The Silver Mage Review
Jan. 29th, 2010 04:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dweomeroflightOk so I won a signed copy of the last Deverry book by Katharine Kerr and I was so excited to read it I could hardly wait to get back from Fiji to do so. Unfortunately to those faithful readers who have been reading the series since 1986, the concluding novel is in turns both rushed, nonsensical in parts and dare I say it... boring as well as untrue to many of the characters in the previous books.
At the moment I am forced to give it 2 out of 5 stars, a huge disappointment when I would rate every book in the series a 5/5 with the sole exception of The Gold Falcon, which again in my opinion was a waste of everyone's time because it did not advance the plot in any way (we already knew Neb and Branna would be together, the Horsekin defeated etc etc)
My thoughts are under the cut link for big spoilers.
Where do I start with my hatreds?
The Silver Mage started off well enough with the past life perhaps the highlight of the book. Unfortunately, perhaps due to publishing pressures, the storyline felt rushed and truncated. Nevyn's past life was irrevelent to the story as was Evandar and Cadwallon the druid as they appeared for about six pages before disappearing again.
The character of Nalla was reduced to a mere dweomer apprentice who was in the storyline for the sake of being in the storyline.
Rhodry and Jill's romance was rushed, Ranadar was a mere caricature and the story needed fleshing out eg the way the elves lived, the humans they had as slaves etc.
In fact the only point of note that can be taken from this pastlife is that Haen Marn was built by the elves as a place of healing, which ya know Kit could have said in a prologue of a mere twenty pages.
If she had done this than maybe we could have gotten some actual storytelling in, like Maddyn and Nevyn in Bardek, Nevyn meeting the dark dweomer for the first time and meeting Merodda's teacher in the dark arts. If she didn't want to run with that a past life of Salamandar or the dwarfs would have been welcome. I just didn't see a point to this past life. We already knew that the fleeing Gauls had caused the Hordes. It didn't need to be regurgitated again. In fact wouldn't it have been interesting to expand on the way the Gel da Thae lived or the Horsekin for that matter?
Sadly enough, the past life was the highlight which dosen't say much for the rest of the book. The dark dweomer was dealt with not at all, Laz Moj was condemned for how he lived two past lives ago- something that goes against the dweomer itself and Sidro is reduced to being a side character who is a mere nurse maid.
Dallandra is as vapid and as selfish as ever (she and Calonderial never did work for me and I'll always see her as a cold hearted bitch who ruined Aderyn's life without a qualm). After all the talk of her seeking out redemption I was hoping she would receive some comuppance but no, in the end it is revealed that Aderyn is the one who must pay. Aderyn has already paid for Dallandra, over and over again. he did help the Guardians by waiting for them and leading them across the river and oh wait, if it was Aderyn's wyrd to help the Guardians find life, and this was also Dallandra's wyrd than wouldn't it make sense for them to be together? But no, it is apparently all Aderyn's fault and Dallandra can just live her life in peace.
The characters of Pir, Vek and Faharn were pointless, as was the entire otter race. They had no point in the novel's end so why did Kit introduce them in the first place.
All of the chracters conveniantly fell in love with each other... Wynni and Mirryn, oh don't kid me, there is exactly zero chemistry between them. There was more chemistry with Laz Moj and Wynni then there was with Mirryn and the same goes for Kov and Mara though I could accept that union a little more. Val conveniantly finds Jav reincarnated and Sidro and Pir are fine coz Laz Moj is given an undignified ending, that I am frankly surprised came at all from Kit's pen.
In fact the only decent aspect of this entire story was the story of the dragons and Rhodry. Not even Salamandar escaped with his personality intact. After spending all of his time a) hating the dweomer and b)loving wondering, he suddenly decided he's going to live in the wilderness and study dweomer. At least, he's with Rhodry's dragon kin, though again why Kit bothered expounding on the character of Rocca I'll now never know because it seems that suddenly Salamandar dosen't care about her anymore and nor does he care about Marka.
