Customer Reviews

Sacred Scars (A Resurrection of Magic, Book 2)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The second book in this trilogy continues the story of wizardry and time warp begun in the first book Skin Hunger (see March 17 review). This is a woven story with the warp being told from the perspective of a girl and the weft being told from the perspective of a boy. In Skin Hunger,their stories are separated by a great span of time, but they both are under the power of the same sadistic, twisted wizard, Soumiss. Soumiss exists in both stories since he has the secret of long life. In Sacred Scars, the time span between the two stories narrows. The book ends with an implicit promise that the two strands will merge in the third book.

Mystery and the constant threat of danger propel this story along at a pleasing pace. In this second volume, the conflict between the abuse of power and the capacity for kindness solidifies. While suffering permeates almost every chapter, it is continually tempered by slivers of tenderness and loyalty. Romance exists but remains primarily on a spiritual plane.

Fans of the first book will be pleased with this one. However, being the second in a trilogy, there is a sense of inertia: the first volume developed the characters but resolution can not come to them until the final book. The anticipation set up in Skin Hunger will have to wait one more volume for satisfaction.

I so enjoyed the first in this series, Skin Hunger, that I was almost afraid to read this next, because surely it couldn't live up to the first. But it did! And even though of course the plot couldn't resolve--we have to wait for the third book--please write faster Ms. Duey!---I thought it did a masterful job of extending the suspense of the first book plus developing characters and story argument.

I'm a writer and in my reviews I'm looking mainly at writing, how the book worked. Actually this is only my second review. But I plan to do zillions. Anyway, what I'm doing is first gauging my heart response to a book, and then trying to figure out how the author made the magic happen. Reading Like a Writer.

Often stories have to do with figuring out who people are. Mysterious characters make for tension. Like Gerrard, Hahp's roomate. Who is this guy? He knows things an ordinary student couldn't know. And he likes to read this mysterious book, which he must hide from the wizards (please forgive--this review isn't going to make much sense unless you've read the book). I love characters with big personal identity secrets. Is Gerrard maybe Sadima's child? By Franklin?

Also, looking at the character Thomas Marshman--here Duey has her heroine love and admire a character that the reader--at least this reader--thinks is phoney from the get-go. And then it turns out he is, but with a twist. This is another kind of character-based tension--the reader understanding a character better than the protagonist. How can the reader belive-ably be smarter than Sadima, who is no dummy? I think I distrusted Thomas because he is sooo perfect. People can't be that perfect. There's actually something creepy about how perfect Thomas is. I almost don't buy it that Sadima doesn't pick up on this. But then Sadima, despite being alive for 100? 150 years? possesses a childlike niavete.

Also I LOVED the chapter just after Sadima's mind is wiped clean where she builds a whole new life for herself with Charlie and Gurr. I admire the deft way Duey gives a whole new life for Sadima, a whole lifetime with Charlie and Gurr, in quick images that really move my heart and is consistent with Sadima's character. Even without her memories, Sadima is still Sadima. She will make cheese and build a home, paint, and nurture those around her.

Also there's the use of objects to carry the emotions of the story forward. For example, the silk pieces Sadima uses to make a bed for herself become part of a bed shared with Charlie. Then she takes some of the silk pieces with her when she leaves Limori. The silk pieces pick up meaning as they move through the story.

This novel gains much of its power from the ideas in it. The idea that magic is too powerful, people can't trust themselves to use it, reminds me of the Ring in the Lord of the Rings. Do I buy this idea? Probably, sadly, I do. Does Duey? I'm not sure. I'm thinking probably.

Yes, a must read.

Sacred Scars continues the tactics and story of Skin Hunger pretty much where the first book left off. It's clear that Duey doesn't intend the books of the trilogy to be separate, but rather to be all one long book, written in three spurts. Some of the frustration I hear from the previous reviewers must be coming from that: there's no resolution in the first book, but it's okay because the first book introduces a terrific new premise and world. The second book starts in the middle, backtracks not at all, and ends abruptly as well, so no one is getting the sort of resolved experience they expect from a novel.

The great pleasure here is watching Duey build up a situation -- an argument really -- slowly, and brick by brick. What seems like almost gratuitous sadism and sociopathy in the first book, develops in the second into the natural warping of personalities that occurs in a political system based solely on power. Against this backdrop the author's surprising choice to wipe the heroine's memory and have her start life anew makes a great deal of sense: honest Sadima is in danger of being warped by the power play around her. Returning her to the dregs of society -- where a lot of human decency is to be found -- protects her innocence. And in due course, Sadima stumbles onto the Erideans, a proto-Christianesque-communitarian movement that seems to be the first to challenge the King/Magician power dynamic with ideology.

Although I hadn't thought so at the end of Skin Hunger, I'm now realizing that the trilogy is at least partly one of those fictions in which the author argues with herself about politics and power and organizing society through ideas and collectivity rather than through might. Right now Sadima and the Erideans are looking way too innocent and good. But Duey has been busy in this book proving that the simplicities of the previous book are rendered complex. I'm pretty confident that in the third book, things will take another turn, and we'll end on a very rich and satisfying note.

A must-read.

I honestly enjoyed Skin Hunger as well as Sacred Scars because of Duey's ability to write well. Her characters are believable and different in the sense that they are not stereotypical nor are they blank characters that allow the reader to be placed in their shoes. The most frustrating thing I felt while reading both books is how incredibly slow and repetitive the story goes. It isn't a typical story, nor is it predictable and I am compelled to read on in the hopes of some sort of resolution or even action. It probably is Duey's intention to write the story in this fashion where many of the characters are completely unsympathetic, the overall feeling is quite pessimistic, and the characters [and reader] are subject to forces outside their control; nevertheless, it is important to note that it is not a feel good story. I like that in the sense that you won't be rolling your eyes at how things "magically" resolve as in many YA stories. I think a lot rides on the final book; however, I also believe that the first two books could have been condensed into one book.

