Customer Reviews

A Triumph of Souls (Journeys of the Catechist, Book 3)

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

 

 

This is the concluding book of the JOURNEYS OF THE CATECHIST trilogy, the first two being CARNIVORES OF LIGHT AND DARKNESS and INTO THE THINKING KINGDOMS. As with the first two books, this was a light, enjoyable read that provided a satisfying conclusion to the series. There isn't much difference in the storytelling between the previous books and this one. The characters still run into one obstacle after another and always miraculously overcome it uitlizing some gift from Etjole's backpack. Still, it is a fun journey and I enjoyed the climax of the story. It was definitely unexpected.

Again, though, I have to voice my complaint of the dearth of character development. I have never seen four more static characters in all the fantasy I have read. I wouldn't expect for Etjole or Alitah to change much, but I had high expectations for Simna. He could have developed into a more interesting character than the treasure seeking person that he is. Not that he's a bad person, but, rather, he seems to have only a one track mind. Unfortunately, this never changes throughout the three books, despite the fact that Mr. Foster put him in several situations that should have had a serious impact on his character. Unfortunately, the author chose not to take advantage of these opportunities.

One thing I thoroughly enjoyed were the chapters on Hymneth, the antagonist of the story. Mr. Foster completely redeems himself from the cliched first chapter of INTO THE THINKING KINGDOMS in which we got our first glimpse of our villain. Hymneth is revealed to be a rather interesting character with different motivations than most fantasy villains. We get the quick version of the story of his life and we...well, I'll leave it to you to read the book. I don't want to ruin anything. Suffice it to say, the ending of the book is a unique twist on fantasy story resolution.

All in all, I truly enjoyed reading this series. Etjole is a very intersting character and his journeys through distant lands and the characters he meets there are truly fascinating. The storytelling is a bit repetetive at times and the characters can be infuriatingly static, but it is a romping adventure that is different than most epic fantasy out there today.

While I would have to agree that some of the events in the third book week were predictible, I feel that this is a highly entertaining and worthwhile book. The last chapters of the book alone are worth a king's ransom. I would reccomend this book to ADF fans new and old alike.

A brilliant series by Mr. Foster. The first book of the series was lovely masterpiece, the second did not quite fullfill the hopes the first had promised, this last one was, in my opinion, again better than the second. Maybe not achieving quite the free floating feeling of the first book, but a great story all the same. The whole series a lovely story, recommendated.

Book 3 of the series.

Well, I was hoping for something as quirky and smoothly written as the first two books. It was good, and it is an ending to a series I enjoyed, but it's not as good as the begining. Maybe it's just that it reveals too much at the end, sometimes a little mystery is more satisfying than a full disclosure. With that in mind, I'll shut up now.

This is a good book series. Different, but I like to read different things...gets you thinking in different ways! I would recommend this series to anyone!

While the ending of the story was a little weak, you have gotten to know the characters in the story. And if the character developement is good enough when the book or series draws to a conclusion, you want to keep 'in touch' with them and see what happens next.

It was a fun book, again a little weak in the end, but fast paced with many neat sub characters and stories to make the read a fast one.

If you are into a little bit different type of story (i.e. The Spellsinger Series) I think you will find this series enjoyable.

It took me a couple of chapters in A TRIUMPH OF SOULS to figure out exactly what sort of book I was reading. I had not read the previous books in the series.

At first I was put off, thinking, "hey, this is totally implausible." Then I figured out that the book follows the rules of a fairy tale. Or even, Aladdin and the Magic Lamp. So if a fisherman has a bottle containing the west wind, or the heroes venture into a land of faceless people -- well, in this universe, such things happen.

Once the reader orients him/herself to this world, the read becomes more comfortable. And it is full of wonderful surprises! It is as though Foster is familiar with the conventions of such fantasy worlds, and does some amazing switcheroos! These can be very surprising, and if you are reading in bed, the writer really wakes you up.

The characters are not too deep, excepting maybe for the lead character Etjole Ehomba, who is drawn with more depth and complexity. And a warning-- some characters are NOT what they may seem!

The ending of this novel is full of the most unexpected and amazing twists. Other bonuses -- The story has a very voluptuous, beautiful, and super sexy pricess type, named Visioness Themaryl. What happens to her at the end of the book is quite a testament to the contraryness of women, but for me to divulge the details would "spoil" the book for readers.

The novel is picaresque, united by a journey. Each place visited on the journey contains a separate adventure. The dangers the group of heroes face are very original. The structure is very loose-- almost like a chain of short stories involving the same characters. (Naturally, the novel has the obligatory map of the fantasy world, which seems to be a "stock in trade" of fantasy novels these days.)

Lastly, there's a really bad villain. About as unpleasant and dangerous as could be imagined.

A fun book. A good airplane book. Not to be taken too seriously. (I don't even think the author himself intended that the book be taken very seriously.)

The book was interesting enough that I finished it in two days.

imagine your favorite video...and instead of it taking 2 hours to watch and enjoy...with this trilogy, you can spend several weeks or several days reading this series...i welcome the time when i will read it again (for the 4th or 5th time)...the characters are so real, their personalities and natures such that i almost expect to meet them on the street...

not one who particularly cares for fantasy, i initially rejected the 1st book as being too slow and lacking that Tom Clancy energy...my mistake...after the first few chapters, i was fully attentive...excellent, excellent books for those with good visualization...

amazing trilogy...probably my most favorite literature to date...
if this trilogy is ever made into a movie...i want to be there to make sure they don't screw this one up...

I found this book to be a entertaining ending to the Trilogy. I enjoyed all three books, especially Triumph of Souls.

A Triumph of Souls is Alan Dean Foster's 3rd book in the "Catechist" Series. And,I hope,the last. The series, starting with "Carnivores of Light and Darkness," has deteriorated to a mechanical and predictable formula by this time: Etolje and his friend get attacked by (insert amazing or unusual phenomenon here). Etolje saves his friends by doing something amazing. His sidekick Simna accuses him of sorcery. Etolje claims no sorcery. The group moves on. If this series had been my introduction to Mr. Foster's works, I would have crossed him off my list of enjoyable authors.