Customer Reviews

Quatrain

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Quatrain is a collection of four novellas, each one set in a different one of Sharon Shinn's worlds. Ranging from fantasy to science fiction, the stories take place in radically different societies, but each novella is a different look at a person trying to find their own place in a world that is not to their liking. Each main character ends up examining their own priorities and their desire to find love and happiness in less than ideal situations. The varied responses to those dilemmas are as different as the characters and the worlds they are set in.

In Quatrain, Sharon Shinn deals sensitively with topics of religion, abuse, intolerance and ethnicity while never letting the issues overwhelm the stories. Shinn is a master wordsmith, evoking lush full-blown characters and fantastical landscapes with a spare prose that is breathtaking in its simplicity. The only story that falters is Gold, a fairly standard fairy tale which falls flat. While beautifully written, the story lacks originality and the characters are two-dimensional. It failed to elicit any emotional connection, instead feeling like a retread of every damsel in distress Disney fairy tale I've ever read. It was insipid, rather than inspired.

However, the other stories all sing with life. I was particularly intrigued by the varied worlds in the other novellas. Flight is set in the world of Sharon Shinn's Samaria novels, populated and ruled by very non-angelic angels that can intercede with deity to protect the people they rule over. However, when very powerful beings with unnaturally high charisma and amazing singing voices need human girls to reproduce, the help with deity comes at a cost. Blood is set in the same world as her novel Heart of Gold, a world that is starting to be racked by cultural conflicts between two very different societies, one matriarchal and one patriarchal. Shinn avoids the overdone themes of gender stereotypes and the evils of patriarchy, and instead delicately explores the differences of the people within a culture, as well as the differences between cultures. The final story in the volume is Flame, a tale of a mystical firestarter who is ostracized by her people even as they call on her for aid. Set in the same world as Shinn's Twelve Houses novels, it is a well-imagined tale of loneliness and belonging.

I highly recommend Quatrain to all young adult and adult readers who like sensitive, beautiful writing with a touch of romance. I know that I will be seeking out more of Sharon Shinn's novels, especially Heart of Gold and those set in her Samaria world after being introduced to them here in such a beautiful manner.

Sharon Shinn has written four delightful stories set in her own wonderful worlds. They give us a chance to go back to the settings of our favorite books.

From Castle Autumn we get to visit Alora, and finally learn why it is so wonderful to those who are lucky enough to find it.

We also visit Gillengaria where we have a visit with Senneth. The Twelve Houses are a delight and I enjoyed another chance to visit.

We have a story of the Gulden, the Indigo and the Albino. A gulden boy searches for his mother. One of the women who escaped the marriage that held her to an abuser.

The archangels have not changed and we have a short story of Raphel's excesses being exposed. The story is short and sweet, of love lost and found.

Four stories and four wonderful adventures in our favorite worlds. Very good, I read it at one sitting, and was sorry when it ended.

First, I should mention that I'm not exactly an unbiased reviewer. I have read every book by Sharon Shinn and loved most all of them. With that said, I was delighted to hear that four new stories, each set in one of her amazing worlds, were to be released. It was an absolute pleasure to be immersed in her writing again, but not all four stories were on par with her novels.
1. FLIGHT is set in her Samarian universe. A tale of betrayal and long-lost romance. Believable characters and a twist ending will leave every reader satisfied.
2. BLOOD (from the Heart of Gold world) was my favorite short story, even though I didn't much like the corresponding novel itself. Kerk, a young man from a patriarchal society, arrives at a foreign city in search of a mother who abandoned him as a child.
3. GOLD (Summers at Castle Auburn) surprisingly disappointed. This story was bland and unoriginal. The characters had all the originality of cardboard cut-outs. Princess Zara is the stereotypical lovely, headstrong princess with an impossible low-class love. Yawn.
4. FLAME (from the Gillengaria series) was merely pleasant. An entertaining read about the mishaps of the fire-mystic Senneth.

Overall, this collection is well worth your money if you're a dedicated Sharon Shinn fan. If not, I'd recommend her novels instead of these short stories. These stories can stand alone, but without the rich context provided by her novels, they could be hard to understand, let alone appreciate.

