Customer Reviews

Illumination

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In the land of the Ennead, the triad consists of a binder, an illuminator, and a wordsmith. They are the basis of Society's good health. When the weather needs a little change, or when somebody is sick, or a birth is hard the triad eases the suffering and makes the person well again. When death is near the triad takes away the suffering so the soul can leave the body peacefully. Liath has trained all her life to be an illuminator but after she earns her badge, the light fails her.

She travels to the home of the Ennead, the most powerful mages in the land, in the hopes that they can bring out her light. They fail but tell her that a renegade mage working in a triad can help her if he is brought back into the fold. She seeks Torrin but when she finds him he is nothing like the evil man the Ennead has described. He tells her things about her world that frightens her, but something about him attracts her even though she should feel nothing but revulsion for him. The time will come when Liath must separate the truth from the lies but when that happens will she have the courage of her convictions and act accordingly.

ILLUMINATION is a rich and complex stand alone epic fantasy that mesmerizes the reader. The society that Terry McGarry describes feels so real that audiences will believe she has visited that world. The characters are so complex and colorful that nobody could doubt that these people once lived, loved and laughed. Thanks to the author's skill, we have a variation of the Atlantis legend subtly adapted for this fabulous fable.

Harriet Klausner

Not since Tolkien's amazing works or Donaldson's depressing vision has there been a world created with such a depth of history as Ms McGarry has compiled for us in ILLUMINATION. The first book of a series, which I hope will be long and successful, gives us a glimpse into a world steeped in a tradition whose origin is lost to the past. Liath (whose very name--pronounced Lee-ah--presents a riddle), a very normal citizen of this world, will find herself struggling with these traditions when her very normal world fails her. Reconciling the truths she learns on her way to solving her personal problems leads her to challenge the society she once wanted desperately to protect.

McGarry does not prop up her world with magic, making every sword have a will of its own or every ring grant omnipotence. The magic of the triad and the Ennead sits as a background, as natural as our belief in science--so much a part of everyday, and yet hardly given a thought. The magic of McGarry's world consists of no more than song, bookbinding, and illumination, and yet the influences the magic has on the daily life of her characters is so important that the reader is compelled to see the world of Eiden Myr through their eyes. From the colors of their clothing to the their view of the lay of the land, the author thought through the ramifications of her world so well, built such believable structure and richness in detail, that the reader can almost reach out and touch the soil of Eiden Myr.

But ILLUMINATION is just the beginning. Many mysteries remain at the end of this first book, many plots have been seeded that do not come to fruition just yet. Patience is required as we await the next installation. But the joy of finding a new world--not just some simple faux-Middle Ages Europe filled with not-Celts riding almost-horses, but a world with a complex history--that will keep the reader digging for more answers and begging for more clues.

I picked this book up on a fluke in the library, just randomly browsing and choosing books based on their covers (just to prove that old cliche wrong and kill some time between appointments). I was pleasantly surprised by this random choice.

Being something of a self-proclaimed fantasy dabbler, I had plenty of other novels in this genre to compare this story to and I was pleased to find that, while it stuck true to the theme of the fantasy vein, it didn't rely on the old stock characters and plots as much as others. There are no elves or dwarves or magic swords or rings like you find in so much other fantasy that's nothing more than blatant Tolkien-rip-off.

Instead, McGarry has given us a very interesting and strong (but not "she-male" quality) female character to lead us through this story that's more about discovery and understanding than gaining absolute power.

But don't worry, there's still plenty of plotting and "ruling the world" to keep you interested.

While there's a little bit of fluff here (meaning things that could have been eliminated without losing much of the plot) it was all very entertaining and the whole thing was quite enthralling by the middle of the story. There are a lot of characters to attempt to keep straight (though, for the most part, you can forget many of them without much guilt since the main characters are so striking and memorable as to not be forgotten).

The theory of three (or multiples of three) being needed for success in McGarry's version of sorcery is a nice, new twist on an old theme and keeps it fresh for the reader. In other words, you're not sitting there, reading it and going "God, this plot AGAIN??" which, unfortunately, seems to happen all too often in fantasy.

Liath is a character that's quite easy to relate to. Even though the chances are good none of us reading this are mages, we've all had the struggle for ascertaining truth amid a huge, confusing mess of people and "leaders" claiming to be right and figuring out our place in the world. This is Liath's main fight and it's interesting and completely believable. Hats off to Ms. McGarry for her abilities here. None of the other characters are *quite* as well developed, but they've got dimension and life that's their own and since they're memorable to me a few weeks after reading this, I think they're well enough developed as to be considered "good." They also avoid (for the most part, anyway) that whole "stock character" label. As in, somewhat original and not just a slight variation on something someone else has already done. Not ALL, mind you, but most.

The world-building is not extravagant, but nicely done. It's a soft, gentle hand that guides us through this realm that's so like our own, but just different enough to be fun. It's not grandiose and it's obvious the writer has much higher ambtions than just making a cool place for boring characters to live. The focus isn't on the setting, but it's given such fine attention as to be considered almost perfect as far as I'm concerned.

So, the whole review in one sentence?

Excellent showcase of originality, fun, and talent by a writer in a genre that's overpopulated with a "been there, done that" theme.

It's definitely worth the read, especially if you've been bored with what's on the bookshelves lately. Highly recommended to lifetime readers of fantasy, or those who are just starting to cut their literary teeth on the stuff.

