Customer Reviews

Song Of Unmaking

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Euan Rohe, a Caletanni barbarian almost brought the Empire and the Emperor to its knees during the Great Dance. Valeria, a rider of the wild stallions who are gods made flesh, finished the Dance with her own and seven other stallions and for a time war was averted. Valeria returns to the mountain for more training while Euan escapes to his homeland and allies himself with Gothard, the baseborn son of the Emperor who wants to Unmake his father's empire.

War is coming and the Emperor, his warriors and his mages are at the border waiting for the right time to strike out at their enemy. Gothard has a stone that has the power to Unmake, once he knows how to use it. Valeria and her lover Kerrick, with their stallion gods travel to the battleground to stop Gothard before he starts using the stone's power to crush the Emperor's forces. Partners in love and battle Kerrick and Valeria perform a Dance unlike any dance the stallions performed, one that will determine the fate of the Empire.

This is the second book in this magnificent romantic fantasy series (See THE MOUNTAIN'S CALL) and it is full of more action, romance and drama than its prequel. The love Kerrick and Valeria feel for each other is tested by secrets he keeps from his lover and the wounds that refuse to heal, both magical and physical, inflicted on him by his half-brother. The battle scenes are magnificent, the characters are realistic and the storyline is pure magic; readers will eagerly await the next book in this tantalizing series.

Harriet Klausner

Caitlin Brennan is one of those authors who captures your attention with witty unpredictable plot. This was one of those books that you just can't put down, but first you have to read "The Mountains Call", the first book of the series. It is a book with romance, fantasy, horses, and best of all action. The pace of this book was perfect; there were no moments of boredom! That I can guarantee! Enjoy! And if you like it keep and eye out for her next book of the series!

This book has taken me a LOOOOOOOONG time to get through. I keep getting distracted by other books. I didn't have the same problem with "The Mountain's Call" which further solidifies my belief that this book falls far short of its predecessor. The bar set by "The Mountain's Call" has not been reached by its sequel, which is unfortunate.

There are just too many predictable things going on. Valeria is of course the focus, and her magic is never really in question, but of course she makes some stupid decisions that drive the mediocre plot. Of course she's disregarded by the other Riders. Of course Kerrec completely breaks down. Of course she meets up with Euan. Kerrec is becoming irritatingly predictable. The horse-gods are playing havoc with Valeria without bothering to even try to convince the other acolytes (er, the Riders) of their will, and through it all, that little spell that was never really explained, the Unmaking, threatens from the sidelines.

There's something about the stubbornness of the Riders that really gets on my nerves, because they seem so rigid and undefined. They have basically no personality. It's hard to care for any of the characters anymore, when Valeria is so obviously much more powerful than anyone, yet no one likes her, Kerrec is falling apart at the seams, Gothard is so... stereotypical in his evilness (it's like the author is bashing me over the head with why I should despise him; he has NO redeeming qualities at all, and almost seems Evil For the Sake of Being Evil, except he's more of Evil For the Sake of Vengeance Because Everyone's A Meany-head.) and the Imperial Heir is curiously abandoning her royal post in the early goings. So where's the Emperor in all this, one wonders.

I don't know, the characters just really got on my nerves, and Gothard especially... just because he seems too cliche for my tastes. Euan is the only character who got much exploration, in my opinion, and he was already a fascinating one as it was. For as refreshing as this whole novel series started out (about halfway through the first book) it's rather become a disappointment to me. I hope the third book, "Shattered Dance," can revive my faith. As it stands now, this series is a little too cliched for my tastes.

Perhaps, though, my biggest complaint about this whole series is that the magic itself isn't very well defined. I keep finding myself saying "What does this magic do? What does the author mean when she says 'The Door of Time'? Why do the stallions need riders in The Dance, if the magic is within the stallions themselves? What kind of magic is this? Where does it originate from? Is it greater than Gothard's stone-magic? Why should the Empire give a damn about the Mountain and its magic? What are the rules of this magic, and why are the rules being broken so easily and at will? Why is Valeria so special that only she and no other can control all the stallions?" If the author can take some time to explore the purpose and rules of this magic, maybe it'll help, but I'm floundering, trying to figure out why I should care what happens to the Mountain. At this point, I'm with Gothard: Unmake the world, and start all over again.

I just love this series and don't know why so many others hate it. Of course I'm predisposed to love anything with a horse in it, but still... I love the strong female lead character, I love that she's presented with hard decisions where there is no clear "right" path to follow, I love that she follows her heart even when it leads to rather dicey situations, I just love everything about it. What more can I say? The writing style is easy to follow and with each book in the series I'm even more enchanted.

LOVE IT!!!

I really loved this book. I thought that the story really moved along great and it is an excellent sequel to Brennan's first book. I love horses and that is another reason that I really like this trilogy.

Valeria is now accepted by the Riding School, where gods of patterns and time take the shape of white stallions and help determine the future of the Empire. But she and her teacher, First Rider Kerrec, both carry damage from their encounters with enemies of the Empire. Those same enemies, barbarians who follow the Unmaking (which would lead to the destruction of the world), threaten the Empire again. Can two damaged Riders, and the stallion gods who carry them, help the Empire win a deadly war?

While this is the middle book of a trilogy, I preferred it to both the beginning and concluding books. I tend to be a reader of fantasy rather than romance, and I actually think that the romantic triangles/quadrangles in the other two books detracted from the plots of those books. They really felt sort of forced to me.

I really enjoyed this second offering. The character development continues to intrigue. Ms. Brennan's ability to paint those characters are neither wholly good nor wholly bad makes them interesting and more true-to-life. (Except Gothard -- pure evil, that one.) And the horses...sigh. Such wonderful descriptions of them and their roles as gods-on-earth. Any horse-crazy woman who has studied the art of dressage for the pure love of riding, will be mesmerized by this story. And for those who aren't into the fat white horses (lol!), the book's message that relationships are at the heart of every triumph and conflict will keep you reading.

This book follows the first one in the series, The Mountain's Call, picking up with Euan vying for the position of High King and Kerrac's magic forcing him from the mountain. What follows is a winding road of self-discovery, sacrifice, and above all, an eloquent treatise on the nature of love.

My only true problem with the book came as a romance reader and writer. Because of Valeria and Kerrac's physical affection for each other, not once during the first book, nor the second, was the subject of birth control discussed. Now, I understand this is a fantasy, but Valeria is a farmer's daughter, which means she knows exactly what happens, and if that isn't enough, her mother is a midwife. Yet, it isn't until a pregnancy is necessary to the plot, then we hear about "wards" that may have failed or it may have been the gods' toying with the characters. Or it could simply be that their actions caught up with them. Either way, this part of the plot seems contrived, because what did you expect when two people express their physical love without protection?

Other than that, the plot unfolded with page-turning speed, and the reader guessed, but never quite knew exactly where the story would take her. That meant the emotional tale packed a punch, and surprise was exhibited in precisely the right moments. A good setup for the third book, and a wonderful middle pillar of the trilogy.

So much better than the first one (in comparison). Well at least more memorable. That though, does not mean it is the best book I have ever read. I was relieived to find that flow of the writing was pleasent, and it carried on well, if not rushed at times.

It gets complicated, but not in a way you have to read back,and I, an avid reader who tends to have a lot of time on my hands, read it in about a day.

You can (figuratively) knock yourself out with this book. It's entertaining and alot of fun.