This was a deeply disappointing collection for me. It doesn't work for two reasons. The first reason is that the initial volume in any of Shinn's series always blows me away, then each successive volume is only half as good as the one before. Two of the four novellas in this volume are set in the worlds of Shinn's two longest series, and those two novellas have reached only homeopathically good territory. The second reason is that I just don't think Shinn is capable of writing stories with the sort of thematic freight she attempted here -- the two non-series novellas are drawn from two of her more message-heavy novels, and the two series novellas attempt to address some of the seriously thorny issues inherent but not really addressed in her previous world-building.

Still, it's the sort of volume that if you are a Sharon Shinn completist, you simply have to read it. And since her prose is always pleasant and easy to read it goes very, very quickly.

"Flight" (set in Samaria, just before Archangel (Samaria, Book 1))
This was by far the worst story in the bunch. It features the return of Raphael as the Biggest of all Big Bads, doing evil just because he can; a really, really, really clunky and histrionic speech about the evils of a system where women are only valued because they can produce angel babies; and a completely forced romance. I rather wish I could erase my memory of it.

"Blood" (set in the world of Heart of Gold)
The novel this is based on is one of the few by Shinn that I have never re-read; though I don't remember disliking it nothing about it ever stood out enough in my memory that I wanted to revisit it. So this was the one case where I could not tell what information was new for the novella and what was a reference to the novel, which probably made it feel fresher than it would have otherwise. It too features some clunky speachifying on the evils of a patriarchal system, but there is a greater focus on the budding friendship between Kerk and Jalci, a very Hollywood but still somewhat heartwarming set of scenes at a sort of shelter for abused women and their children, and an actual honest-to-goodness moment of heartbreak and moral ambiguity. That moment gets completely ruined a moment later when Jalci recasts everything as black and white, but it made the story worthwhile for me. I think this was the best of the bunch.

"Gold" (set in the world of Summers at Castle Auburn, around two decades later)
I think this novella would actually work better for people who have not read the novel. If you have not read the novel, it's a fairly straightforward story about the dangers of living in fairyland -- not a particularly memorable entry into that canon of literature, but I happen to like those stories with their depictions of dangerous beauty. If you have read the novel, as I have (though not tremendously recently), something about the story just doesn't quite seem to match what came before -- I spent the whole time trying to figure out what on earth happened in the interim to twist the recurring characters' motivations to this result. The story also featured a tremendously whiny teenage girl protagonist, and again the romance seemed forced.

"Flame" (set in the Twelve Houses, just before Mystic and Rider (The Twelve Houses, Book 1))
Senneth is my second-favorite of all of Shinn's characters (right after Jovieve in Wrapt in Crystal) and Shinn went a fair way to ruining her for me in this story. Here she is wishy-washy and whiny or self-righteous by turns. Because of the difference in her character, I assumed that the story was set several years before Mystic and Rider; I would believe that this teenage Senneth would grow into the wonderful Senneth I so loved. Unfortunately, Shinn then made it explicit that Senneth went straight from the events of this story into the events of Mystic and Rider, so my interpretation was invalidated and I was left feeling merely annoyed. Plus the resolution was completely predictable (which is problematic because the story is set up as a pseudo-mystery rather than a romance) and again there were far too many soapbox moments. (It's bad to burn witches. I know this already.)

Four Novellas Let Readers Revisit Sharon Shinn's Worlds

Sharon Shinn has a genius for creating in her books interesting
cultures and not just interesting characters, but entire communities
of interconnected people. In each of these four novellas she revisits one
of the worlds she has created. I wouldn't suggest starting with these,
as a new reader would miss lots of context. But for fans of her
creations, these are terrific. I only give it four stars because it's
not something anybody can pick up and get five stars worth out of; for
Shinn fans it's definitely worth five stars!

"Flight", which is presented first, is from Shinn's "Angel" series, and
takes us back to the time of the first book, when Raphael is Archangel.
This seemed a bit dark, to me, which may be why so many readers have
found it the least satisfactory of the novellas. It did make me long
to reread the whole series, however.

"Blood" returns us to the world of "Heart of Gold", where there are
Indigos and Gulden, with brightly different skin colors and radically
different cultures, and uneasy relations between them. Set twenty
years after Kitrini and Nolan meet in "Heart", Shinn uses the story of
Jalci, Kitrini's niece, and Kerk, a Gulden fatherless male, to open up
further developments in this world, as people seek for options beyond
those determined by their cultures.

