Customer Reviews

Sheepfarmer's Daughter (The Deed of Paksenarrion Series)

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I'd seen this book highly recommended several places and finally got around to picking it up. I loved it! There were several places throughout the book where I just couldn't put it down. I just had to see what happened next. Rather than have this high tension environment throughout the book, Ms. Moon has interspersed scenes that are more relaxed and contemplative, which makes for a very well rounded read.

I absolutely loved the prolog. Those first two pages set the tone for the entire book. I'm halfway through the second book, DIVIDED ALLEGIANCE, as I write this and I can say that it continues in this tone of storytelling. The best thing about this book is Paks, the main character. In the first page of the first chapter, I was immediately sympathizing with her. She wants action and adventure, not to marry some pig farmer's son. She wants it so bad that she will defy her father's wishes and run away from her family and everything she's ever known. I was hooked right away. Throughout the book, we experience with her all the joys of military life: recruitment, training, marching, her first battle. These are all done vividly and realistically, making the reader feel as if they are actually there. Paks' feelings and thoughts become ours.

Not only is Ms. Moon's characterization brilliant, but her story is engaging, too. I get the impression that most of this book was just set up material for the rest of the series. There were numerous small things that were hinted at in this book that I'm sure will turn out to have great impact later on. On its own, this book is a brilliant military fantasy. The villain they end up chasing around the country, though not actually shown until the very end, is expertly developed. The things he does to prisoners, his tactics, and the way he treats his subjects all combine to make for a nasty villain.

I really enjoyed this book. If you like fantasy, but are looking for something different than the usual fare, this will definitely satisfy you. Brilliantly developed and engaging characters, great narration, and an exciting story all add up to take the reader on a thorougly rousing ride.

I don't care for many of Moon's later works, but it is obvious she poured her heart and soul into her first fantasy trilogy known as The Deed of Paksenarrion.
This book (along with the two that follow in the trilogy) were so good that I had a hard time reading any other books for a while afterwards. I had a hard time finding another book that lived up to the high standard this one set.

Moon has been compared to Tolkien (what decent fantasy writer hasn't been?), but she builds her world on the small details instead of the broad strokes of Tolkien. It is those small details that bring Moon's characters and world alive like no other fantasy world I've read about.

Moon is also a master manipulator of emotions. She will have you laughing throughout one chapter and crying throughout the next. Moon has no aversion to dealing with the death of characters you grow to love which makes it all the more real.

That it features a strong and intelligent female lead that doesn't get all goofy over some cliched heroic male is also refreshing.

I just wish Moon would get back to her roots and write more books about this great heroine.

It was my older brother, oddly enough, who told me about the Paksennarion books, and he said: "Female heroes have more layers/more depth than most of the males." He was right about this one, and after years of reading SF and fantasy, I find this trilogy one of a few to which I return again and again, enjoying plot, details, setting and hero as much on each rereading as I did the first time, but with less urgency, and therefore with different eyes, learning more each time. Elizabeth Moon has done what I most love: she has taken me out of my world, plunked me down in another, and invited me to learn about the place I'm in and the people who live there. She has given me a true hero: an ordinary person with ordinary flaws doing extraordinary things. This trilogy is, in my opinion, Moon's best work by far, and when my copy gets too tattered (again), or I give it away (once more), I will replace it, as I always do, as quickly as possible.

If you like tales of ordinary people doing extraordinary things (as I do) then you'll probably enjoy this trilogy. Paks is a refreshingly genuine female character who works hard to be who she wants and it's this struggle that elevates her from the dullness "nice" characters often suffer from. Unfortunately when I read the first two books the third wasn't published here (UK - it is now) and I have never been so eager to read a sequel in my life! I was itching to get it and had it imported.

On the down side it is a little formulaic and I find the constant parallels in modern fantasy with Tolkien increasingly tiresome. The level of realism is sound in so far as it is detailed without becoming like an essay on the problems of keeping chainmail clean or what have you. This is not an "important" book (whatever they are), but it is a damn good read.

Sheepfarmer's Daughter is the story of a peasant girl who runs away and joins a mercenary company. The book follows Paksenarrion through recruit training and the rigors of campaigns, showing the transformation from green civillian to seasoned veteran.

This is a wonderful story if you want realistic fantasy. The military structure and feel of the book is brilliantly authentic. I had the priviledge of training at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot at Parris Island, and I can confidently state that Elizabeth Moon knows her stuff. Any veteran will find a trace of their old DI in Sergeant Stammel, and of their own shock in the first days of training in Paks' reactions.

This book also manages to have a strong female character without becoming in any way pedantic, patronizing or anti male. Paksenarion is portrayed as a good recruit who becomes a good soldier. The feel of the book is that, male or female, every individual deserves a chance to reach the height of his or her potential. It manages to convey such a lofty theme while remaining true to the grit and coarse humor of an infantry platoon.

All in all, this book is a terrific read, and not the usual run of the mill Tolkien retread stuff of which fantasy is too full today.

The next two books in the series, "Divided Allegiance" and "Oath of Gold", are worth reading as well. Elizabeth Moon has proven herself one of the genre's finest.

This opening book in the DEED OF PAKSENARRION series is a fantasy gem. A young woman runs away from home to become a mercenary soldier. She's drawn by the chances for adventure and gain, but she discovers that the life of a soldier is hard work. She makes friends, encounters treachery and discovers an aptitude for the military life. She also learns to face evil and discovers that she has a destiny beyond that of a private in a mercenary company.

