I am almost finished Hidden Warrior of Tamir Triad and am enjoying it immensely.
The only criticism I have so far is how Flewelling has painted the invaders as pure evil. It is not realistic for a book that has captivated me and made me believe.
I guess it keeps with the darkness of the series, but reading about how Tobin orders that all enemies are to be killed and how the city is littered with dead bodies... pretty gruesome stuff.
I'm interested to see what happens now that Brother is free... Can't believe Lhel died... and looks like Iya will die shortly too.
It's shameful to admit, but I've half-forgotten how the Plenimarans are portrayed in Tamir. TIme for a reread, methinks! :D
Anyway, from what I recall, I can definitely see where you're coming from. I agree that the Plenimarans are simplified in places. Portraying enemies as evil is a fairly common (if annoying) trope in fantasy, but it's jarring in Tamir because the story's normally so careful to offer alternative perspectives. Korin and and his followers, for example, tend to be much more three-dimensional, sympathetic characters, and even awful Niryn is given a backstory (though I can't say it made me like him any more :P).
I think maybe the two-dimensional portrayal of the Plenimarans plays into the depiction of war, though. Tobin can't afford to feel sympathy for his/her enemies, and the Skalans and Plenimarans have been at war so long their hatred is practically inbred. The fact that we're only seeing Plenimaran soldiers doesn't help, either. In the later books of the Nightrunner series, we see something of Plenimaran civilians, which allows for a slightly more rounded view of the people as a whole. Still, I agree overall that the portrayal of enemies as purely evil isn't realistic.
Eee, you're nearly at the end of Hidden Warrior! :D You're in for a treat with the climax, although I hope you have the third book handy straight away.
Sorry to dredge up an old thread, but talk of book recommendations lately has made me think of Lynn Flewelling. ;P
Has anyone read the chapbook that came out? I haven't been able to find it anywhere. :P Maybe it's not published in Australia?
Glimpses, you mean? Yeap, I read it the day it came out. XD I enjoyed it very much. The accompanying art (it's illustrated by fans) is amazing, and of course the stories themselves are great, with some surprising insights into the characters' backstories. This being a PG board, I suppose I should also mention that there are...er, adult scenes. :P
Alas, no, it's not published in Australia. As a side project, it was done through a small press rather than her usual publisher. It's available through quite a few online sources (as both eBook and hard copy), but I don't think it's possible to order it outside online sources (...what would the word be for a retailer not found online? Nonline? :P).
13 years ago
Mon Dec 06 2010, 04:24pm
Oh wow, so would you suggest I get it asap? I've still yet to start reading this series, but if Tamir trilogy was anything to go by....
How many books are there in the Nightrunner series?
Mystic Ward
13 years ago
Mystic Ward
Twentyfamilies Gypsy
There are five so far Jossie with a new one due out next year i think. I've just ordered a copy of Glimpses from the Book Depositry and cannot wait for it to arrive. Fifi has created something of a monster with these books and i for one can happily say that I love this monster!
[act]preens[/act] Just call me Dr Frankenstein. :3
Yeap, as Deb said, there are five total with a sixth due out next year. There's also a seventh contracted, but of course there's no release date for that yet. Glimpses is a collection of side stories - mostly backstories of Nightrunner characters, along with an excerpt from the upcoming novel. I'd still advise reading it after the first five books, though, since the characters and some plot references will probably make more sense if you're already familiar with the main series.
Mystic Ward
13 years ago
Sun Feb 06 2011, 06:48pm
Mystic Ward
Twentyfamilies Gypsy
I've just finished reading Glimpses and all I can say is WOW! I want more!!!! I think I need a re-read except that I lent the books to a friend and haven't seen her to get them back yet.
Wanderer Ward
13 years ago
Sun Feb 06 2011, 10:47am
Wanderer Ward
Dreamscape Artist
I just finished reading Stalking Darkness and it was so so SO good! I love it to bits! [act]takes a few deep breaths[/act]
Alec and Seregil were so frustrating with each other! Especially Seregil. If something bad happens between them in any of the later books I think I'll just die.
My brain is bouncing around too much at the moment for me to come up with anything more articulate! Perhaps I should go take some vallium and come back later :P
P.S. I haven't read the Tamir books yet. Should I have read them first?
Mystic Guilden
13 years ago
Mystic Guilden
Mage
Have finally ordered a copy of Glimpses! Now to speed read through my back log of books so I can read Glimpses as soon as it arrives :)
Mystic Ward
13 years ago
Mystic Ward
Twentyfamilies Gypsy
Kaede, It's not really necessary to have read the Tamir series first. But you should definately read them after you finish the Nightrunner series.
I'll skip past the requisite cackles of glee and mutters of "Yesss, it's all falling into place..." :P
Glad you enjoyed Stalking Darkness, Kaede! :D I hope you enjoy the rest of the series as much, if not more (although Stalking Darkness does remain perhaps my favourite - if you're a Seregil/Alec shipper, it's hard to beat).