There is zero suspense with the Horsekin becuase they have been defeated SEVERAL times in the last seven books, and as such an angry army attacking yet again has grown very old. Again, if there had been some attempt to humanise them I might have cared, but no Kit, remember her? The one who had no black and white evil, just shades of grey, decided to create the stereotypical bad guy. I have read other unfavourable reviews that claim that this is because she clearly had no idea of where to go next with her story so she rehashed. I find this idea ridiculous. There were so many inventive things she could have done, none of which were even hinted at.
Oh and the note at the end by Cadda Cerrmar, that really jarred with me, it felt like a gimmick to me.
The last four books have been disappointing, the exception being The Spirit Stone with The Shadow Isle also having its moments, though a shadow of former books like Justice and Fire Dragon. The series should have ended there and its a shame. What started out as a great series fizzled out with a mere whimper and whats frustrating is that it could have been so much more... so, so much more.
Like J K Rowling, perhaps Kit just got sick of the series and it ceased to be a labour of love. Th last book certainly seems that way.
Anyone who has read this book, what are your thoughts. I realise my thoughts are largely negative but if you liked the book thats fine by me, just say what you liked and why :)
At the moment I am forced to give it 2 out of 5 stars, a huge disappointment when I would rate every book in the series a 5/5 with the sole exception of The Gold Falcon, which again in my opinion was a waste of everyone's time because it did not advance the plot in any way (we already knew Neb and Branna would be together, the Horsekin defeated etc etc)
My thoughts are under the cut link for big spoilers.
Where do I start with my hatreds?
The Silver Mage started off well enough with the past life perhaps the highlight of the book. Unfortunately, perhaps due to publishing pressures, the storyline felt rushed and truncated. Nevyn's past life was irrevelent to the story as was Evandar and Cadwallon the druid as they appeared for about six pages before disappearing again.
The character of Nalla was reduced to a mere dweomer apprentice who was in the storyline for the sake of being in the storyline.
Rhodry and Jill's romance was rushed, Ranadar was a mere caricature and the story needed fleshing out eg the way the elves lived, the humans they had as slaves etc.
In fact the only point of note that can be taken from this pastlife is that Haen Marn was built by the elves as a place of healing, which ya know Kit could have said in a prologue of a mere twenty pages.
If she had done this than maybe we could have gotten some actual storytelling in, like Maddyn and Nevyn in Bardek, Nevyn meeting the dark dweomer for the first time and meeting Merodda's teacher in the dark arts. If she didn't want to run with that a past life of Salamandar or the dwarfs would have been welcome. I just didn't see a point to this past life. We already knew that the fleeing Gauls had caused the Hordes. It didn't need to be regurgitated again. In fact wouldn't it have been interesting to expand on the way the Gel da Thae lived or the Horsekin for that matter?
Sadly enough, the past life was the highlight which dosen't say much for the rest of the book. The dark dweomer was dealt with not at all, Laz Moj was condemned for how he lived two past lives ago- something that goes against the dweomer itself and Sidro is reduced to being a side character who is a mere nurse maid.
Dallandra is as vapid and as selfish as ever (she and Calonderial never did work for me and I'll always see her as a cold hearted bitch who ruined Aderyn's life without a qualm). After all the talk of her seeking out redemption I was hoping she would receive some comuppance but no, in the end it is revealed that Aderyn is the one who must pay. Aderyn has already paid for Dallandra, over and over again. he did help the Guardians by waiting for them and leading them across the river and oh wait, if it was Aderyn's wyrd to help the Guardians find life, and this was also Dallandra's wyrd than wouldn't it make sense for them to be together? But no, it is apparently all Aderyn's fault and Dallandra can just live her life in peace.
The characters of Pir, Vek and Faharn were pointless, as was the entire otter race. They had no point in the novel's end so why did Kit introduce them in the first place.
All of the chracters conveniantly fell in love with each other... Wynni and Mirryn, oh don't kid me, there is exactly zero chemistry between them. There was more chemistry with Laz Moj and Wynni then there was with Mirryn and the same goes for Kov and Mara though I could accept that union a little more. Val conveniantly finds Jav reincarnated and Sidro and Pir are fine coz Laz Moj is given an undignified ending, that I am frankly surprised came at all from Kit's pen.
