arwenstelter's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This series would benefit from a better editor. I know the author knows in her head where we are, but there are frequent, unexplained scene changes without any segue at all. It is confusing. One second they are outside talking, then she’s tied to a chair. Is the chair in the street?! No, we’re in completely new location without any indication of how we got there. This happens over and over again.
wazbar's review
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
I have really liked all the Hambly I've read so far and this was similarly charming. Be aware that it does not fully resolve its own plot, which presumably concludes in the sequel.
I think Hambly's advantage over her peers is in her craft of perspective and characterization. The plot centers on the actions of three characters and we get meaningful insight into the perspective of each one. This is done while maintaining reasons for mistrust and incomplete knowledge on both their part and the reader's.
This isn't a requirement for me to like a book but I really liked the characters. I liked how people from another universe, upon meeting one character's shitty boyfriend, immediately conclude that he sucks. Furthermore, these are some good wizards. They don't do a lot of wizardry but you don't need to to, really; it's all in the vibes. Hambly knows how to write a wizard.
I think Hambly's advantage over her peers is in her craft of perspective and characterization. The plot centers on the actions of three characters and we get meaningful insight into the perspective of each one. This is done while maintaining reasons for mistrust and incomplete knowledge on both their part and the reader's.
This isn't a requirement for me to like a book but I really liked the characters. I liked how people from another universe, upon meeting one character's shitty boyfriend, immediately conclude that he sucks. Furthermore, these are some good wizards. They don't do a lot of wizardry but you don't need to to, really; it's all in the vibes. Hambly knows how to write a wizard.
jvilches's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
zanosgood's review
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
ec_tyche's review
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
fredkiesche's review
5.0
I first came across Barbara Hambly when she first started being published in the 1980's by Del Rey Books, as part of their fantasy line. With books such as the first of the Darwath books (The Time of the Dark) and the Sun Wolf sequence (The Ladies of Mandrigyn). They were fun fantasy novels, different from the usual Del Rey fare, quick reads and interesting reads as well. In 1986 came the first of the Windrose Chronicles, The Silent Tower, with elements of both our world and a fantasy world, with implications for both.
Joanna Sheraton is a programmer at a US government research center who comes across an intruder where none should be, in the heart of a 1980's supercomputer machine room...a man using...candles. No trace of the intruder is seen later until Joanna is drawn into another world when she is at a party of her somewhat flaky boyfriend. She teams up with Caris (guardian of and relative to Archmage Salteris) and Antryg (student of both Salteris and the so-called Darkmage Suraklin) to try and find out whether Suraklin has somehow managed to return from the dead and has taken Salteris prisoner between the worlds.
Friends become enemies and vice versa (intentionally or not) as the trio try to unravel what exacttly is going on as they travel across the Earth-that-is-not-Earth and back to Earth at the ending (spoilers for a book that was first published in 1986) leading to a...cliffhanger.
Good thing I already have the second (first read in 1988, but repurchased as an eBook more recently)!
Like the briefer (and better) Tea with a Black Dragon (R.A. MacAvoy), The Silent Tower mixes our world and the world of our technology—the still nascent world of computer (at that point at least) with decent female characters and a interesting plot. Does it still hold up? I think Joanna gets into the trappings of the alternate Earth a tad fast (especially when it comes to clothing), but she definitely is a strong character and central to the (cliffhanger) resolution. The book held up on this re-reading (some decades later) and I will take up the sequels as well.
Joanna Sheraton is a programmer at a US government research center who comes across an intruder where none should be, in the heart of a 1980's supercomputer machine room...a man using...candles. No trace of the intruder is seen later until Joanna is drawn into another world when she is at a party of her somewhat flaky boyfriend. She teams up with Caris (guardian of and relative to Archmage Salteris) and Antryg (student of both Salteris and the so-called Darkmage Suraklin) to try and find out whether Suraklin has somehow managed to return from the dead and has taken Salteris prisoner between the worlds.
Friends become enemies and vice versa (intentionally or not) as the trio try to unravel what exacttly is going on as they travel across the Earth-that-is-not-Earth and back to Earth at the ending (spoilers for a book that was first published in 1986) leading to a...cliffhanger.
Good thing I already have the second (first read in 1988, but repurchased as an eBook more recently)!
Like the briefer (and better) Tea with a Black Dragon (R.A. MacAvoy), The Silent Tower mixes our world and the world of our technology—the still nascent world of computer (at that point at least) with decent female characters and a interesting plot. Does it still hold up? I think Joanna gets into the trappings of the alternate Earth a tad fast (especially when it comes to clothing), but she definitely is a strong character and central to the (cliffhanger) resolution. The book held up on this re-reading (some decades later) and I will take up the sequels as well.
lyndiane's review
4.0
It felt great going back in time to read a book from the eighties.
Excellent writing and a suspenseful sequence of events made this book very difficult to put down. I was also tempted to shelve it under Historical fiction, due to the depiction of mainframe with 60MB of memory as being top of the range!!!
A delightful read indeed.
Excellent writing and a suspenseful sequence of events made this book very difficult to put down. I was also tempted to shelve it under Historical fiction, due to the depiction of mainframe with 60MB of memory as being top of the range!!!
A delightful read indeed.
shirezu's review
3.0
I really wanted to like this book more. The concept was intriguing and the characters were interesting. But the book has a whole was just too slow. I struggled to get through it as chapter after chapter nothing really happened. There was a lot of repetition which is something I hate and I almost dropped the book without bothering to finish it.
After around halfway though the book started improving and finally started moving forward. But it was too little, too late. By the time the good bits rolled around the book was over. And with such a long, long setup it doesn't make me want to try the sequel at all. I think the two books could have been condensed into one much better story.
A shame as I was looking forward to reading it. The idea and the characters were good but the execution left a lot to be desired. Can't recommend it unless you have nothing else to read.
After around halfway though the book started improving and finally started moving forward. But it was too little, too late. By the time the good bits rolled around the book was over. And with such a long, long setup it doesn't make me want to try the sequel at all. I think the two books could have been condensed into one much better story.
A shame as I was looking forward to reading it. The idea and the characters were good but the execution left a lot to be desired. Can't recommend it unless you have nothing else to read.
raciethereader's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75