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Book review: Aerie
Nov. 30th, 2006 07:28 pmToday's book review is Aerie by Mercedes Lackey.
This is the fourth book in the Dragon Jousters series, and there isn't a whole lot of explanation of the ongoing situation, so I wouldn't recommend trying to pick this series up in the middle. I was slightly confused about the situation myself, even though I've read all of the previous volumes, and I'm not sure if that's because I'd forgotten some stuff that happened or that Lackey skipped some events between the end of Sanctuary and the beginning of Aerie. But the situation ended up making sense.
This book had a slightly more complex plot than the earlier books in this series, and there was some problem with pacing, as the first half involved relatively minor events and the second half was overwhelmed with big cosmic stuff but still had issues in the day to day lives of the characters to cover. This volume also brings the fairly ordinary characters we've been following directly to the focus of major events for the whole civilization, raising small issues of believability, but for the most part, it works. All in all, I definitely found it a Mercedes Lackey book -- there were plenty of problems I could identify, but my overall experience was definitely positive. Lackey has the ability to make her characters come alive and matter to me even when the setting, situation, and plot don't really work.
It's also unclear from reading this volume whether the series is over. It seems quite unlikely that Lackey can top or even match the events in this story, so even though the main characters' lives are not over and would probably still be enjoyable to follow, it's not clear whether more books would really work.
( plot summary )
A good Mercedes Lackey read, a story with some inspiring aspects but a number of problems. I'll give it an 8 out of 10.
This is the fourth book in the Dragon Jousters series, and there isn't a whole lot of explanation of the ongoing situation, so I wouldn't recommend trying to pick this series up in the middle. I was slightly confused about the situation myself, even though I've read all of the previous volumes, and I'm not sure if that's because I'd forgotten some stuff that happened or that Lackey skipped some events between the end of Sanctuary and the beginning of Aerie. But the situation ended up making sense.
This book had a slightly more complex plot than the earlier books in this series, and there was some problem with pacing, as the first half involved relatively minor events and the second half was overwhelmed with big cosmic stuff but still had issues in the day to day lives of the characters to cover. This volume also brings the fairly ordinary characters we've been following directly to the focus of major events for the whole civilization, raising small issues of believability, but for the most part, it works. All in all, I definitely found it a Mercedes Lackey book -- there were plenty of problems I could identify, but my overall experience was definitely positive. Lackey has the ability to make her characters come alive and matter to me even when the setting, situation, and plot don't really work.
It's also unclear from reading this volume whether the series is over. It seems quite unlikely that Lackey can top or even match the events in this story, so even though the main characters' lives are not over and would probably still be enjoyable to follow, it's not clear whether more books would really work.
( plot summary )
A good Mercedes Lackey read, a story with some inspiring aspects but a number of problems. I'll give it an 8 out of 10.