexa with a mighty poor attitude toward the mages. Satisfied, the committee then uses a magical date rape drug on Alexa, because sex will tie Alexa mystically to her partner & thus diminish her chances of returning home. Alexa resists the drug & refuses.

The following negotiations between the committee and Alexa are a weak point of the book. Alexa doesn't know how to apologize and is way too domineering -- her conflict resolution strategy is to issues ultimatums or walk away. She seldom considers other people's needs and feelings when her needs conflict with theirs. Sure, the committee was obnoxious, but Alexa is now just as bad. Eventually, when they agree to obey her every whim, Alexa agrees to help & starts training.

From here out, the Fantasy/Adventure side of the novel is pretty good -- melodramatic and light hearted and fun. The book has a host of interesting and enjoyable supporting characters, including a small fairy (sort of), and a rebel fighter. The setting is imaginative, the magic system interesting, and the mystic creatures enjoyable. The personalities of the various people on the committee are nicely developed.

About half way through the book, the author throws in a poorly done romantic sub-plot. Alexa is lonely & seeks out a one night stand. Without introducing herself or asking his name, she indulges in a night of explicit & lengthily described sex; telling herself & him all of the time that she doesn't expect this to be more than a one night stand. Part way through, she feels the mystic connection to him that the committee had hoped would tie her to this universe. She decides that they are meant to be together for the rest of their lives but (typically) doesn't say anything (more poor communication skills.) The next morning, he discovers who she is, presumes he was tricked into having sex with her by the committee (a logical conclusion), and leaves. Alexa's response is this rediculous "boo-hoo he left in the morning" nonsense, followed by deep mourning & hurt feelings. When he returns to see her & perchance build a relationship, she responds to him with anger and (her usual negotiation style) demands that he apologize repeatedly for (get this) leaving after a one night stand, when that was the plan all along. ALL of the bystanders take her side, and Alexa never does apologize (and she SHOULD). Well, the "romance" plot gets weaker & weaker from there, and makes less and less sense. He goes from being a strong and interesting character to being a submissive wimp. Still, I'll not describe it further, since you might like this plot line.

Overall, this book will appeal strongly to everyone who likes Mercedes Lackey's writings. I liked "Guardian of Honor" enough to read another book in this universe, though I do hope that the next one will have a leading lady who is less pushy & more friendly.

Guardian of Honor is a creative masterpiece of fantasy and worldbuilding. With this story, Robin D. Owens has achieved a new level in her craft. The tale is fast-paced, woven with elements of magic and romance. Every chapter is filled with new situations, new characters, new monsters, and new forms of magic as Alexa must adapt quickly from her life as a lawyer in Denver to being a powerful champion in a world where magic is an everyday part of life. Definitely a feel-good book that I will enjoy returning to and reading again and again.

When I read the summary for this, I was intrigued by a premise that had previously been used by Modesitt in The Soprano Sorceress: The First Book of the Spellsong Cycle, bringing a woman from our world into a magical one where she suddenly finds herself in possession of great power. Unfortunately, Ms. Owens is no Modesitt. I strongly suspect that she's a former, or current, fanfic writer and this book is one of her recycled fics that she "cleaned up" for professional publication. It certainly reads like it, starting out mediocre and rapidly spiraling downward into badfic land.

Again, the premise is promising and I was looking forward to seeing a different author's take on it. The opening, while not great (far too much telling the reader what Thealia is feeling instead of showing it, not letting readers get any feel for it themselves), was catchy. A mysterious land with a mysterious problem that needs a mysterious savior. I can go with that. It could've been laid out far better, more exposition and description and less spoon-feeding of facts and anvil-over-the-head, "This is a Bad Guy," but it was still readable.

The second part of the first chapter, the introduction of Alexa, our main protagonist, while still readable, was even weaker. Her motivations are understandable, as is her circumstances and grief, but I couldn't *feel* them. They're just laid out, stated baldly, and no emotional connection is made. I found her remote and her grief unapproachable; I couldn't empathize with her because there'd been no good description, nothing to draw me in. Everything about her past was one huge info-dump of emotionless information. Facts, facts, and more facts, and much of it *telling* me how she feels and therefore (presumably), how I should feel. Note to author: doesn't work like that. Give me a reason, some character exploration, some build-up, something other than a big mess of facts randomly interspersed with sketchy mentions of Alexa reacting to her info-dump memories. But that's all we're given, and no emotional connection is made.

