Customer Reviews

Watchtower

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

 

 

I have been reading and rereading the Tornor Chronicles for many years now - about once a year for twenty years or so. They are a wonderful, some times sad, some times uplifting, and a very human read. They are not densely worded, nor are they fluffy and lifeless. Just right, from my point of view; though now that I'm older, I would have liked them to be longer. After reading Lynn's other works, I realized that the Tornor Chronicles are early works, brilliant though they are, and as you read thru the trilogy, you will see Lynn's voice get stronger, and more confident. I can't get enough, and I want to know about some of the other story lines that arc thru the whole series: just how was the red clan formed, and how does Raven Bato fit into it? What about the Anhard wars, and how were the keeps built and why? How did Soren's mother come to Kendra on the Delta? Come on Ms. Lynn! There are more books to write in this wonderful world of yours!

I picked up this book in the bookstore while waiting to meet afriend. I was immediately engaged in the story -- it beginsdramatically -- but did not expect to find the book so unusually thought-provoking. Lynn's plot contains a number of the standard fantasy elements: a prince in exile, a loyal retainer, an enemy usurper, and an idyllic valley. But there is much more to this tale than first meets the eye. The author has woven her story with many subtle issues and unusual themes. The book is not particularly fast-moving, but then, one does not wish it to be. The slower pace gives the reader time to absorb the complex personalities of the characters and to explore the familiar but strange imaginary landscape. I look forward to reading the second two books of the trilogy and recommend this book to any reader interested in well crafted fantasy.

The first book of one of my favorite trilogies, it ranks with LeGuin's "Earthsea" works. I like my fantasy subtle, not full of
stock "beings", and set in interesting cultures, and this fills
those requirements entirely. If you're looking for action and
adventure, rather than exploration, look elsewhere. I only wish
Ms. Lynn had fulfilled the early promise of this work, rather than
publishing sporadically and parsimoniously. I especially like the
way that the society described in the trilogy evolves during the course of the three books.

First of all, an important note before I begin (since this tends to be the biggest suspicion directed at a male reviewer grading a female author's book): I'm not a fantasy chauvinist. I rank Robin Hobb and Patricia McKillip among my favorite fantasy authors. With this disclaimer behind me, on to the review.

I'll start with the positive side. Lynn knows how to write. That's certain. Her action development is quite proper, her characters are pretty believable too. Major warning however: in Lynn's novels from the Tornor series, every character, be it male or female, is involved in a pretty explicit homosexual affair. I tend to find this a bit exaggerated at best, but since humankind has had cultures which exhibited this behavior too (ancient Greece), I'm not putting this as a con of her stories, just a warning.

The real downsides are much more important. The major one is... lack of action. This shows mostly in this part of the trilogy. The word "trilogy" is actually not really warranted here, since you'd tend to think about a trilogy as three _connected_ novels - if it were so here, I guess my mark would be at least one star higher, since this novel does quite good for a starter-of-three. The only problem is that... it isn't. There isn't really too much happenning here, the book is short and the action is virtually characters travelling from one location to another. Maybe there are fans of "descriptive fantasy", but I'm not one of them. I either need to have a good plot or a decent problem to think over when I read a book, this one has neither.

Actually, if you want a "soft" transformation from some slow-paced, non-fantasy literature to fantasy, you might want to ignore the above and just read this, it might be a good choice for you. Otherwise, if you want something more subtle than hack'n'slash, I'd recommend Robin Hobb. If you want good quality hack'n'slash, go for Salvatore. If you just want plain epic fantasy, go for Brooks. Lynn is not the way to go here.

This book is pretty directionless from the start. You don't like or dislike the main characters, you don't like or dislike the enemies. Everyone is a typical person, which is certainly interesting, but also makes the book very difficult to really get into. The end comes, and leaves you unaffected, because you don't especially care what happens to anyone. Strangely, it's the book's very blandness that makes it worth reading. This isn't your average fantasy book. There's no beautiful princess, fantastic battle scene, superbly evil enemy... There are just a bunch of people going through the steps. It's neither boring nor engaging. It's just several events strung together, mundane as the real world but in a fantasy setting. Very different.

The book begins very strong -- it's a skilled entrance into action and immediate and dramatic character-building. I liked the style of writing throughout. Without spoiling the book, there is no climax. The best climax point would be in the action in the last few pages of the book -- by the time I got there, I thought there would be a big plot twist and the second book to pick up where it left off, but the ending was rushed, anti-climatic, and completed the novel like sweeping the dust under the rug. The second book picks up generations later with mostly unrelated people -- and they use that as a selling point for the series (that each novel stands alone). Ouch! Thankfully, the author's skill at ending a book with the same engagement that she starts it shows itself in the 2nd book. I'm now reading the third. I was so gripped by the characters in the first book and longed to see more bravery in the completion of the second book -- I was not disappointed I must have wept through the last 50 pages of the 2nd book. I was very disappointed that the 2nd book had little to nothing to do with the first one, all the characters you were in love with were long dead, and there wasn't even really mention of how things turned out for them.

I give this book 3 stars because it's worth 5 stars until the last chapter, which is worth only 1. That last chapter should have been the last 30-50 pages of the book.

I had read too many fantasy books but this one is different, it wants to seem more realistic than the others, but it's not a history book. The story is really god and the trama is great i recommended to everyone

I picked up this book because it had won the World Fantasy Award, and for the life of me I can't figure out why. The characters are bland, and the story seems a bit pointless. There's almost no excitement or drama, and the end is a let down. Still, the author does attempt to offer something more than the typical quest fare, and for that alone it's interesting. If you're looking for something serious, give it a try. Just don't expect too much from it.

The entire trilogy deals sensitively and intelligently with the issues of sexual identity of numerous characters woven through the plotlines. For readers who want complex and transformative images of their queer selves in literature, i recommend lynn's ouevre.

As an avid Star Wars fan I rarely read anything else, except stuff for school. This summer I found the second and third books in this trilogy and could not find the first one, BUMMER. When I fimally ordered the book, my anticipation was so high that I was sure that it was going to be a disapointment. "Watchtower" took me to another time and place. It allowed me to escape my body and experience the world of Arun. The second and third books hardly copmare to Lynn's Thrilling novel. Lynn creates a demanding presence with all of her characters that keeps reading this book right at the top of your things to do list.