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28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Message on the Heart, February 11, 2006
This review is from: Sebastian (Ephemera, Book 1) (Hardcover)
After reading the House of Gaian Trilogy, I was loathe to pick up Sebastian, worried that it might turn out similar. I was thrilled to find out that Sebastian is completely unlike the House of Gaian, and far more similar to Bishop's first trilogy, Black Jewels.
Sebastian is the story of Ephemera, a luscious, complex, fully-formed world that pulls you in and refuses to release you. The Eater of the World has been inadvertently released back into the landscapes by the hot-headed Landscaper, Nigelle. It quickly begins Its quest to suck Ephemera's landscapes of all hope and Light, leaving them deserted and desolate wastelands. The only person who can stop It is the Landscaper Glorianna, called Belladonna, and her cousin the incubus Sebastian. But Glorianna is supposed to be walled into a garden, and Sebastian is probably too concerned with Lynnea, the sweet country girl he just met, to care.
The first thing you will think when you open Sebastian is "What the hell?" The narration plunges you headfirst into the thick of the story, not stopping to explain the nature of Ephemera's worlds and power structure. Although this could be detrimental to the story, it turns out to be quite the perk. Piecing together the way Ephemera functions is half the fun in this story.
What I loved most about this story is that it is the first of all Anne Bishop's story that is more than just fantasy, action, adventure, and romance. This story has a message. When you strip away all the trappings of a fantasy story, Sebastian, and hopefully its sequel Ephemera, is a story about the human heart and the effect that it has on the world around it. Even though, in our world, squabbling teenage girls won't cause rocks to drop from the sky, their attitudes have an obvious effect on the people around you. The Landscaper's greeting and farewell "Travel lightly" should mean as much to the reader as it means to the characters. Be careful of what baggage you carry in your heart, because that baggage will effect the people and world around you.
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34 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
An Unfortunate Trainwreck, September 15, 2006
This review is from: Sebastian (Ephemera, Book 1) (Hardcover)
It always saddens me when an author I thought was good turns out to be...well, not so good. I was willing to forget about Anne Bishop's previous trilogy and go into Sebastian with her original Black Jewels Trilogy in mind.
This just was not a good book. It was not a fantasy novel, so much as a romance novel with some fantasy concepts. And they are interesting concepts, as Bishop's often are (although a bit confusing until you get far enough into the book to make the right connections). But she seems to have no idea how to truly utilize them. The balance between fantasy and romance is horribly off kilter, with romance winning out.
It's your typical soulmates, meet-each-other-and-fall-in-love-without-knowing-each-other type of romance. The kind that makes my head hurt. If the characters were better one might be able to root for the romance, but they're not.
First is Sebastian, your typical dark, brooding bad boy with a bad past etc, etc. Now, I am as much a fan of this type as a number of other women, but Bishop has too many of them in her stories. While not entirely unlikable, Sebastian just isn't terribly interesting. Been there, done that. Making him a half-incubus really does nothing to add to his appeal, either.
Lynnea is irritating as hell. I'm not asking for every female lead to be headstrong and tough as nails, but she's SO sweet and SO innocent and SO naive that it made me want to puke. And then, somewhere in the middle of Bishop trying to balance her elements, Lynnea turns into this tough little sex kitten. Huh? That sure came out of left field.
Some of the other characters are mildly interesting. Glorianna Belladonna (a nominee for Most Ridiculous Name Ever in the Fantasy Genre) is just like Jaenelle from the Black Jewels Trilogy: powerful beyond all others like her, hated and feared by almost every other person, an outsider who takes the burden of the whole world on her shoulders. The only difference being that Bishop actually goes into Glorianna's mind, making her motivations a bit easier to understand.
Teaser, Sebatian's incubus friend, has the potential to be a lot of fun but that potential isn't realize. Glorianna's brother Lee is a source of some amusement, because the two of them have a decent dynamic together.
Overall, though, it was simply a mess, plagued by A Strong Need to Use Pretty Words: ephemera, aurora, sanctuary, belladonna, etc. Too romancy and slightly ridiculous, too.
I'd read the second one (though I wouldn't pay hardcover price; nor did I on this one) out of curiosity. Which is more than I can say for her previous trilogy. But Biship will need to strengthen the fantasy aspects, spin deeper, more interesting characters, and write a romance that is actually believable. Otherwise I doubt I'll ever want to read another one of her works again.
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25 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Deep, wonderful, dark and a titch confusing, March 17, 2006
This review is from: Sebastian (Ephemera, Book 1) (Hardcover)
I actually finished this book a few days ago. I've been letting it settle, like the very rich meal it is.
The story is to deep for a quick synopsis, but it follows Sebastien, a half incubus and his dear ones in the world of Ephemera, a land built on dreams and wishes.
As with all of Anne Bishop's work, this a very textural book, with depth you don't normally see. The characters aren't perfect, they make mistakes have dark impulses and dark needs as well as light
The problem I ran into was that perhaps it was just a bit too rich. The whole Guide, Guardian, Landscaper, Bridge, Demon, and the rest of the terminology left me a bit breathless for about 1/3 of the book until i just gave up and pitched trying to figure it all out to the wind. Her other series were so clear to understand. I hope the next book is clearer with the background we need.
The pros:
1. Wondeful Characters with a richness rarely seen
2. A wonderfully imagined world
3. An excellent mythology if it is a little confusing
The cons;
Well - just one. As I mentioned, the background and terminology was a bit too, well, ephemeral and hard for me to grasp
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