Customer Reviews

Hidden Warrior (Tamir Trilogy, Book 2)

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I have one major complaint about this book, and that is that I didn't have a chance to read it sooner!

The strengths of Lynn Flewelling's writing are in her unique characterizations, unusual systems of magic and her unflinching pursuit of story. The Bone Doll's Twin left me amazed with the growth in her story telling abilities. That is not to say that I was dissatisfied with any of her earlier books, only that she continues to hone her skills as a writer. This sequel to Bone Doll, Hidden Warrior, plunges us immediately back into her world and her tale. I was very pleased with how quickly I re-entered that world, with no need to look back at the earlier book to refresh my memory as to who someone was or what their motivation was; her characters and plot had remained that strong within my memory.

I'd recommend this book to anyone who likes their fantasy with a streak of dark magic and ambition to it, and who doesn't quail at where that ambition can lead even the 'good' characters. It is also a good read for readers who want things to actually happen in the middle book of a trilogy, rather than for characters to simply mark time.

In too many fantasy books these days, the minor characters seem to be created for the convenience of the lead character, with no motivations or lives of their own. This is certainly not the case in Hidden Warrior. Because the lesser characters have their own concerns and lives, and because their aspirations are not always in tune with the main character, the plot is not predictable nor staid.

Also, to put it in the vernacular, Flewelling retains the ability, first demonstrated in the Bone Doll's Twin, to plain old creep me out. This book was enough to take my mild phobia of dollies and raise it to an all new high. At the same time, she forced me to feel great sympathy for Brother and the injustice of his shadow existence. That's quite a feat.
Don't start with this book; you owe yourself the enjoyment of the full reading experience of starting with The Bone Doll's Twin and gradually being drawn into this world. Hidden Warrior simply pulls the mesh tighter around you.

As a fellow writer of fantasy, my time for reading for pleasure has become all too limited of late. There are few writers who make me drop what I'm working on to pick up their new book. Lynn Flewelling is one of them.

Megan Lindholm (Robin Hobb)

After reading Bone Doll's Twin, and discovering that i had to wait many many months for the next book in the series, i went out and picked up the Nightrunner trilogy. I thoroughly enjoyed the first book, but actually gave up on the 2nd one halfway through. Quitting in the middle of a book is a very rare occurance for me. Thus, when i finally did get my hands on Hidden Warrior, i was worried. If Flewelling choked in the middle of the last series, who's to say she wouldn't do the same here? Well, she didn't. Some of the criticisms other reviewers have made are valid: the story loses some steam, character development slows a bit, and some parts are even somewhat predictable.

After a few hundred pages, the story is back to the point where i couldn't put it down to save my life. And fortunately, this one ends at a more stable point than Bone Doll's Twin, so waiting for the concluding volume will merely be uncomfortable, not the torture of waiting to see if all would be well and good after the violence at the end of book 1.

And after this, i'm even considering digging up my copies of the Nightrunner series. Maybe book 2 is worth another try.

I was looking for a book to read, and picked this one up, with a Robin Hobb recommendation on the front cover. Being a fan of Robin Hobb, I thought, "Why not", and bought the book. (Yes I know it's silly to read the second book of a series but I couldn't find "The Bone Doll's Twin" in the bookstore.)
Anyway, I started reading and didn't stop till I finished it a day later. Extremely engaging, giving new vitality into the 'girl disguised as a boy' routine. King Erius and Korin are not shown as evil, 2D characters, but are as equally charismatic as the book's protagonists.
An excellent book, with an original, well-thought out world, reminiscent of Grecian culture...Thoroughly recommended!

Flewelling's work has been a personal favorite since I discoved The Bone Doll's Twin last year. This is a very worthy sequel- and the woman sure knows how to write a cliffhanger! i found it early (someone up there must like me- i think my bookstore put it out by mistake) and finished it in two days. I loved every moment. A very, very good book

This second book seemed more like a memoir that skimmed the events and places Tobin encountered. It didn't really deepen the characters of Ki or Tobin and often seemed forced. HW wasn't as creepy or moving as TBDT but HW did advance the story and I'm looking forward to the third book.

