Hooray for Sean Russell!
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Humane, beautiful, humorous, poetic, genteel; scattered with lines and passages that inspire reverie ... I have such a grasshopper mind that I rarely finish even short books anymore, but for me this novel was worth the time, and I am looking forward to the continuation in "Gatherer of Clouds" ... I am glad to see that Mr. Russell is getting hardcover deals now, and I wish him every success, as he became one of my favorite writers while I was only partway through this novel
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This book is good if you like bourgeois politics and drama
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Once again a Western author has managed to take two or three non-western ideas and make a dramatic story that could win an award as a made for TV movie. The dialogue drips with politeness and tempers are rarely lost. I would have liked to have found some depth and spirit. All I found was a bunch of stuffy aristocrats with Asian-sounding names who are all trying to best one another. The attempt was made to integrate a quazi-Buddhist religion to counter the over dramatic main characters, but the monk you come closest to is the religions shining star and happens to be an amazing super munk. If (as I expect) foreshadowing holds true, he just happens to be the original master himself reincarnated! When the characters shut up you can almost see an interesting plot develope. All in all I would have to say that I was hoping for a story that represented the front cover... A serene monk lost in meditation... A more appropriate cover might have been a monk on a leash.
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Brain candy!
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Easily one of the best culturally based fantasy novels that has ever been written. The "Shogun" of modern fantasy. Superb.
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Breaking Molds in Fine Style
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If there is one criticism to be levelled at Tolkien, it is that his Lord of the Rings books were so wonderful that they spawned scores of annoying imitators. Sean Russell did not fall into this trap. He created an unique (for this genre) society based upon Asian, especially Chinese, themes. His charcters, which in another setting might be Tolkienish, here are incredibly refreshing. His plot is as epic as can be. Also, THIS BOOK AND ITS SEQUEL ARE NOT FORMULAIC! The jaded conclusion that my many years of Sci-fi readership led me to expect, did not occur. I cannot reccomend this book highly enough.
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So Cliche
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This novel is a total cliche. I will not actually read the second novel to confirm that all the remaining cliches are confirmed -- however I would say that most of the plot appears to have been stolen from a Transformers cartoon from when I was a kid. Everyone is one dimensional -- either perfectly good or perfectly evil. I presume that he will kill one main character (the foreshadowing for who is evident) and one bad guy will turn out to be good in the end -- of course the disgruntled member of the evil army that the good guys captured and then got to be their guide -- good grief. I won't continue, suffice it to say I thought this was bad.
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