Customer Reviews

Wheel of the Winds

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I read M.J. Engh's "Wheel of the Winds" when it first came out, and I just reread it several weeks ago. Let me tell you, I don't waste my time rereading "stinkers." I found it even better the second time around.

Both the prose style and the story are delightful. Picture "Around the World in Eighty Days" set on a planet that does not rotate; hence the different peoples and creatures that inhabit it have all evolved and adapted to their environments in unique and fascinating ways. The world through which the Captain, the Warden, and the Exile journey is familiar enough to be imagined vividly by the reader, but different enough to be thought provoking. The Exile's origins are intriguing, and the Captain is an admirably strong female lead character. Her culture is one where gender equality is the norm (imagine!), where men and women can be good friends without being lovers, and where animals - especially a wonderful dog named Broz - play vital and respected roles.

I like this book so much I bought my son (a History and English teacher) a copy, and he loved it, too!

"Wheel of the Winds" follows three characters, known as "The Captain", "The Warden", and "The Exile" as they flee from somebody and take a journey around the world. They see a lot of landscapes and havea couple encounters with poorly described little furry creatures. And that's about it. Yes, the central problem with this book is that it lacks purpose. Although billed as a story about self-discovery, none of the main characters really catch your attention. As far as imagination goes, this book is seriously lacking. It's just too long and boring to justify reading it, despite one decent action sequence.

I might say that Engh's dialogue is wooden, but I don't want to insult wood. The writing is just awful most of the time, with the characters simply pouring forththeir emotions and thought processes. It doesn't ever sound the slightest bit like real dialogue. Avoid this one, folks, cause there's nothing to see here.