I had the first of these books for over a year before I could
bear to pick it up. The birth scene of Bone Doll's Twin had me
shaking for a lot longer than I had thought possible, I had just
had a little girl of my own the month before it was published and
even though I have been an avid reader of Ms. Flewelling from the beginning I just couldn't do it... Good thing too, since once I did get past the inital shock of it all, I swallowed up both Bone Doll's Twin and the Hidden Warrior within a 7 day period. Hidden Warrior suits me better than Bone Doll's Twin, but only because it feels more like Lynn's writing, the one big gripe that I have is that she seems to be falling into the old rut that if you are bad, you are very very bad and if you are good, well then you have to win. I love the evolution her work has taken and I can't wait to see where she takes the characters I have come to know and love so well.

The struggle that Tobin/Tamir has with his/her inner fears is remarkably realistic for a fantasy character, but then I expected no less from Ms. Flewelling than a wonderful read with
characters who for the most part we really care about.

I have to admit that, while I had a hard time getting into The Bone Doll's Twin, I continued with the series and have quite enjoyed this second volume. The world is more fleshed out and the characters well developed. The book is well detailed and the events written in a way that allows readers to follow certain complex aspects of the series without becoming confused.

I must remind fellow readers that the Tamir series is *not* the Nightrunner series and that while there are certain characters who are mentioned in the NR books which come into play in the Tamir Trilogy, the books themselves should not be compared to the NR series. The new series is beautifully written and deserves a reader's full attention, not to be compared with the Seregil/Alec series.

Enjoy the books for themselves. They make an interesting historical back drop to the events in the NR series, but are great in their own right, as well.

Flewelling is always outstanding, but this book especially shines--it is perhaps her finest yet. As a continuation of The Bone Doll's Twin, Hidden Warrior deepens the themes of gender and identity which make this trilogy especially poignant. Flewelling's expert characterizations always make for a rich read, and this book also serves as the genesis for certain events in her Nightrunner series. Highly recommended, as is all the work by this author.

Lynn Flewelling is one of my favorite writers of all time. Both the Tamir series and the Nightrunner series are amoung the best I've read in years. However, I've been looking for that third Tamir book and thought you might be as well. They are posting updates the fan site (currently saying July 2006)

[...]

I am planning to be very careful in this review, since I realize that I am in the minority with my opinion. First, to be clear, I like Flewelling's writing a great deal-- I am particularly fond of the Nightrunner series. I also liked The Bone Doll's Twin. I will admit that I did not love it, but I still expected quite a bit better from Hidden Warrior.

While I still enjoy the conceit of the book-- I like a lot of the issues raised by Tobin/Tamir-- I found the plotting rather surprisingly poor. The evil mad king has been done to death, as has the good indiginous magicians being destroyed by the evil power-hungry magicians. I found the way that the story of Skala developed predictable and rather irritating. To be honest, I am still trying to figure out exactly why it failed to work for me so spectacularly.

I think that the main reason is that so much effort went into the character of Tobin that there seemed to be very little effort left over for the villains. Niryn and his flunkies are entirely one dimensional, and Erius never amounts to much more than a collection of temper tantrums. This is a real shame-- three-dimensional bad guys add a lot to a fantasy novel and do a lot to raise the stakes and make the cost of success clear.

Much of this book reminded me of the great Deryni series by Katherine Kurtz. Out of curiosity, after finishing this I picked up one of those books to figure out what worked with them that didn't work here. One key point I took away from the experiment was that the persecution of the Deryni was sparked by years of Deryni abuses. There was a subtlety to it that I felt the Flewelling lacked. In the world of Hidden Warrior, people are killed because they are different and for no other reason. People are evil or they are good. Nobody seems to act out of fear rather than out of malice. At the end of the day, I do not think that I like the black and white approach that she takes to politics in this novel, and I do not think that it works well for the plot.

Anyhow, I will concede that generally I like her work much more than I liked it this time. I plan to go ahead and read the third in the series, and keep hoping for a return to the Nightrunner books.

You should certainly not let my review dissuade you from reading Hidden Warrior. There are more than enough five star reviews here that tell you that many others liked it just fine. As normal with a series, do not start with this book. Go back and read The Bone Doll's Twin if you have not already done so.