Lucidonline

The first proper fantasy book I ever read was of course the Hobbit and that was quickly followed by the Lord of the Rings trilogy. That was when I was about 7 or 8. Unfortunately I gave up on reading for some years. When I was about 14 in secondary school my English teacher used to bring in a selection of books that the school had bought for us to read.

I read some strange sci-fi that I really didn’t care for. Then one Thursday afternoon I found Magician by Raymond E. Feist. I spent the next two days devouring this book and thoroughly enjoying it.

Magician follows Pug, an orphan, Thomas, a cooks son and Arutha the son of a duke. An invasion by peoples from another world begins a tale that spans both worlds and many years. The war brings about events that change the life of the three main characters, revealing impressive destinies for all of them. It is western fantasy at its best with a mixture of Asian culture mixed in.

For those of you not in the know The Desert Spear is the sequel to The Painted Man by Peter V. Brett. You can read my review of The Painted Man (Warded Man in the US) here. I received the book over a week ago but due to migraines I was unable to crack its spine until this week.

Following on from the Painted Man we begin our journey with Jardir, learning of him through flashbacks as he starts to unite humanity under his banner, proclaiming himself the deliverer. Similar to Arlen in the previous book we follow Jardir from his training as a child to the height of his power in the Krasian desert. I was a little apprehensive when I realised the novel would be following Jardir so closely rather than Arlen, Leesha or Rojer because Jardir before had appeared slightly two dimensional in the Painted Man as he was only in it for a short time and his character development was short. But now we learn of his motivations, his dreams and the demons that haunt him in the daylight also. The first third of the book follows Jardir and brings us into his world, a world very different from that of Arlens home. While I am still unsure if I like Jardir I can certainly respect and understand him more.

I don't think any other author has made such a splash in the fantasy genre as Patrick Rothfuss.  I'm amazed by the number of people who I would never have considered fantasy readers but have read The Name of the Wind.

As always we must first discuss the plot.  The name of the wind is about Kvothe.  We first meet him as a tavern owner in a backwards town.  When a wandering storyteller chances upon him Kvothes amazing story begins to unfurl.  I cannot give to much of the story away as it really would ruin it.  Suffice it to say Kvothe as an orphan begins an education in magic that will bring him through extraordinary ordeals.

The name of the wind does not follow the normal conventions of storytelling and firmly leaves behind the simple 3 act structure that many people have become dependent on.  Instead it is a refreshing look at an orphan with an extraordinary destiny that is revealed to us at the beginning of the book.  Rather than ruin the suspense it has the effect of drawing us further into the novel.

As this is the first review of the new and improved Lucidonline.net i thought it was important to start with a really strong entry for the review section.  The painted Man is one such entry.

I had stopped reading fantasy novels for several months as I felt that there was nothing new or fresh that deserved my attention.  On a whim i ordered several books online.  The Name of the Wind (review coming soon), The Blade Itself (also a review coming soon) and The Painted Man. 

What a treat all of these books were.  I started reading The Painted Man first because the premise intrigued me.