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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I can't wait for the sequel..., March 27, 2009
Yim has lived her entire life with a Wise Woman, sheltered and barely loved, until the day the Seer shows up to take her to her destiny. All Yim knows of her destiny is that she is The Chosen, and must bear a child though she has no clue who the father is supposed to be. Yim has visions, and often sees and converses with the Goddess Karm, the Goddess Of Balance. She's seen a name in her visions that means nothing to her now - Theodus. But once on the road, the Seer is set upon and killed by thieves during their travels, and Yim finds herself on the slave blocks in Durkin.
Honus is a Sarf, one who follows and serves a holy man called a Bearer. Honus's face is heavily tattooed, marking him as a master of martial disciplines. When Honus's Bearer Theodus dies, he left only one command for Honus: do not carry your own burden. So Honus must find someone to carry his pack. He begins with Yaun, a cowardly squire who hid in a latrine when the city of Lurwic was destroyed by The Devourer and his followers. But Yaun reneges and Honus must purchase a slave to carry his pack. He purchases Yim for only ten coppers, thus Honus and Yim's paths meet. Honus must travel far south to Bremven to find another Bearer to follow.
Honus soon discovers that Yim is no ordinary slave. Though she tries to escape (you'll love Auntie Flora), she quickly realizes traveling alone through the wasted lands of Luvein is not a good idea. She manages to keep her talents secret from Honus, who can also trance and walk the Dark Path with the dead.
'A Woman Worth Ten Coppers' is saved from being ordinary by it's characters, both of whom you'll fall in love with. They soon begin to learn from one another, and in time each will save the other. The world is nicely built but not overly extravagant, leaving the tale to be character-driven rather than world-driven. Side characters are interesting, and tell interesting tales of their own. Over all lurks the dark danger of Lord Bahl and his service to The Devourer, who threaten to take over the goodness of the Goddess Karm. Honus and Yim vow to uphold The Goddess Of Balance, each in their own separate ways.
This is the first book in Howell's new series, and I can't wait for the second book to come out. At a nicely rounded 324 pages it's neither too long nor too short, leaving no room for any boring interludes or superfluous descriptions. The dialogue is tight and realistic. This is a great start to what promises to be a great series. It's not overdone with too much blood or magic or narrative, and has just the right amount of action and adventure. I highly recommend this book to all fantasy lovers. I can't wait for the next installment. Enjoy!
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
If the woman's worth ten coppers, how much is the book worth?, April 4, 2009
Morgan Howell's first series, Queen of the Orcs, definitely had its ups and downs, with pedestrian prose but great society-building. With that series complete, what would Howell do for an encore? I bring you the first book in his new series, A Woman Worth Ten Coppers. It's an intriguing book, far better written than his first series, but it still has a few bumps to get over. Unlike his first series, it wasn't written all at once and published in a monthly fashion (the second book is coming out later this year), so there is hope that these bumps will be smoothed out in subsequent books. As it is, Howell sets up an interesting world and tells a pretty good tale.
Introductory books to a series have a lot of setting up to do, and Howell takes that burden on even more than most. There is a lot of setup in A Woman Worth Ten Coppers, and for a while I was annoyed by the seemingly glacial pace of the book. Howell gets Yim and Honus together fairly quickly, but then they start out on their journey and we get a lot of background information on the both of them, or on the world in general and how it works. Each are holding secrets from the other, Honus alternates between being considerate of Yim and being surly and dismissive of her, the latter usually when her questions of him start to get too close to things he doesn't want to talk about. They spend so much time talking past each other, hiding things that the reader is already aware of, that I seriously wanted to reach into the book and knock their heads together.
Things do change as their journey continues, though, and I started becoming more interested in both of them and how their destinies would intersect. This also happens as we learn more about the world in general (one which is much larger than the one he created in Queen of the Orcs, which was one of my criticisms of that series).
It's a good thing that Howell's characterization and mood setting has improved, because sadly the prose hasn't, or maybe I'm just not the intended audience. Most of the sentences are short and a bit stilted. The dialogue (especially the accented way some of the characters speak) seems a bit simple, though it's definitely hiding some adult concepts. It's an adult novel (no explicit sex or language, just ideas), which jars with the more basic prose. It just feels off.
Finally, slavery seems to be a major issue in Howell's books so far, as both series have had a slave as the main character (or one of them). It will be interesting to see how Howell continues to deal with this, considering the fact that Yim herself is given a slave late in the book. She's initially uncomfortable, and it will be interesting to see how that discomfort increases, or whether she will get used to it.
Ultimately, I did enjoy A Woman Worth Ten Coppers, though not as much as I might have otherwise. I'm looking forward to the second book to see where things go from here.
David Roy
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very Good, October 30, 2008
I'm rather torn about this author. I enjoyed the first 2 books of the Orc series, while not enjoying the conclusion. This one is even better then the orc series in some respects. Its an engrossing and entertaining read. While telling a dark story, it gives hints of violence, but thankfully steers clear of actually giving descriptions. The suggestions of romance help alleviate to a certain degree the darkness inherent in the overall story.
The one problem I have with the book, is in showing the villains actions. While it gave me a better feel for the overarching story, I've found that theres almost a direct correlation between how much screentime they give the bad guys and how much I enjoy a story. I also dislike having characters be introduced, starting to like them, and then have them be killed off. I sincerely hope the sequels will be as good as this one.
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