Castles Made of Sand (Gollancz S.F.)

Rating:
Summary: If you loved Bold as Love ...
Review: ... for the same reasons I did, you might hate the sequel.
I read Castles Made of Sand looking for resolutions and explanations, and expecting the same draw-you-in writing and plot as her earlier novel. Instead, the slick dialogue is much reduced, and what i thought was a celebration of friendship and relationships has deteriorated into a complete mess. And after all the buildup in both books, the final battle is fought between characters we don't understand. The one similarity with Bold As Love is that the lack of explanations is spectacular - but it was forgivable then, knowing that a sequel was coming. Ultimately, this novel is very unsatisfying.

Rating:
Summary: If you loved Bold as Love ...
Review: ... for the same reasons I did, you might hate the sequel.
I read Castles Made of Sand looking for resolutions and explanations, and expecting the same draw-you-in writing and plot as her earlier novel. Instead, the slick dialogue is much reduced, and what i thought was a celebration of friendship and relationships has deteriorated into a complete mess. And after all the buildup in both books, the final battle is fought between characters we don't understand. The one similarity with Bold As Love is that the lack of explanations is spectacular - but it was forgivable then, knowing that a sequel was coming. Ultimately, this novel is very unsatisfying.

Rating:
Summary: A worthy follow up to Bold As Love
Review: I thought that Bold As Love was brilliant. The best fantasy book I had read in years until I read Castles Made Of Sand which is even better.

All of the same characters except this time we know them better. Still brilliantly portrayed as we have come to expect from Jones. The menage a trois between the principles is portrayed as the fraught and dynamic thing that I suspect such arrangements will always be.

The action moves along at a cracking pace and I challenge anyone not to cheer when Sage does his stuff (I won't say more so as not to spoil it).

So, a more than worthy successor.

Roll on Midnight Lamp.