Customer Reviews

A Horsewoman in Godsland

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

 

 

All of Edwards books are some of my favorties. In this, the heroine brings horses to Godsland and ends up in a magical duel with the priestly ruler. Both learn from each other in the duel, and find refuge together. The ending predicts their future which you can imagine yourself!

I like this author & her books are very hard to find. Believeable characters & situations & plots.

After reading Edwards' novel Bright And Shining Tiger, I was immediately a big fan of hers and sought out her remaining novels. This one was something of a letdown, however. The writing itself was all right, but I found the characters and the overall flow of events very lacking. Adelinda, an independent, strong-willed, lively young woman who made a few big mistakes in her love life, when she was very young, comes to Godsland as a horse trainer. The people of that country are very repressed and patriarchal and the Church of the Quadrate God rules over everyone. Bishop An-Shai is given the responsibility of breaking Adelinda in and their interactions, throughout the course of the book, are frustrating and unsatisfying. They have no chemistry and An-Shai would be hateful if he weren't such a depthless character.

This book is somewhat entertaining--I enjoyed it, but I haven't reread it since, nor have I even gone back to it to skim the good parts. In fact, I can't remember a single scene in the whole book that was good enough to be worth rereading. Nevertheless, if you have read and enjoyed any of Claudia Edwards' other novels, then this one is worth reading at least once. However, if you haven't read any of her books yet, start with Bright and Shining Tiger--it is by far the best.

The premise of this book was great and the characters developed in interesting and entertaining ways throughout the course of the book. The heroine is not perfect; neither is the villain. It's a nice, engaging story which manages not to be predictable. It's a shame it's out of print and I hope someone re-issues it at some point.

Adelinda had journeyed far, bringing to the ancient West much-needed horses and her skill as a trainer. But she had come to a land of ignorance and fear...Godsland!

It was a world where monsters could be conjured out of thin air...and the Church of the Quadrate God, steeped in dark magic, ruled all. No man was safe. And women, lowliest of beings, were mere servants of the men, and prey for slave traders. To such a place came Adelinda...

She was gifted, bright, and determined--the equal of any man. But the Bishop An-Shai had not expected a woman trainer, least of all one who could not be yoked. With Adelinda, he would work his mental magic to serve the Quadrate God and defend his very way of life. Now battling for her mind, her heart, and her cherished freedom, Adelinda would have to confront not only the nightmares created by the bishop, but an awesome, new enemy--one of terrifying power...

* * * *

I found that reading this book was not entirely a waste of time, but disappointing because so much more could have been done with the premise behind it. Character development was, for the most part, good, but it was rather uneven. Some subcharacters were overdeveloped, considering the amount of page time that they ended up with. In contrast, some of the main characters did not seem to have enough development, with too much being left up in the air. While I do not like being force-fed a character's personality, I really don't think that I should have to go grasping at straws, either.

The plot was interesting, but poorly developed. This could have been a really good book, if only things had been brought together more tightly, which would have left less room for holes in the plot. The premise was a good one: feisty, defiant woman meets patriarchal, controlling magician/priest. Battle ensues, at first on the mental plane, then moving to the physical. The ending was a little far-fetched, and I am completely unconvinced that the two erst-while enemies could truly resolve their differences. In other words, willing suspension of disbelief was next to impossible by the end of the book. If it had been longer, I would likely have given up reading, but 219 pages meant, in reality, that it was a quick read. The back cover promised what the book couldn't quite deliver, which was disappointing, because I'd really been looking forward to reading this book.