Rating: Summary: sorry to be harsh but . . . Review: This story had potential but somehow just fell flat for me. I read this book on the train and by page 150 it seemed to have dragged out twice as long as the interminable train ride I was taking. Sorry to be harsh, but here's my explanation for my rating:Rather than being exciting, the haphazard way it started made me feel that the characters were emotionless and unrealistic --- as characters in old fashioned fairy tales often seem. From there, the story just seemed to drag and drag without anything of real importance or interest happening. Alissa and Strell, the two main characters, meet up and end up travelling together. In this way we explore more about the enmity of Plainsmen and Foothills people --- Strell being a Plainsman and Alissa being a hated half breed of the two. This could have been a chance to explore a budding romance but it seemed more like a straight sociology lesson. Being a latent Keeper (or magic weilder), there is an opportunity for some magical pyrotechnics, but again, this opportunity is squandered. Neither Strell nor Alissa believe in magic and spend all their time shunning it's possiblity and when Alissa does start stumbling over her magical abilities, she uses them for exciting things like having visions. Good for the plot, bad for the excitement factor. Here Alissa also meets the mysterious being named Useless who realistically but boringly does his best to warn her away from the Keep. When Alissa and Strell (finally - whew) reach the Hold, they try to masquerade as brother and sister. The villain, Bailic, sees through their lie because he thinks Strell acts like he is courting Alissa. What? This guy should be a super matchmaker instead of a super villain if he can see chemistry in this relationship. I skimmed and skipped my way through to the end and was not terribly excited when many of the mysteries were revealed in better detail. For magic, dragons, and reluctant hero types, I'd recommend Tamora Pierce or Patricia Briggs instead.
Rating: Summary: Mostly junk Review: You've got 20 year olds acting like 14 year olds, an insane albino, and a dragon who can't be bothered. Unforgettable only because you can't believe the author took what could have been a great idea and wrecked it so badly.
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