Rating: 
Summary: A weak little sister to Point of Hopes
Review: Point of Dreams is the plain little sister of the delightful fantasy/mystery Point of Hopes. Though the books share background, genre, and main characters, Dreams just doesn't shine the way Hopes did.The plot of Dreams is fairly weak. It's hard to write SF/mystery that obeys all the rules of traditional mysteries, and though Barnett and Scott succeeded in Hopes, they fail here - the mystery is remarkably easy to solve and is transparently clear by the book's midpoint. Also, the setting, which was easily the best part of Hopes, is in Dreams just a backdrop for a (relatively) normal theater production. Hopes established a fascinating world. Dreams inhabits a tiny portion of it. The real problem, though, is the further development of the main characters. At the start of Dreams, Rathe and Eslingen are living together, having gone from unexpressed mutual interest to an ongoing, committed relationship between books. Scott and Barnett, in choosing not to show the early stages of the romance, are making an unusual, daring, and ultimately unsuccessful choice. They can't, or won't, write the relationship convincingly without the early bits. (I love Melissa Scott's writing, and I honestly believe she *could* do this right, but that only makes this book's failure worse.) In Dreams, it's hard to believe that Rathe and Eslingen actually love each other. In the brief interludes they spend together, they show very little affection, let alone romantic love. The strongest emotion they seem to feel is mutual jealousy; that's not exactly proof of true love. And it doesn't help that the one passionate sequence in the book is between Rathe and an ex-lover. The intensity of that bit just underscores the absence of any such feeling between our heroes. Despite the problems, though, the book is still a good one. Fantasy/mysteries are rare, as I said, and the book would be worth reading for that alone. Add in the marvelous setting and the light, fun writing, and Point of Dreams becomes more than worth the purchase price. I just hope that the third book in the series reveals more kinship with Hopes than with Dreams.
Rating: 
Summary: A well-wrought fantasy-mystery
Review: Scott's and Barnett's previous collaboration, the fantasy-mystery hybrid Point of Hopes, introduced Nicholas Rathe, Adjunct Point (a kind of senior police officer) in the city of Astreiant, part of a fantasy world where astrology and alchemy function as reliably as physics and chemistry. Point of Dreams returns to that world, and to Rathe, caught up in another dangerous mystery. Every winter in Astreiant, a masque is held. Based on ancient traditions and aligned with the stars, it's integral to the health of the queen and the realm--and more important now than ever, for the queen is soon to announce her chosen successor. This year, the play that's the source of the masque is itself sourced in an ancient text, the Alphabet of Desire, a compendium of flower- and plant-based spells, which most people believe to be a hoax but which may, just possibly, be real. When a body is found on the rehearsal stage, inexplicably drowned in the absence of any water, Rathe is called in to investigate. He has enough headaches, what with trying to control the craze for flower corms produced by the coming masque, coping with the disturbances of the ghost-tide (a time of year when astrological conjunctions cause the ghosts of the dead to return), and negotiating the complications of a relationship with a new lover; he isn't thrilled at the idea of dealing with theatrical egos and touchy nobles as well. But it soon becomes clear that this is not just a simple revenge or jealousy killing. More deaths ensue, all linked in some way to the masque and its actors. Rathe begins to suspect that someone, somewhere, has a working version of the Alphabet, and is using it to commit murder. But who? And why? It's up to Rathe, with the help of his lover Philip Eslingen, to find out. Readers of police procedurals will recognize the form of Point of Dreams, if not the details, which are necessarily changed by the fantasy setting. Rathe attends an autopsy (or the alchemical equivalent); he consults various experts, magical and non-; he copes with hostile colleagues and the over-eager press; he reports to his chief (who is sympathetic) and to a board of supervisors (who are not); and in the end, takes matters into his own hands, for a solution that's only just inside the law. Scott and Barnett blend the genres deftly, transposing their mystery plot seamlessly into their magical world, effectively building suspense and scattering both clues and red herrings with panache. The writing is skillful, as is the characterization: Rathe and Eslingen are sympathetic protagonists, and even minor players are very sharp. And theater buffs like me will love the theatrical details, which carry the authority of real experience. Best of all, though, is the world building. Scott and Barnett have created a setting so densely detailed that it's at times hard to remember you aren't reading about a real place. Astreiant is both hauntingly familiar (reminiscent, to me at least, of 17th century Holland in the grip of the tulip craze) and convincingly alien, a place in which gender roles are comprehensively reversed, same-sex relationships are as common as ordinary marriages, and everything is touched by magic and shaped by the stars. The authors have built a fascinatingly complex astrological/alchemical magic system; they've also (much more difficult) made it convincing as a pseudo-scientific discipline, which works according to consistent, objective rules and is thoroughly woven into the fabric of everyday life, but always holds out the prospect of the wondrous, the dangerous, and the unknown. Those who haven't read the previous book may find it a bit challenging at first to absorb the plethora of titles, terms, and references, but there's enough background that new readers will quickly find their feet. Both well-crafted mystery and engagingly different fantasy, Point of Dreams is an altogether rewarding reading experience.
