Revelation (Rai-Kirah 2) [Paperback]

Carol Berg (Author)

Book Description

Series: Rai-Kirah 2 | Publication Date: August 1, 2002

Seyonne, Warden of Souls, has saved Prince Alexander, heir to the Derzhi Empire, from the Rai-Kirah demons that sought to possess him. But now a new and greater danger threatens. For where once the demons sought to control the Empire, now they seek to control the man that thwarted them - and Seyonne must choose between the survival of his family and the survival of his race. For more information on this or any other Orbit title, visit the Orbit website at www.orbitbooks.co.uk

Editorial Reviews

Review

'A humdinger of a plot . vivid characters, a tangible atmosphere of doom' SFX 'A truly remarkable first novel' DREAMWATCH 'This well written and thoroughly original fantasy grabs the reader by the throat on page one and doesn't let go! . Wonderful' STARBURST 'Her novel is made memorable by its characters . a superbly entertaining book!'INTERZONE

About the Author

Carol Berg lives in Colorado, USA. REVELATION is the sequel to her debut novel, TRANSFORMATION.

Product Details

• Paperback: 496 pages
• Publisher: Orbit (August 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1841490458
• ISBN-13: 978-1841490458
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,502,739 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Who would ever imagine that someone who majored in math so she wouldn't have to write papers would produce thirteen epic fantasy novels? I tell people that writing is "the hobby that ate my life." I grew up in Texas in a family of teachers, musicians, and railroad men, taught math for a while, but worked as a software engineer for much longer. I have degrees in mathematics from Rice University and computer science from the University of Colorado. I live, camp, hike, and bike with my husband in the Colorado Rockies. My books have won the Prism Award, the Geffen Award, and multiple Colorado Book Awards. I was truly honored and humbled in 2009, when my duology, Flesh and Spirit and Breath and Bone, was awarded the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Adult Literature. My name now sits on a list with the very authors whose works sit on my bookshelves: Tolkien, McKillip, Le Guin, Anderson, Kushner, et al. Join me on Facebook (Carol Berg) or visit me on the web at [http://www.carolberg.com] or [textcrumbs.blogspot.com].

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A successful second novel., December 18, 2001

By 

ronaron (US) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Revelation (Rai Kirah) (Paperback)

Carol Berg is an excellent storyteller, as evidenced by her previous work, "Transformation." Well, looks like she's done it again. In "Revelation," the hero Seyonne, now free from his sixteen-year Derzhi enslavement (though not from its stigma), tries to return to some semblance of normalcy among his native Ezzarians. However, he's been too long from home, has seen too much of the world, and comes back seeing the flaws of his people with the new vision one attains through prolonged disassociation. He fails at his attempts at settling into a society that believes that any influence beyond their little circle of piety is grounds for corruption, and is soon exiled. From that point on, everything for Seyonne goes straight to hell -- somewhat literally. He eventually ends up in the Demon Realm, putting together the pieces of a mystery, the solution of which will turn centuries of a civilization's beliefs and practices on its head.

And that's where my major quarrel with the story comes in. I think Berg spent too much time in the Demon Realm. Of course it was necessary, this place being an entirely new world and all, and in need of fleshing out. It's definitely a rich and fanciful place, a weird, incomplete, and oftentimes drab reflection of the human world that the demons seek to emulate. But the realm and its cast of demons just didn't interest me all that much. No, I don't think Berg fell short in the storytelling here, its just my particular preference. I'm sure that other readers enjoyed reading about this upside-down place and its mixed-up inhabitants as much as I found myself wishing it were just a little more condensed.

That said, Seyonne's stint in the Demon Realm ain't pretty. But out of all the conflicts he faces in "Revelation," the biggest has got to be that with his own people. Berg has wrought this out in a meticulous way, one that strikes a disturbing familiarity to some aspects of our contemporary society. The demon-fighting Ezzarians, as a whole, are a stubborn, high-handed lot, set in their beliefs in a way that's downright dangerous. They're blinded by thier own dogma to the point where they'll leave their own newborn infants to die in the wilderness if they find any demon "corruption" present in the child's soul. They were even reluctant to welcome Seyonne back into their society, casting aside any human pathos for a man who suffered sixteen years of brutality in favor of the self serving notion that he is a danger, a channel for demon influence. Even his own wife Ysanne is a party to this. Ysanne is a rather flat character at best, since she doesn't seem to have developed much yet, which is probably why I find the witch so utterly hateful. And what had me grinding my teeth into a fine paste is the fact that Seyonne actually LOVES this woman! Gah! After all she did and let happen. If I were him I'd give her a good kick with a pair of steel-toed boots, but I suppose Seyonne is just a little better than I am.

As for "Revelation"'s individual characters, let's just say that things aren't always what they seem (Yeah, yeah, the ol' cliche). But that's all I'll say on that. Don't want to give anything away! And don't be put off by the ending and its loose ends, as some reviewers expressed their displeasure over. There's a third installment that, at the time of this writing, has yet to be released. Go to Carol Berg's website and check it out.

