The Outstretched Shadow (The Obsidian Trilogy, Book 1)

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It's a hit!

Very enjoyable fantasy epic, with two more installments to follow. I think James Mallory has a good influence on Mercedes Lackey -- I pretty much ... (show more)

Very enjoyable fantasy epic, with two more installments to follow. I think James Mallory has a good influence on Mercedes Lackey -- I pretty much always enjoy her stories and the worlds she creates, but she definitely writes from a formula. This partnership seems to have gotten her out of the box a little more, and the story has more depth and layers than her usual stuff -- thought there is still a lot of the self-doubt inner monologue stuff by the main character, to the point of overkill every once in awhile. I could also do without some of the more gory aspects of the demons, but hey, they're demons.

Both of those are rather minor quibbles over an otherwise solid story with interesting characters, a whole new system of magic based around its cost rather than letting it "fix" everything, and a new look at some of the more typical fantasy creatures such as elves and unicorns. I'm not rushing right out for the next one, but will likely pick it up sooner rather than later. (show less)

 

 

by Facebook narys

No, it's a flop!

This book and it's sequel are kind of like an empty egg. Pretty on the outside but not much nourishment. I felt as if I was skipping along the surf... (show more)

This book and it's sequel are kind of like an empty egg. Pretty on the outside but not much nourishment. I felt as if I was skipping along the surface of something much deeper as I read, but never breaking beneath the surface. The other thing that was odd was that the "bad guys" were so horrible I began to get uncomfortable. They had no hope for redemption and it was obvious that if the "good guys" were caught or lost they would die and be damned to eternal torment, no questions asked. Much too black and white for me. But I really did like the unicorns and fairies! (show less)

 

 

by Lee Anne Campbell

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  Okay book. Not sure whether it was worth reading. The thing I liked most about it is that the characters are very believable.

  The thing I liked the least was the narrative tone. Reading it, I honestly felt a little patronized, like Lackey and Mallory think their readers are all children. And maybe they did mean for this book to be appropriate for children, but that honestly made the book hard to get into for me. It took me a long time to get through, and I definitely forced myself through ce... (show more)

  Okay book. Not sure whether it was worth reading. The thing I liked most about it is that the characters are very believable.

  The thing I liked the least was the narrative tone. Reading it, I honestly felt a little patronized, like Lackey and Mallory think their readers are all children. And maybe they did mean for this book to be appropriate for children, but that honestly made the book hard to get into for me. It took me a long time to get through, and I definitely forced myself through certain parts.

  Another pro and con - the climax is incredibly well-written and does an excellent job at encompassing the concepts discussed throughout the book. It shows that a lot of thought was put into the structure of the plot. Unfortunately, for the reader, though, the climax is at the end of the book, and you will need to get through hundreds of pages of development just to get to it (i.e. action picks up really late on).

  Is it worth the read? Again, really not sure. In spite of which, I feel like I will still find myself reading the sequel at some point in the near future. Don't ask why. (show less)

   

  by Facebook narys on Jun 02, 2009 at 03:44AM

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  On first blush, this appears to be another installment of the "hero's journey" story that is so commonplace in fantasy. But look deeper. There are some interesting differences between that plot template and Lackey's execution of it here. For example, the normal story has some poor, uneducated bumpkin compelled by forces beyond his understanding to leave the idyllic, pastoral life he has always known, and journey to the center of power, discovering himself and his fabulous, predestin... (show more)

  On first blush, this appears to be another installment of the "hero's journey" story that is so commonplace in fantasy. But look deeper. There are some interesting differences between that plot template and Lackey's execution of it here. For example, the normal story has some poor, uneducated bumpkin compelled by forces beyond his understanding to leave the idyllic, pastoral life he has always known, and journey to the center of power, discovering himself and his fabulous, predestined powers along the way.

  In Outstretched, however, our hero is anything BUT that uneducated bumpkin. Kellen doesn't live in the hinterlands - he lives in the center of the capital city. He isn't uneducated - in fact, he has an elite education. He isn't poor - he's the son of the man who controls the city. And he isn't ignorant of his magical heritage, either - his father is the High Mage, and Kellen is training to become his heir.

  Or so it all seems.

  See, Lackey has done something clever here. She's made it appear as though she's broken a bunch of the "rules" of the hero's journey, but in fact what she's done is paint a world that LOOKS like she's broken the rules, but then she slowly reveals that she's done nothing of the kind. The mages of the city turn out to be entirely backward and, well, peasant-like in their understanding of magic. The city, while being the center of all it surveys, is actually a sad, backward corner of the landscape - far removed from the halls of real power - the magical domains of the wildmages, and the political/artistic domains of the Elves. The magic Kellen is being trained in is an artificial copy of REAL magic. And the destiny he is about to discover has absolutely nothing to do with taking over the city from his father. So in the end, Kellen's journey is right back to square one: Hero's Journey 101. But I've got to say I salute the camouflage she's wrapped it up in.

  Beyond the structure then, how's the story? Pretty good, I'd say. One of the problems I often have with this story arc is how smoothly interconnected each stage of the story seems to be - as though the characters are flowing inexorably from their origin toward the conclusion, in a sort of dream-like series of dance steps, choreographed by the author. Such characters never feel particularly alive or real to me. But Kellen seems believably conflicted, confused and uncertain about their paths and choices. The fact that he is in fact going though his author's dance steps is very well disguised to give us the impression that he does have choice, and that he's very dangerously on the edge of making bad moves.

  The writing is pretty good, too. It's not lyrical prose or full of metaphor and layers of meaning, but it's good solid narrative prose that moves along. The characters - perhaps BECAUSE they don't seem to be on author-controlled auto-pilot - seem pretty distinct and well realized. And there are also some damned fine backstory details, such as the odd-but-engaging tit-for-tat economy of wild magic where the universe has to literally be paid for every spell cast. A really common problem in magic-based fantasy stories is that they never really provide a rationale for why the wizards don't just do whatever the hell they want, with all the enormous power at their disposal. Lackey's mage-price has a really nice way of limiting things to a believable scale.

  It wasn't all hearts and flowers though. I'm still a bit unsettled by the notion of elves with kitchen stoves and flush toilets. Not that I'm saying these choices are inappropriate or incorrect - just that such details seem jarring. Using her own logic against her, for a people so hidebound by social niceties and decorum, it seems the height of bad manner for Lackey to have drawn our attention to these such peurile details of our otherwise elegant and charming hosts.

  My other complaint is that book was too long for the amount of story it has. Somewhere between 10 and 20% too long, for my tastes. And almost all of that lies in the over-written descriptions, landscape sketches, overwrought internal monologues and such. It isn't that any story point should have been left out - just that too many things are too much belabored and I frequently found myself skipping ahead, getting bored with all the yak-yak that dragged on after the point was already made.

  Lastly, what about depth? Are there profound themes at work? Are there layers and multiple interpretations? Does the book mean something entirely different the next time you read it? Uh, no. I don't think so. Nothing more than the usual fantasy platitudes about honor, sacrifice and so on. If there are any deep lessons outside the normal ilk, they haven't been revealed yet. So it's more than just a good story, and it's more than just well-told, which puts us in 4-star territory, but it doesn't have the stuff for a 5. (show less)

   

   

  by Jeff Smith on Mar 21, 2009 at 04:28PM

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