Rating: 
Summary: Captivating
Review: The story begins with an unbelievable murder. A man drowned on a dry stage and no discernable motive for the murder. Rathe must discover means of death to uncover its perpetrator but as the murderer steps up his killing spree with a mounting pile of bodies that don't seem to have any connection to eachother, answers are hard to come by. The book featres pointsman Nicholas Rathe, now adjunct point, and his "Leman" Philip Ensligen as they attempt to solve a seemingly impossible case with the possible existance of a real working copy of the alphabet becoming more likely. All in all not a very sophisticated mystery, the murderer was easy to pick out right near the beginning, but the story unfolded in a way that allowed you to be just that little step ahead of the characters that makes you feel smart but doesn't give away the whole plot. The world was both strikingly like and unlike ours and contained enough elements of magic to satisfy any fantasy fan, with enough authenticity to make everyone else happy. Conclusion?: An exciting, climatic book well worth a few extra bucks and a few extra hours.
Rating:
Summary: Captivating
Review: The story begins with an unbelievable murder. A man drowned on a dry stage and no discernable motive for the murder. Rathe must discover means of death to uncover its perpetrator but as the murderer steps up his killing spree with a mounting pile of bodies that don't seem to have any connection to eachother, answers are hard to come by. The book featres pointsman Nicholas Rathe, now adjunct point, and his "Leman" Philip Ensligen as they attempt to solve a seemingly impossible case with the possible existance of a real working copy of the alphabet becoming more likely. All in all not a very sophisticated mystery, the murderer was easy to pick out right near the beginning, but the story unfolded in a way that allowed you to be just that little step ahead of the characters that makes you feel smart but doesn't give away the whole plot. The world was both strikingly like and unlike ours and contained enough elements of magic to satisfy any fantasy fan, with enough authenticity to make everyone else happy. Conclusion?: An exciting, climatic book well worth a few extra bucks and a few extra hours.
Rating:
Summary: WOW!
Review: This book made me incredibly happy! I really enjoyed "Point of Hopes", the first book, and was delighted to get a chance to return to that world and characters. I was pleased right off that Eslingen and Rathe had got together, as I wasn't clear in the first book if that was going to happen, and the incurable romantic in me thought that they should. The mystery in the book was well done. It can be difficult to do a fantasy and a mystery in the same book and not have one come out poorly, but it works here. The world is well-crafted and the mystery fits within it neatly. There is some nice dryly humorous bits in the book as well, and of course, romance. I even like the cover! Now they just need to get the necromancer a date.... I hope these authors return to this series... frequently!
Rating:
Summary: WOW!
Review: This book made me incredibly happy! I really enjoyed "Point of Hopes", the first book, and was delighted to get a chance to return to that world and characters. I was pleased right off that Eslingen and Rathe had got together, as I wasn't clear in the first book if that was going to happen, and the incurable romantic in me thought that they should. The mystery in the book was well done. It can be difficult to do a fantasy and a mystery in the same book and not have one come out poorly, but it works here. The world is well-crafted and the mystery fits within it neatly. There is some nice dryly humorous bits in the book as well, and of course, romance. I even like the cover! Now they just need to get the necromancer a date.... I hope these authors return to this series... frequently!
|