In fact the only decent aspect of this entire story was the story of the dragons and Rhodry. Not even Salamandar escaped with his personality intact. After spending all of his time a) hating the dweomer and b)loving wondering, he suddenly decided he's going to live in the wilderness and study dweomer. At least, he's with Rhodry's dragon kin, though again why Kit bothered expounding on the character of Rocca I'll now never know because it seems that suddenly Salamandar dosen't care about her anymore and nor does he care about Marka.
There is zero suspense with the Horsekin becuase they have been defeated SEVERAL times in the last seven books, and as such an angry army attacking yet again has grown very old. Again, if there had been some attempt to humanise them I might have cared, but no Kit, remember her? The one who had no black and white evil, just shades of grey, decided to create the stereotypical bad guy. I have read other unfavourable reviews that claim that this is because she clearly had no idea of where to go next with her story so she rehashed. I find this idea ridiculous. There were so many inventive things she could have done, none of which were even hinted at.
Oh and the note at the end by Cadda Cerrmar, that really jarred with me, it felt like a gimmick to me.
The last four books have been disappointing, the exception being The Spirit Stone with The Shadow Isle also having its moments, though a shadow of former books like Justice and Fire Dragon. The series should have ended there and its a shame. What started out as a great series fizzled out with a mere whimper and whats frustrating is that it could have been so much more... so, so much more.
Like J K Rowling, perhaps Kit just got sick of the series and it ceased to be a labour of love. Th last book certainly seems that way.
Anyone who has read this book, what are your thoughts. I realise my thoughts are largely negative but if you liked the book thats fine by me, just say what you liked and why :)
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no subject
Date: 2010-01-29 06:25 am (UTC)The part of Silver Mage that actually tugged at my heart was the whole bit concerning the dragons. It really bothered me that Arzosah lost yet another mate. Granted I am not a huge Rhodry fan and if I ever met someone like him in real life I think I would have to be restrained from strangling him, but it wasn't fair to Arzosah either. I really hated the fact that he had to leave his son, for what? Don't give me the garbage about him losing his human soul. He was so deranged and in love with his own death as a human that he almost deserved being left a dragon.
And Salamander's ending just didn't sit right with me either. I simply cannot think that someone who had craved attention and extravagance would be content living in the middle of nowhere with only dragons for company. I like the fact that he was able to watch after them, but really. This just doesn't sound like him no matter how much his character had grown and matured.
no subject
Date: 2010-01-29 06:33 am (UTC)I agree. it felt right that Rhodry be a dragon and live with Arzozah, which is why I think it should have ended at The Fire Dragon, but I knew that Avain had to be a dragon and frankly compared to the rest of the crap in this book, it was one of the more bearable aspects.
no subject
Date: 2010-01-29 06:35 am (UTC)Did the Aderyn bit bother you or was that just me?
no subject
Date: 2010-01-29 09:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-30 05:47 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-30 09:31 pm (UTC)That's how I feel about Aderyn getting told that bullshit. I still don't understand why Dallandra got away with everything DESPITE being to blame for Loddlaen as well. I really can't express how much I disliked her, and how much everyone else seemed to think she was the bees knees
no subject
Date: 2010-01-30 09:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-29 09:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-29 10:20 pm (UTC)The only character I really liked in this was Laz. I think because he was the only one I really felt really came alive when I read it. It may have been because Kit had to maintain the tension of his soul's possible redeeming but everyone else was in their groove and ran faithfully along the track set for them.
And talking of grooves, how early did you pick up on the way the Horsekin would be wiped out 'again' and what would happen to Rhodry's dragon body when he didn't need it any more? I thought those moves were not so much telegraphed as signposted and bill-boarded.
