Review: SPECTYR

Spectyr by Philippa Ballantine
Book 2 of the Order of the Deacons

Genre: fantasy

About Spectyr:

Though one of the most powerful Deacons, Sorcha Faris has a tarnished reputation to overcome. She and her partner, Deacon Merrick Chambers, find themselves chasing down rumors of geists, but long for a return to real action. So they jump at the chance to escort a delegation sent to negotiate the terms of the Emperor’s engagement. Their destination: the exotic city of Orinthal.

But a string of murders has Orinthal on edge, and Sorcha and Merrick are asked to investigate. Meanwhile the Emperor’s sister has unwittingly released a cruel and vengeful goddess, one who it bent on destroying her enemies, including the geistlord who resides inside the shapeshifting rival to the throne—Sorcha’s lover…

Source: Info in the About Spectyr was taken from the author's website at http://www.booksoftheorder.com/?page_id=124 on 11/06/2011.

Review:

I was looking forward to this book after I finished Geist, but this book is even a slower starter than Geist was!It took me longer to get into this book than it did with Geist. Somehow the story telling quality felt like it wasn't as good as it did with Geist... Anyhow, one thing remains certain, the story and world building is beautiful and vivid, if not even more intricate! I could easily imagine myself in that world... It's a frontier world of magic on the brink of discoveries... A lot of unknowns to explore... I think it's actually grown on me. And by the way, it's skimming very closely to steampunkery... it got dirigibles. I bet steampunk fans will love this! This book showed the same wonderful "story building skills" that I saw in Geist. The story has a cohesive and coherent structure with a central dilemma and an ending with good resolution! And that won lots of brownie points with me. The ending also pointed to a lot of things going on with the next book enough to keep a reader hooked to the series, so am looking forward to the next book...

Though, I think the best part about this book is it's cover art. It's even better than book 1! My fantasy buff eyes just fell in love with the cover!!

Overall, this book has a good story structure but the story telling quality has slightly fallen so I would give this book a 3 out of 5.

Empirical Evaluation:
Story Telling Quality = 3
World Building = 4.5
Character Development = 4
Pace = 2
Plot = 4
Story Itself = 3
Ending = 3

Overall Rating: 3 out of 5 cherries


Books In The Order Of Deacons series:


Thank you to Penguin for the review copy of Spectyr by Philippa Ballantine received.

Review: GEIST

Geist by Philippa Ballantine
Book 1 of the Order of the Deacons

Genre: fantasy, for 18s or older only

About Geist:

Geists don’t always play by the rules.

Between the living and the dead is the Order of the Deacons, protectors of the Empire, guardians against possession, sentinels enlisted to ward off the malevolent haunting of the geists…

Among the most powerful of the Order is Sorcha, now thrust into partnership with the novice Deacon, Merrick Chambers. They have been dispatched to the isolated village of Ulrich to aide the Priory with a surge of violent geist activity. With them is Raed Rossin, Pretender to the throne that Sorcha is sworn to protect, and bearer of a terrible curse.

But what greets them in the strange settlement is something far more predatory and more horrifying than any mere haunting. And as she uncovers a tradition of twisted rituals passed down through the dark reaches of history, Sorcha will be forced to reconsider everything she thinks she knows.

And if she makes it out of Ulrich alive, what in Hell is she returning to?

Source: Info in the About Geist was taken from the author's website at http://www.booksoftheorder.com/?page_id=4 on 11/06/2011.

Review:

This book started off slow but once past a couple of chapters it started to pick up... then it's action after action until the very end! So pace-wise, it wasn't too bad. The story telling quality was just a tiny, itsy-bitsy shade from being a masterpice. I find myself needing little short breaks while reading this book. But during my breaks, the story would pull me back as the characters prance around my head and I imagine alternative plots to the story. And then when I read on, I get surprised by the unexpected turn the plot went instead! Ahhh... this author is good at inventing stories indeed!! The other thing I really liked about this book is that it has a well-structured story. I like stories with cohesive structure because it is easier to wrap my mind around it if it does, therefore, really ranks right high up with me as a reader. I like it when I can wrap my head around a story as oppose to one where I struggle to do so. Authors of books without a well-structured story, I tend not to buy again.

Look at that cover! The art department deserves a bloody raise!! If I was on one of my retail therapy sessions and browsing the shelves of a bookstore, this cover would trigger my book buying radar with an irristible pull!

I didn't like the inconsistent rules of magic in this world of the geists though. In the scene where we first witnessed Raed's change, he lost his clothes. But in The Melding scene, they did not loose their clothes. They came off it presumed to be fully clothed. Now, that is not consistent. But because of the wonderful "story building skills" that this author displayed and the enjoyment I got out of this book, I would still give it a high rating.

Empirical Evaluation:
Story Telling Quality = 4
World Building = 5
Character Development = 5
Pace = 4
Plot = 5
Story Itself = 4.5
Ending = 4.5

Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5 cherries


Books In The Order Of The Deacons Series:


Thank you to Penguin for the review copy of Geist by Philippa Ballantine received.