What makes this an outstanding fantasy is the attention to military detail. The author has painstakingly researched medieval military arms, armor and fighting techniques and infused this with her own experience as a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps. Her understanding of military discipline, camaraderie among soldiers and the often complex relationship between higher and lower ranks makes the long marches and fantastic battle scenes come to life in a way that few writers in any genre can achieve.

Two other books follow: DIVIDED ALLEGIANCE and OATH OF GOLD. Each one takes Paks's struggle against evil to a new level, but in each the element of cruelty increases to the point where some readers may be tempted to stop reading. This first book, for all the battles, is also about friendship.

The gritty reality of Elizabeth Moon's medieval fantasies makes them one of the finest in the genre. The author's own experience in the US Marine Corps is combined with solid research and high inspiration so that the reader lives directly in Paksenarrion's world. We enjoy the company of these young soldiers and grieve as a comrade when one of them falls. We fall in love with the courageous yet innocent heart of "Paks" which is how all her friends abbreviate her name. Highly recommended!

Considering the title, you would expect another standard "poor boy/girl becomes prince/hero/wizard" fantasy novel, but thankfully Moon avoids this trap by quickly moving her heroine Paksenarrion (or Paks for short) from humble beginnings to enlistment in a mercenary company.

Paks runs away from home to avoid the arranged marriage that her father set up, and enlists in the mercenary army of Duke Phelan. A large part of this novel gives a semi-realistic portrayal of the life of a grunt in a medieval army - including weapon drills, digging jacks, and the thrill of the first battle. Meanwhile, the fantasy world starts to flesh out with its own geography, history and mythology. The novel finishes with a satisfying conflict that will want you to get part 2 of "The Deed of Paksenarrion" as soon as you can.

If you enjoy good fantasy, you will probably enjoy this novel. If you enjoyed "Ash: A Secret History" by Mary Gentle and "The Black Company" by Glen Cook, you absolutely have to buy this book.

As my rating suggests, I thought this was an excellent book, But I'm completely suprised that there aren't more reviews. Has no one read it?? The entire series is by far the best fantasy series I've ever encountered. The only book I've found better than the tales of Paksenarrion is Ender's Game. This entire series sucked me in and wouldn't let me go until I had finished. It was well written with great attention to detail. I've never been in military service, but after reading these books I feel as if I almost know what it's like. Throughout the books, the reader is made to care deeply for the characters and their plights.

I highly recommend this book to *ANYONE* looking to not only read, but experience a great fantasy story.

This book is a good choice for those interested in the daily life of fantasy soldiers, but not so much for those looking for a great plot or good fantasy. In fact, if you are this interested in a soldier's life, I'd recommend some real-life military memoirs, such as Helmet for My Pillow or the Old Breed, both from WWII.

The book's premise is very honest: It's about a girl becoming a hero. And that's about all; there's very little context for the actions of the book, and it's not until halfway through that a "bad guy" emerges to create some sense of plot. There are some few hints about a mythology that may begin to guide later books, but most of the book is simply the daily life and battles of Paks and her mercenary company. There's some interesting tactics and battles, but very little politics, and almost no strong relationships among characters, besides the expected loyalty to one's fellow soldiers and commander.

Paks herself is a pretty cool chick, but overall, she seems a little flat and doesn't change much through the first book. I know she's a good fighter and is someday going to be a hero, but I don't have a strong sense of why this fighting is happening or why the world she inhabits really needs a hero.

So, bottom line, military lovers may like this book, but fantasy nerds (like myself) may want to skip this in favor of something with a bit more plot and character development.

Brilliance Audio has recently been putting together some fine productions of many classic fantasy novels that deserve to be heard and I, as a reader, couldn't be happier. I don't have much free time these days, and most of my reading is now done by audio, so I was thrilled to find that I could finally listen to The Deed of Paksenarrion by Elizabeth Moon. The first novel, Sheepfarmer's Daughter, has just been released, and the rest are following quickly. (By the way, if audiobooks are out of your budget, ask your public library to order them -- my library has ordered several that I've requested with their online form.)

I enjoyed this story about Paksenarrion (Paks) who, to avoid an arranged marriage to a farmer, runs away to join a mercenary force. It's not that she knows there's a future Mr. Right out there, or even that she knows there's some great evil in the land to be vanquished, but rather that she just isn't interested in being married or being a farmer's wife. Of course, life as a mercenary isn't exactly what she expected, but Paks is honest, competent, and hard-working, so she does pretty well at her new job and we can easily foresee that she's developing into a future leader.

I had no trouble believing in any of Moon's characters or their relationships with each other. It didn't take long for me to find myself rooting and caring for Paks and I was really affected when some of her friends and allies were injured or killed.

Elizabeth Moon's military experience is evident and she writes believably about the daily minutiae of being a soldier. There's more time spent marching, eating, waiting, exercising, and being stuck in the mud than fighting. This is very realistic, I'm sure, but it makes the novel move rather slowly at times, and gives it a didactic flavor. I think that readers who haven't read as many coming-of-age-in-an-army stories as I have will not be so impatient.

Jennifer Van Dyck was a terrific reader with a pleasant voice which effectively portrayed both men and women. There were times when I didn't care for the over-eager wide-eyed country girl voice that she used for Paks (couldn't a few of those Yes, Sirs been a little less enthusiastic?), but it's hard to tell if that was her interpretation or the author's intent. Overall, Ms. Van Dyck is a reader I'll be watching for in the future, and Paksenarrion, the sheepfarmer's daughter, is a heroine whose story I'm looking forward to hearing.