Anthony and Lackey Strike Gold - A Little Treasure
|
|
I normally find Anthony's Xanth series pretty lightweight, however this collaboration with Lackey has depth, humour, and an unlikely love story, all skillfully intertwined. In the age of the Mazonians women are the superior sex. Only they are gifted with magic, unlike their inferior menfolk. Xylina is a beautiful, talented young woman who is dogged with such bad luck that at her woman's trial she picks a brutish Faro to hopefully put an end to her miserable life. He is however shockingly defeated by Xylina's impressive display of magic, strength and nerve, and is traditionally taken as her personal slave. Xylina's hardships are skillfully manipulated by two powerful individuals; Queen Adria, who murdered Xylina's mother and views her as a potential threat to the throne, and the demon Ware, who has his own hidden plans for her. A a result the young woman finds herself on a quest she could not decline. She is accompanied by Ware, the now faithful Faro and a handful of soldiers, to retrieve a coveted stone from a far off land. This gem is a shard from a larger crystal responsible for Mazonite magic, however the joining together of it and its missing shard could result in all Mazonite magic changing forever. As the distance away from Mazonia increases, Xylina finds her magic fading. Her powers of conjuration offer no protection to either herself or her men. As her journey continues, her feelings of intense hatred towards Ware change, however any union between them is forbidden. A relationship with a demon would render her unclean and therefore unfit to wear the Mazonite crown, something she does not want but seems destined to fight for. Will Xylina risk changing her very world? How will she deal with Ware's seductive plans? Read this book - it's fantastic.
|
|
A fantasy adventure of a young heroine on a quest
|
|
This book is an interesting fantasy adventure but a little bit slow going at times. The young heroine survives many perils including a quest to retrieve a magic shard. This is really like two novels. It takes the first half of the book to create a situation which launches her on the quest, most of the second half to cover the quest, and has a short, after-the-quest ending which can be pretty much anticipated. The authors seem to be a little casual of disposing of various groups of men in the tale, and women would probably like the book better than men.
|
|
Not up to par
|
|
Although I thought the beginning was interesting and even wrenching at times, with a refreshing new idea for a setting and story line, the middle and end were vastly dissapointing. I think Ms. Lackey can do bettter than this writing even in collaboration with other writers such as in "Tiger, Tiger, Burning Bright" but this book was such a huge dissapointment that I could not even stand to keep it on my shelf
|
|
|
An Enchanting Book, In More Ways Than One
|
|
This book was a diamond in the rough. Recommended to me by a friend, I thought at first that it would be just another unoriginal Fantasy book. From the first page I knew that I was wrong. In this book a young woman's struggle to balance what she's been taught and what society has showed her becomes apperant. In this book women are magic, which makes them the warriors, bankers, etc., while the men are slaves or freedmen who have absolutely no rights. If any man touches a hair on a womans head, he could be executed or exiled. This young woman, Xylina, is an orphan who is too powerful for some people in high places to be comfortable. This book is a true gem for any Fantasy fan. 11 out of 10!!!
|
|
|
United States | 
United Kingdom | 
Canada