V itibaren Chumalu, Zanjan, İran itibaren Chumalu, Zanjan, İran

Bir Klasik.

Amerika'daki zengin insanların çeşitliliğinin açıklayıcı bir portresi ve paralarını harcadıkları şok edici (israf?).

This was my first foray into the works of Emily Gee, and I have to say that it has encouraged me to add her to the list of authors whose writing I enjoy. The story is not hugely original: ancient curse, chosen but reluctant saviour who embarks on the quest to save the world only after suffering a terrible loss, magic powers passed down by blood, court intrigues, (so far) one sided romantic attractions, these have all been staples of the fantasy genre since its invention. The most unusual factor in the book's basic premise is the fact that the heroine, who even very early on in this book is being clearly set up as a future love interest for the reluctant saviour hero, spends a fare amount of the book using her powers to masquerade as a man (feminists of the world would no doubt leap on this fact and decry the book as promoting masculine dominion over downtrodden women everywhere, the LGBT community, on the other hand, may offer a more positive spin). Nevertheless that does not detract from the fact that this is a good story. The world and characters are well realised, and through the course of the book given a reasonable sense of history through stories and legends told by the characters as well as anecdotes about where they come from, people they've known and so on. That is not to say, however, that Gee spends pages and pages developing her world with long sections of exposition, almost every detail is related in some way to the main plot, or its relation is justified by the situation. The plot itself is diverse and reasonably well balanced between action, intrigue, romance and the inevitable travelling scenes that have to happen when your characters' primary method of getting around in the world is either on foot or by horse (although Gee does well to ensure that this last element does not get too dull by using such scenes as opportunities to develop her characters and their relationships with one another). Personally I look forward to the next installment in this trilogy, and I recommend this part to anyone that likes the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, Gail Z. and George R. R. Martin, Robert Jordan or Terry Goodkind. While not quite in the same vein, it is similar enough to be enjoyable.

I borrowed this book from a friend on Monday.. and finished it on Tuesday! It was absolutely wonderful and not something that I would normally be into (1930's circus life??). I can't tell you how many times I have picked this book up at the store, only to return it to the shelf in favor of the latest chick lit. The descriptions in this book are so richly detailed, I swear I could smell the animals! I can think of a million more things to say, but don't want to ruin it for anyone who hasn't read it. Excellent book!!