rachel_abby_reads's review
I started this book with high hopes, but after reading about 2/3 of it, I can't do any more. If the author isn't going to take us inside the character's head, then they need to show us who they are and what they are becoming in other ways. This book was way too much geography aand detail where it was unnecessary, and far too little character development/revelation as the story has been moving. Flipping ahead to skim the end doesn't show that there will be much of a payoff. So I'm done. The jacket quotes were all quite enthusiastic. I wonder if the reviewers were personal friends of the author.
katlikespie's review
2.0
Twenty generations ago, inhabitants of the peaceful Valley set out to find a way to keep their land safe. A powerful magician gave them a spell to keep them safe - one family must offer up oats to the cedars of the forest, and sing songs; another must sing to the river. This has kept the land safe for generations, but now the spell's time is up, and it is up to the descendants of the original questers to find this magician again and renew the bonds of safety.
Tilja has grown up in the valley, slowly coming to terms with the fact that, in her magical family, she has no magical ability. It is she, along with her grandmother and two members of the other magical family, who must seek out the magician who set the spell, and keep her land safe.
I liked the premise. I liked the writing. I liked the fact that the epic adventure story had to pause because Tilja's grandmother's hip was bothering her. But I give it two stars because I just couldn't finish this book. The descriptions were lovely, but it took so long for anything to happen that I kept putting the book down, checking my phone, snuggling the cat - anything but reading. When it was due back at the library, I just returned it.
Tilja has grown up in the valley, slowly coming to terms with the fact that, in her magical family, she has no magical ability. It is she, along with her grandmother and two members of the other magical family, who must seek out the magician who set the spell, and keep her land safe.
I liked the premise. I liked the writing. I liked the fact that the epic adventure story had to pause because Tilja's grandmother's hip was bothering her. But I give it two stars because I just couldn't finish this book. The descriptions were lovely, but it took so long for anything to happen that I kept putting the book down, checking my phone, snuggling the cat - anything but reading. When it was due back at the library, I just returned it.
angelofdudes's review
5.0
This book was SO goooooood, the plot was understandable and everyone made reasonable choices unlike so many books and shows and movies where the characters do something completely wild for the sake of drama, i loved visualizing the setting i thought the set-up was great, it didn’t flip-flop between explanations and present time too much it’s really just a great book! And it ended when it was supposed to end, didn’t cut off too early, didn’t drag on too long, and the epilogue makes sense and there’s no need for a sequel since the premise is cyclical and it would just be wash rinse and repeat with different characters and different circumstances. Am fully satiated by this book, didn’t leave me wanting more and I never got mad at the characters for their behavior, absolutely everything made sense!
chelsea_not_chels's review
5.0
More reviews available at my blog, Beauty and the Bookworm.
The Ropemaker has been one of my favorite fantasy stories for a long time, but I hadn't read it in a while, which meant that it was a perfect candidate for my reading challenge category of "A book you haven't read since high school." I knew that I hadn't read this since high school because I lent my copy to someone and they never gave it back! Don't you have when that happens? But now I have the Kindle version, so all is well--though really, the Kindle version could so with some updating format-wise. Also, did you know that Peter Dickinson was married to Robin McKinley? I didn't!
So. The Ropemaker is the story of Tilja, a girl who lives in the peaceful Valley, which has been cut off from the Empire to the south and the land of the horse tribes to the north for twenty generations due to an act of magic that has been maintained by two families, one of them Tilja's own. The story starts with the slow failure of the magic that protects the Valley, and Tilja ends up going with her grandmother and two members of the other family who protect the magic to find Faheel, the magician who cut the Valley off in the first place, to renew the spells that keep them safe.
This is, at its heart, a simple story, but I love it. I think Dickinson has managed to create one of those worlds that might seem simple on the surface, but you absorb a very deep sense of it while reading. From the Valley to the Empire's capital of Talagh, to the city of the dying in the south, to all of the things and people and customs that Tilja and her companions encounter in between, it's just a very rich world and one that has a lot of cultural characteristics that aren't very commonly seen in fantasy novels. Tilja is also a simple character, but one that I think makes her approachable for a wide variety of readers. She's a little bit of a misfit, being the elder daughter in her family but not being on track to inherit her family's farm because she can't hear the cedars in the forest that protects the Valley. Indeed, Tilja is actually the least magical person, well, ever, and as she goes on her journey she learns to grow into that and use it to her own advantage, turning it into her own sort of special ability. And while we know Tilja isn't a full adult, it's hard to get a handle on exactly how old she is until about two-thirds of the way through the book, which I think allows you to read her as a variety of ages...and they pretty much all work.
Honestly, this book is a lot like The Hobbit to me: a simple, magical journey with what is ultimately a very simple goal, but also a story that is enveloping and beautiful at the same time. (I don't have the same feelings for the main Lord of the Rings trilogy.) I was so happy when this received a sequel, Angel Isle, years after I first read it, and I was very pleased to have an excuse to read it again.
5 stars.
The Ropemaker has been one of my favorite fantasy stories for a long time, but I hadn't read it in a while, which meant that it was a perfect candidate for my reading challenge category of "A book you haven't read since high school." I knew that I hadn't read this since high school because I lent my copy to someone and they never gave it back! Don't you have when that happens? But now I have the Kindle version, so all is well--though really, the Kindle version could so with some updating format-wise. Also, did you know that Peter Dickinson was married to Robin McKinley? I didn't!
So. The Ropemaker is the story of Tilja, a girl who lives in the peaceful Valley, which has been cut off from the Empire to the south and the land of the horse tribes to the north for twenty generations due to an act of magic that has been maintained by two families, one of them Tilja's own. The story starts with the slow failure of the magic that protects the Valley, and Tilja ends up going with her grandmother and two members of the other family who protect the magic to find Faheel, the magician who cut the Valley off in the first place, to renew the spells that keep them safe.