"Gold" also takes us down a generation in the world of "Summers at
Castle Auburn", where an army is coming to attack and the heirs must
be hidden far away. The princess is sent to Alora, where the formerly
imprisoned Aliora live in what is basically fairyland. What
interested me most was how the princess, at first resolute in
maintaining her identity and purpose, is gradually worn away to become
like the hedonistic fairies, succumbing to pleasure and indolence.
The love story was predictable but not annoying, at least to me, and
Alora was wondrous.

"Flame" was last, set in the "Twelve Houses" series, mostly about Senneth,
the mystic of fire, with a little Kirra and Donal. It seemed to have been
set only a few years after the end of the action in the series. People
still fear and hate mystics even as the kingdom depends upon them. The
King's Riders make only a brief appearance at the end. But Senneth gets
to do lots of fire stuff and make a brief trip back to Lirreth.

I enjoyed all of these books, especially "Blood" and "Flame", and I
only wish that Shinn would write much more. How about a novella from
the world of "General Winston's Daughter"? But this is definitely not
the place to start reading her books.

Quatrain (2010) is an SF/Fantasy collection. It contains four short tales based on the author's previous works.

Flight is based on the Samaria series. Salome is a former angel-seeker now living on a large farm and taking care of her deceased sister's daughter.

Blood is based on the Heart of Gold novel. Kerk is a golden man who works for his stepfather. He is looking for his mother in the city.

Gold is based on the Summers at Castle Auburn novel. Zara is a seventeen year old princess who is visiting her uncle in Alora while the castle is under siege.

Flame is based on -- and is a prequel to -- the Twelve Houses series. Senneth is a powerful mystic whose talent is fire. She is visiting Kianlever and gets talked into attending a small dinner party.

These tales provide small introductions to four of the worlds created by this author. They also give glimpses into other events within these worlds. If these stories are enjoyable, check out the previous works.

Highly recommended for Shinn fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of other worlds, exotic cultures, and true romance. Read and enjoy!

-Arthur W. Jordin

Four short stories: instantly transported to a world, with it's own standards & values; each presented in a fascinating story. What amazes me is how Sharon can create such a revealing glimpse of this "alternate world" while developing her characters and storyline. It is so complete, I'm just suddenly "there" as the story progresses... no plodding explanations of how this "reality" is different then ours.
The themes explored in the stories are thoughtful and explore real relationship development; tucked into the prose, are examinations of what has enduring value. I enjoy "visiting" these new worlds while examining old themes. Stepping out of the known world helps present "problems/issues" in a light unburdened by our own personal history.

Good SyFy with quality character development is a rarity but Sharon Shinn does it over and over. It's pure pleasure to read. I can see that each story could easily be developed into a full-feldged book... and hope she does so.

As a Sharon Shinn fan, I have read all of her books. This book was a collection of four novellas set in backgrounds from Shinn's previous books. For me is was a delightful nostalgia trip, reminding me of why I lover her books so much.
The four novellas:
Flight: set in the world of Samaria before the events of Archangel (Samaria, Book 1)

Blood: set in the world of Gulden's and Indigo's after the events of Heart of Gold

Gold: set in the world of Summers at Castle Auburn tells the story of Corie's daughter

Flame: set in the world of Gillengaria before the events of Mystic and Rider (The Twelve Houses, Book 1)

This is a lovely sample of Ms. Shinn's works. I hope that someday we get a full length novel either back in Samaria or in the Castle Auburn setting.

I enjoyed this collection of four short tales. Each one took place in a world from her earlier works. Although I normally don't read novellas and short stories very often, I was glad I picked this one up.

I got this book because i read that it was going to contain a story set in the same world as Summers at Castle Auburn. I can safely say that this book was an excellent read minus "Gold" which was said story. The story is the story of Princess Zara the daughter of Coriel and Kent from SACA. I was extremely disappointed with the character and plot. Zara came off as annoying, bratty, and air headed with no redeeming features.

In a way, Gold is going to be more well liked if the person hadn't read the original story. SACA is one of my favorite books of all time and i just can't like it. So many things didn't match up with the original story. (Males become kings and not females) and such. Plus i refused to believe Kent and Coriel would raise such a air headed, self absorbed, whiny brat. Zara was more of Bryan's child than theirs. I had to do in the words of mythbusters "reject Sharon's reality and substitute it with mine" in order to keep myself liking the original still. In my mind Zara marries Orlain and goes away, another non-mentioned son becomes king, marries a strong and smart princess, and things go on happily ever after. Plus i give Matthew a long lost returned love. ^
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I would highly recommend people to read this book for the other three stories though. They were all beautifully written and drew you in.