skippen's review against another edition
2.0
This was a interesting read. The world is great, and Rydill did a wonderful job in the opening chapters of creating and filling this world with people and culture. It is a combination of fantasy/German/Gypsy, and wholly unique to anything I have read.
However strong the world is, the story does not hold up the entire novel. It is the story of Annat and Malchick, adopted children of Yusef. They shipped off to live with their father in the upper Northern lands that have recently been opened up due to a winter's thaw. Yuda, the children's father, is a shaman (as is Annat), and he is being stationed in this remote location as the resident shaman/doctor. While there, deaths start occurring at the railroad.
The basic plot is fine, but the novel falters in many places. The plot, a mystery overall, is dropped for another plot of larger import, and that is too bad. The story, in the end, becomes one of larger proporations, but it does not hold together well. The main character, Annat, never grows as a character (she is roughly the same as the beginning of the novel as it at the end). Malchick, never grows, and is a important catalyst to the story, but we don't see him grow either.
Their father is the most interesting character in the book, but he too doesn't get the attention that he deserves as well. In the end, what this book really suffers from is being a first novel. I expect the characters grow throughout the series. This book is more about the world building and the story falters. Interesting world that has a fairly mediocre story that could have been better with better characters. A simple mystery of why the train crews were dying wold have served this book better.
However strong the world is, the story does not hold up the entire novel. It is the story of Annat and Malchick, adopted children of Yusef. They shipped off to live with their father in the upper Northern lands that have recently been opened up due to a winter's thaw. Yuda, the children's father, is a shaman (as is Annat), and he is being stationed in this remote location as the resident shaman/doctor. While there, deaths start occurring at the railroad.
The basic plot is fine, but the novel falters in many places. The plot, a mystery overall, is dropped for another plot of larger import, and that is too bad. The story, in the end, becomes one of larger proporations, but it does not hold together well. The main character, Annat, never grows as a character (she is roughly the same as the beginning of the novel as it at the end). Malchick, never grows, and is a important catalyst to the story, but we don't see him grow either.
Their father is the most interesting character in the book, but he too doesn't get the attention that he deserves as well. In the end, what this book really suffers from is being a first novel. I expect the characters grow throughout the series. This book is more about the world building and the story falters. Interesting world that has a fairly mediocre story that could have been better with better characters. A simple mystery of why the train crews were dying wold have served this book better.
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