This is, at its heart, a simple story, but I love it. I think Dickinson has managed to create one of those worlds that might seem simple on the surface, but you absorb a very deep sense of it while reading. From the Valley to the Empire's capital of Talagh, to the city of the dying in the south, to all of the things and people and customs that Tilja and her companions encounter in between, it's just a very rich world and one that has a lot of cultural characteristics that aren't very commonly seen in fantasy novels. Tilja is also a simple character, but one that I think makes her approachable for a wide variety of readers. She's a little bit of a misfit, being the elder daughter in her family but not being on track to inherit her family's farm because she can't hear the cedars in the forest that protects the Valley. Indeed, Tilja is actually the least magical person, well, ever, and as she goes on her journey she learns to grow into that and use it to her own advantage, turning it into her own sort of special ability. And while we know Tilja isn't a full adult, it's hard to get a handle on exactly how old she is until about two-thirds of the way through the book, which I think allows you to read her as a variety of ages...and they pretty much all work.
Honestly, this book is a lot like The Hobbit to me: a simple, magical journey with what is ultimately a very simple goal, but also a story that is enveloping and beautiful at the same time. (I don't have the same feelings for the main Lord of the Rings trilogy.) I was so happy when this received a sequel, Angel Isle, years after I first read it, and I was very pleased to have an excuse to read it again.
5 stars.
ariellereads's review
4.0
The Valley that young Tilja Urlasdaughter lives in has not always been the peaceful place that she is used to. Several generations back her beloved Valley was plagued by wild tribesmen attacking from the North and soldiers from the Empire attacking from the South. Finally four young people, two Urlasdaughters and two Ortahlsons journey away from home to find the famed magician, Asarta, and plead for her to help them protect their home. She helps them one last time and leads them to another magician, named Faheel, with a ring that he had been trying to steal from the old woman for years. After receiving this gift and knowing that the old woman had passed on, Faheel decides to help the four young people of the Valley and seals off the Northern pass by an ice dragon and the South by unicorns that give off a magic that will allow no men to pass through the woods surrounding the border. From every year on, one member of the Ortahlson family would sing to the dragon, and one from the Urlasdaughter family would sing to the unicorns. When this magic starts wearing off, Tilja, her grandmother, and two members of the Otahlson family set off on that very same journey that their ancestors had taken so many years ago. Along the way, Tilja, who was brokenhearted about not having the unicorn magic, finds that she has a special power all of her own and comes into herself during the long journey. They eventually meet a young magician along the way that calls himself the Ropemaker and Faheel eventually passes on the ring to him and it is then the Ropemaker’s duty to protect the Valley for the next twenty generations.
I absolutely was enchanted by this book. Peter Dickenson must be a really good crafter of imagination because I never found that this book was lacking in that department. What I loved was that he didn't let the reader know the secrets of the ice dragon and unicorns before Tilja found out for herself. We could have make assumptions or guessed about what creatures were living in the woods, but I thought I was able to grow closer to Tilja as a character because I knew the same things she knew, as she found them out for herself. That way we were able to grow with her as she did on her journey.
Another thing I loved about this book was the concept of magic. At this point in my life I have read a lot of books about wizards or magicians and all of their powers usually vary in one way or another. My favorite kind of magic is the kind that needs balance and actually takes something out of you when you use too much. In this case Tilja has the power to cover up and absorb the magic, masking it or making it disappear completely. Also, even though Faheel had tried so hard to steal that ring from Asarta so long ago, he realizes at the end of his life how important it is for it to be passed on to be used as a force of good, someone who would battle the evil ones, called the Watchers, to protect the Empire and Valley. Magic in this story is also tied close to Tilja’s coming of age and coming to accept herself. Overall this book is so hard to put down and has a story line that draws you in and allows you to become close to the characters.
I absolutely was enchanted by this book. Peter Dickenson must be a really good crafter of imagination because I never found that this book was lacking in that department. What I loved was that he didn't let the reader know the secrets of the ice dragon and unicorns before Tilja found out for herself. We could have make assumptions or guessed about what creatures were living in the woods, but I thought I was able to grow closer to Tilja as a character because I knew the same things she knew, as she found them out for herself. That way we were able to grow with her as she did on her journey.
Another thing I loved about this book was the concept of magic. At this point in my life I have read a lot of books about wizards or magicians and all of their powers usually vary in one way or another. My favorite kind of magic is the kind that needs balance and actually takes something out of you when you use too much. In this case Tilja has the power to cover up and absorb the magic, masking it or making it disappear completely. Also, even though Faheel had tried so hard to steal that ring from Asarta so long ago, he realizes at the end of his life how important it is for it to be passed on to be used as a force of good, someone who would battle the evil ones, called the Watchers, to protect the Empire and Valley. Magic in this story is also tied close to Tilja’s coming of age and coming to accept herself. Overall this book is so hard to put down and has a story line that draws you in and allows you to become close to the characters.
suzannemseidel's review
2.0
I started out so interested but by half way through I no longer cared (or really understood) what was going on. It’s just a series of events with very little dialogue, emotion, or characterization. Magic was often either too convenient or too convoluted.
suzyqhf's review
2.0
I tried...I really did...but I just couldn't get into this book. Stopped after about 60 pages.
clairedigan's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
m_a_p's review
2.0
Heroine's anti-magic power was kind of cool, but the rules for magic and government were both illogical and random in this world. Epilogue was depressing although it seed intended to be uplifting.