Scan barcode
chelleanne's review
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
I came across this book with no prior experience of the Victoria Goddard or the world I which this book is set.
I enjoyed the characters and their story. However, without the broader context that comes from reading the other series this fell a little flat. It felt as though I was missing the point of the story. I’m keen to explore the other books to get get a better feel.
I enjoyed the characters and their story. However, without the broader context that comes from reading the other series this fell a little flat. It felt as though I was missing the point of the story. I’m keen to explore the other books to get get a better feel.
sashas_books's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Here we are, back in the Nine Worlds! These are the beginnings of the famous Red Company (or rather, its first tentative baby steps). This is a story in which not very much happens… and at the same time it is so full of emotions, poignancy, longing, people trying to be good to each other. It’s just lovely.
I finally got to meet Damian, who was only mentioned in other books. It was a happy meeting. Damian is neurodiverse! He is genius swordsman, a sword fighting geek, he has an amazing visual memory, is badass, he is awesome. It’s just that he is sixteen and has no idea how awesome he really is. Knowing that you are different and just wanting to belong is difficult.
Oh, and here is young Jullanar! It’s delicious, being the reader who knows what the butterfly struggling in the cocoon will look like. She is uncertain what to do with her life, unmoored. Those university entrance exams did not go that well, so she is to take a veeery long journey to her university. Do I smell adventure? Things don’t go as planned (of course), so Jullanar gets a mission. I loved the description of her journey, the experience of leaving the Empire of Astandalas (while there still was such a thing) for a different world, and coming to see her Aunt Maude. And then it just so happens that several people decide that it would be good for Damian to have someone new to talk to, while Jullanar can have lessons in local language and customs. (Me: giggle-giggle-giggle.) The way Damian interprets his promise to keep Jullanar safe is… chef’s kiss!
The mingling of Damian/Jullanar POV’s in the rest of the book is wonderful and so well done!
“Yes, he could take her to the quiet places. He would wait and make sure she was what he thought before he took her to his secret places, but she had looked at the water and the land and the light on the water and the fragrance of the purple irises rising up and blushed for their beauty, and Damian was so, so glad…”
“She wasn’t sure she could describe the quiet beauty of the place Damian had taken her to, or the care with which he had positioned her hand on the sword, her feet on the ground, her arms in the air. He had corrected her pronunciation and frowned thoughtfully at her and acted out motion words, and she was tired and footsore and her arms were aching, but she had held a sword for the first time and, secretly, adored it.”
Damian’s family not understanding him and feeling exasperated is very sad and upsetting. The scene where they finally talk things out is very well done. And how awesome is Jullanar, really? She observes. She thinks. She wonders. She realizes what causes one of Damian’s problems and comes up with a solution - it broke my heart, but in a good way.
About 70% into the book, Jullanar and Damian meet Fitzroy... in the same way as some other characters in The Return of Fitzroy Angursell Oh my, is this a trend? This was so lovely that I had to turn off my kindle immediately, to savour. Aaand they start having adventures! It is a delight that almost made me cry. Young Fitzroy is another butterfly struggling out of its cocoon… It’s touching and beautiful.
“Shall we be friends until the end of time, Jullanar?” “Oh, and beyond, most certainly,” Jullanar replied, giggling...”
The ending is quite perfect. Where is the next book in *this* series? What do you mean there isn’t one yet? I’ll be waiting… (I’ll just read other things by Victoria Goddard in the meantime.)
I finally got to meet Damian, who was only mentioned in other books. It was a happy meeting. Damian is neurodiverse! He is genius swordsman, a sword fighting geek, he has an amazing visual memory, is badass, he is awesome. It’s just that he is sixteen and has no idea how awesome he really is. Knowing that you are different and just wanting to belong is difficult.
Oh, and here is young Jullanar! It’s delicious, being the reader who knows what the butterfly struggling in the cocoon will look like. She is uncertain what to do with her life, unmoored. Those university entrance exams did not go that well, so she is to take a veeery long journey to her university. Do I smell adventure? Things don’t go as planned (of course), so Jullanar gets a mission. I loved the description of her journey, the experience of leaving the Empire of Astandalas (while there still was such a thing) for a different world, and coming to see her Aunt Maude. And then it just so happens that several people decide that it would be good for Damian to have someone new to talk to, while Jullanar can have lessons in local language and customs. (Me: giggle-giggle-giggle.) The way Damian interprets his promise to keep Jullanar safe is… chef’s kiss!
The mingling of Damian/Jullanar POV’s in the rest of the book is wonderful and so well done!