There was one thing I did like about the past life piece in that it showed that the Elves despite the mysticism built up around their history, were out and out bastards, deserving everything they got. In earlier books Kit hints that their civilisation is in decline when the Horsekin comes, but it was good to see how far it had truly sunk.
To be fair to her though, there was a second past life piece that had to be cut due to it making the book to big for the publishers cost estimates, so that may have improved things a bit.
no subject
Date: 2010-01-30 09:43 pm (UTC)I liked Laz but then she butchered his character for no apparent reason at the end. Was I the only one that felt that he and Mara on Haen Marn had chemistry? Also him and Berwynna?
Since Gold Falcon everyone has been running on the groove set for them and its shitty. Was I the only one that felt that the dark dweomer should have made a last appearance and claimed some casualties? Was I the only one that thought it would have been interesting to have a past section of Laz Moj and Sidro growing up together with that evil teacher?
This book was boring because it was so predictable. The second Rhodry was introduced I knew who he'd switch bodies with. The second the Horsekin headed for Cerr Cawnen I knew their fire mountain would explode. Did anyone else note that by only defeating the Horsekin, their still going to keep coming back angrily. Unless Dallandra does the right thing (and lets face it not much hope there) and convinces the dweomer priestesses that their religion is wrong they'll just keep coming back because the religion has spread so far. fail Katharine fail.
That's what I liked about the past life too. But she could have fleshed it out properly and left it in, and took out all of the pointless padding in the main section.
I have no sympathy as I already told AD. If she hadn't wasted time in other books eg Gold Falcon, she could have fitted the past life in.
no subject
Date: 2010-01-31 02:34 am (UTC)Some of the things you had said such as the Horsekin making a comeback in the future was mentioned...IIRC. There was quite a bit we discussed both good points (not many) and bad. But I think you can pretty much guess from the comments here on how we felt.
I personally am saddened that the series had made the turn that it did. I love Kit's writing and in the earlier books she did such a fantastic job of drawing me into the story that it was so easy to picture scenes and the such. The later books were the same but the story line took quite the nose dive. Oh how I hate admitting that my favourite author wrote such a stinker of a book!!! The horror! The horror!
no subject
Date: 2010-02-01 03:18 am (UTC)I'm saddened as well. She was my fave author but now I don't think I can really reccommend this series without telling people to stop at Fire Dragon. The storyline has been nosediving since Gold Falcon but me being the hopeless naive I am, kept thinking that the last book would be awesome like fire dragon to make the later books worth reading. I think thats why I'm kinda so angry about this now- I wasted money on those books and for what?
Also I realised this the other day... wasn't the silver mage meant to loop back to that start of Daggerspell and Jill and Rhodry. It didn't do that did it? Or was that meant to be the past life section?
no subject
Date: 2010-02-01 05:29 am (UTC)I guess I couldn't say you wasted your money on the rest of the series, just think of it this way, you have the entire set! If you are as particular as I am, you have to have the whole thing!
I remember Kit saying something to the effect that the end of Silver Mage is supposed to be reminiscent of the very start of Daggerspell. In a way it did that as Aderyn's soul was in the hall of light as a pale flame just like Jill's was in Daggerspell. I'm pretty sure this is what Kit had meant. Still not quite what I had expected.
no subject
Date: 2010-02-01 05:38 am (UTC)And don't mind me! I only finished the book a few days ago so I'm still recovering. Soon I'll get over it and get on with my life. I am dead serious when I say I will be finishing at Fire Dragon in re reads. It's cool that i got a signed copy of the book too :)and hey I didn't have to pay for the trite ending lol :)
Hmm yes, but she said something on her website about how the past life of silver mage would connect to Daggerspell :/
no subject
Date: 2010-01-30 04:33 am (UTC)I didn't think Sidro's character was too bad, either. It would have been nice to see her really master the dweomer now that I feel her soul had been redeemed from her previous incarnations' misdeeds and misuse of her dweomer talent, though. But, I suppose an apprentice has to start from humble beginnings. I would say being a nursemaid for a dweomermaster would be humbling.
no subject
Date: 2010-01-30 09:49 pm (UTC)