Absolutely amazing second installement in the series, the plot develops unexpectedly for Sadima, and Hahp's story becomes increasingly terrifying. Towards the end of the book we start to get an idea of how their stories will come together, and the ending is chilling and captivating. Truthfully you have to be a bit patient at some parts, as it is not your typical no-brainer YA story, but it is well worth it. Can't wait for the next in series.

As I read the first book, "Skin Hunger," I enthusiastically told friends about the creativity in the book. I always had trouble remembering the title. Finishing the first book, I STILL couldn't make a connection with the title. Hunger, yes; skin? Not really. I ran to the store to forge through the second book, "Sacred Scars." Can't tell you what THAT title's about either. I'm hoping everything makes sense by the final line of the last book. I recommend this book and its predecessor just for the sheer creativity, but it seems to demand more charity of direction. Hahp and Sadima are fully-realized characters, as are all the characters in these novels. Despite my misgivings, I'm eagerly awaiting the conclusion.

Kathleen Duey has once again given us one of the darkest books that I've ever read in the realm of young adult literature. At some level, I actually mean that as a compliment. There's a reason Skin Hunger won the awards it did, because it's brave and complex, and doesn't just succumb to the typical fantasy tropes that so many bad fantasy writers rely on to make their stories interesting. She writes with a depth that very few fantasy writers are able to accomplish.

For Sacred Scars specifically, I personally liked it a little less than the first. Part of that may be that I've already gotten used to what made the first book so unique, but I think it's mostly that I honestly have a difficult time reading a book that's so dark and full of minute-to-minute cheek-biting drama. It's actually kind of exhausting. Not that I mind there being a third on its way, but I was kind of hoping this was a duo instead of a trio because I'm so mired into the story that I want it to end for the sake of my own sanity (of sorts. Certainly it's not quite that dramatic).

Altogether, another brilliant book from Duey, whose ability to expose the darkness of the human psyche is almost unnerving. I recommend this to older readers looking for something more than the run of the mill fantasy book (or book in general).

-Lindsey Miller, [...]

These books were a great surprise to me. I happened upon the first one at my local library and listened to it on tape. I decide to read the second one, and I enjoyed both presentations equally. The main device of the books is two story lines that are hundreds of years apart, told simultaneously. The mysterious part (at least initially) is that some characters appear in both story lines.

Although not a huge amount happens in either books I feel that is not the point. The books are about the people and about viewing magic in a way that is much deeper than any fantasy book I've ever read. By the end of this book you are really starting to think about the wisdom of inflicting "magic" on a society. There are of course many parallels with the real world; think medicine that can cure diseases but that is only readily available to the wealthy. There are some adult themes and a little swearing, but it's all pretty mild.

What scares me about this series is there's a lot of reader frustration with the characters actions that needs to get resolved. They are basically swept along by events outside their control. What I personally would really like to see in the next book in this series is the main characters taking control of their lives a bit more. If they don't I fear the whole series could be spoiled. If the do, then it's going to be a great third act.

This book took me over a month to finish. Why did I keep reading? Bored I guess. The story goes back and forth between two different people Hahp and Sadima. It gets you really mad with most of the characters expecially Somiss. Hardly anything possitive happens and you keep reading hoping that this depressing book will get better. I'm not always looking for happy endings but geesh.... This was bad.

I enjoyed "Skin Hunger." It was a fresh take on the good old "learning to be a wizard" story that was frightening and compelling. Admitedly, it took some getting used to. It took a while to realize the connection between the alternating stories of Sadima and Hahp, but once you began to see what they had in common, the entire story developed a new feel that was surprising and fun.

But I'm torn in how I feel about the second book in the series. On the one hand, the book reads well and quickly. I finished in a single sitting. There were no slow parts and I never found myself skipping pages. The pacing, while reading, seemed fine. I wish the story didn't jump back and forth between the two story arcs quite so frequently, but that's a minor complaint.

The characters don't do much. Hahp spends the entire book plotting and scheming, but precious little comes of it. Every time he learns something new, he frets and panics that he'll be killed for it. Granted, the wizards don't seem to be very caring individuals, but it really would seem crude to kill off students who are able to teach themselves. Especially given how little they appear to enjoy the task of teaching. For that matter, I am becoming frustrated with the mysterious and disturbing teaching methods that Hahp and his classmates are forced to endure. Even a short scene here or there between the wizards, discussing the students would help. Readers will only take so much shrouded mystery before you need to start giving us some light. When the characters only stumble on to the solutions by sheer luck and the author's influence, how the readers supposed to figure anything out?

Sadima's story is equally frustrating due to the fact that as soon as her story starts getting interesting, she forgets who she is. Before anyone gets upset with me for a spoiler, that particular passage is printed on the back cover of the dust jacket. For the remainder of the book, Sadima goes through her magically-lengthened life not knowing who she is, and doing nothing but sell cheese for 200 years before becoming beloved by an entire ethnic group for no discernable reason. It would be interesting to see how the driven and determined Sadima of the first novel adjusted to long life and political manipulation, but this character literally sits around for years on end doing nothing but sell cheese. A waste of a character.

My real issue with the book, however, is that despite its 500+ page length, very little happens. Hahp and his classmates end the book making a deal to bring down the wizards, which is exactly what Hahp did at the end of the first book, and Sadima is still as clueless about what is going around her, but now for different reasons, and in a way that saps the joy out of her character.

In short, the characters we enjoyed getting to know the first time around become much less exciting and spend more time not doing anything.

Hardly riveting.