Customer Reviews

Mystic Empire (Bronze Canticles, Book 3)

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

 

 

Mystic Empire by Tracy and Laura Hickman is the third book in the Bronze Canticle trilogy. The first book is Mystic Warrior (The Bronze Canticles, Book 1) and the second book is Mystic Quest: Book Two of The Bronze Canticles. I believe this trilogy is the first collaboration between Mr. and Mrs. Hickman and I must say, after finishing the trilogy, I am overwhelmingly unimpressed. The magic that Mr. Hickman has captured in other novels and series is almost completely absent in this series.

I would like to say that the plot of this book, which is the third in the series, follows right where the previous two books left off - but that is not the case. In fact, this book launches the story line one hundred in the future effectively losing most of the cohesion from the previous book. The worlds that the new plot is placed in are a mere shadow of the worlds from the second book; this causes the reader to have to relearn the worlds that the second book established somewhat. There are hints about what occurred in the one hundred year gap, but very little is actually revealed. The plot, much like the time gap, jumps all over and is rather difficult to grab onto and care about. It left me with the feeling that the authors did not a) have a good grasp of what they wanted to accomplish and improvised as they wrote it or b) simply wanted to get a book done and rushed through the process hoping their name power would be enough. I was mildly interested after book one, less interested after book two, and now disappointed I wasted my time on this book. It was a slow progression of futility that culminated in this novel.

The characters in this book are not the same characters that were in the second book. For instance in book two, the character of Galen is simply gone from the novel because of the time jump. All the effort the authors spent in developing his character was wasted because he is simply not around in this book. The Faery world characters are equally missing in action because this world is explored very little in this novel. It was very hard to connect with any of the characters because they are mostly all new and uninteresting. In fact, the characters felt as though they were merely along for the ride of the plot and not creating anything new. Rarely have I been this uninterested in every character in a book.

Normally at this point in my reviews I list my criticisms and positives of the novel. However, I will not be doing that with this review. Instead, I will just offer a few final words on this novel.

Tracy Hickman has helped write some of my favorite books, the Dragonlance Chronicles, The Deathgate Cycle, and the Sovereign Stone Trilogy. On that alone I felt reasonably certain I would like these novels. Nothing could be further from the truth. This novel felt rushed, disjointed, and largely contrived. Nothing like his past works. The one hundred year time jump seemed so out of place it completely took me out of the story. Where a third book In a trilogy should be conclusion to the entire story this book was nothing like that. In fact, it seemed like a completely different series.

Rarely have I been this disappointed after reading a book, particularly from an author I have grown to really enjoy. I can not in good conscience recommend this book to anyone. If you have read the first two books in this series, you may want to read this one just to see how bad things get. If you have not started this series, then please really think about it before you embark on reading it. There are so many other good fantasy novels out there right now. This is just a disappointing book, I can't say it any other way.

I read the first three books before writing a review.

All three books make use of dream sequences. This one abuses dream sequences.

It left with many questions:

1) If the mystics were this powerful, then why didn't turn the Pir and the Dragons into grease spots long ago?
2) Why should I care about any of these characters?
3) Where are we going?

This book jumps another 100 years and drops you into worlds that are vaguely familiar to the ones in the previous novels.

I found the narrative disjointed (kind of like driving off a cliff).

I didn't know any of these characters and it appeared none of the characters knew much of the characters in the previous books.

There is an utter lack of continuity between these books. Internally, I didn't think this book held up at all.

I'm sorry I wasted $16.

This book is the Best of the trilogy. There is less setup to the beginning of the book, and still has that cliffhanger ending leaving room for the possibility of revisiting these three worlds.
Unfortunately it takes place several decades after the second book and has all new characters, but it still is the Best of the trilogy.

I love fantasy novels. I especially love books that peer into the culture and religion of the characters of the novel the way the Crown of Stars series by Kate Elliot does, and this series showed promise in the first book and its exploration of the Pir Draconis.

Books two and three move forward in time a generatin and one hundred years respectively, and they do so very unconvincingly. The world, or worlds, created here are amazingly intriguing, and it would have been worth my time for this to have been a highly detailed exploration of the nature of these worlds.

We were given teasers about a possible cataclysm between the worlds, yet the events that actually do happen are amazingly shallow in their exploration of the characters and the nature of their universe. Even the possible romantic implications here are rushed and left me thinking that the authors were doing nothing but creating a new market for role playing games, and that tends to anger me a little.

Even with all this, the book, and the series as a whole, deserve a 3 star rating for several reasons.

1: If the authors choose to write more books in this universe, I am hoping they will do so with an eye toward more detail and character development, because the potential for great stories and amazing situations is vast and could provide for amazing reading (I want to know who the Titans were, not to mention the Rhamasian Empire and the Kyree Empire that ended in tragedy.)

2: In spite of the rushed writing, there are some characters here that could be looked at further. Galen Arvad in particular was a character that I really wanted to know more about in the second and third books, but we got very little as the authors chose to move forward in time. The Faery and Goblin worlds are, especially the Goblin world, left mostly unexplored. I am very intrigued by the Goblin world and how it became the desolate and degenerate place it is.

3: I'm a sucker for this kind of story.

4: The rushed writing does create one effect that can work in its favor, it creates a sense of urgency and the books are very readable. They are entertaining and all together worth the time, just not great.

I am not going to give any spoilers, as I don't want to ruin anything for anyone, but the ending was, in my opinion, very unsatisfying. I get that the whole "Happily Ever After" thing should not ever be the case, the world goes on, but this all seemed too rushed and too pat for me.

3:

Calsandria is home to Mystics who have Deep Magic and to commoners who have no magic. The place can be only be reached through portals known to the denizens of the city because many outsiders would like to see the city destroyed again and the mystics scattered. Within Calsandria, clans jockey for more political power which is why Rylmar Conlan is having his daughter Valana marry into the powerful Arvad clan.

Prince Treijan and his cousin disappear and Valana and her sister Theona try to track them down. A wily dwarf uses a secret portal to take the sisters to where the prince and his cousin are staying. However, soon that place will no longer be safe because the goblin horde from another world intends to conquer that land and the world of Fairy. The faery queen, besieged by the Kree and other enemies, throws her lot in with the humans in the hopes that a victory will give them a new place to call home. Theona who was thought to have no magic has blossomed into a seer who knows that the decisions certain people make will decide the outcome of the war.

Book Three of the Bronze Canticles is a spellbinding tale of ancient prophecy about to be fulfilled. The writing team of Tracy and Laura Hickman are great fantasists who pull the reader into the storyline from the very first page. Readers will finish this book in one sitting because it is such an absorbing reading experience. It is this reviewer's fervent hope that the Hickmans return to Calsandria so the audience can see how the characters that we have come to love are doing.

Harriet Klausner

This book is not worth the time or money.
Tracy should stick to writing with Weis.
I read over 100 books a year and by far this is the worst I've read.