10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Erratic, but with potential, September 9, 2005
As with most, I'd have to agree that the strength of this novel is its premise of the Quickening, a magical gift possessed by the protagonist which is either gift or curse, depending on how you look at it. What it does is lend the novel a definite twist that is not quite like anything I've read before. At first, this makes things almost too tidy. But by the end, things are anything but.
But if unpredictability is the strength of this novel, it is also its weakness. First off, the magical power is a latent one; the wielder does not control it as much as he is controlled BY it. Perhaps that is the arc of the story that lies ahead. But for now, it weakens the hero, for rather than overcoming obstacles, he consistently succumbs to them. For only in succumbing does the magic manifest. Second, in terms of unpredictability, is that of the narrative flow. Characters are constantly making very strange decisions in this book which seem completely out of character with what we know about them going in. It happens suddenly, joltingly, which keeps the story moving forward in fits and starts. Sometimes, explanations come later which help to smooth these rough spots. But seldom are they completely satisfying, and often they come not at all -- or at least, not in this first volume.
Another thing that struck me is the amount of scheming done by some of the characters. I love intrigue, but there are a couple of problems here. One is that the "genius" plans our heroes come up with are often the most obvious solution to be found -- one that any 4-year-old might devise. This is fine, but in that case, get to it quickly. Don't build it up for page after page as "Oh, whatever will we do?" followed by "Wait, I've got just the genius plan!" followed by a slow reveal that was obvious quite some time ago. The second issue I had with the machinations in this story is that some are very convoluted -- which is good. But it seemed that every time this happened, a rival, halfway across the world, guessed the plan perfectly! Rather than being befuddled by a mystery and lack of evidence, the opponent simply unraveled it in his or her mind, twists and all. In other words, the guesswork was at times WAY too good.
It may sound like a lot of gripes, but it was still an engaging story, so for all of that, I deducted only one star. The other deduction comes because I don't like stories in which the point of view bounces around from one character to another within the same page and paragraph. I love hearing a story from multiple points of view, but I feel the author should do her best to stick to a single POV for each scene. In this one, we're in and out of characters' heads at the drop of a dime, which I find very disorienting. Reminds me that I'm being told a story by a narrator, rather than letting me engage in it through the eyes of the viewpoint character.
The language is good, if a bit repetitive at times. Most writers tend to overwrite their earlier works, so no major complaint there.
Bottom line, in my opinion, is that this is a terrific premise that could stand to be just a little more focused in its presentation. Should the characters and plot settle down and be a little less erratic, I'll enjoy it much more. Then again, if chaos and unpredictability is your style of choice, you could do much worse than Myrren's Gift.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Bravo! Great Book!!, March 17, 2005
Fiona McIntosh crafts an amazing world filed with exciting characters, brave heroes, sadistic villains, captures, escapes, double-crosses, love, betrayal, and even death. This is one of the best fantasy novels I've ever read. What a pure joy to read.
Mrs. McIntosh's style and obvious skill draw the reader in and make the story come to life. Myrren's Gift is book one of The Quickening trilogy and I am eager for the next two books!
Myrren's Gift is a wonderful, detailed story that any fantasy fan will find worth the time. Bravo Mrs. McIntosh!!
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
This is a Review for the Whole Series, June 4, 2010
Pre script: I just finished writing my review and it came out longer than I expected. If you don't want to read the whole thing here is the gist: I didn't like the three books of the Quickening. I regret the time and money I spent reading them.
Maybe it's against the rules but I feel compelled to give a rating for all three books of this series.
I actually enjoyed Myrren's Gift and tore through it so quickly that I had to rush out and buy the second and third book so that I could find out what happened. Myrren's Gift wasn't perfect but it was built on an interesting idea and there was a fair amount of action that moved it along. As other reviews have mentioned, the characters were inconsistent and made strange decisions, but I was willing to give McIntosh the benefit of the doubt, assuming that things would be explained further in the story.
No such luck. I was about half way through the second book when I had to acknowledge that it was a mess and increasingly unsatisfying. It became harder and harder to identify with the characters and to forgive them for their ridiculous mistakes. This might not seem like a big deal but when one of McIntosh's characters makes a mistake the repercussions are horrible. People die. Many people. Innocent, helpless people. They die after being raped and tortured or watching their loved ones raped and tortured. It became so relentless and predictable that I was surprised if a scene didn't end with someone dropped ass-first onto a spike or slowly crushed by a giant stone.
Despite my growing distaste for the story I had already bought the third book and just wanted to get through it to see how it ended. I wish I hadn't bothered. In the final book McIntosh seems desperate to convince us of the nobility and grace of her struggling characters. She repeatedly describes people as courageous and marvelous and strong, without any evidence to back it up. You can call someone marvelous but if they act like an idiot I'm not going to believe you. By the end of the story I despised all of the characters. I felt that they deserved the horrible fates they suffered and I was ready to skewer them on a spike myself if it would silence their self-obsessed mewling.
Aside from all of the bloated adjectives that readers have to slog through, we are also subjected to countless descriptions of people bathing. A crisis will be reaching a crescendo of urgency and one of the characters will pause to take a bath. Not because they are covered in blood but because they are a little dusty from riding a horse. McIntosh is also fond of pausing to eat or drink or try on a dress. If there's an important conversation to be had it can wait until everyone is clean and well fed and wearing new clothes. If all of the bathing had been cut the series could have been completed in one book.
I'm tired of reading books that seems to be strung along just to get another $7.99 out of me. I don't trust authors and editors and publishers to tell good stories anymore. They seem more interested in telling long stories. This is a long story with very little value. Be warned.
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