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2.0étoiles sur 5
What the . . . ?, Jui 22 2004
I am frankly puzzled by the immensely favourable reviews "Voyage of the Shadowmoon" has been garnering. I'm annoyed, too, because I bought it on the strength of those reviews and found it way below expectations.
There's a boat. The Shadowmoon. Apparently it's really special because it can sink and then be raised again. I don't know who built it or why or how the characters came to be sailing around in it, but it's a really special boat.
There's a crew on the boat. Half of them we don't even know their names until the book is half done, but that doesn't really matter anyway because most of them have no personality. Those that do have obscure backgrounds and motivations and most of the time I had little idea what they were doing and why.
There's a world. It has four continents, many kingdoms, but no map. There are secret societies and religions which, like the nations, fight against each other for reasons that are mostly obscure.
There's magic. Its basis and operation is barely explained, and there is much use of magic energies and artefacts, the utilisation of which I often could not follow.
Starting to get the picture? I felt like there was some sort of prequel or campaign guide I should have read before "Voyage of the Shadowmoon" to understand who these characters were and what was going on. Either I was having a really bad weekend, or Sean McMullen did a really bad job of delineating setting, characters and plot. I cannot recommend this book.
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5.0étoiles sur 5
Inside this book, beat the two hearts of a vampyre., Mai 15 2004
For those of you who have read McMullen's "Great Winter Trilogy" and agree with me that it was one of the best Sci-Fi novel sets to come out in the past decade, then don't be put off by the author's switch of genres and go ahead and read this delightful Fantasy novel. McMullen is one of the few authors around who can make the switch from Sci-Fi to Fantasy and not miss a beat. Those of you who read both genres know how few and far between such authors are and I applaud McMullen's bravery in coming out and showing the world that the "Great Winter" books were no fluke. In many ways, McMullen has taken the themes of his previous trilogy and simply moved them to an alternate universe. McMullen stresses the dangers of power and the effects that too much power has on both individuals, nations and the environment. This particular novel is about a power hungry king who uncovers a weapon of awesome power, which very predictably, destroys an entire continent in one fell swoop. A mysterious group of adventurers sets out to stop him. McMullen's strength as a writer lies in his characters. He does not take his characters too seriously, but gives them a life and charm all their own. In fact, McMullen's characters are very unique. You never find those that are pure good or pure evil. They are humans with both human strengths and failings, sometime extraordinarily so. For example, one of the main characters is a vampyre that only preys on criminals and wife beaters and other people he feels need culling from society. Other characters abound through this novel and all of them are interesting. One really great thing about this book is that it actually ends. It's not a "Trilogy" in the "Lord of the Rings" sense, it actually has a real ending, so you don't have to worry about when the "next" book will appear. (Take a lesson, Robert Jordan, Terry Goodkind, et al.) I found the ending to be enjoyable and satisfying. I recommend this book to anyone wishing to read a great, light-hearted book with a fun story and interesting characters.
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5.0étoiles sur 5
Nemsis, Mai 22 2003
In classic Twilight Zone mode, there is another planet opposite the sun which mirrors ours.I feel like Australia, in the best way possible, is mirroring and enhancing the North Atlantic's classic literature. There is Terry Dowling, often and justifiably, compared to Cordwainer Smith, while being his own man and a great writer; and it recently occurred to me while reading the novel under discussion, that, along with many other positive things, Sean McMullen's prose has echoes of Jack Vance. Sean has very much his own voice, but there are smatterings of dialogue hither and yon which are very Vance. Very, very Vance. First read Call to the Edge in an Aphelion anthology many years ago, long before my first of many visits to The Antipodes. Hungered for more. Sean did not disappoint and I am hooked. You should be too.... PS - I apologize for the first sentance of the third paragraph.
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