Customer Reviews

When Demons Walk

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is a fantastic book! I read it in less than twelve hours, and that's with working and eating in the middle of that!

Where to begin? The characters are wonderful. Sham is a complex character, with a painful past but the strong will to survive it and move on. She is wily enough to survive life in Purgatory, the Southwoods slum, yet tender-hearted enough to learn to care for people she was used to hating. Kerim is humorous, regal, dangerous, and intelligent--all the things we want from a hero! The supporting characters are wonderful; Dickon, Elris, Talbot, Lady Sky all make the story better with their special personalities.

The writing is great. The dialogue is excellent, with witty repartee between the characters that is absolutely believable and absolutely hysterical. The description of surroundings and clothes are wonderfully detailed. I could see the action in my mind as I read. My one complaint about the writing would be the infrequent shifts in the third-person point-of-view; usually the POV character was Sham, but very occasionally is changed to Kerim, the demon, and a couple others.

The plot is intriguing...a demon stalking the halls of the Castle, with a thief/magician hired to pose as the Reeve's Mistress in order to solve the mystery. And though you may have suspicions about the demon's identity, your first two guesses will be wrong!

I highly recommend this book, and I am actively seeking out others by this author!

I picked this one up on a whim, since my friend had been bugging me to give it a try, and I have to say that I wasn't disappointed. It's a neat and simple story about a young woman/sorceress named Sham who belongs to a secret group of magic using spies, assassins and thieves. A few decades earlier, her homeland had been a free and wonderful place to live, where magic could be used and cherished; now her home is under the rule of an oppressive regime, and almost all those able to use magic have been hunted down and killed.

Now Sham, the seductive thief, must ally herself with the ruler of the land, Kerim, in order to track down the demon responsible for murdering her mentor. Why would she team up with the people responsible for overtaking her home? Simple: the ruler is an attractive young man, and Sham will be able to gather intelligence for her thief guild while tracking down this elusive monster who is now attempting to kill Kerim.

It was an interesting book, but tried to cram way to much information into too small a book. The plot was easy enough to follow, but there was just so much superfluous information cramming up the story.

Not bad, give it a try.

A refreshing story about a mage/thief. Sham is a great character, strong, funny, capeable, and multi-talented. She could have been a bit more dangerous, in my opinion. Kerim is limited, but since the story is in 1st person, that person being Sham, he himself is less important than how she feels about him. The minor characters of Talbot and Dickon, and the selkie/stableboy add so much to the story.

The story of a homesick demon brutally murdering people was well written, and convincing. Sham goes undercover as Kerim's silly, and fashionably daring mistress. Sham's magic is the only thing standing between the magicless Easterners and a deadly demon. Definately try to get a hold of this one.

When Demons Walk is one of the most creatively narrated and written fantasy book I've ever read. The characters were well rounded and sounded realistic, plus the combination of magic and mundane were cleverly balanced (do I sound like a review?? well, it is!). Mystery and romance heightened the climax of the book, which unlike others, does not give away the identity of the demon summoner (or whatever) until the last minute. Also, the heroine and hero, though typical, were captivating in the least. If you have never read fantasy, try this book AT ONCE!

Orphaned during the conquest of Southwood by the Cybellians former mage-apprentice Shamara turns to thievery to make a living and get back at the invaders. As her former teacher is killed by a shapeshifting demon however, the best way to find his killer seems to be to cooperate with the cybellian conquerers. So begins a murder mystery with a touch of magic......

All of this is of course found in dozens of similar books. What makes this one different is the engaging personality and sense of humor of the characters. The magic systems is interesting and well thought out, and the tone and tempo of the book are light and fast. No extravagant world-building and tons of pages filled with descriptions but no superficial characters either. All in all a very pleasant read and hard to put down untill you reach the end of the book, so don't start on it late in the evening unless you don't have to get up early the next morning. The book is not as far as I can tell part of a series, though I havent't been able to find the author's other book: Steel the dragon. I for one am happy to see that a new book, titled `The Hob's bargain' will appear in march 2001. If you liked this book, you might also enjoy the `Fanuilh' books by Daniel Hood, the mood is slightly different but they also combine a touch of fantasy with a detective type story for a light and enjoyable read.

If you liked Steal the Dragon, you'll be sure to like this book. It has some similarities, but hey I don't mind. I don't really think there are that many original ideas left and I like her writing.

It is about a mage who lives in hiding in her conquered land. She is hire by one of conquerors, who is a pretty decent guy. She is to solve the mystery of who is murdering all those people, her mentor included. It is a very satisfying read and I would recommend it to everyone who likes fantasy with just a pinch(not too much for those who don't like it) of romance.

This book, in my opinion, had two good points.

1-The dialouge/humor. 2-The heroine.

That was about it. The plotline was moderately interesting, but not really enough to spark my caring. I didn't then much care about what happened to the characters, though I did enjoy the mildly funny conversations scenes between Sham and the king. Sham was a good heroine, maybe a somewhat stereotypical fantasy woman, but I still liked her nonetheless. I doubt I'll be looking into any more of Briggs books, or reading any more in this series if there ever is any continuation. It's a nice read for a night, but not really something that stays with you afterwards. There's potential, but not much more.

I gave it three stars because of the two points aforementioned, and my appreciation for Briggs writing style. I would recommend it, but not too high on the list.

In a market where the trend is towards bloated novels with little to tell one from the other.. When Demons Walk and Steal the Dragon are a breath of fresh air....

Clever Characters... HATEable.. villans (who arn't just pushovers with a fatal flaw) politics... honor.. passion...faith. Read don't walk and get her books while you can.. her first is no longer avaible due to an industry more interested in money then art... but don't wait :)

I am grateful to this book for several reasons. First and foremost, it provided me with an enjoyable read. Secondly, it ended my long search for a nickname. Shannon became Shamera, and Shamera became a devoted fan of this book. Well, I'll be going now, I just wanted to thank this author for the name. (And please don't sue me for copyright infringement!)

I'm always looking for books with a strong female character. I found this book to have a strong engaging female protagonist. The author did a great job of the fight scenes without being overly violent. I look forward to reading other books by this author.in fact I wish there were more of hers to be found.