Ombria in Shadow

Rating:
Summary: nice book, though not her best
Review: first of all i've got to say that i did enjoy most of the parts in this book, just as in books i've read by patricia mckillip, she draw a picture of a beautiful world, occupy with beuatiful people, intriguing riddles and history and magic mixing in a prefect way.

this is a story of a few people and how they combine together in a city's and a nation's turning point. the story jumps from a rich palace dominated by a crule old regent named domina pearl, an underworld with ghosts and witches and people who aren't all human, the dangerouse city's streets and tavern, and a beautiful inn wench who used to be the dead prince's misstress, and in between - the bastered son to royalty, ducon grave, and a lost child call meg.

just like in all her other worlds - it all mix together, to form a beautiful intence tapestry. why then i think that this book's not as good as "the riddlemaster trilogy" or "the book of atrix woolf"? cause unlike those book, this simply doesn't ends in a satisfing way, it is as if she sets all the scene to have the mystery solved andthen don't find an explenation that's interesting or satisfingenough, which sort of ruin the whole plot.

it's still a sweet very visual book, but there are better books by her you could read.

Rating:
Summary: Good display of talent yet very complex story
Review: From reading this book one can tell that Patricia A. Mckillip is a very good author. Her use of literary devices are spectacular and the story is quite in-depth. I did enjoy this book, but I was very confused throughout most of it. It's somewhat thought provoking yet too far out to actually relate to. Something was lacking as well, I'm not quite sure what it was. Perhaps it's that in the beginning of the book there wasn't much plot development. Although regardless of that it still feels like there is something missing.

All in all, I don't regret reading this book. I was just bothered by how some aspects of it are nearly incomprehensible.

Rating:
Summary: Good, but... (warning: spoiler)
Review: I haven't read every McKillip book, but I've read a lot of them, and like some reviewers, I felt unfulfilled by this one. Despite the artistry of her words, I was just unfulfilled. After wondering about it, I finally realized why. McKillip's characters experience suffering and pain, just like you and me, and the richness of that pain experience -- how it deepens who they are and how they interact with others -- is part of their attraction. Perfect examples are in "Riddlemaster", "Atrix Wolfe", "Forests of Serre" and "Basilisk." Just about every book she writes, characters persevere through suffering, and their images seen through the lens of that suffering are strong and always hopeful.

That is what is lacking in this book (and here comes the spoiler). Most of the characters whose suffering the reader has grown to care about forget their suffering. Totally forget, as if it had never happened. No one learns or grows from the experience, no one is strengthened by it. To me, this cheapens what they experienced. It even lessens the hope we should (in classic McKillip) feel for them at the end -- for if no one remembers persevering through a painful past, how does anyone mature towards a hopeful or loving future? What would Morgan of Hed (Riddlemaster) or Ronan of Serre (Forests of Serre) have been like if they had completely forgotten their suffering? (...)

Despite her marvelous (as usual) prose here, I will not be buying this one in hardback.

Rating:
Summary: A small masterpiece--excellent
Review: Ombria is the greatest city in the world, but it has fallen on hard times. The Prince of the city lies dying, his son a young child, his mistress despised by the court, and the evil pirate witch Domina Pearl stands ready to become regent--and to thust Ombria into chaos. The nobles try to unite around Ducon Greve, the Prince's nephew, but Ducon's hands are tied by Domina Pearl's threat to the young prince.

Yet Ombria is more than a single city. It's history lies heavy on it, ghosts prowl the streets, and any alley or ruined shop might open the way into another city--a city in shadows. Deep within the city's underworld, a witch child, Mag, follows her witch-mistress's commands, but tries to understand, to think about what she is doing. Although her mistress supports Domina Pearl, Mag knows that she must be opposed.

Author Patricia A. McKillip has created a wonderful city of magic. Her descriptions of Ombria ring with truth. Mag, Ducon, and Domina Pearl stand out as complex and motivated characters and their decisions, and the conflict among them, drives the story forward. Even throw-away characters such as the young prince's tutor are fascinating in their own right.

OMBRIA IN SHADOW is a superior fantasy novel. On a small canvas, McKillip shows how wonderful fantasy can be.

Rating:
Summary: Beautfiul but Incomplete
Review: Patricia Mckillip has a beautiful way with words, painting beguiling pictures with her unexpected word combinations and powerful simile. Her intense storytelling draws even the most unlikely fantasy readers into her world of fey shadows and inexplicable powers. I've been a fan of hers for years and am rarely disappointed by her offerings.

Ombria in Shadow follows the seemingly unrelated lives of five complicated characters as their world shifts and falls to pieces around them. The crown prince of Ombria has died, and now his mistress, Lydea, and his son, Kyel, find themselves at the mercy of the powerful Domina, the Black Pearl, oldest woman in Ombria. She works their lives into a tapestry made to serve her lust for rule, weaving intrigue and despair within the palace walls. Few can stand when confronted with her power; among these is Duncon, the mysterious artist who has no father and whose face betrays the powers to whose ancestry he belongs. He stumbles upon the Undercity, where Faey, the beautiful sorceress, and her daughter, Mag, spin ancient spells for Ombria's living and its dead. All five become embroiled in what seems an unending tangle of intrigue and death, working against time to deflect Domina's designs and save Ombria from the shadows that threaten it.

The book is at once intriguing and frustrating: we find ourselves turning each page in hopes that some of the many mysteries will somehow be cleared up in the next paragraph, only to be disappointed. McKillip, ever the crafty author, keeps us waiting until the very end before she reveals truth, but still, we are not satisfied. The book ends with too many threads left unresolved; it is as if, once she had crafted a book about shadows and their possibilities, she left it without even trying to explain to the reader exactly what all those shadows were about.

Despite the enchanting prose and luxurious descriptions, in terms of storytelling and plot, McKillip has done much better than this. If you would like the true measure of this amazing author's work, see The Riddle Master: the Complete Trilogy, and then read Winter Rose. Only with this combination will you understand the true power of McKillip's work.