Competitions: Book Two Of The Blending [Mass Market Paperback]

Sharon Green really must be a marvelous artist. Her main characters are winsome and intriguing; her magical system, like the society she has built, is fascinating. The ideas behind this particular book are interesting in their own right: the heroes and heroines (as well as villains and villainesses) must each face tests of their elemental gifts that will lead to rich rewards if they win and certain destruction if they fail. All the while, they're keeping an eye out for the machinations of the unscrupulous testing authority. It's a very compelling premise, particularly for readers who enjoy stories involving elemental magic and its practice.

It's just a shame that Green has chosen the method she has of presenting her world. While some of the characters' relationships with each other are touching, one pairing seems to have no solid basis for existance and a second had me wanting to throw the book across the room in disgust. (It did get better later, though.) The dialogue is simply regrettable at some points--mostly made so by the one-dimensional nature of the villains... who almost all happen to be noble, and/or the parental figures of the protagonists. I simply cannot believe that everyone except our heroes is evil, ambitious, and by and large essentially *stupid*, but that's what we're expected to swallow. There were also small details that made me sigh; the animal 'friends' seemed like something straight out of Snow White, which at least was fitting with a set of protagonists who are innocent, selfless, beautiful and/or handsome, virtuous, powerful... the list goes on.

However, I did enjoy _Competitions_, and have found the series difficult to put down despite its shortcomings. I would tentatively recommend this book and this series to anyone who is fond of the fantasy genre and can put up with the negative aspects mentioned above for the sake of a truly (if puzzlingly) intriguing tale.

Our heroes, though they seem to be bright enough to deal with the challenges of their situation, are reduced to acting like a bunch of 13-year-olds when it comes to relationships. (hint: when it takes the characters dozens or hundreds of pages to figure out things anyone with some common sense could settle in five minutes, there's something wrong.) I guess this is supposed to create some drama, since there is none in the main story line. Our heroes are still good, honest people. Everyone else in the entire world is still two-dimensionally evil. The opponents are given one personality trait each, and never stray the slightest bit from it.

And yet, though I'm not proud to admit it, I'll probably read the others. This series is good for mindless brain-candy reading when I don't have the mental energy to deal with a real plot and three-dimensional characters. The ludicrous dialogue is still amusing (e.g., Rion and Naran's declarations of love - I wasn't sure whether to laugh out loud or weep at the possibility that someone may have written it seriously). It's a generic romance story given a fantasy background. Once we pass the drawn-out setup stage, perhaps it'll even grow into a real story instead of a teen 'drama.' I remain curious.