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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One small step for fantasy, one joyful leap for readerkind,
By amy lewis (Longmont, Colorado) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Tower of the King's Daughter (Outremer, No. 2) (Paperback)
For those of you who love George MacDonald, but desire better narrative, C.S. Lewis (who didn't like George MacDonald's narrative either), but want a secular fantasy story; and J.R.R. Tolkien, but think a couple more female characters would be appropriate, and are tired of the rut of fantasy stories that too often follows in the wake of these writers . . . For those of you who long for daring vistas, swashbuckling adventures, and scintillating dialogue, but aren't satisfied with these things alone and would see them combined with dynamic narrative . . . For those who desire a chiaroscuro of events, characters, and places, but events that aren't just plot devices, characters that react as opposed to simply act, and places that capture glimpses of both heaven and hell, then the Outremer Series by Chaz Brenchley is most definately for you.I almost didn't read these books, I almost left them sitting on the shelf in the bookstore because the story summary on the back of the book seemed to be relating just another sword and sorcery novel that, worse yet, was going to unite the "princess" and the "knight-to-be" in a simplistic battle of good versus evil and beauty versus darkness. Let me tell ya', the back of the book is a bald-faced liar. First and foremost, this series is a sweeping fantasy adventure in a fully-formed world that is intricately imagined and described. It is the setting, the situations, and particularly, the choices the characters make to complex problems and threats that drive this superbly told story which doesn't simply leap from one magic trick to the next. And don't expect mundane magic like Hogwarts, either. This magic is complex, dangerous, brushing softly against the numinous. Brenchley, appropriately, is a storyteller, not a preacher, but his story DOES deal in absolutes, and in my mind at least, avoids moral relativism completely. The problem with absolutes is that NO ONE has a monopoly on them; the miasma of conflicting loyalties, spiritualities, and desires that is life is mostly successful at obscuring or obliterating completely the direct path to goodness. Sometimes there simply cannot be a choice between right and wrong, but only a choice between the lesser of two evils. While the series is filled with such dramatic and realistic dilemmas there is one character that is braver, genuinely braver, than most characters I have ever read: he is Marron, a graceful, strong squire whose bravery lies not in when and how he handles a sword, but in the frightful clarity of his personal courage and the choices that he makes. Marron is a troubled, but conscientious soul battling the forces of tyranny, dogma, and deindividuation, for the most part, successfully. And perhaps it is the character of Marron that is the most fantastical element of this fantasy. In real life, most of us aren't this morally competent. But morality aside, these books are great. I'm recommending them to everyone. Just don't read them when you have more important things to do; they are just that difficult to put down. P.S. The emotional and physical relationships are sensual, maddening, and heartbreaking all at once. I'm just sorry one doesn't get to read more about the consummation of these. Brenchely's violence isn't gratuitous, but it certainly goes into a lot more detail than his sex does. Sigh.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
progressing,
By Furio (Genova - Italy) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Tower of the King's Daughter (Outremer, No. 2) (Paperback)
With the second volume (second part of the first volume of UK edition) Mr Brenchley fulfills all the promises of the first.
We have a solid -if very slow- fantasy with nicely done action scenes -not many- based on a complex but not intricate plot. Characterization was the strongpoint of the first volume and is superb here. Julianne finally comes to life -as if the author needed a little time to get her going- which is good because she bears one of the two POV of the narrative. The other is carried out by Marron whose quite sufferings, adolescent torments, too early needs to give up a black or white certainties are not only well rounded but also moving, convincing and not overdone. What in the first book was hinted at becomes explicit here. We are told why Anton killed his brother and what kind of relationship existed between Marron and Aldo before the fell apart. Not to mention that finally the implicit sexual tension existing between Marron and Anton finds here an explicit release. All above is explicitly told but in a hushed, nearly understated way. The actual telling and love making last no more than perhaps three pages -so that sensitive readers need not worry too much- but is nevertheless essential in understanding the underlying currents of the whole story up here. Therefore sensitive readers also beware: lack of graphic sex does NOT mean lack of sensuality. I simply feel no sympathy for those homophobe reviewers who see gay people in fantasy novels as a dreadful lésé majesté, as if homosexuality was unknown in the Middle Ages. And it is not as if they are faced here with graphic sex. And it is not as if gay readers do not have to relate with straight characters in 95% of the books they read. If there is a flaw I can find is that the writing is sometimes convoluted and rough. It is always slow, therefore I must repeat my warning: avoid this series when in need of relaxing light reading. About the fact that this series is out of print I have already expresse myself in my review of the first episode. A shame...
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This series just keeps getting better,
By Brian R. (Colorado Springs, CO United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Tower of the King's Daughter (Outremer, No. 2) (Paperback)
The second installment in the Outremer series has even more momentum and intrigue than the first. Brenchley takes real risks with his characters, which heightens the peril. This is a refreshing alternative to fantasies whose main characters remain static through umpteen books; there are surprises enough here for even the most jaded fantasy reader. Kudos to Mr. Brenchley.
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