@RUTGERS.ARPA:jmellby%ti-eg.csnet@csnet-relay.arpa (03/14/85)
From: John_Mellby <jmellby%ti-eg.csnet@csnet-relay.arpa> Review of The Harp of Imach Thyssel, Patricia C. Wrede This is the fifth book by Patricia, and she seems to keep getting better! Her books seem to be characterized by good plots, believable characters, and some of the very best prose you can find today! The background to the story is believable and detailed! This is not to say the book is perfect. The main character never gets a chance to develop significantly, and I wish this, like so many of the other best fantasy books today, would stop using the main character who is seemingly oblivious to the relationship forming between him and the female lead. ::SPOILER WARNING!! Emereck the minstrel is friends with a prince of a land who is being attacked by neighbors. He finds one of the Lost Gifts of Alkyra, the Harp of Imach Thyssel. This legendary harp has great powers but is said to cause injury to anyone who uses it (sound familiar?). Several of the great powers of the world (one each, good, evil, and neutral) are trying to get the harp for themselves. There is a happy ending, but I won't say more about it. Some of the best things about the book: The prince has one of the best secondary characters I have seen in a long time. Too bad he doesn't stick around longer. While individual elements are similar to other fantasy, the total blend of story is well done. The real villians, and heroes are not revealed instantly, but develop as the book progresses. The background to the story is detailed and intricate, and offer good support to the story. Unfortunately the background is so interesting, the reader wishes more of the background was revealed. Final summary: Buy this Book! Read it! I remain: John R. Mellby Texas Instruments JMELLBY%TI-EG@CSNET-RELAY Stay Alert! Trust no One! Keep your LASER Handy!
glenn@nsc.UUCP (Glenn Skinner) (03/18/85)
In article <967@topaz.ARPA> @RUTGERS.ARPA:jmellby%ti-eg.csnet@csnet-relay.arpa writes: >From: John_Mellby <jmellby%ti-eg.csnet@csnet-relay.arpa> > >Review of The Harp of Imach Thyssel, Patricia C. Wrede > >This is the fifth book by Patricia, and she seems to keep getting better! >Her books seem to be characterized by good plots, believable characters, >and some of the very best prose you can find today! The background >to the story is believable and detailed! He then goes on to make more detailed points. I also am fresh from reading the book. I came away from it feeling quite disappointed. I felt the plot and characterizations to be fair at best. My disappointment was probably heightened by contrast with two other books I've read in the past couple weeks. The first is _The Black Company_, by Glen Cook. Both Wrede and Cook are new authors for me -- I picked up both books as experiments, hoping that I'd find gems. Cook fared better in the comaprison. Although Wrede's prose style is superior (based only on the books under discussion), Cook's plot was more inventive (though not very inspired either) and his characterizations better. However, both books pale by comparison to _The Infinity Concerto_, by Greg Bear. This book is far superior to the others in prose style, plot, and characterization. Both this book and Wrede's feature heroes who are initially callow and naive. Wrede's character remains static, and is none the wiser at the end of his adventures. On the other hand, Bear's hero undergoes genuine and believable growth, maturing from a fumbling adolescent to a self-assured adult. I won't attempt to summarize the plot; it's too rich for me to do it justice and a surface description would fail to convey the lushness of texture of the story's setting. I recommend the book highly. -- Glenn Skinner