My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Category: Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Content: Strong language, A woman is repeatedly raped but there are no details given, sex is alluded to a few times but no details are given.
Five men and women find themselves flung into the magical land of Fionavar, First of all Worlds. They have been called there by the mage Loren Silvercloak, and quickly find themselves drawn into the complex tapestry of events. For Kim, Paul, Kevin, Jennifer and Dave all have their own part to play in the coming battle against the forces of evil led by the fallen god Rakoth Maugrim and his dark hordes.
I've heard a lot of good things about Guy Gavriel Kay's books, so I was really hoping I would love reading this. I have to say that I was a bit disappointed in this one. First off I need to mention that this is a portal type fantasy and I don't read a lot of those. I feel like that idea has been done a lot and it for some reason, in general, doesn't interest me, but I went into this with an open mind, and maybe too high expectations because of all the good things I had heard over the years from numerous friends about this author. Everyone talks about his poetic writing style, but aside from the beginning, I didn't find it all that fancy. Whether this is a plus or a minus I guess depends on what type of writing you enjoy.
As far as the overall story goes, I was a little surprised at the matter-of-fact way these five men and women went into this strange and alien world. I felt like most of them accepted it way too easily, and didn't hesitate enough over this journey they were about to take. There were other times as well that I felt like things were just a little too easily accepted. In general, I had a hard time connecting with the characters, and I feel like there was a lack of development for most of them. The overall tone of the book wasn't dark at all and I appreciated that, but I never felt like any of the characters were in any real danger. At least not until I got to the really dark thing that happens to one of the female characters near the end of the book, and because it didn't match the tone of the rest of the book, it felt out of place to me.
Another aspect of the book that I wasn't crazy about, and have just been struggling with in general lately is the whole predetermined thing that happens in fantasy a lot. Like Wheel of Time, these people are stuck in circumstances that they can't escape because they are who they are. I was ok with it in Wheel of Time, but I've become tired of it and I would much rather a story where people are in control of their own destinies. This book had several similarities to both Wheel of Time and Lord of the Rings. This was a story that included so many fantasy tropes I've seen before, although I know it was written way back before most of the other fantasy books I've read were even written. For that reason I can give it a bit of a pass on those things.
I did enjoy parts of the story enough to give it three stars. I found Dave and Kim's parts in particular to be rather compelling, along with the parts about the tree, but unfortunately I found this overall to not be as exciting or beautiful as I wanted it to be, and so I'm content to move on and not continue with the other two books. At this time I am undecided on whether I will try any other books by this author, but I think if someone tried to convince me to I might.
On a side note- I really love the cover of this book, or at least this version of it. There have been several over the years.
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