Helpful Score: 1
Amazing description of characters, with excellent development and intriguing plot twists. I would recommend this book to *any* Fantasy genre reader. I look forward to reading more of her books!
Helpful Score: 1
I loved this book from start to finish. Yes, some of the names and the religious mythology was a bit confusing at first, but it was like discovering a new world. The story pulls you in bit by bit, until you're so involved in Valen's world you become a part of it too. This is one story that I will continue to read over and over and never get tired of. A keeper for sure.
Helpful Score: 1
Great writing. Just the right balance of details personal v. magic. Layered complexity. Love Berg's writing!
Carol Berg's best ever. Usually it takes me a couple of reads on any fantasy to decide if I really like it or not but Flesh and Spirit was definitely worth the time. Great story, loved the characters... and the story really moves. The plot holes and dragging action that plague so many books in the fantasy genre are not a problem here. Only two books in this series which is perfect. The story wraps up in a satisfying way without being painfully dragged out in a bunch of "publisher's quota" installments.I don't generally find much that I am really excited about reading anymore but this was a well-written and gently humorous exception. Go Carol!
Tess M. (duplica123) -
This is a very interesting fantasy world and Valen is a protagonist I connected with. I was a little bored with the plot line until about half-way through where there's a big reveal, but for the most part the story carries along at a steady pace. I didn't at first think I'd want to finish the series, but after we meet Valen's sister I decided I definitely am going to read the second, and last, book in this duet!
Now for the problems: It's a book about a man who can sense places and has a magic book of maps. Yet the book "Flesh and Spirit" doesn't have a map itself! There are lots of place names, but no way to reference how they relate to each other.
Same with the names of people and gods - too many names and not enough reference. I don't know why the monks worship one god, while Valen worships many, and the names of the warring princes get tangled together with the names of gods and places in my mind.
The author also italicizes some words that are "foreign," however a lot of her words are already strange, so having a few italicized words doesn't really make sense. She also really over does it with similes.
All in all, after book one, I will finish the duet, but there are definitely things I would have changed.
Now for the problems: It's a book about a man who can sense places and has a magic book of maps. Yet the book "Flesh and Spirit" doesn't have a map itself! There are lots of place names, but no way to reference how they relate to each other.
Same with the names of people and gods - too many names and not enough reference. I don't know why the monks worship one god, while Valen worships many, and the names of the warring princes get tangled together with the names of gods and places in my mind.
The author also italicizes some words that are "foreign," however a lot of her words are already strange, so having a few italicized words doesn't really make sense. She also really over does it with similes.
All in all, after book one, I will finish the duet, but there are definitely things I would have changed.
