The Last of the Wilds by Trudi Canavan
Age of the Five: Book Two
My review of book 1, Priestess of the White, can be found here
The war between the Circlians and Pentadrians is over, but the cost has been high on both sides.
Although the architect of the White's victory, Auraya has little cause for self-congratulation: her days are spent trying to reconcile the Dreamweavers and the priesthood, while her nights are filled with nightmares where she walks in fields of blood and gore while the dead rise in accusation.
The Dreamweaver, Leiard, still struggling to come to terms with the ever more powerful memories of the long-dead Mirar, flees into the mountains with Emerahl, perhaps the last of the Wilds. Although not a Dreamweaver herself, Emerahl is powerfully gifted and helps Leiard to make sense of his strange jumble of memories. What they discover will change his life forever.
And far to the south, the Pentadrians lick their wounds and set about finding a new leader. Their faith unshaken by defeat, they are still resolved to bring the truth to the heathens of the north. Peace, it seems, must wait a while yet...
The Last of the Wilds held me enchanted throughout the entire book and easily beat the first book in the series. The world and main characters are now already built and defined and book two can and does focus on developing them further.
I love Canavan's ability to have so many point of views - I never felt even slightly annoyed when one chapter ended and it was time to see what somebody else was up to - every single character was just so interesting this time around. We are introduced to a few more characters and they along with the existing main characters are much more fleshed out and every single story line was just so interesting and... readable. The Gods are even more present in this book, and feel more human? Maybe that's just what happens when characters interact directly with deities who aren't omnipotent-present-etcetera.
I love how detailed and rich the world, the story is set in, is. It's quite remarkable and along with the very intricate story lines that mostly keeps me unable to guess what's happening next, it's really a joy to read this book. I'm really looking forward to reading the third and final book in the series, Voice of the Gods to see how it all turns out and how Canavan sorts out all the twists and turns.
My review of book 1, Priestess of the White, can be found here
The war between the Circlians and Pentadrians is over, but the cost has been high on both sides.Although the architect of the White's victory, Auraya has little cause for self-congratulation: her days are spent trying to reconcile the Dreamweavers and the priesthood, while her nights are filled with nightmares where she walks in fields of blood and gore while the dead rise in accusation.
The Dreamweaver, Leiard, still struggling to come to terms with the ever more powerful memories of the long-dead Mirar, flees into the mountains with Emerahl, perhaps the last of the Wilds. Although not a Dreamweaver herself, Emerahl is powerfully gifted and helps Leiard to make sense of his strange jumble of memories. What they discover will change his life forever.
And far to the south, the Pentadrians lick their wounds and set about finding a new leader. Their faith unshaken by defeat, they are still resolved to bring the truth to the heathens of the north. Peace, it seems, must wait a while yet...
The Last of the Wilds held me enchanted throughout the entire book and easily beat the first book in the series. The world and main characters are now already built and defined and book two can and does focus on developing them further.
I love Canavan's ability to have so many point of views - I never felt even slightly annoyed when one chapter ended and it was time to see what somebody else was up to - every single character was just so interesting this time around. We are introduced to a few more characters and they along with the existing main characters are much more fleshed out and every single story line was just so interesting and... readable. The Gods are even more present in this book, and feel more human? Maybe that's just what happens when characters interact directly with deities who aren't omnipotent-present-etcetera.
I love how detailed and rich the world, the story is set in, is. It's quite remarkable and along with the very intricate story lines that mostly keeps me unable to guess what's happening next, it's really a joy to read this book. I'm really looking forward to reading the third and final book in the series, Voice of the Gods to see how it all turns out and how Canavan sorts out all the twists and turns.
| 614 pages / published in 2006
Review by Iben Jakobsen, BoB, 2012 |
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I've never heard of this series. Is it anything like Game of Thrones? For some reason it reminds me of it but I could just have Game of Thrones on my mind.
SvarSletNo, it's nothing at all like GoT really. But it is very recommendable though ;) But no, none of the realism/brutality/sex that is in Got. Trudi Canavan's style seens far more YA without the gooey love-at-first-sight and angst.
Slet