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Summary: Interesting fantasy premise that will thrill genre fans
Review: The war of the Gods has finally ended, leading to peace among the mortals. The "joyous reunion" has led to the people of the High Marchlands outlawing law. Weapons are put aside and serenity hugs the land. In this serene environment, Kiarda is born. Like many of her people, the noble lass is linked to a fox, but the animal dies before the duo bonds. The spirit of the deceased creature merges with that of Kiarda inside the infant's body. Her father, Lord Stane hides this information from everyone including his daughter. Years later, the peace is threatened by an outside army led by vicious mages, willing to use the forbidden magic to destroy the animal linked people. At the same time, Kiarda has become a shapeshifter. Stane unfairly accuses the man she loves of raping her, forcing him to flee. However, Kiarda has no time to ponder her beloved because she must risk her life to save her people from the power of an enemy who feel they have justice on their side. SPIRIT FOX is an interesting opening entry to a new fantasy series. The intriguing premise is well designed, but the authors have tried to provide too much detail in one novel. Thus, the story line occasionally loses sight of its central theme. Mickey Zucker Reichert and Jennifer Wingert are clearly talented authors, whose work will generate excitement amidst genre fans, especially younger readers.
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Summary: Great combination of authors
Review: I am a huge fan of Mickey Zucker Reichert and have read all of the Renshai series and Jennifer Wingert promises to be a great author, if this book is any indication of her talent. I would definitely recommend this to any one who enjoys Reichert. I can't wait to see what Jennifer Wingert writes next....her style is refreshing and captivating, I could hardly put the book down.
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Summary: Characters so alive that i miss them..
Review: I did not love this book for the plot, or even the wonderful idea of connecting a human and animal, but for its extraordinary characterization. The connection between friends, between enemies, and the incredibly realistic emotions experienced and powerfully conveyed made for a fantastic tale. If you're looking for something new and touching, this is the proper novel. It has been repeatedly stated that plot was simplistic and incomplete, and the ending, rushed. I agree with its simplicity, which merely assists the extreme close-up of varied and complex characters. I fell in love with many of them, and the ending brought me to tears which continued for several minutes, something no other book has been able to do so well. It was an abrupt occurence, but that, once again, adds to the story. You are left tenderly melancholy and struck with a passion for the entire tale. DO NOT pass by this book; you'll never know who you're missing.
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Summary: PRECIOUS CAT - LOTS OF LAUGHS
Review: I DON'T READ THESE FANTASY BOOKS...EVER. I DON'T KNOW WHAT MADE ME PICK THIS ONE UP AND READ THE SYNOPSIS BUT IT GOT MY INTEREST AND I BOUGHT IT. AND NOW THAT I HAVE FINISHED READING THE BOOK I FIND I MISS THE LAND, IT'S INHABITANTS AND THEIR CULTURE. I FOUND THE BOOK (AND OF COURSE THE CAT) DELIGHTFUL! THE WRITING LEFT THE READER FEELING AS THOUGH SHE WERE ACTUALLY PRESENT DURING THE CONVERSATIONS. GUESS I'LL CHECK OUT THE OTHER BOOKS BY THESE AUTHORS.
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Summary: Where was the spirit fox?
Review: I have read both Renshai series' by Ms. Reichert, and was eagerly looking forward to getting back into her writing style. However, this book was lacking something that was so eloquently magical in those earlier books. First, I found the so called "spirit fox" to be an almost incidental part of the plot. The story hardly met the description on the back cover of a young woman sharing her physical body with a fox who will use her magic to save the world. That distinction fell to several other characters, most notably Bevin and Maddock. The Furry Purry character was cute, but bore a suspicious resemblence to Mior, the talking cat of the Renshai Chronicles, which Ms. Reichert completed back in 1998. If the spirit link was going to be a large part of the story, I would have suggested the talking animal at least be a dog, horse or something else that didn't come across as a recycled plot element. The system of magic started out really promising, but other than the fountain metaphor, we don't get anything but the reference to "the higher resonances..." Finally, the Empire remained a vague entity, barely elaborated upon, and the whole ending was wrapped up far too quickly. All in all, I believe this would have been a truly masterful story if it had been stretched across a trilogy instead of being crammed all into one book. That way, all of the characters could have been developed more fully; especially the sorely neglected lead character. Despite my problems with this tale, I will ultimately continue to remain a Reichert fan, and wish she and her co-writer luck on their next collaboration.
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Summary: Wonderful first book!!
Review: I really enjoyed this book. The simple fact of humans becoming spirit linked was more than enough to reel me in... Some of the characters I found hard to connect with at first for I was too busy settling in to the new world - some books are easy for me to get sucked in to, and some take a l'il more time. But I got in that world none the less! It was a really good book! My one gripe is only this. The resolution was too quick and too simple. We have nearly four hundred pages of people from across the sea coming over to claim the Marshlands for themselves, and within a span of 20 pages or so, they are convinced to go back. Maybe it wasn't all that quick; maybe we'll see them come back. The ending was a bit too rushed, me thinks, but it was still a great book, and a wonderful first book from Ms. Jennifer Wingert. My favorite character? Cat-Of-Many-Names!!! It get's four stars from me!!
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Summary: A very interesting concept
Review: I really liked the basic premise of the book, but, like many of the other reviewers, I felt that the entire story could have been better developed. I would have liked a better explanation into the beliefs of the region (touching a member of the opposite sex was taboo, unless you were married, etc). I didn't get a great understanding of the six magical elements, nor was there an adequate explanation of the priests and their rise to power, etc. Gaer's banishment is thrown in, and only explained later on. I thought that Adan, Bevin and Maddock were the best characters, and I liked Brother Honesty's open-minded approach to learning something new. Maddock's lack of curiosity about the "Abomination" was a disappointment, as was Tassi's very basic and distant bad influence. Kiandra's confusion about her changes are believable and she eventually starts to develop a more interesting character later in the book. If this book had been developed into a trilogy, then perhaps many of the above issues would have been addressed to my satisfaction.
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Summary: Great Book!
Review: I really liked this book, it was different from your average fantasy where the villain and the hero are so easily defined. So in a sense it is like life, if you take things from other people's perspective, you might not see them as an enemy, but as someone with a different oppinion. Though i liked this book, i would have rather had the resolution a bit less hurried. My favorite character was, of course, the laughable cat of many names.
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Summary: ?
Review: OK. This story started off nicely, but finished badly. I tried to pay attention, I really did, but the book did not hold me. The plot was inconsistent, the characters were in one place one minute and be somewhere else on the next page. I read over the confusing sections twice and I still didn't understand what exactly had happened or where exactly the characters were. They were ill-defined and the "romance" part of the book was based on pure hormonal lust. Critical points in the story were not notacable, so that I couldn't even pick up on the fact that a character had DIED. And to top it all off, it didn't even have a proper ending. I'm sorry. I started out with great hopes but this novel just did not live up to potential. Perhaps it would have been better had the story been written by one author instead of two.
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Summary: A Book That Seems To Get Glued To Your Fingers!
Review: Out of all the books I have ever read, this one tops them all by a long shot. The characters were so compelling, that at points I had to stop to catch my breath because you get in the zone so deeply, and you begin to love the characters, that it takes you aback when something totally unexpected arrives in the story. In the begining the characters were hard to keep in order, I felt like a family tree was needed since everyone was related to everyone, but they grow on you quickly. I hope to finish all of their books, and love everyone of them.
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