Customer Reviews

The Light of the Oracle

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have been a fan of Hanley's work since THE SEER AND THE SWORD. This book is a companion novel to that one and HEALER'S KEEP--they are all set in the same fantasy world. You can read the book description for yourself. What makes Hanley's work so wonderful is the way she uses details--you can feel the magical wind, and you keenly feel its loss. Her characters are fully realized, and the plot is exciting and interesting. I was almost breathless as the last third of the book hurtled toward a very satisfactory ending. Highly recommended.

I really loved this book. It was exciting as well as mystifying. The magic and deception that takes place is riviting and the characters are wonderfully alive with thoughts and feelings.
The imagination that it must have taken to think up all the ways of the Temple of the Oracle is just awsome! I absolutly loved this book and think that many others will find it as hard to put down as I did.

Hanley has kept up the good work with this book. The story is very well written so you don't feel things are just added in just so you can get from point A to point C in record time. The characters very interesting, even the ones you don't like. It is a pretty traditional fantasy story, but it different enough to pull you in and make you wonder what is going to happen next. If you like reading The Seer and the Sword and The Healer's Keep, you will definately like this book. If you haven't read Victoria Hanley before, but like light fantasy, you should like this book. You can really read the books in any order as they do not really follow each other like a series, but are companion books.

Light of the Oracle is the third book Hanley has set in the same fantasy universe - and aside from that, the three books could hardly be more different, and all are excellent. The Seer and the Sword is a political-military novel, with relatively little magic and a lot of action. Healer's Keep is a save-the-world novel almost entirely about magical warfare between the protagonists and Ultimate Evil. And this one is an "academy" story about relationships among students and faculty at an institute organized to control prophecy. Others have summarized the plot; I'll just say that I've loved all three books, and that based on her start Hanley is fully worthy to be mentioned in the same breath as Tamora Pierce, Jane Yolen, Sherwood Smith, and Diana Wynne Jones. She doesn't have anything like their body of work produced yet, so I can't say if she'll sustain it as well, but so far so good.

Victoria Hanleys first book, "the seer and the sword" left high expectations for her second and third. Whereas the first was filled with romance and excitement, and the second "The healers' keep" cast a spell on you with its magic and personage, the third book "The light of the oracle" is more of a cosy book. It tells the story of Bryn, a fifteen year old girl, who discovers her own powers as a seer in the temple of the oracle. She struggles with enemies within the temple, and finds true friendship also.
A story of friendship and love, that won't let you drop the book. It's thrilling enough to bind you, and warm enough to leave you with a smile on your face.
An excellent book for a rainy day.

Fans of Victoria Hanley's previous novels, The Seer & the Sword and The Healer's Keep, will definitely not be disappointed! I couldn't put this latest work down! It was pure delight to read! For fans of her other novels, Hanley deftly weaves this book into and around her other books (all about the same world), and for newcomers to her work, this book is just the tip of the iceberg! Her characters are all very real and it's fascinating to watch them develop their gifts and their friendships. One of my favorite things about this book is that it continues the adventures in the dream world, or abanya, and it becomes clearer what that is and how it works. A fantastic book, one that I will read again and again!

In her first book, the seer and the sword, Victoria Hanley blew me away. Her character development, tension, resolution, action, political intrigue and description were all exquisite. I was impressed by the fact that while there was magic in the book, it didn't take over at all. What was even more impressed was the fact that she managed to have such a strong plot that was very much character-driven.

In the healer's keep, I liked the story, and the characters were interesting. However, Hanley had very obviously abandoned her careful balance of magic and mundane and most of the political aspects of her book. Also, the pattern of her plot seemed a little too much like The Seer and the Sword.
What was very strong though, in this book, was the plot. The tension held strongly all the way through, and it was captivating.

Okay, enough context:
In the Light of the Oracle, Hanley follows the magic-heavy themes of The Healer's keep which will, in essense lock her into that in all future books (though she does have creative ways of using magic). Also like the Healer's keep, the characters were interesting. However, they seemed to be very obviously like some of her older characters. Bryn is very much like Maive, for example, if not in talents, in her essential character. Unlike the spectacular plot of The Healer's keep, however, The Light of the Oracle has a plot that sustain's interest, but is cetainly nothing special.

