I love the complexity in this novel, which
deals masterfully with several different issues.
Charlie is a wherecat, but her
sister Davey is human. She wants to keep her sister safe in a dangerous world
full of predators who could attack before her sister even knew they had moved.
But Davey sees Charlie’s efforts to keep her safe as overbearing and
oppressive.
I could identify with Davey’s feeling of wanting to be independent
even if it meant she wouldn’t be safe. I
identify with Charlie’s determination to find the real killer even though she
keeps bringing in the wrong person and finding out that what she thought was
proof really wasn’t. The author keeps the stakes high. Charlie has to find the
real killer because if she doesn’t.
Off a two-lane highway outside of a southern Tennessee town you’ve probably never heard of stands a hole-in-the-wall establishment called the Fat Cat Bar and Grille. Drinks are served by a woman named Charley, who seems to hear things a little too well and see things a little too clearly. She might listen to your life story, but she won’t tell you a single word of hers.
The other thing she won’t tell you? That you have wandered into the only shifter-friendly bar in the country…
In the three years since I was infected, I’ve finally managed to put my…
I
like that even though this is science fiction, it allows me to get into the
character, showing me how he is reacting to the things happening around him. Card
builds the world through the character rather than long descriptions.
Through
the character, I was able to explore some important questions when he struggles
with unrealistic concepts of what it means to be a man and when he realizes that
the "Oversoul" is protecting humans from destroying themselves by blocking their
thoughts.
I
identified with the character when Card artfully contrasts what he was thinking
while talking to his mother and what he found himself saying to get along with her.
The planet called Harmony had been settled by humans nearly forty years before. The colony had been placed under the care of an artificial intelligence, the Oversoul, high in orbit. This master computer had one overriding command: guard the people of Harmony.
But now the Oversoul is itself in danger. Soon, within a thousand years, catastrophic war will break out on Harmony unless the Oversoul can be repaired. The master computer has determined that it must be taken back to lost Earth; someone on Harmony must be given back the knowledge of space travel in order to save the planet…
Everybody in Xanth has magic except for Bink.
He is disabled. Bink’s quest to find his magic reminds me of my own search for
thicker and thicker glasses and more and more powerful hearing aids. Like Bink, I struggled to maintain my worth in
a world where worth was determined by something I didn’t have.
I also loved the way Anthony creates character
complexity and raises the question about what is a bad guy by forcing Bink to
partner with the one man everyone is afraid of.
All this Anthony does in a fantastical world
full of fantastical characters.
BEST NOVEL OF THE YEAR, BRITISH FANTASY SOCIETY • Discover the magical beginning of Piers Anthony’s enthralling Xanth series
Xanth was the enchanted land where magic ruled—where every citizen had a special spell only he could cast. It was a land of centaurs and dragons and basilisks.
For Bink of North Village, however, Xanth was no fairy tale. He alone had no magic. And unless he got some—and got some fast!—he would be exiled. Forever. But the Good Magician Humfrey was convinced that Bink did indeed have magic. In fact, both Beauregard the genie and the magic wall chart insisted…
Rhonda loves to write as well as read. You might find your next
favorite read among the novels that she has written.
What you will find
on this Smashwords profile: Rhonda’s books and free short stories, links
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