3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
When a rat comes to the rescue, do you get that gnawing sensation?, June 30, 2010
For my money Jane Lindskold is one of those few writers whose novels you just don't read, you devour. There hasn't been a time when I've cracked open a book of hers and been let down. Although, the caveat is that I haven't yet managed to pick up her last two entries in the Firekeeper saga. But I've read just about everything else she's written, my favorites being The Athanor series and also BROTHER TO DRAGONS, COMPANIONS TO OWLS. All this is just a roundabout way of my telling you that I really liked THIRTEEN ORPHANS, the first in her new series.
The roots of Lindskold's new story can be found in an enchanted realm quite removed from Earth, in the Lands Born from Smoke and Sacrifice, when long ago an Emperor was struck down, and his twelve wizardly advisors were forced to submit to exile. But the twelve outcasts slipped away with a secret, having managed to scamper away with the last surviving infant son of the Emperor, much to the ire of the new regime. The exiles found their way to China and then across the seas, scattering across America. These magical twelve advisors - with the addition of the Emperor's child - began referring to themselves as the Thirteen Orphans. As time went on, as age set in, they passed on their traits and powers onto their descendants. Peace reigned for years, with nary a whiff of their enemies. In time, certain of the Orphans' successors even forgot their magical heritage.
And yet, back in the Lands Born from Smoke and Sacrifice, the new order had not forgotten about the Thirteen Orphans. Plots are hatched. Deadly agents are deployed. And, today, in the present, 19-year-old college student Brenda Morris will, while on a surprising road trip with her father, learn of her roots and her surprising destiny.
Boy, that sounded like the back cover of a lurid fantasy novel... THIRTEEN ORPHANS isn't wall to wall action, isn't necessarily for the Jim Butcher fans. The narrative of THIRTEEN ORPHANS spools out at a leisurely pace. Lindskold thoughtfully constructs her world, and she plonks her characters down into this ostensibly normal human environment, except that, occasionally, Eastern mysticism peeks out from behind the curtains. Along with that Eastern mysticism, the writer steeps us in Eastern philosophy and Chinese lore, and the vast enigma that is... mahjong. When the Thirteen Orphans came to Earth, they camouflaged their magics in the game of mahjong, and so this pastime is a recurring presence in the book.
Long ago, each of the Thirteen Orphans had taken on the aspect and attributes of a beast from the Chinese Zodiac, with the Emperor's descendant representing the Cat. When an unidentified foe methodically begins to endow the Orphans with a peculiar and selective form of amnesia, this causes the victims to forget their magical nature, rendering them mere mortals. Soon, the only ones left with intact memories are the Tiger, the Rooster, the Rabbit, the Dog... and Brenda Morris, whose dad, it turns out, is the Rat. The very interesting thing is that, when Brenda's father is assaulted and has his Rat's memory stripped away, Brenda begins demonstrating a few of the Rat's abilities. This is not supposed to happen. It just may save the Thirteen Orphans.
Winning characters dot the landscape, and I absolutely am fascinated with the stern but gracefully aged Pearl Bright (the Tiger) who long ago was a popular child actress during Shirley Temple's era. Brenda Morris, the main protagonist, is very appealing and, true to her Rat nature, she demonstrates cleverness when only cleverness can save the day (even though I could've done without her endless mooning over her crush). The Rabbit and her young daughter, Riprap the steadfast Dog, and even Brenda's scheming con-man of a father are also very fun to read about. And when the story quits being leisurely, it launches into a series of exciting magical skirmishes, but these skirmishes tend to be more cerebral rather than, say, indulge in mindless sword & sorcery violence. There's a short list of writers I read when I'm in the mood for the more lyrical urban fantasy stuff. Jane Lindskold, Charles de Lint, Terri Windling (with her Bordertown stuff) and Nina Kiriki Hoffman top this list, although, to be truly honest, I don't think anyone can currently touch Nina Kiriki Hoffman. Anyway, I am now totally invested in this Thirteen Orphans series. On to the sequels NINE GATES and then FIVE ODD HONORS.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting if rather pedantic, October 6, 2009
The major failing of this book is that the action to fact dump ratio is really low. Not enough action, way to much fact dump. For the first 100 pages basically all you get is the "Beep Beep Beep" of the dump truck unloading on you. It is done in character at least, since Brenda (the main character) knows nothing about the magical world the other characters can reasonably lecture her about it. But I did start wishing they would get on with it (as does one of the characters about half way through the book. The author should have listened to the Dog and gotten on with it faster).
I really like the idea of using the mahjong limit hands to encode spells but the introduction to the game in the book gets old fast if you know anything about how to play. Hopefully now that the world has been set up, book two will have more action. I did enjoy the book, I just didn't find it fabulous.
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