Customer Reviews

The Ordinary

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

 

 

I zipped through the first 100 pages of this book unable to put it down. Unfortuneately the author seems to run out of gas after that. The main character just goes on a big, boring sight seeing tour. It reminded me of that show on the Travel Channel where that girl visits hotel after hotel fawning over the interior design. There is not a hint of conflict until the final pages and then it's very short-lived and quickly followed by one of the worst non endings I've ever read. The book just stops. Not a hint of resolution or even a cliff hanger pointing to a sequel.

It's a shame because Grimsley had some great concepts to work with. In my experience novels that mix technology with magic usually fail at both, but Grimsley had a workable foundation he could have developed into something unique if he had focused on the SF concepts instead of minutiae.

Once in a while the characters stop admiring the drapes long enough to notice the GIANT FREAKIN' PORTAL BETWEEN TWO WORLDS--but enough about that.
Gee, what a lovely sofa...

I had previously read Kirith Kirin, so this novel made sense and was a welcome return to an interesting world. Overall the concept of the intersections of worlds of magic and science, and the philosophical and theological ramifications is a very interesting one. Plus I now understand what all those appendixes in Kirith Kirin were about.

However, the novel does rush to a sudden end, which wasn't good after so much build-up in the body. I hope Grimsley plans to write more.

This is a fragment of a book. While it is well written, has good characters and some very interesting concepts, it fails for lack of a plot. The story seems to stop right when it should just be getting interesting. This is a pity since everything else was in place to make it a truly good book. I was very frustrated and disappointed.

This is a fascinating sci-fi novel about two very different worlds that have mysterious connections to each other. I love Grimsley's style, as usual, but can't help feeling that the ending was too abrupt. There is much more to discover about how this tale continues, and I can only hope the author plans a sequel. Quite well done, however.

This is the story of Jedda Martele, the contact between two peoples, and the division between two copies of the same man. Irion, a world that has developed magic, has opened a portal to Senal, a world populated by the Hormling, descendents of Earth who use science. Irion has watched Senal secretly for a while, then opened the gate. Senal, once it discovers the gate, studies Irion for a few decades, then decides to conquer it. Jedda Martele is a linguist sent to the Hormling embassy on Irion at the start of the war. Although she is Hormling, she has spent many years on Irion as a trader, and now learns more of their language and history and even some of their magic. At the end of her experience, she is given the decision about whether the two worlds will continue to be in contact.

Meanwhile, the greatest mage of Irion (whose name is Jessex, but who is also called Yron and Irion), has split himself into copies, one of which has decided it wishes to be primary. The Irion-copy battles with Jessex, which takes place offstage for a lot of the book; you figure out the battle is going on as you learn more about the culture of Irion. At one point the Irion-copy kidnaps Jedda, before he is defeated (by God herself, or by some combination of God and Jessex's powers).

This book seems to have frustrated a lot of reviewers by opening with a short war (Senal invading Irion) and ending with what is probably the beginnings of another war, or at least some serious diplomatic negotiations. However, both war and the decisions in the peace between wars are important in the history of how Irion and Senal treat with one another. Those who want to know how their societies eventually combine will want to read The Last Green Tree, which takes place several hundred years later.

One note: Jedda is a linguist, and thus obsessed with language and names, and similarily culture, the history of Irion, and the language of magic. She is also an aesthete and a trader, and notices the carvings, art, and textiles around her wherever she goes. So be prepared for a lot of description.

The idea is extraordinary: how a world dominated by science and technology and a world dominated by magic can possibly interact? The first part is superb, if a bit predictable in the climax (a nd should be an apologue to all warmongers) Jedda (the beleaguered diplomat discovering herself a sort of sucker's bait) is an interesting and sympathetic character. The contrast betyween technology dependent and apparently backward folk is remarkable. In the following part, however, the story slows its pace, lingering on more description of Erejhen architecture, furniture and garments that seems necessary, or indeed sensible. But the ending is absolutely baffling. You're left screaming "What happen next?"
Jim Grimsley, we will be waiting for you to tell us in a future novel.

Beware! My first edition of the "First Trade Paperback Edition: October 2005" has pages 183 to 245 backward! It's readable, but annoying to have to read that many pages back to front.

The author creates a sensuous, dreamy mood while creating two opposed cultures: an overcrowded, extremely stratified, high-tech interstellar civilization and a seemingly backward world of small towns, castles, and enormously high magical tours, where an elite are almost immortal. While the author never uses this quote, all the way through I was reminded of Arthur C. Clarke's saying that "any sufficiently advanced technology will be indistinguishable from magic".

It also interested me that pretty much ALL of the characters are older, some thousands of years old, some a scientifically 'renewed' sixty or eighty. It made the attractions and relationships feel quite different.

The book is very readable; I finished the last half in a day, and ordered the sequel immediately. I wish that Kirith Kirin, a sort of prequel, was in print or available used for less than $40!

I love everything Jim Grimsley has written and this is no exception.

It does not approach the complexity and feeling that I received from reading his Kirith Kirin and like that book, I did not want The Ordinary to end. It did however--and much too quickly--as if the publisher was on his back to meet a deadline.

The story is complex and perhaps too filled with invented words, but I soon learned to read over and around them like a stream trickling over stones--and to enjoy the ride--slipping and sliding like an otter.

Grimsley never disappoints, but Kirtith Kirin is his opus to beat.

The ocean contains the Twil Gate that connects the two diverse planets. Whereas the Hormling of Senal depends heavily on technology, engineering and science, the agrarian Erejhen of Irion believes in magic. Even how the two races understand the Twil Gate varies. The Hormling know that the gate had to have been developed by an unknown technologically advanced culture; the Erejhn believe the gate is a magical portal created by some wizard in a distant past.

The two planets have thrived on a brisk trade between them, as the Hormling sell manufactured goods in exchange for Erejhen farm products. However, the Hormling believe that the Erejhen are a backward race and decide that they can increase profitability and solve their over-population problem by colonizing Irion. A diplomatic team is sent to Erejhen, but instead of working on a pact, they are the advanced mission of a Hormling invasion. War is now the product moving through the gate.

Two things about this tale are that it is not ORDINARY and that fans of science fiction and fantasy will appreciate this smooth combo mindful of Piers Anthony?s Adept tales. The story line is action-packed with key cast members form both planets seeming genuine in their concerns for the future. However, the reason Jim Grimsley?s book is superb is that the two diverse cultures appear genuine so that readers will believe in the technological wizardry of Hormling and the magical wizardry of Erejhen.

Harriet Klausner