I must say, I enjoyed `Illumination' very much! The writing was really excellent throughout and there were descriptive passages that just made me despairingly jealous. I wish I could write like that! The world-building--all that history just sitting there through most of the story. Excellent! Well done! I particularly liked how the things I questioned early on turned out to be the things that _should_ be questioned. And yet, the pieces were all integrated into a whole that made sense, that promised that this was a world with history, a society with a past and a depth that grounded the story so that I was willing to set small questions aside and continue trusting that things would come together as the story unfolded. Although there were some things I figured out quite early, there were still plenty of things that were unexpected and that gave added pleasure to the tale when they were revealed. What I particularly liked was the slow building of facts, laid layer on layer, the cultural truths revealed to the reader in synchronization with the unfolding of the world of Eiden Myr.

Liath, the stubborn, was a great choice for the main character. She was clearly caught up in things too big, in things she didn't want to understand, in things that would tear her whole life apart and yet, because she was stubborn and determined she had to continue and by continuing eventually--though slowly and painfully and resisting most of the way--come to take a stand.

Some of the small things I liked were the way the author handled women and pregnancy, the casual way that we discover certain things that are simply not a big deal in this world, that when there's fighting people talked of sending children away, but not women, the way everything works in threes and nines.

As a first novel it was _more_ than impressive. I look forward to the sequels!!

Terry McGarry has created a rich world in Eiden Myr, and filled it with fascinating characters. Her creations trancend what I have seen as a simplified, "cutesy" genre for the past decade or so, and return to it a level of quality that has been missing since we last left Ursula K. LeGuin's Earthsea. It is refreshing to read a Fantasy from an author who realizes that intelligent adults also need fantasies on their level; Illumination is a rich work of literature.
I will add the Characters of Liath Illuminator, Heff the blacksmith, and Kazhe, the devoted to my list of unforgettables, alongside the Hobbits and Paul Atreides. This is a highly enjoyable journey. Join it.

I finished reading this book about a month ago. And i was hesitant to write a review. I'm a good enough book shopper that i rarely buy things that I don't like, and so sometimes it is hard for me to tell if a book will stick to me, find a spot in my mind, claim it and keep it for its own. Tonight, in the shower, i found myself thinking about this book, and i realized it had done just that. It'd nested. It'd become one of _those_ books, the ones that you stick on your shelf and smile at when you pass by, the ones that make you look forward to a rainy day so you can reread them.

I found its lack of fantasy tripe refreshing, no namby pamby elves, no dragons, no magic objects, none of the things that so many fantasy books rely on so they can avoid finding an original plot.

I won't lie, it's a tough read, the situations and the characters are demanding -- they want your undivided attention. And they'll get it, too, if you give them a chance.

It's one of those books. And that's a very good thing.

Just as the world of science fiction moved from niche to mainstream with Stars Trek and Wars, so too has fantasy moved from niche to mainstream with the works of Robert Jordan, Terry Brooks and J.K. Rowling. What once required a certain amount of mental dexterity to truly appreciate has slid into the blandness of being, ack, ptui, popular. So when a new author ventures forth, brandishing a new fantasy story, a lot of long-time fantasy readers view it with hope, but not particularly high expectations for anything that harkens back to the days of DeCamp and Lieber, or even Donaldson and McKillip.

McGarry doesn't write pablum fantasy. Her storytelling leads you gently into her world, where you discover its delights, both of place and of person, in an almost natural way, rather than having every turn in the road cataloged and every character encountered fleshed out in painstaking detail. There's no mistaking that every turn has been cataloged, and every character fleshed out, but everything an author writes doesn't need to be included in the book. ILLUMINATION is not a 300 page story padded out to fill twice as many pages. It is a meaty, full-packed story that leaves you feeling as if you've said good-bye to old friends.

Not all of us want our fantasy reading to be comfortable and safe and almost suffocating in it's overabundance of superfluous verbage. Some of want stories that make us think, make us question, make us breathe deeply in the open air of the world we find ourselves in. I'd take more of McGarry's worldbuilding and storytelling over wheels of time or schoolyard wizards anytime. And if you enjoy thinking while you read, you would too.

The people are real, human, and I cared about some of them to the point of heartbreak. The plot is intricate and closely woven as an illuminator's spell. There's a mystery in the book, and watching it unfold is very compelling. The rich, various life of Eiden Myr fascinated me. In a way Eiden Myr itself seems alive. I want to go back there. The book isn't just about magic; it IS magic. I look forward to revisiting it. I feel there must be a lot more to know about Eiden Myr. More, please.

This book has a lot of good ideas behind it, but it's not very well written. Sure, the prose is clean and nice, but there's no passion behind it, no spark of genius or excitement, like comes through in Goodkind or Martin, or Jordan and Haydon, both of whom plugged it but whose work far surpasses it. Liath is a fairly interesting character but she degenerates into a predictable female role, when she could have been so much more. I recommend a read of this when you have a long weekend with nothing to do--it's hard to get through, but it does have some interesting passages. You might want to wait for the paperback, however.

Terry McGarry's first book is a gem, a beautifully written story of one woman's search for truth, redemption, and identity. Her characters are complex and real, her storytelling deft and compelling. The world she has created is a fascinating place, filled with wonders and rich textures, yet utterly convincing. In a genre that too often relies on tropes and formulas, McGarry has written a book that delights and surprises at every turn.
What sets her work apart, however, is the clarity and quality of her prose. Terry McGarry writes the way Yo Yo Ma plays cello, the way Tiger Woods plays golf. To open her book is to place yourself in the hands of a master wordsmith.
This is a book to be savored, to be appreciated not only for its excitement and romance, but also for its language and artistry.