Customer Reviews

Shadow of the Sphinx (Charmed)

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

 

 

SINCE WHEN DOES PHOEBE HAVE THE POWER TO THROW "ENERGY BALLS"???
I thought Phoebe's only powers were premonition and levitation. When did she acquire this extra power, and does she still have it?
And no, this book does NOT take place after Phoebe's marriage to Cole and subsequent acquisition of evil powers--although I'm confused about when the story does take place. In this book, Phoebe is engaged to Cole, but, although he's apparently traded all his black hats for white ones, he still has demonic powers (he, too, throws energy balls). Yet in the last "Charmed" novel, "Dark Vengeance", Cole had lost his powers and was trying to adjust to life without them. And when, on the show, he regained demonic powers (as The Source), didn't he keep that a secret? Yet here both he and Phoebe are filling the air with "energy balls" to blast demons . (Actually, nothing in the book says it takes place AFTER "Dark Vengeance"; it just seemed a reasonable assumption.)
The author has the characters' "voices" down pat, which is of paramount importance. And although there are holes in the plot which are never really explained (just what is Tyler's power? what is the "connection" with Paige that seems to trigger it? why is it on-again, off-again?), Jablonski can paint amusing and frightening scenes, such as her satirical yet sympathetic descriptions of the blessed-wannabes in the modern-day cult of Thoth, and the cell painted with drawings designed to neutralize magic, which then come unexpectedly to life. And Paige's instincts and behavior after being turned into a cat are amusing and recognizable to anyone who's ever been owned by a cat.
However, there are MAJOR problems with the story. For one thing, Paige may be impulsive, but she's not an idiot, and I can't believe that she'd cast a spell to turn herself into an animal without first bothering to read the entire spell and make sure she knew how to turn herself back. She's also not the kind of romance-novel heroine who sits around waiting for someone to rescue her, and I can't believe that she never even TRIED to orb herself out of the animal shelter when her sisters unwittingly took her there (and come to think of it, orbing would have been a good way to demonstrate to them that she was actually their sister, albeit in the form of a cat, instead of continuing to meow protests that they obviously couldn't understand).
Paige later learns that she CAN orb, even as a cat, though she finds out by accident, not by being clever or resourceful. She also learns that having once performed the transformation spell, she can turn herself into any animal, just by imagining it (until it "wears off", a time limit which is never explained).
But this kind of thing is a big NO-NO for books about series characters! If shape-shifting is so easily accomplished (with just a few ingredients that are found in any well-stocked kitchen, so that Martha Stewart could do it), then why don't The Charmed Ones add it to their repertoire in future, and always fight demons in the form of lions, hawks, etc.? Ah, but that would make demon-fighting too easy, and therefore uninteresting. The sisters may be the most powerful witches in the world, but they can't be ALL-powerful, or there would be no challenges (except in their love lives, which would reduce Charmed to a soap opera--not a bad genre; I just happen to like some magic mixed with my suds). So shape-shifting seems like one power too many for the writers to handle and still develop interesting plots, and yet, once our witches have learned how to do it, why wouldn't they keep doing it regularly? This is the sort of plot device that, when once unwisely introduced, tends to be tacitly "forgotten"--by everyone except the viewer/reader, who is left wondering, the next time The Charmed Ones face a demon, "Why don't they keep the spell mixture handy, to just transform into bigger, badder demons?" And the answer, for "Charmed", is that we would then have five minutes--or pages, as the case may be--of battle and spend the rest of the episode/book discussing Phoebe's divorce (and I care, I really do, but I still need my magical fix; this is "Charmed", not "The Wild and the Wiccan", or "All My Coven". So shame on you, Carla Jablonski, for having introduced a spell that is both so useful/easy and so inconvenient/impossible!
The impression I get is that Jablonski is a talented writer, who could not only have portrayed the Halliwells (plus Leo & Cole) believably, but could have also written a creative book. Instead she chose a rather worn plot device and simply didn't bother with little things like consistency with past--and future--events (it is a series, after all). She also seems to have the misconception that, because this is supernatural-fantasy, it just heightens the "mysterious atmosphere" when magical happenings go unexplained. On the contrary, the greats of horror/fantasy writing knew that magic has to have its own rules, like the laws of science (sure, you can invent the parameters for your own fiction--for instance, does a vampire have a reflection or not? you're the author, you decide--but not if you're writing in a series featuring characters in a universe developed by others). And both the magic and the characters must be consistent. Finally, though mysterious happenings need not be explained, the reader should be left with enough data to form a likely opinion, not going "huh?"
A plea to authors of future "Charmed" novels (blessings on their race; may they be fruitful and multiply, and keep those "Charmed" stories coming!): The show doesn't assume that either the characters or the viewers are morons, and the authors of novels shouldn't either. Fortunately, not all of them do.
This one does.

