Paperback, 496 pages
English language
Published Sept. 5, 2005 by DAW Trade.
On the distant world of Erna, four people--Priest, Adept, Sorcerer, and Apprentice--are drawn together to battle the forces of evil, led by the demonic fae, a soul-destroying force that preys on the human mind.
I tried to get into it, and it felt like all the pieces were there, but it just turned into a long slog for me 🤷
I keep trying to read books by C.S. Friedman, and they get praised by people whose opinion I cherish, but I just can't do it. I dislike the storyline that within the first quarter of the book strips the powerful female mage Ciani of all her memories and power. I roll my eyes at the chivalrous warrior-priest who sets out on a quest to cure his beloved Ciani. I gnash my teeth at the bad boy Tarrant, the vampire guy who assists them on their quest.
I plodded on because of the world-building, the glimpses of it that you receive. It has a touch of science fantasy, a genre beloved by me. But for all the great world-building and setting, I cannot get over how mediocre the story, how tedious and annoying the characters are. It started so well, and then got worse and worse for me. Thus we must …
I keep trying to read books by C.S. Friedman, and they get praised by people whose opinion I cherish, but I just can't do it. I dislike the storyline that within the first quarter of the book strips the powerful female mage Ciani of all her memories and power. I roll my eyes at the chivalrous warrior-priest who sets out on a quest to cure his beloved Ciani. I gnash my teeth at the bad boy Tarrant, the vampire guy who assists them on their quest.
I plodded on because of the world-building, the glimpses of it that you receive. It has a touch of science fantasy, a genre beloved by me. But for all the great world-building and setting, I cannot get over how mediocre the story, how tedious and annoying the characters are. It started so well, and then got worse and worse for me. Thus we must part ways, and the book ends up on my 'it's not you, it's me' shelf of books I desperately try to like, it just didn't happen that way.