As Deb said, you don't need to read the two series in any particular order. Chronologically, Tamir is set before Nightrunner; but Nightrunner was written first, so it works just as well to start there. Though there are various little crossovers for the obsessive fan to enjoy, the two series have no direct bearing on each other and make sense separately. Although, as Deb also said, you should totally read Tamir as soon as you can. :P
Ari - lettuce know what you think of Glimpses! :D
Wanderer Ward
13 years ago
Fri Feb 11 2011, 09:52am
Wanderer Ward
Dreamscape Artist
I finished Shadows Return last night and I can't wait to get into The White Road! Damn packing for moving back to uni! You're stealing all my reading time! [act]wails off into the distance[/act]
Stalking Darkness is still my favourite thus far, but Shadows Return may very well be my second. If I were Alec, I'd be developing a phobia of ships, given the amount of time he's been held prisoner and ill-treated on them. Though I suppose a small ship's cabin is the medieval version of a car boot... I kind of didn't want to read Shadows Return after I read in the blurb that Alec and Seregil get separated. It was agonising them being in the same house but unable to reach each other! I don't understand why Seregil didn't tell Rhania to try to get to Alec to tell him that Khenir was Ilar! That was a bit of a convoluted sentence.
Now I'm full of speculation about The White Road! Will Sebhran sprout some wings, turn into a dragon and fly off into the distance? (I'm only half joking :P ). I really hope that Ilar karked it somewhere in the wildeness of Plenimar and will not be making an appearance! On a Shadows Return note, when Alec, Seregil and co were escaping overland to the strait, I was hoping that we'd see more civilian Plenimarans, and not ones who were freed slaves. It'd be nice to get some sort of insight into their normal lives.
I'm glad you liked Shadows Return so much! It met with rather a lot of ill feeling from fans when it first came out - mostly, I think, because it was the first new Nightrunner book after several years' hiatus, so longtime readers were inevitably disappointed when it took off in an unusual direction. I like it a lot, however (though it isn't my favourite in the series), so I'm glad you do too.
Things are tense while they're separated, aren't they? Especially when they're so drattedly close and Ilar keeps playing them off one other. I seriously feared for their talimenios bond for a while, the first time I read it...And the weeks following their escape were just AWKWARD. :P How amazing was Alec's death scene, though?
I get what you mean about Seregil not warning Alec through Rhania. The impression I had, if I recall, was that Rhania wouldn't have been able to contact him - he only went out with Ilar, and she probably couldn't reach his cell. And Seregil either knew this, or conveniently forgot to mention it... :P
As it happens, you'll see some more of Plenimaran civilians in White Road - though I won't say why or how, so don't count that as a spoiler of any kind, okay? :P I think LF, too, felt they weren't shown much compared to the more powerful and brutal Plenimarans, and wanted to show us more of them.
I got lucky and found the first three Nightrunner books in a second hand book shop and thought "Hey cool, those are the books Firefall was raving about in Sydney that time!" So I bought them... am now peeved to know it wasn't the whole set! I fixed that this morning though and am now waiting on the next two books and Glimpses (plus a few others but they aren't as exciting nor related to this thread haha). Gogo Book Depository!
[act]cackle[/act]
That's all I can say, really. :3
How are you liking the series so far, Ness? :D
Ah! I forgot about glimpses [act]goes off to scour inbox for the story ... I know it's there somewhere ...[/act]
13 years ago
Sat Feb 26 2011, 09:05am
I visited the city library today. They had Lynn Flewelling books in German but none in English :( I'll try and order some online. :)
Huzzah, another convert! Well, potential convert. :P How unusual that they would have translations but not the originals. Unless that's quite common in your library?
OMG! I just finished reading The Bone Doll's Twin and LOVED it!!!! Some of the Ober.net girls recommended it to me so i gave it a go. Cant wait to read the next two - trying to figure out how i can get them as quick as i can. My local bookstores dont have the second one. I might order online and then see if the library has a copy so i can start reading in the meantime. Definitely going to read her other books after this series.
Wanderer Ward
13 years ago
Sat Mar 05 2011, 06:03pm
Wanderer Ward
Dreamscape Artist
Today I got the three Tamir books from the uni markets for $10! All of them for $10! Imagine some crazy Persian rug warehouse clearance guy yelling that! $10! :D
I managed to get Glimpses last week too. Unfortunately I still haven't finished The White Road, despite it being on by bedside table ever since I moved back to uni three weeks ago. Damn uni for wasting all my time on academic pursuits! [act]shakes fist[/act]
Oops, sorry - I haven't been on Obernet since a little before the hack, so I missed this.
Actually, she's an American author, but her books have been translated into a number of languages. (To date, I think this includes French, Japanese, German, Russian, Spanish, Italian, and Czech...and probably at least one another that eludes me.) Her first book was published in the mid-90s, so her work's drawn a growing fanbase over the years. Though, curiously, Nightrunner (her first and ongoing series) remains unlicensed in the UK. Her other series, The Tamir Triad, is licensed there, though.
Anyway, I hope you're continuing to enjoy her work! That goes for Kaede and littlesistermind, too - I'm glad you're both enjoying the books. :D Have you had a chance to bat aside all that pesky academia and finish White Road, Kaede?
I ordered five from my local library.
Wanderer Ward
13 years ago
Mon Apr 04 2011, 08:13pm
Wanderer Ward
Dreamscape Artist
I finally finished White Road! I'm a little ashamed it took me so long to read. Now I feel all empty and lost because there are no more Alec and Seregil stories for me. WAIT!! What on earth am I talking about?! I have Glimpses on my bookshelf! Hurrah! Saved for perhaps another half an hour judging by its size :P
I enjoyed White Road, but not as much as Stalking Darkness (which remains my favourite and probably will foreverandeveramen). The ending with the Retha'noi seemed a little odd I think. Although when they started gathering in the mountains around the Ebrados (sp?), you knew it was going to happen, it still seemed odd for some reason. I can't explain it. University is doing nothing for my eloquence. I finally have holidays at the end of this week so hopefully I'll conquer the Tamir Triad in that time!