ice_of_dreams: (nabiki)
In an alternate universe where magic is part of daily lives, Nigel Oldhall is tasked to Africa by Queen Victoria to find a jewel that could seal all the magic in the world to the British Empire.

The first book was very frustrating for me, imagine four people continuously misunderstanding each other about what the other feels, about what they think and what they were doing. I thought Emily was too quick to judge that she had too little faith in stock with a person who had tried to do everything for her. But other than that I liked the plot, and I liked the ending (if they had taken Emily completely out of the script, I would have been fine with it too. I thought she was too shallow and too dependent.) As for Nigel, he was a character that built on himself, he found himself in the first book and proceeded to do what he must. It was a good story amidst the myestery of a missing brother and a secret organization out to rule the world.

Peter, which was more of a star of the second book than the first was obviously a dragon even from the start of the series, it was a wonder that Emily didn't guess it right off the bat. In the second book, Peter, who was not doing anything much to find the jewel stumbles upon its unwitting owner. And unlike Emily, I liked Sofie. Emily was completely hopeless on her own while Sofie tried to fight circumstances, think for herself and take her own destiny. Sofie and Peter's adventure in India amidst a were-revolution and political intrigue.

The final book was a treasure because of the were-dragons and because of the Chinese cultures, in the other books, though they were set in Africa and India respectively, they were still more-or-less British because we were following these very British people trudging across respective English occupied countries, with some annotation that ahhh, we are abroad. In the third book, there was more Chinese folklore. We see a rich new culture, about the Chinese belief system, their afterlife, and what it might have been had there been magic amidst China at that time, when their emperor was deposed. More than that, we were also following not just Nigel Oldhall, but Lady Jade and The Third Wife of the Emperor.

The only disappointment had been the ending, probably because I thought the avatar was too ... wishy washy and too "You have found your soul mate" (and who takes broad generalizations like that in stride?) All in all a good series, but not something I'd re-read.
ice_of_dreams: (nabiki)
I really love romantic fantasy, the genre is lighter than all the epic fantasy with the right amount of world building.

This is a world set in the distant future, where I presume Earthlings, decided to hop in their spaceships and colonize a new planet. Unfortunately for them, the planet was harsh, and natural disasters kept ruining the buildings and the environment that they built. In the midst of all of these natural disasters some colonizers went back to Earth, while others dealt with the natural disasters, hence sources and shields were born. Sources and shields were people who could prevent natural disasters from happening, and the world reverted to original feudal society.

The world building is great, and the way that the system works is all explained, and the societal rules, even the law is all laid out to people Even though the Pair that we're following doesn't dabble in politics and the law, it was easily explained... possibly due to the fact that the author is a lawyer.

It's fun to watch the mystery that's happening around High Scape and how Taro and Lee deal with the natural disasters and their talent arises. I have read that some people are a touch annoyed at Lee due to the fact that she really didn't have anything to be apprehensive with Taro about... but that's how prejudice works, and I liked the story all the better because of it. Because she had to overcome it, and she had to understand it.

I think this book is worth looking in to if not for the new world (it's sort of quasi-futurustic, like... Sharon Shinn's Archangel series and Robin D. Owen's Heart Mate series) but it's mostly rooted in medieval fantasy. And I am eagerly waiting to read more.

November 2010

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