Customer Reviews

Humility Garden Pb

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This book is the first half of the story of Humility Garden. It is continued in "Delta City". Humility is an ordinary rural youngster who doesn't quite fit in with her family. When her brother is selected to be given to the decadent other-worldly rulers, she follows him to the big city. She quickly discovers that the honor of her brother's sacrifice by the ghostiers is a mockery and that her culture is stagnated and top-heavy. Revolution follows.

The setting up of this story is wonderful. The ghostiers are interesting and disfunctional. Once Humility gets in over her head it gets dull and political. I didn't bother reading Delta City, however this book was worth it for the ghostiers alone, and I'm glad I read it.

This one is different from most fantasy books; it doesn't fit the mold, and that is a plus. This is not a black/white good/bad sort of world, the politics of Salt are something different. While reading it, I had a hard time liking the main character, and the plot sometimes went beyond the strange to the silly. But by the end the author succeeds because the world she creates is interesting enough that I can't imagine how this will all work out.

There are places where this book takes too long to get to the point and some characters are rather dull. Still it is an enjoyable, and the comparison to Tanith Lee is appropriate. The world alternates between utterly fascinating and slightly roleplaying game-ish.

I will definitely want to read the sequel.

i find that this book doesn't delude itself as a-fantasy-but-really-is-our-world kind of book. i mean, the characters are surprisingly well liked but you KNOW they aren't exactly like you and me. why? coz they aren't human, and they don't necessarily operate on our social expectations and behaviour. when i first saw the title i wondered why it is called humility garden... it never occured to me that it is a *person's name*! however alien they seem, the book is excellent. humility is portrayed realistically as a country bumpkin trying to make things better for herself. as for the gods, well... the twist that they aren't exactly... er.. what we thought they are is really unexpected... i can say it's brilliant, brilliant work and really imaginative though you can get a 'lil bit confused here and there. myself, i had to read it at least a couple of times coz when i read a new book, i'm like a fiend racing for the ending and i tend to miss a lot of nuances and 'lil info here and there... and i warn you that with this book, somtimes missing the 'lil things can make the flow of the story incomprehensible! so, pay attention... and you'll be greatly rewarded.

Felicity Savage has managed to conjure up a highly fanciful world,
that remains strangely familiar in its heroine's all-too human emotions.
Sudden jumps in the story, not to mention the constant addition of new characters
also make for great reading.
When does the sequel come out?

Felicity Savage is like Tanith Lee in more ways than simplybeginning her writing career early. Her work is fascinating and chewyduring a period where many nw fantasy writers are going for novels that read like an epic adventure film.