And why is she up in the mountains at night, following auditory hallucinations? She passes it off as an aspect of mourning, grief, unable to explain it to herself. Well, that's a pretty bad explanation for the reader, too. Maybe the chimes and gongs and singing really were that compelling, but you wouldn't know it from the description. None of it felt at all compelling to me. There was no sense of urgency or need there, despite being told over and over that it was, no sense of what drove Alexa out into the dark and dangerous wilds of the mountains against all common sense, and that just makes her look like an idiot instead of a sympathetic heroine.

That's a complaint I keep coming back to with this author's writing; I can't *feel* anything from it. The descriptions are dry and factual, and I felt like the author was beating me about the head with those facts, hoping I'd accept them that way instead of troubling herself to use any description.

All of this I might have been able to accept. I've certainly read worse. If it'd stayed only this mediocre, I probably would've finished the book and just not bothered reading any others in the series. But then Alexa was pulled into Thealia's world and the true badness commenced.

Oh, for the love of Strunk & White! Ms. Owens, get thee to a writing class!

If you *must* use more than one point of view in one scene (and really, why must you?), you do *not* change them out constantly to where the reader feels like they're watching a point of view ping-pong match.

I can't imagine a worse way the "tests" Alexa goes through could have been written. It's like reading a grocery list. First A happens, and Alexa reacts like B, and then C happens and Alexa reacts like D, and then E happens, and so forth. It's so unbelievably dry and factual and methodical. Absolutely nothing there in the way of description to engage the reader in either the events or the emotions they engender. It's supposed to be shocking and exciting, instead it's dull and formulaic.

The last straw for me came when Alexa started deducing and deciding things about these new people around her, based not on any facts that we're ever made aware of, but on...well, we're not made aware of any reason for this, actually, just that she does. For instance, this sentence:

"The big man wearing rust red turned to the angular woman - Alexa had decided they were the most important two."

She decided how? Based on what evidence? That's never explained, and this is something she continues to do, jump to completely illogical decisions and come to equally illogical conclusions. (Or, they may well be very logical, but we'd need this thing we call "exposition" coupled with the ever-popular "description" to help us see the logic.) This is a perfect example of lazy writing. The author is simply telling the reader something instead of working to support the conclusions Alexa comes to via fleshing out the narrative.

The worst of these conclusions, the one that demonstrates how much the author needs to take a few classes on writing and perhaps even get a new editor, is this:

"[The woman] wore a robe of dark red, with a coat of arms over her left breast, but in the center of her chest was a big white cross. Not hard to deduce that she was a doctor."

I was left speechless for a few moments after reading this.

Speechlessness quickly gave way to snark and eye rolling, however. Who, other than a complete imbecile, upon finding themselves in a different world (a different planet, even), would presume that their societal, cultural and dress rules would be the same as our world's? In our culture, a white cross can mean Christianity or a medic or both. In this world, what's to say it doesn't mean, "I sacrifice puppies at midnight over a medium flame with a mild garlic sauce?" There is *no way to know*. Not from Alexa's perspective. So how she came to this conclusion is either an example of her stupidity or the author's inability to form a coherent narrative. Since I doubt Alexa was meant to come off as a moron, I tend towards the latter explanation.

I read through page 24 of this crime against good narration before giving up in utter disgust. I later scanned a few more chapters to make sure it didn't abruptly improve somewhere along the way and turn into a decent story. It didn't and it doesn't.

Save your money. There are far more interesting fantasy books out there (I'm not overly fond of Modesitt's style of narrative, but that's just a personal choice and he's a good starting point for this particular brand of fantasy). It'd be free to get this from the library, but unless it's the only book left in the sci-fi/fantasy section, I wouldn't bother with doing that, either. Move along, dear reader, there is definitely nothing worth seeing here.

Having read Ms. Owen's HeartMates series and enjoyed it deeply, I decided to check out her other work. I made the mistake of reading the negative reviews before reading this story, however. Many of the negative reviews are startlingly accurate, but I believe that I would have enjoyed the story a lot more if I hadn't read the criticism first. Many of the criticisms were things that I would not have noticed if I had approached the story in my usual non-critical suspension of disbelief.
That said, this story is very enjoyable, but it does hold together more like young adult fiction than adult fiction, despite the sex scenes. This is definitely fiction fluff. If you're coming from the HeartMates series, I would recommend sticking with it; if you like this book, I would recommend graduating to Heart Mate (Celta's HeartMates, Book 1).