“Yes, he could take her to the quiet places. He would wait and make sure she was what he thought before he took her to his secret places, but she had looked at the water and the land and the light on the water and the fragrance of the purple irises rising up and blushed for their beauty, and Damian was so, so glad…”
“She wasn’t sure she could describe the quiet beauty of the place Damian had taken her to, or the care with which he had positioned her hand on the sword, her feet on the ground, her arms in the air. He had corrected her pronunciation and frowned thoughtfully at her and acted out motion words, and she was tired and footsore and her arms were aching, but she had held a sword for the first time and, secretly, adored it.”
Damian’s family not understanding him and feeling exasperated is very sad and upsetting. The scene where they finally talk things out is very well done. And how awesome is Jullanar, really? She observes. She thinks. She wonders. She realizes what causes one of Damian’s problems and comes up with a solution - it broke my heart, but in a good way.
About 70% into the book, Jullanar and Damian meet Fitzroy... in the same way as some other characters in The Return of Fitzroy Angursell Oh my, is this a trend? This was so lovely that I had to turn off my kindle immediately, to savour. Aaand they start having adventures! It is a delight that almost made me cry. Young Fitzroy is another butterfly struggling out of its cocoon… It’s touching and beautiful.
“Shall we be friends until the end of time, Jullanar?” “Oh, and beyond, most certainly,” Jullanar replied, giggling...”
The ending is quite perfect. Where is the next book in *this* series? What do you mean there isn’t one yet? I’ll be waiting… (I’ll just read other things by Victoria Goddard in the meantime.)
zimmerea's review
adventurous
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
I started this novel a little dubiously while I waited for my holds on the main series of the Hands Of The Emperoro to come through, but I have fallen in love with the cast of the Red Company anew. A wonderful beginning to a great adventure.
tamarant4's review
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
What matter if this was the end of her respectability? She’d never wanted that, had she? She’d wanted friends, and adventures, and to see what lay on the other side of the horizon, the Empire, the mountains. [ch. 27]
First in a trilogy, The Red Company, set in Victoria Goddard's increasingly complex Nine Worlds universe: chronologically, the events of Derring-Do for Beginners take place more or less at the same time as 'The Tower at the Edge of the World' (a shorter story, which I have read but not reviewed).
Jullanar Thistlethwaite is an unexceptional young woman of genteel family, who just about scrapes into university (an unfortunate occurence during the final exams) and wins a place at the remote University of Galderon. After a long and tedious journey she discovers that the University is 'closed for the year', having made itself invisible: she's swept up by a fellow would-be student, and somehow, simply without saying anything to the contrary, finds herself outside the Empire of Astandalas, in the city of Ixsaa where her aunt Maude is conducting sociological studies. Jullanar doesn't speak the local language, so Maude arranges for a friend's son to tutor her. (Maude's friends, Kasiar and and Cadia, are delightful middle-aged ladies, unmarried businesswomen in what Jullanar instantly classifies as 'a man's city'. I would read a novel about these women.)
Kasiar's son is Damian Raskae, a brilliant swordsman who is generally regarded as stupid and sulky -- though he's extremely good at preventing fights, and at roaming the city's hinterland marshes. He is astonishingly goodlooking, and everyone fears that Jullanar, with her love of romantic novels, will fall for him: but instead they become friends. And one day a young man falls out of the sky into their rowing-boat, wittering about never having had a shadow before, and introducing himself only as 'Fitzroy' ...
Every time I read one of Goddard's novels I rekindle my craving for more of her writing. That said, her books (or rather series) are tonally very different: this is (literally) worlds away from the courteous bureaucracy of The Hands of the Emperor, or the mannered Gothic of the Greenwing and Dart books. The stakes here are reassuringly low; Jullanar and Damian are both social misfits, and they find friendship and adventure in each other's company. The setting is richly visualised, the secondary characters ditto, and Jullanar and Damian have flaws and fears and fancies -- just like ordinary folk.
I am so looking forward to the next in the series...
"...I say, Jullanar, do you think that’s what happened to my shadow? The blood from that serpent spattered all over me—and then I found the rooster—and here’s my shadow!”
Jullanar said, with relief, “And here’s the boat.”
ofliterarynature's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
pincushionknight's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
geekmom's review
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
This was an enjoyable, gentle story about friendship and learning to understand yourself. I am looking forward to reading more about these characters in future books!
trashthatmatters's review
3.75
Somehow it got me and hooked me until the end. I will end up reading the rest of the series, I might as well admit it