mass market paperback, 672 pages
English language
Published June 15, 2000 by Tor Fantasy.
Still a good book, though I was more critical of it this time through than last.
I wouldn't have thought it, but I did really enjoy this book, even if maybe it was too much of teh w33pi3z and long passages describing nothing. A well-crafted introduction to start off plus a hundred pages of climbing through a wet featureless cavern was actually one of the best parts, made interesting with witty banter between the three characters.
Later it slows down and I'm a lot more ambivalent about the second half of the book; the characters aren't changing much and Rhapsody becomes a dumb-as-rocks Mary Sue for a while, until the story refocuses on epic battles near the end. From what I hear about the later books they're almost frozen into their current selves, which I'd think there's only so much you can do with. Achmed's new powers aren't nearly as interesting as his old ones, to boot.
Still, it's a book that's basically full of wonder …
I wouldn't have thought it, but I did really enjoy this book, even if maybe it was too much of teh w33pi3z and long passages describing nothing. A well-crafted introduction to start off plus a hundred pages of climbing through a wet featureless cavern was actually one of the best parts, made interesting with witty banter between the three characters.
Later it slows down and I'm a lot more ambivalent about the second half of the book; the characters aren't changing much and Rhapsody becomes a dumb-as-rocks Mary Sue for a while, until the story refocuses on epic battles near the end. From what I hear about the later books they're almost frozen into their current selves, which I'd think there's only so much you can do with. Achmed's new powers aren't nearly as interesting as his old ones, to boot.
Still, it's a book that's basically full of wonder and travel, with writing that isn't spare but flows quickly. The constant exploration really appealed to me, and left me with a warm and fuzzy feeling in the end. Unfortunately, at 1000+ pages per sequel, I'm not sure if I'll ever get to them.
