The Standing Dead [Paperback]

Ricardo Pinto (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Tor Books (September 30, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312875657
• ISBN-13: 978-0312875657
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,799,132 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A struggle for substance, June 16, 2003

By 

A. C. H. Bergh - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Standing Dead: Book Two of the Stone Dance of the Chameleon (Hardcover)

In 2000's highly acclaimed "The Chosen", debut author Pinto chose style over substance and vision over plot. And he did so with some brilliance. "The Chosen" was, summarily put, an intelligent and convincing (if somewhat gruesome) portrayal of an oligarchic and dominant master race - "The Chosen", or "Masters" - caught up in their internal feuds and machinations, whilst around them simple humanity suffered in their name in a world somewhat reminiscent of, say, old China.

The problem with "Chosen" was, however, both simple and profound: it had little or no plot. It was a wonderful - even grand - canvas, but it hardly moved an inch.

In "The Standing Dead" - the second part of what seems to be a trilogy - Pinto has had to face this drawback by attempting to to drive the story forwards. He's done so bravely, but with less than perfect results.

Essentially, the story in "Dead" takes off where "Chosen" left off: with Pinto's protagonist Carnelian, along with his new-found lover Osidian, being held captive by what turns out to be a simple bunch of slavers. On their way to cash in on their prize, the slavers are attacked by Tribesmen from the Outer Reach (a people dominated by the Chosen and forced to proffer a number of their childern as slaves regularly, but otherwise left generally unmolested). Carnelian and Osidian are then taken by the Tribesmen to their home - the Koppie - where Carnelian becomes enamoured of the local customs, whilst Osidian becomes an increasingly dominating and debilitating force in the local community, slowly destroying their (imagined) rural peace.

The rest of the story follows these lines - Carnelian's basic goodness and Osidian's essential decrepitude being portrayed in equally stark measure - without hardly a single twist (or even an occasional surprising insight) to enliven matters.

What this means is that, in terms of plot, "Dead" is basically a one-way street. You can see what's coming, then it comes. And then it comes again. And throughout, you find yourself wondering, with increasing puzzlement, why Carnelian (or anyone else you may care about, for that matter) doesn't simply *do* something, instead of letting all hell slowly settle around them.

Given "Chosen's" weakness (style over substance, vision over plot), this is not that surprising. Whilst Pinto does try to provide a better storyline this time round, he's still struggling. He's great at painting portraits, at depicting static visions - but he's still not good at action. In fact, he doesn't seem to understand the concept all that clearly: "Dead" hardly contains a character that seems alive - that appears capable of moment of his or her own accord. To put it another way: Pinto's moulding his cast to fit his vision, instead of allowing them to embody that vision themselves. And, more strongly than in "Chosen", the vision we're talking about is ultimately one of horror: this book doesn't end on a happy note, to say the least.

That ending, by the way, reminded me of a combination of "Heart of Darkness" and just about any good modern-day horror story you might like to come up with (Stephen King's Pet Semetary, for example). And it must be said that Pinto pulls this off with considerable skill; it is in the closing chapters that his undeniable writing skills combine with his subject material and he manages to create something very memorable.

Still, a capacity for convincing and intelligent horror is, in itself, perhaps insufficient for being a great fantasy author. And since Pinto has embarked on what can only be judged as an epic fantasy, he should be judged along those lines.

In my view, in "Dead", he is yet found wanting, despite obvious and enviable talents. Perhaps the next (and final) volume will re-address this, perhaps not. Assuming that it will conclude this story, it should, in any case, answer many questions.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, August 3, 2006

By 

Peter Stanton - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Standing Dead: Book Two of the Stone Dance of the Chameleon (Hardcover)

A real departure from the first book, "The Chosen" I prefer the first one because it just strikes me as more evocative work. It is really interesting however to watch Carnelian torn between the desire for a peaceful life and Osidian Nephron and watch the desire for peace (for once) actually win out over his supposed love for Osidian.

This book deals a great deal with the subjects of love, ambition and disaster. Osidian is unable to accept that he, the God-Emperor elect, has been dethroned through betrayal. Carnelian begs him to accept a life among the "barbarians" but Osidian has other plans. Namely, forging the plainsmen into an army so he can retake his throne.

An interesting novel, but I think I prefered the story of the Chosen of Osrakum to the story of Carnelian and Osidian living on the plains. No fault of the other, I simply prefered the first book, this book is still excellent!

15 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A worthy sequel, March 13, 2003

By 

Turner Morgan "turnermorgan" (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Standing Dead: Book Two of the Stone Dance of the Chameleon (Hardcover)

If you're not the sort of fantasy reader who can read fantasy which includes a male-on-male romantic plotline written by a male author, as opposed to male-on-male romantic plotlines written by Mercedes Lackey or Marion Zimmer Bradley most specifically, DON'T BUY THIS.
Folks who enjoy Ellen Kushner would probably enjoy this series, as would folks who enjoy Storm Constantine: the author has a serious penchant for writing Good Fiction. If you aren't willing to cope with gay fantasy written by someone who can ACTUALLY WRITE (as opposed to all the soft-core porn tripe that gets passed off as gay fantasy), then DON'T BUY THIS.
Further, if you're not the sort of fantasy reader who enjoys fantasy that's about alternate worlds rather than magic, then DON'T BUY THIS.
If you fit all of the preceding qualifications and haven't read the first, BUY THE FIRST ONE FIRST, AND READ THE FIRST ONE FIRST. This is not a series that, I suspect, will be forgiving of starting in the middle.

As is typical of a fantasy trilogy, this is the middle of the action. There are rules to typical fantasy:
#1: Don't read it without reading the first.
#2: Don't expect what happens in it to be unresolved at the end, and don't expect the first's issues to be resolved at all or even addressed by the end of the second. The second book of a trilogy is about character development, not about plot advancement: it is thus, and ever has been since Tolkien.

Did I enjoy this book? Overall yes: I'm buying a copy here, despite having gotten a British hardcover of it a year ago, and despite having bought a copy of that for the friend who introduced me to the first book, as well.
If you aren't any of the people I said shouldn't pick this book up, you'll probably enjoy the heck out of it. But read the first book (The Chosen is its title) first. Read them sequentially.

I can't stress that enough.