Overall, this book was fairly mediocre. Surprising considering what Hanley began her career in novel-writing with. Even the bits of politics are weak backplots that do little for the book (which makes sense, since none of the main characters are actually participating in the political struggle). The one redeeming factor, which was very minor, was that in this book, the "evil" wasn't really evil in many cases, simply corrupted. However, this was spoiled by Clea. Bryn's archrival at the Temple of the Oracle is Clea, and Clea, unlike the other "evil" characters is definitely purely evil and causes evil simply because she enjoys it (and so, from the hints we can gather, does her family). Given that this is fantasy, this isn't particularly uncommon, but it does seem very out of place next to the other "villains."

The Light of the Oracle, a fantasy by Victoria Handley, is about a young adult growing up with a special talent; she can see the future. Thought by the town, and mainly her mother, a wild and crazy child, Bryn has always felt singled out, separate from the rest. Separate, that is until one day she runs in front of the Master Priest's horse while following a strange piece of floating thistledown. The Master Priest, instead of seeing her as "the silly dreamer", he realizes her talent and asks her to join the Temple of the Oracle. Eager to leave the village, she quickly accepts; not knowing the challenges she is yet to face. But as she enters the Temple, so does the wicked, power-hungry Clea. Almost immediately, rivalry swarms between the two girls. As time passes, it soon becomes time for the bird-choosing festival, were a twist of fate leads Bryn to be chosen, not by a bird, but by the wind. One of the highest, and most sacred power, wind chosen receive the power to control the wind, only to be crippled by a curse. Consequently enough, Clea is chosen by one of the most feared birds, a vulture. Controlled by Keldes, the God of death; vulture chosen were given the gift of casting curses. Seeing her advantage, Clea quickly curses Bryn, forces the wind to leave her. Distraught and empty inside, Bryn is forced to standby and watch as the Temple's powers crumbles, powerless to stop it...

Jam-packed with adventure, fantasy, magic, and a bit of romance, The Light of the Oracle is perfect for anyone who loved, Pendragon, Harry Potter, or Handley's two other books: The Seer and the Sword, and The Healer's Keep. I loved this book, not only because I love Handley's writings, but also for its captivating plot and extraordinary style of writing. As the book progresses, tension and excitement builds up in the Temple, until the climatic end that you would never expect. "I'm afraid the wind has unchosen me. I don't hear its whispers anymore, don't feel it lifting my hair or brushing against my face. It's all stillness now." Bryn says this after Clea has cursed her, giving an excellent example of Handley's vivid writing. Her style of writing keeps you going right up to the last page; you want to find out how the book ends, but you never want the book to end. It is a classic "huddled up in your bed with a flash light" all-nighter.

This book raised the issue that when someone has power, most of the time, they abuse it. When the Master Priest and Clea joined together, they tried to overpower and control the Temple, bringing down anyone in their way. I agreed with the author because in most cases, this is true. Take for example Hitler. Since he had power over thousands of people with his great speaking skills, he tried to take over the world, wiping out everyone in his way.

Though a few bumpy spots here and there, all in all, The Light of the Oracle is a great book with superb plot and, I say, one of the best writing styles of all fantasy books. This book is definitely another great success for Handley.

I found this book better than The Seer and The Sword and The Healer's Keep. I felt so much sympathy for Bryn when she was cursed. I think the end could have been a teensy-weensy bit improved and you can't rate things a 4.5 here although that is exactly what my rating is. The whole feathers, wings and curses thing seemed a bit repetitive to me, but that's my opinion. I would totally recommend it and hope that other people who read this book feel that it was a good use of time.

The three books that make up this trilogy are very loosely related, and they're all great. (You don't really have to read them in order, but it does help.) This one was immediately my favorite though--it is very imaginative and detailed. I'd recommend it to any fantasy reader.