The Seven Towers (Firebird Fantasy) [Paperback]

Patricia Wrede (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 19, 2009 | Series: Firebird Fantasy

They are seven players in a game of deadly magic? Eltiron, Prince of Sevarin; Crystalorn, Princess of Barinash; Ranlyn, the desert rider; Jermain, the outlaw; Vandaris, the soldier; Carachel, the Wizard-King; and Amberglas, the sorceress. Each of them has a secret, and each fights his or her part in the thrilling battle that has put seven kingdoms on the very edge of destruction. Filled with wit, swordplay, humor, and intrigue, this early novel is one of Patricia C. Wrede?s best.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Patricia C. Wrede lives in Edina, Minnesota.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Firebird (February 19, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0142411205
• ISBN-13: 978-0142411209
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #618,860 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

PATRICIA C. WREDE has written many novels, including Sorcery and Cecelia or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot and The Grand Tour coauthored with Caroline Stevermer, as well as the four books in her own series, the Enchanted Forest Chronicles. She lives near Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars early, fun Patricia C. Wrede, January 5, 2006

By 

M. F. Lucas (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Seven Towers (Paperback)

It's easy to see how some of the ideas in _The Seven Towers_ relate to Wrede's later books. Amberglas, for instance, seems to foreshadow Telemain in the Enchanted Forest Chronicles. In some ways she's a more interesting character--but she can also be more annoying to read. The whole idea of the towers also comes up again, though a little differently, with the tower in _Caught in Crystal_. Any major Wrede fans will find it a worthwhile read. It took me seven years (ironic, huh) to track down a copy in a used bookstore, but now we have copies readily available here, which is nice.

If you're not a Wrede fan already, I think I'd recommend looking at one of her later novels first (the Enchanted Forest Chronicles for something humorous; or _The Raven Ring_ or _Caught in Crystal_ for a general, all-around good fantasy quest type of novel; or _Snow White and Rose Red_ if you like fairy tales; or _Sorcery and Cecelia_ for a Regency story, mixed with magic). _The Seven Towers_ is by no means a bad book, but it's a bit scattered, and it certainly doesn't meet the same standards as her later books (not that I'm complaining; it's a good sign when you like a writer's works better and better as each new one comes out).

On the other hand, the style is distinctly different from her other books--it reminds me a little of an older style of sci-fi and fantasy that we don't see much of anymore; I'm not sure how to explain it, but the tone of the book seems like it's halfway in between the Lyra books and Asimov's original Foundation trilogy. Maybe I'm crazy and my copy just has the right, slightly yellowed older-book texture; I don't know. But I think it definitely has some interesting characteristics of the now-long-gone pulp novel (which was already well on the way out by the time _The Seven Towers_ was written). There are a lot of very stereotypical fantasy characters, but the twinge of humor works there. And maybe more importantly, even if you've already heard plenty of stories with shy princes, and older princesses who'd rather be mercenaries, _The Seven Towers_ is still a really fun read. It's not Wrede's best, in a literary sense, and it's not a terribly cohesive novel in a lot of ways (I'm not talking about the multiple points of view, either). But it's an interesting change of pace. And it's still a really intreguing story. Definitely worth picking up.

49 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Neat!, August 18, 1997

By 

Cathleen R. Mackay "cathm44" (Virginia USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Seven Towers (Paperback)

I was fortunate to find this book at a
used book store. I had read Wrede's Enchanted
Forest cronicles,before and loved them, so I was
really glad to find this.This book has a neat story.
I don't really want to tell what it's about, because
that would be giving away a lot of the book!
It has good characters. I especially
liked Amberglas, an absentminded sorceress.
This is a quote from the book:

"Good morning, my lady," he said with more
warmth then he had intended.
"Yes, it is, isn't it? Though of course it's
quite possible that it isn't nearly as good a morning
elsewhere. Shula Mari, for example. I belive
it quite frequently rains in Shula Mari at this time
of year, which could be quite depressing, though
perhaps it isn't if one lives there all the time.
But then, I haven't been there yet, so I'm not
entirely certain" (The one who spoke last was Amberglas)
She speaks like this (almost)the entire time!
I just really liked this book.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Kindle Edition - Terrible Formatting, January 29, 2011

By 

doubleagent - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Seven Towers (Firebird Fantasy) (Kindle Edition)

This review mainly concerns the formatting for those of you thinking of purchasing the kindle edition. In a nutshell, it's godawful. Indentation combined with huge spaces between each and every paragraph result in a choppy, unpleasant reading experience, which pretty much destroyed any enjoyment of the book for me. This looked like it had been formatted for the web by a 7th grader, rather than a professional company seeking to sell a well known author through Amazon, and it does the author a disservice.

I would say, for this book, by a paper copy, or take the time to find an ereader that can strip out ugly extra spaces.