15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The beginning of all stories, September 27, 2004
Over the years I've read a lot of stories which claim to take place in the first of all worlds, the origin of dreams. Almost without exception they are standard roadside attractions on the Fantasy Tour.
John Wright has avoided this trap. His writing style evokes Dunsany, Clark Ashton Smith, Lovecraft's Kadath, and Eddison. Without ever saying "Look at how clever and well-read I am" he mixes fairy tales, the Mahabarta, occult imagery and our deepest fears in a seamless way.
And this is all in the first sixty pages.
I feared, at the end of The Golden Transcendence, that Wright was a one-hit wonder. Those fears have been most joyously laid to rest.
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17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Rising star John C. Wright does it again:, September 22, 2004
This award-winning new author turns his hand to fantasy bringing the same fast-paced action, fascinating characters, intriguing philosophy and top-notch world-building to the story of Gavin Waylock and the guardians of Everness, that "strange and ancient house unchanging."
Ware the toll of a single ring
Night-mare her single rider will bring
Woe if twice the great bell tolls
For fire-giants and fell frost trolls
Storm-princes rise at the sound of three
The fourth ring brings the plague Kelpie
Five for Selkie, Six for Hate
Seven for Doom, Death for Eight
And if the toll sounds nine withal
Wake the Sleepers; Nine worlds fall.
For fifteen hundred years the Waylocks have guarded the gate between the world of reason and science, and the world of dreams. Now, standing watch in the Deeper Dreaming, Gavin Waylock, heir to Everness, hears the sea bells tolling without end as a black gull brings him a burning light out of the darkness. Eager to win his spurs, he disregards his grandfather's caution and summons a dream-colt to take him beyond Tirion to the iron cage where the first Waylock, founder of Everness, arch-traitor and wizard, swings above an abyss of madness.
With this errant impulse, Gavin Waylock sets in motion the downfall of Everness House: For Acheron is indeed rising, its terrible heralds even now taking their first steps out of the mists of dreams and into the waking world...
The high fantasy is married with thrilling action scenes; there are moments of great beauty and tenderness, and moments of silly humor. One of the supporting characters, Wendy Varovich is particularly enchanting and often very funny. The horrors of the cannibalistic selkie, the pious and rotting kelpie knights, the sheer strangeness Wright evokes for his dream-lands is worthy of a Cthuloid nightmare. Moving from light to dark, horror to humor, Wright never misses a beat, seamlessly providing page-turning entertainment.
THE LAST GUARDIAN OF EVERNESS rises above the run-of-the mill action fantasy: For my part, this is one of the best fantasies I've read this year. Its only fault: You'll have to wait until next year for the second half. I write "you" for I've seen the whole story in MS and can assure you, part two is great fun!
(This review first appeared, in slightly shorter form, in the WashRag, journal of the Washington Young Adult Materials Review Group)
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12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
More like 3.5 stars..., December 8, 2004
Note to the unwary: This book is the first of two volumes, and the ending is quite a cliffhanger. Things won't be resolved until the second volume comes out in 2005, so keep this in mind if you're not the patient sort. Okay, now for my review, which goes a little bit against the grain here. What I liked about this book was Wright's unique and imaginative blending of mythology, horror, and legend. I also liked how he wove a constant thread of choice and consequence throughout the story and gave us some characters that were truly compelling.
What kept me from giving this book a higher rating is that I found it somewhat of a chore to get through. Most likely, this is because I'm so desperately weary of the common elements of so-called "high" fantasy. You know what I'm talking about...rituals, quests, Words and Objects of Power, heavy symbolism, mythic creatures, earth magic, perpetual angst, etc. I've started to avoid much of the fantasy genre for this very reason, and I probably wouldn't have bought this book in the first place, except that I enjoyed Wright's harder sci-fi (The Golden Age trilogy) so much.
So, if you're reading these reviews to help you decide whether to purchase this book, and if you aren't as tired of the fantasy genre as I am, my unreserved recommendation is that you click the "add to cart" button. Wright is clearly talented and proves he can deliver fantasy with as much punch as he does sci fi. If, however, you're like me and find you have trouble stomaching a lot of the core elements of high fantasy, you might want to wait on this one until you can buy both volumes at one time and less expensively.
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