So overall, a well-told story with a whole lotta social conflict, and a few twists and turns to keep you happy. Not QUITE as good as "Transformation," but good enough.

31 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nightmares and dreams in the world of demons, October 9, 2001

By 

E. A. Lovitt "starmoth" (Gladwin, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Revelation (Rai Kirah) (Paperback)

"Revelation" is Carol Berg's sequel to her marvelous first fantasy, "Transformation," and it continues the story of Seyonne, Ezzarian Warden against Demonkind. Readers of the initial novel may be surprised to learn that there is more than one type of demon, and not all of them are evil. Seyonne discovers one of these anomalous creatures upon entering a human soul to free it from demonic possession. He pursues his new theology of demons, even though it means alienating his best friend, losing his wife-Queen, collaborating with his worst (human) enemy, and giving himself up into the talons of his demonic foes.

"Revelation" is complex almost to the point of being over-plotted, although Seyonne's personality and moral convictions still drive the story. Lots of new characters (many of them demons) are introduced and their narratives are not concluded, which leads me to hope that there is going to be at least one more volume in this inventive and intelligent series (my favorite among all of the multi-volume fantasies currently in progress).

Carol Berg turns herself into the Poet Laureate of Demonland in "Revelation." Once away from the torture pits of the Gastai (the lowest, most brutal caste of demons), Seyonne finds an unexpectedly beautiful world:

"I blinked a hundred times to make sure I was not imagining it---a perfect frozen image of a butterfly. Not living, of course. Perfect only in shape and size and the detail of its patterned wings, for it was carved of the very stuff of winter, a fragile creature of frost. The coloration was quite faint, only a pale suggestion of the radiant reds and yellows and hard-edged black I knew were the reality. But there was such vivid truth in the shaping of it that I held my breath lest it startle, fly into the raging storm, and be shattered."

Ms. Berg if you are writing a sequel to "Revelation," please don't fall into the habit of impaling your hero into ever more hideous torture scenes. Grim reading though they were, Seyonne's beatings, brandings, and premature burial seemed to be a 'natural' part of his story in "Transformation." He was after all, a slave. However, some of his prolonged sufferings in "Revelation" seemed a tiny bit gratuitous. I'd be heart-broken if Seyonne's story degenerated into another S&M fantasy series, in the manner of Terry Goodkind's "Wizard's First Rule" (which was excellent but for a single prolonged torture scene), "Stone of Tears" (much more gratuitous ichor and bruising), et cetera, ad nauseum.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Mixed Feelings, November 18, 2001

By 

wysewomon "wysewomon" (Paonia, CO United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Revelation (Rai Kirah) (Paperback)

I have real mixed feelings about _Revelation_. On the one hand, it is just as beautifully written as its predecessor. On the other, I thought it had a number of...not flaws, precisely, but there were things about it that made it less interesting to me than _Transformation._

The book deals mainly with Seyonne's difficulty in returning to his people and his life after sixteen years of slavery -- years which, in the eyes of Seyonne's race, make him irretrievably corrupt. Once a certain incident proves this corruption, Seyonne once again leaves Ezzaria on a mission which eventually leads him to try to solve the mystery of his people and their origins.

Berg deftly portrays Seyonne's increasing frustration with the ritualistic ways of the Ezzarians, as she does his pain at being shut out of the world he loves, his confusion at finding things are not as he has always believed and his urgency in bringing about change. IN a way, this book is more introspective than _Transformation_, dealing more with Seyonne's inner world than with his actions and experiences. While this inner world is depicted skillfully and in immense detail, at places I found that it bogged the story down. I had a hard time retaining interest in the chapters that took place within the demons' realm, for example. They seemed overly slow and I wondered if spending all that time on that part of the story was strictly necessary. It often seemed to me that the first third of the book had set up events to proceed a certain way and then those story elements were simply ignored as Seyonne went off on his inner quest. I did not always feel the connection between the two, and the explanation that Seyonne was enchanted to forget what had gone before did not really do it for me.

I was extremely irritated by Aleksander's behavior in the early parts of the book. I do not think the schism between him and Seyonne was strictly necessary to the story and the way it came about seemed contrived. I would have thought that anyone of Aleksander's discernment and intelligence would understand that a person serving in the role of a spy might be forced to commit certain crimes in order not to blow his cover. It amazed me that no one in the book seemed to understand this.

The ending seemed anti-climactic and, I thought, did not satisfactorily tie up the loose ends. We're told the demons return to Kir'Navarrin, but not what that meant or how that affected anything. I think perhaps this may be a topic for another book, but I would have liked to have seen a bit more resolution here.

However, setting these objections against the extreme beauty of the writing, the deftness of characterization and the complexity of the plot still makes Berg one of the finest writers of fantasy that I've read in a very long time. I've come to expect a lot from her and she does not disappoint.