Buy the book: Amazon US
I’ve mentioned this
before, I’ll mention it again: when it comes to genres, fantasy is my true
love. I was very young when I first discovered fantasy and my love of it never
really left me. This is the only genre I can really say that about as I tend to
go through phases with most others. I also love a bit of romance mixed in with
my fantasy, so when this book was billed as a fantasy romance, I jumped at the
chance to read it!
Information:
Title: The Warlock
Author: Deborah J.
Lightfoot
Series: Waterspell #1
Publisher: Seven
Rivers Publishing
Target Audience: Not
sure, possibly YA+
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 375 pages
Story: Drawn
into the schemes of an angry wizard, Carin glimpses the place she once called
home. It lies upon a shore that seems unreachable. To learn where she belongs
and how to get there, the teenage traveler must decipher the words of an alien
book, follow the clues in a bewitched poem, conjure a dragon from a pool of
magic -- and tread carefully around a seductive but volatile, emotionally
scarred sorcerer who can't seem to decide whether to love her or kill her.
Thoughts and
impressions: Well, really this
first book in the trilogy is more of a fantasy than a fantasy romance, but the
seeds are in place to germinate into something more. The relationship between
the characters, Carin and Verek, doesn’t really grow all that much between the
start of the story and the end. I would have liked to have seen a bit more
evolution between them, but I will accept that that is still to come.
All throughout the
book my mind was going mad with comparisons. First of all, I had Beauty and the
Beast going through my head as Verek is portrayed as having a beastly
personality and there is some emphasis placed on his “ruined hand” where he is
missing a finger, and Carin is described as being a very bonny lass. Then we
have an isolated mansion that’s fallen into decay, a small number (three) of
servants, a huge library and Carin’s love of books – I think we have most of
the ingredients there for Beauty and the Beast.
Some way into the book
I started coming up with comparisons to Trudi Canvan’s Black Magician trilogy too. In those books Sonea is scarred of
Akkarin to begin with but slowly comes to know and accept him and even to love
him.
After this, Through the Looking Glass by Lewis
Carroll is introduced. The first time the title was given and the opening read
out, I didn’t make the connection as it has been probably more than 15 years
since I read either Alice book. To be honest, I was very surprised that the
author brought our world into the mix, as for me that puts this book
precariously on that precipice between what makes a fantasy novel and what’s
sci-fi. I was nevertheless interested in finding out where she would take
things with the relationships between worlds.
The one thing that I was
not particularly keen on was the long spiels of dialogue. I’m an adherent to
the saying “less is more” when it comes to dialogue as I find that whenever
characters start on what are pretty much monologues, it doesn’t sound natural unless
the character is presented in that way, such as Myra, Lord Verek’s housekeeper.
I enjoyed her character!
This being the first book
in the trilogy, I find that I’m interested in seeing this through to the end
and I will be reading the other two books as my reading schedule allows.
Style: At the beginning, I found the style to be pretty
rocky. I don’t know whether I just got used to it or whether the author found
her writing element, but further into the book this stopped bothering me.
Final verdict: Good! It does have a lot to live up to and it didn’t
reach the ranks of those fantasy greats (though to be fair, it’s hard to live
up to anything if I’m comparing you with Tolkien). A very enjoyable read. 4
stars
This sounds awesome! I haven't read a lot in this genre, but I'm beginning to love it:)
ReplyDeleteRea, thanks for the review. I'm glad you enjoyed Book 1 of WATERSPELL. In the interest of full disclosure: The trilogy has a definite and deliberate science-fictional twist. That layer of the story rises nearer the surface in Book 2 and is on full display by the end of Book 3. The romantic element also comes to fruition in the later books. Just wanted you to know. :-) Thanks again for hosting this quick stop on my book tour.
ReplyDelete@Christina Fiorelli There are some really good books in the fantasy / fantasy romance genre! This book in particular made for a very interesting, and different, read! =)
ReplyDelete@Deborah J. Lightfoot Hii Deborah, thanks for your comment. I've actually already read the second book (just finished it about an hour ago) - turns out I couldn't resist!! The review of that one will be up at some point during the week. Unfortunately, I don't have the time for book 3 yet but I will be reading it as soon as time allows.
ReplyDeleteIn mixing fantasy and sci-fi like this, at least you've ensured that your book will remain more or less unique!
Rea, 'tis wonderful to hear that you couldn't resist!
ReplyDeleteToo, "unique" is far cry better than "formulaic." Thanks.:-)