For the past week I have been burning the candle at both ends reading. I'm listening to an audio book of a Crown of Swords so that when I pick it back up I'm not wondering what is going on. To recap just the top of the book would be over four hundred pages. After plowing through the Iron Tower, Stardust, and Son of a Witch in the past month- I wanted something different and I was saving Wayfarer Redemption for just that reason.
I had no idea what to expect when I picked up Wayfarer. It was entirely new ground for us and all we had were some internet forums praising her work. I told my husband that I would read it first from the library to decide if we wanted to invest in the series. At any rate, I wouldn't hesitate to snap them up.
The many levels of treachery and secret that enshroud the characters make Harry Potter look like he belongs in Mayberry. Instead of making the tale thick with frustration, we delight to see the main characters work through the mysteries in a natural and unforced manner. People stay true to their nature, even the engimatic Sentinels. Luckily, Douglass doesn't have a heavy descriptive hand. She can paint the forest and the hills surrounding it deftly without losing the point of why you are there. No lingering details of the embroidering on a minor court lady's gown, but you have a clear vision of where and how far the armies have traveled.
Don't let the premise fool you, while this tries to come across as a tale of an enchanter who desires his Juliet married to his half-brother- it is a tale of unwrapping the many layers it will take to forge Axis into a brother-killer. Already he has changed his name three times in efforts to find his true identity. Not a boring moment or drawn out speech marrs these pages. I can only say that while it moves fast, it is still 600 pages long and still too short. The end chapter is clearly a stopping point meant to needle the reader to immediately pick up the next book, Enchanter.
I enjoy Douglass just as much as I do Mercedes Lackey. But while Lackey relys on common devices such as unicorns, talking animals, and elves; Douglass trumps with her own unique view that is still fantasy but no textbook mythology attached. Druidic folk with leaders that turn into stags, angelic warriors in love with themselves and the stars, and demonic skraelings that seem to have lept out of a Nordic nightmare.
The only thing I can accuse her of is the heavy tool of prophecy, which I am nearly tired with how overdone it is in general. I'd love for a world with no psychics or wisemen that can foretell the future. At least the book's prophecy is already in place and thankfully there are none to lay down any new ones. Jordan has done it, McKiernan, Piers Anthony, Lackey, Rowling, Tolkien... someone break the cycle, please.
The Wayfarer Redemption by Sara Douglass