Being an avid fan of the hit TV series "Charmed", I felt inclined to go out and start collecting the novelizations of the show. Recently, I've purchased "Date With Death" and "Dark Vengeance." Both novels were just as exciting as the show. However, after reading the reviews of the latest novel (which was not written by Constance Burge) I don't feel it would be as imperative for me to obtain this book. Just as my opinion, I think it's really unfair to the series as well as the creator of the show, and even to the author, when a story is written and it doesn't seem to follow the general storyline. With all the other books I've read, it seems that the story is generally happening in relative syncronization with the tv series. I'd be really disappointed to pick up a book after watching the show, and then find that everything I'm reading goes against everything I've seen. I think that Jablonski would do good to actually watch the show and maybe do a little character research before trying to write another novel. (Phoebe shooting electricity balls???? Where did THAT come from?) Thank you for listening to my little ramble. If I can offer any other advice, go out and get some of the novels written by Constance Burge and see what an actual Charmed novel should be like.

Okay, I have read all of the Charmed books and this is by far the worst one yet. On the very first page i noticed an error. The author said that Phoebe's fiance was named Cole Porter not Cole Turner and all the Charmed viewers should know that cole's name is not Cole Porter! Then later on in the book the author talks about phoebe throwing energy balls...but that, like most of us know, is an upper level demonic power. I just wanted to point this out to some people and this is a nice place to do it. I thought this was a good book despite these errors. But still the writer should look into what she is writing next time! Thank you.

has carla jablonski ever even seen the show charmed?! she would know that they cant throw energy balls. This really really bugged me when i was reading it! plus the characters seemed really unlike themselves. It also had an old story plot going on- that paige felt bad compared to prue, and piper still couldnt accept paige. this was settled last year! before she writes another book, maybe carla should actually watch the show!

this book has to many mistake to count pheobe and paige throwing energy balls cole still having powers? if your a big fan of the show this book will just annoy you with the amounts of faults in it. even if your not a fan and you just wanted to try it out there are much better charmed books out there

Okay what is up with this book? It was the worst of the charmed books that I have read.
First off how come Phoebe can throw energy balls and Paige trying to when she's in cat form. The last time I checked Phoebe could only levetate and she had premonisions, and Paige could orb and have stuff orb to her.
Seconded of all whats up with Paige still thinking that she is in the shadow of Prue? In the show she got over it along time of go.
Third the book would be okay if there wasn't so many holes in the story. Like why can Tyler tap into Paiges power?
Need less to say is is probably one of the worst Charmed books that i have read.

Shadow of the Sphinx is another Charmed book, written by Carla Jablonski. Paige shapeshifts into a cat while Piper,Phoebe,Leo and Cole are outdoors but cannot turn back into herself. When she is found by her sisters, she is given to a local animal shelter. Then she is ''adopted'' by Tyler, who wants to use her for something that may go so wrong...Piper and Phoebe have to find her before it is too late and all the while face some rather annoying entities...

OK, I have to admit that the book had several mistakes...

1)page 1 - ''Phoebe's fiance , Cole Porter...'' - while we all know that Cole's surname is Turner

2)page 36 - ''Phoebe held out her palm, concentrated and formed an energy form.'' - Phoebe CANNOT form energy balls, her powers are levitation and premonitions.

3)Paige CANNOT throw energy balls but that's the case in several parts of the book...

However, this book is amazing. It is gripping , with lots of adventure and exploration of Ancient Egypt. I just overlooked the mistakes and thoroughly enjoyed it!

ok i've only read like a lil of it and almost done and i was like 'man the author should get the real facts!' and so i read the lil part in the back of the book that said about the author and it said she never misses an episode of charmed and i was like well then that's one lie.

I am a huge fan of charmed and of the books. I am proud to say I have read all of them, but sorry to say this one was the worst. I understand that the books are based on the T.V. show and not exactly the same, but my god Cole Porter??? perhaps the author couldn't make the story run smoothly if they didn't shoot fireballs? Thats the whole point of them having specific powers, so they have to make it interesting.

I also saw alot of typos like when one sister was supposed to say something but it had "Paige said" but it really as someone else. I also think that the book was way to descriptive and hard to get through.

I would however recommend the book to a fan, because maybe you'll like it. Read it and decide for ur self, but don't let ur expectations get too high.

The storyline was okay..but man...all the facts of the Charmed Ones have been twisted almost completely!!! The Charmed Ones don't shoot energy balls from their palms..especially Piper and Paige.Paige can only calls others energy balls and reflected back not shoot her own one.And what's wrong with Cole's name..Porter instead or Turner?Hmmm..weird..I suggest that the author and the editor watch Charmed thoroughly next time before start writing and publishing another twisted Charmed novel coz' it's frustrating to read such a novel for a Charmed fan like me.