Well before I was addicted to any video game, I was addicted to reading. And though my World of Warcraft and Civilization habits have been keeping me up late into the night, last week I still found time to get absorbed in a good book. Unfortunately that time was between the hours of midnight and 3 am when I should have been sleeping. But that’s besides the point.
Several years ago I read a book called Transformation, a fantasy book that I found really amazingly good. I couldn’t put it down - it was thoughtful and interesting, dark yet hopeful, and full of surprises and the mysteries of believable characters. The author, Carol Berg, followed it up with two sequels that, though enjoyable, didn’t come anywhere near the level of her first book. After that, there was a stand-alone book, not so good, and then a new series, The Bridge of D’Arnath. The first three books in the series were quite adequate, but again, not up to her first book.
All this was of course, quite a disappointment. But ever a loyal book fan, I keep buying her books, which remain entertaining, though not fantastically awesome. Enter Book 4 in The Bridge of D’Arnath series, Daughter of Ancients. Though it had its share of cliches and obviously tidy wrapups, it was great. At its core is the mystery of a woman who seems too good to be true. She sweeps in and rebuilds a world shattered by catastrophic events that were chronicled in the first three books. But the question of her story and her motives had me eagerly turning pages.
If you’re looking for a great fantasy read, try Transformation. If you’re not quite sated at that point, finish the series out with Revelation and Restoration. But then give The Bridge of D’Arnath a try, starting at book one, Son of Avonar (a book with its own fair share of twists and turns, but just not quite as good as Berg’s best work). It’s worth the climax. Berg doesn’t flinch from portraying people at their worst, but she also always holds out the hope that within everyone there remains something worth saving. That’s a sentiment worth holding on to.
One Response to “Book Review - Daughter of Ancients”
[...] I’ve mentioned before that I’m a bit of a bookworm. When I’m not geeking out on technology, you’ll frequently find me with my nose buried in a book. Over the years I’ve amassed a ridiculously large collection of books, since most of my relations with libraries tend to be short-lived. I don’t know what it is, but every now and again I try getting my books from the library instead of the bookstore. It lasts for a few weeks or months, and then I’m logging onto Amazon and ordering away. It’s something of a problem. [...]