Customer Reviews

The Truthsayer's Apprentice (Book One of the Loregiver Series)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I accidentally bought the Truthsayers Apprentice one day, I thought it was a new book by Deborah Chester, it wasn't till I got home that I relized I had picked up a book by an author I had never heard of. I hesitated about reading it, but eventually I just had to pick it up (I can't resist an interesting looking book). Well, it has turned out to be one of my favorite stories. It had adventure, excitement, and all the other stuff needed for a good book. Often authors make their characters unhuman like by making them perfect, other times authors make their character too full of mistakes to the extent that you no longer like or respect the character. Christian's characters are real in the sense they make human mistakes, but they always manage to redeam themselves in some way or another, making it possible to enjoy the story without hating the characters. My one complaint about the book was that it seemed to be part of a series, yet no where on the book did it say what series it was a part of. I suppose that I will have to search out more of Christian's books and hope I happen upon more in that series (if it does happen to be part of a series).

The Truthsayer's Apprentice begins with the apprentice, Dalin, who is sent out on a mission by his master. But his travels are interrupted early on when he spots an evil looking gang. The unlikely travellers in this remote corner of the world are unusual and Dalin follows them to consequently witnesses the murder of his master. Unsure what to do, Dalin follows the group. However, the runemaster and leader of the group discovers him and leaves him (nearly) for dead.

Dalin is saved by a second group of travelers to this remote area, and joins them in their search of the magical Robe that was stolen during the murder. The rest of the book follows the story of Dalin's pursuit to avenge his master's death and retrieve the Robe. We also learn the reasons why the different groups of people all seek possession of the magical Robe.

Christian's writing is simple to understand although the plot and storyline are not as clear. The development of characters is jolted and my personal opinion is that too many were introduced at once, making it difficult to keep track of who is who and what their backgrounds are. It was even difficult to remember which elves, dwarves and humans belonged to which group as Christian introduces a great many tribes and peoples. In the end, it made for tedious reading - although the book definitely picked up towards the end, when readers get more insight into the situation.

Reading the book, I felt like I had maybe somehow skipped a prequel to it; such is the assumption by the author that you understand the background and peoples. The characters are underdeveloped and it is therefore difficult to be sympathetic to their causes, with the exception perhaps of Dalin. The setting is both imaginative and interesting, but unfortunately, we are not provided with any details of this magical world.

It is not the story, setting or characters in themselves that I find lacking, but probably the structure and development of the book itself. I feel that Christian ought to think more carefully about how she introduces characters, histories, and plots to the reader. Christian obviously put a lot of thought into this world, judging by the detail of the appendix at the end - if she had applied the same sort of dedication to the writing, this book would have been a lot better (and a lot fatter).

The book deserves three stars for the amount of effort that seems to have gone into it and because Christian has plenty of imagination, although it borders on a 2-star construction for me.

With "The Truthsayer's Apprentice", Deborah Christian truly comes into her own.

An enjoyable plot, a group of complex, believable characters, and a world of shape-shifters and avatars, what more could you ask for in a fantasy novel. One of the most enjoyable new books I've read since "The Baker's Boy". I can't wait for the next one in the series.

I had accidentally bought this book from the Science Fiction Book Club as it had a description under it for a book I had wanted to buy. I was a bit disappointed when I opened it up and saw it was a book by an author I had never read, but for some reason I did not return it. It sat on my bookshelf for months after that and one rainy day I finally found pity on it and opened it up.

