Alan Dean Foster

A Triumph of Souls

The final installment of the Catechist trilogy isn't much different from the previous volumes, other than a few twists at the end. Etjole, Simna, Hunkapa, and Alitah cross an ocean and a salt plain, do battle with a townful of demons and a forestful of undead, and make an agonizingly easy entrance into Hymneth the Possessed's stronghold. Aside from not having read the Evil Overlord List, Hymneth actually does have some character depth, though this is not really explored.

If you got through the second book and are still interested, read on - the ending is satisfying, though it remains fast and light like the rest of the writing.

Into the Thinking Kingdoms

Having crossed the Sea of Aboqua, Etjole Ehomba and his companions must find passage west across the Semordria Ocean somewhere in the Thinking Kingdoms. Though these kingdoms are supposed to be (and in some ways are) bastions of civilization, they harbor their own unique man-made hazards.

Surmounting obstacle after obstacle, the story remains fresh only in the strangeness of the situations; Etjole's seeming invulnerability lends a faery tale quality to the writing that some might term 'shallow'. Sadly, there is no real character development, despite ample opportunity for such, including the addition of another member to the party.

In the opening chapter we are treated to our first glimpse of the villain, who is frighteningly cliched. Beyond this diversion, there is little to distinguish this volume from the first in the trilogy. One or two of the trouble spots in which the party finds itself gets resolved in some mysterious way other than Etjole pulling something out of his pack.

If you enjoyed the lighthearted playfulness of the first book, by all means continue. The writing doesn't get any heavier, but there is always something weird just around the corner, and for some people that's reason enough to keep turning pages.

Carnivores of Light and Darkness

Etjole Ehomba is just a herder of sheep and cattle among the small tribe of the Naumkib. When strange-looking foreigners wash up mostly dead on the beach near their village, Etjole is suddenly propelled on a journey of unknown (but presumably high) difficulty by the dying charge of one of the light-skinned strangers. Taking up a quest to rescue a woman he has never met from an evil that has already claimed dozens, if not hundreds of lives of those who have already tried, Etjole seems completely outmatched. He is, after all, only a herdsman.

But a person may be one thing and other things besides, and we quickly find out that Etjole is a man of amazing resources. As we follow his long journey north through numerous perils, we are taken on a tour of one of the more bizarre fantasy worlds in the realm of speculative fiction. Carnivores pulls off being whimsical, inventive, and alien without letting that weirdness get in the way of the tale itself; rather, the strangeness is woven deftly together with plot and characters, and rarely fails to delight the reader. The utterly fantastic situations in which Etjole and his new companions find themselves never seem formulaic, and don't quite come across as 'yet another obstacle on the quest' - at least not in the first volume.

Carnivores is the first book in a trilogy, and I would recommend it to anyone with a strong imagination - it is certainly light reading, and doesn't evoke strong emotions, but it is an enjoyable tale if you appreciate the mythical.

<-- Prev Displaying results 0 - 3 of 3 Next -->

Read this group via RSS or Atom.

Enter your email address to receive email updates for new entries in this group: