The Ships of Air (The Fall of Ile-Rien, Book 2)
3 journalers for this copy...
Registering to send to myntti - comments later.
Didn't get to the comments before this got to myntti (yay for the Irish and Finnish postal services!) but never mind.
I just loved this book! I read it when away from home, so couldn't refresh my memory on characters and situations from The Wizard Hunters, and was only able to read at night, when very hot and sticky and tired, and I still loved it. I think Wells did a great second-book of trilogy job: no clunky filling-in the readers, yet no problem following even with fuzzy recollections of the first one, a wonderful deepening of all characters (including the enemy, when we finally get to see their country and a bit of what's happening there), and just no feeling of middle book sag. For me at least.
Ok, white font - highlight to read (hope this works!) I think the appearance of Nicholas wasn't a total surprise, as it was being foreshadowed in both books, but I was still pleased with myself for spotting him ahead of time. ;) I also think Tremaine's a wonderful character and the increasingly evident picture of how she's been harmed, not only by the inevitable side-effects of Nicholas' life, but also by his actual personality, which is far from ideal as a parent, seems to me to be retrospectively deepening Death of a Necromancer. I always had a bit of a problem with that only being about how wonderful it was that this uncritically admired 'hero' got his revenge. And Tremaine's and Ilias' marriage is great - I totally did not see that one coming, and am still admiring the way she worked the old marriage of convenience into the story without it seeming hokey! Heh. And everyone's reactions to it. ;)
I also love, love the fact that we've got Arisilde back, - even if he is stuck in the sphere - as he's another of my favourite characters. And Ilias. Oh my, yes! Of course the setting is still wonderful, and the growing sense that Ile-Rien may be in the process of being destroyed forever seems to ring so true. I hope it's not the case, mind! Bring on the third book!
Didn't get to the comments before this got to myntti (yay for the Irish and Finnish postal services!) but never mind.
I just loved this book! I read it when away from home, so couldn't refresh my memory on characters and situations from The Wizard Hunters, and was only able to read at night, when very hot and sticky and tired, and I still loved it. I think Wells did a great second-book of trilogy job: no clunky filling-in the readers, yet no problem following even with fuzzy recollections of the first one, a wonderful deepening of all characters (including the enemy, when we finally get to see their country and a bit of what's happening there), and just no feeling of middle book sag. For me at least.
Ok, white font - highlight to read (hope this works!) I think the appearance of Nicholas wasn't a total surprise, as it was being foreshadowed in both books, but I was still pleased with myself for spotting him ahead of time. ;) I also think Tremaine's a wonderful character and the increasingly evident picture of how she's been harmed, not only by the inevitable side-effects of Nicholas' life, but also by his actual personality, which is far from ideal as a parent, seems to me to be retrospectively deepening Death of a Necromancer. I always had a bit of a problem with that only being about how wonderful it was that this uncritically admired 'hero' got his revenge. And Tremaine's and Ilias' marriage is great - I totally did not see that one coming, and am still admiring the way she worked the old marriage of convenience into the story without it seeming hokey! Heh. And everyone's reactions to it. ;)
I also love, love the fact that we've got Arisilde back, - even if he is stuck in the sphere - as he's another of my favourite characters. And Ilias. Oh my, yes! Of course the setting is still wonderful, and the growing sense that Ile-Rien may be in the process of being destroyed forever seems to ring so true. I hope it's not the case, mind! Bring on the third book!
The book arrived today - can't wait to start reading it. Thank you very much, Hero. You know, I'm still hoping we might see Nicholas again...
This was an excellent sequel to The Wizard Hunters. I, too, thought that the story was easy to follow, even though the first book wasn't fresh in my mind.
Miscellaneous & spoilerish comments in white...
* Yes, I spotted Nicholas before he was 'officially' revealed to us. I was hoping already at the end of The Wizard Hunters that he might show up again. I just hope that he isn't killed off (for real this time) in book three - I'd very much like to read how Nicholas and Tremaine are going to sort out their father-daughter relationship.
* Tremaine's and Ilias' marriage came as total surprise to me, too.
* It'll be interesting to see what Giliead is going to do now that he has used magic. It's not going to be easy for him because of the Syprians' beliefs about magic.
What are Ixion's plans? Can Ile-Rien be saved? Can't wait until The Gate of Gods comes out!
Miscellaneous & spoilerish comments in white...
* Yes, I spotted Nicholas before he was 'officially' revealed to us. I was hoping already at the end of The Wizard Hunters that he might show up again. I just hope that he isn't killed off (for real this time) in book three - I'd very much like to read how Nicholas and Tremaine are going to sort out their father-daughter relationship.
* Tremaine's and Ilias' marriage came as total surprise to me, too.
* It'll be interesting to see what Giliead is going to do now that he has used magic. It's not going to be easy for him because of the Syprians' beliefs about magic.
What are Ixion's plans? Can Ile-Rien be saved? Can't wait until The Gate of Gods comes out!
Ooh, a new Martha Wells! I can hardly wait! It arrived on Friday or Saturday, and I am trying hard not to rush over the rest of my present book...
Many thanks to Hero for obtaining this, and Myntti for sending it to me.
Many thanks to Hero for obtaining this, and Myntti for sending it to me.
I really enjoyed this book. Many thanks to Hero and Myntti!
It's hard to talk about a book from the middle of a trilogy as an entity in itself. It's not like the other books in the Ile-Rien series, which can be read stand alone.
There was a bit of "for those who have just tuned in" at the start, ahich I found quite helpful, and then the book went its own way. It just wasn't the whole story.
I need to read some of the other books again - unlike Hero, I didn't spot what she did, for all we were warned quite early on. But I agree with most of what she says about the characters, merely adding that I'd like Florian to get her own story at some point. (Yeah, a cop out after such a good journal entry by Hero.)
And roll on the sequel...
It's hard to talk about a book from the middle of a trilogy as an entity in itself. It's not like the other books in the Ile-Rien series, which can be read stand alone.
There was a bit of "for those who have just tuned in" at the start, ahich I found quite helpful, and then the book went its own way. It just wasn't the whole story.
I need to read some of the other books again - unlike Hero, I didn't spot what she did, for all we were warned quite early on. But I agree with most of what she says about the characters, merely adding that I'd like Florian to get her own story at some point. (Yeah, a cop out after such a good journal entry by Hero.)
And roll on the sequel...
Arrived back in my house safely this morning (arrived back in Dublin a few days ago, but I couldn't get up to the sorting office to pick it up), thanks PDB11! Glad again that you two both liked it so much as well. November - and counting! ;)