That very first day I read through about a third of it and stayed up till one in the morning eagerly devouring each successive page as the "movie" unfolded behind my eyes. I couldn't believe the treasure I had almost let go to waste. Christian created a world rich in elves, selkie (shape-shifting seals), Norsemen, and Saami (sort of what Native Americans were before they crossed over the land bridge into the Americas; they lived in the very northern areas of Norway, Sweden and Finland) and all the amazing runic magic and shape-shifting bears that goes along with that. Although we only get Dalin and maybe the Original Truthsayer (not sure on this) that are part of the Saami peoples, I find it amazing how she merged all these things into one fantastic book. (I could go on and on about this subject since I am currently trying to write a book about old Norse and Saami life, but I wouldn't want to bore you.) :)

This book is now on my favorites list, books which I periodically go back to when I don't feel like getting into any new reading. Books that calm me and remind me why I love to read and write fantasy so much. So, from one writer to another, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I do hope you write further books in this series in the future. You have at least one person here who will be first in line to buy it. :)

Oh, by the way. I bought this book years ago and its still my favorite. And I'm still waiting to see what happens to those elves. They still have other things they need to find and right now they're just sitting out there in the cosmos waiting for their next task. :p

"Phome" has it so right. Confusing plot, overmany hastily sketched characters obscures an otherwise promising book. Have the feeling that a roleplaying game has been fleshed out to make a book. Yet I didn't toss it into the to-be-traded bin before I finished reading it.
I've tried to read far worse. Am I damning with faint praise? Perhaps. D.C. has potential. Dalin is not an unsympathetic hero. The first fifth of the book is almost riveting while it is told from his view. The middle part of the book gets confusing. Unnecessary people are dragged in as main characters without proper development. Then she comes roaring back for a somewhat strong finish.
Again, in agreement with "Phome" I found D.C.'s allusions to earlier adventures on the part of supporting characters to be distracting. And the hinting of more adventures to come irritating. I read it. I'm not keeping it. And I will only buy D.C.'s works in a used condition (cheap) until she handles her problems with plot and characterization.

Two comments on suspending disbelief with this book --

First, very easy to do in the reading. The story line is complex, but not overly so. Characters sympathetic, plot meaningful. For those familiar with shamanic principles and earth magic, all of those elements make perfect sense. For those unfamiliar with same, a good opportunity to learn.

Second, very difficult to do in that the author is my sister. Let it be a testament to the quality of this book that I read it as avidly as I have many of my favorite authors' and was constantly shaking my head that this is my sister's work. I begrudgingly give credit to she whom I fought with constantly as a youngster. Way to go, Sis!

"The Truthsayer's Apprentice" takes place in a mideaval fantasy world -- elves, dwarves, magic, shape-changers, etc. The main character, Dalin, is a 15-year old apprentice to the kingdom's Truthsayer. The two of them live in remote mountains, studying, until the king calls upon the Truthsayer to, well, say if someone is telling the truth.

One group of people kill the Truthsayer and steal the magical robe that gives him his powers. Dalin pursues, both to recover the robe and avenge his master's murder. He quickly falls in with a second group who also want the Truthsayer's Robe. Along their journey to recover the Robe, Dalin learns about his magical powers, and learns what it takes to be the Truthsayer.

Unlike the other reviewers, I think this book has only one main problem. The second group (elves mainly) adamently refuse to tell Dalin WHY they want the Robe. There really isn't any reason for this refusal; it just makes them all seem like selfish, rude bullies. By the very last chapter of the book, Dalin and the reader are STILL ignorant of why this second group want the robe and why they think Dalin should give it to them. This is stupid and very annoying.

This one actually kept me up days. I found the characters engaging, and the plot quite facinating. Besides, it spawned the line: "There's nothing quite like 400lbs of were-bear to ruin your day."

All in all it's a fun read, and provided that the author isn't too dead/discouraged to write more, I'd love to see a sequel.

The beginning and the second half of the book are rather interesting. However, there are too many cliches, and the pursuit has a very strong role-playing flavour. Also, the pursuit gets very boring very fast (the greater part of the first half of the book). The characters are not developed very well; the focus is more on the action. And the latter also lacks sometimes; e.g., the fighting is done in a role-playing kind of way. It is a pity that the story - though rather original - does not transcend its apparent role-playing (yes, again that word) roots.

Werebears and rune magic and viking-like peoples, a heroic quest and suspenseful villany. I thought it was great, with sympathetic hero (Dalin) and the elves he encounters very intriguing. Looking forward to the next one in the series.