Customer Reviews

Spirit Fox (Daw Book Collectors)

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I have read both Renshai series' by Ms. Reichert, and was eagerly looking forward to getting back into her writing style. However, this book was lacking something that was so eloquently magical in those earlier books.

First, I found the so called "spirit fox" to be an almost incidental part of the plot. The story hardly met the description on the back cover of a young woman sharing her physical body with a fox who will use her magic to save the world. That distinction fell to several other characters, most notably Bevin and Maddock.

The Furry Purry character was cute, but bore a suspicious resemblence to Mior, the talking cat of the Renshai Chronicles, which Ms. Reichert completed back in 1998. If the spirit link was going to be a large part of the story, I would have suggested the talking animal at least be a dog, horse or something else that didn't come across as a recycled plot element.

The system of magic started out really promising, but other than the fountain metaphor, we don't get anything but the reference to "the higher resonances..."

Finally, the Empire remained a vague entity, barely elaborated upon, and the whole ending was wrapped up far too quickly. All in all, I believe this would have been a truly masterful story if it had been stretched across a trilogy instead of being crammed all into one book. That way, all of the characters could have been developed more fully; especially the sorely neglected lead character.

Despite my problems with this tale, I will ultimately continue to remain a Reichert fan, and wish she and her co-writer luck on their next collaboration.

So compelling in fact, I finished it in one day. The characters were so well developed that I found myself actually crying with their pain and laughing with their joy. The cat, with his frequent change of names, was hilarious. True, the spirit-fox part of the book was underdeveloped but it seemed an unimportant oversight as the book was rich in plot and characters enough to fill you up with delicious intrigue. A book that will sit on my favorites shelf.

Spirit Fox is simply a great book. It's characters are well realized and immediately engaging and, like everyone else, I am in love with the cat. The cast is broad, offering someone for just about any reader to get interested in, but handled deftly. Very involving!

Another aspect I really enjoyed was the setting--it's marvelous. I have read too many fantasy stories lately where the world seems to be an afterthought. Here it's integral to the story and beautifully drawn, full of interesting ideas and evocative cultural details.

In spite of a rushed ending (as other reviewers have pointed out), the story is otherwise satisfying and very well executed. It's a nice addition to MZR's canon and good work from newcomer Jennifer Wingert. I'm looking forward to reading more of Ms. Wingert's work in the future.

This book is a delightful mix of magic, swordplay, and humor. The descriptions place the reader vividly inside the scenes and inside the characters. The story was so gripping that I have spent two sleepless nights following the Spirit Fox on her journey seeking self-knowledge and truth--I could not put it down!

There are fascinating interplays between characters and our views of them as the authors shift us from vantage point to vantage point. For example, is the priest of the invading army evil or good, a celebrator of life, or the author of mass destruction?--or both? (He brings to mind the Catholic priests who came to "save" and uplift the native peoples of North America through cultural and racial genocide...and Christian love.) Multi-faceted characters in the process of transforming make this book a satisfying read on several levels; as an exploration of good and evil/truth and lies; as an adventure novel with dynamic swordplay; and as a story about love, friendship, and brotherhood/sisterhood.

Also, pet lovers will adore this book--hurrah for the Cat of the Most Fragrant Tail, the Cat Who Bites Priests, ol' Furry Purry, long may you cavort! Many of us share the "spirit link" between cat and human, and are warmed by its magic.

Hey, Mickey, Jennifer, when is the next book coming out?!!!

This was great. I finished it in two days. A well-crafted world with interesting and complex characters. Tynan's spirit-link was fascinating, and Cat's contributions to the conversations were very amusing. I hadn't expected all of the political or religious problems and found that intriguing. My only complaint is that the ending seemed WAY too neat and tidy and CONVENIENT. Things were wrapped up beautifully and all obstacles eliminated in the last 10 pages, which sort of cheapened all the struggles in the previous 420 pages, ya know?

Still, I really enjoyed this book.

This book seemed like a really interesting concept to start off with. Instead of the normal human bonded to an animal storyline, this girl has both her soul and the soul of her animal, a fox, within her own body, leading to interesting problems for her in the future. I was really looking forward to seeing how she dealt with the spirit. And I absolutely loved the cat and his human partner, how he was always having a different name was hilarious. The pacifist culture was also interesting.

All in all, the book was promising and gripped me for the first 2/3, but seemed to dribble off at the end. I was dismayed at the climax and the too-easy resolution of problems that had taken an entire book to develop. I really expected more and I was quite disappointed. And the death of my favorite characters seemed out of place and completely unnecessary.

I really liked the basic premise of the book, but, like many of the other reviewers, I felt that the entire story could have been better developed. I would have liked a better explanation into the beliefs of the region (touching a member of the opposite sex was taboo, unless you were married, etc). I didn't get a great understanding of the six magical elements, nor was there an adequate explanation of the priests and their rise to power, etc. Gaer's banishment is thrown in, and only explained later on.

I thought that Adan, Bevin and Maddock were the best characters, and I liked Brother Honesty's open-minded approach to learning something new. Maddock's lack of curiosity about the "Abomination" was a disappointment, as was Tassi's very basic and distant bad influence. Kiandra's confusion about her changes are believable and she eventually starts to develop a more interesting character later in the book.

If this book had been developed into a trilogy, then perhaps many of the above issues would have been addressed to my satisfaction.

OK. This story started off nicely, but finished badly. I tried to pay attention, I really did, but the book did not hold me. The plot was inconsistent, the characters were in one place one minute and be somewhere else on the next page. I read over the confusing sections twice and I still didn't understand what exactly had happened or where exactly the characters were. They were ill-defined and the "romance" part of the book was based on pure hormonal lust. Critical points in the story were not notacable, so that I couldn't even pick up on the fact that a character had DIED. And to top it all off, it didn't even have a proper ending.

I'm sorry. I started out with great hopes but this novel just did not live up to potential. Perhaps it would have been better had the story been written by one author instead of two.

This was definatly one of my favorite books by Reichert. I fell in love with the characters just as i did in all her other books. Even if you dont like the story, youll still love the cat. I am 14 and I think this book is good for younger readers as well as adults. It is a Must-Have in every fantisy lovers library.

I read this at my old high school and loved it. I tried to order it 2 years ago but I never received it and the second time they sent it I never got it either. So I don't know how everybody else got it. The sending sucks.