The Bone Doll's Twin (2001)

I tried to enjoy this book, but after a chapter of TRYING and being incomparably bored, I had to admit to myself: It's not me; it's you. This book was just tiresome. And I really did WANT to like it -- it's been recommended to me by various websites over the years, and the cover art is done by my favorite artist, so I had high hopes. But no. One star, for the disappointment. ( )

Set in the same world as the Nightrunners Series, I did not find this back history of the world of the Nightrunners to have the same pull. I lacked empathy with several main characters, although meeting a young Nysander (a major character in the Nightrunners Series) was quite enjoyable. ( )

Not self contained. Have the next book readied before you get to the end. ( )

It was a faster and easier read than I expected since the characters, setting and names are all fantasy-based types. I thought the premise was very interesting, for the first 1/4 of the book, then I realized that nothing actually was happening other than more exposition on the same topic and a bit more filling out of some characters. It seemed as though most of the writing/story was spent explaining/exploring the relationship between different characters, and how the King was exploiting his rule... not too much actually happened.

In fact, the only thing that really happened was at the very end of the book, and then the book just ended. There was no conclusion, we're just left hanging around so I'd strongly suggest you have the 2nd book of the series in hand before you finish this or you'll feel very let-down.

All in all, it had a great opportunity to be a great fantasy story, but it would have had to have some story in it in order to do so. ( )

The first book of the fantasy series ‘Tamir Triad,’ which follows the life of Tobin, the rightful queen of Skala whose gender was magically switched to keep her uncle, the King, from killing her at birth. It is the sister/prequel series of Lynn Flewelling’s ‘Nightrunner’ series, set several hundred years before it. I came across this series while searching for The Nightrunner series, but I was uninterested in reading it due to the poor copy of my edition, though after completing Ms Flewelling’s original series I was less picky.

Her style remains consistent – it lacks anything distinguishing and comes off as quite bland at points, though she does have her moments of brilliance in several areas. The Bone Doll’s Twin is a lot darker than any of the novels in her Nightrunner series, but despite that I found its pace dragged for much of the book. It’s a coming-of-age series, following the protagonist from before her birth to her 13th (ish) year.

There seems to be a lack of plot that is contained within the scope of the novel. A lot of stuff happens to the characters, but there is no tangible build-up, nothing that peaks the curiosity, no climax. The book ended but it didn’t feel like it should have done.

There is also a lot of angst. Good things rarely happened and when they did it only heralded something worse to come. I don’t believe every book or movie should have a happy ending – but to ask a reader to get through 400+ pages of woe and anguish surely some reward should be given to them for making it that far instead of adding to the despair. It has dissuaded me from picking up the next book, as many of my favourite characters died with very little page-time.

There are good parts to the book – the dialogue never feels dry or forced, the characters are vibrant and deep, the history and worldbuilding is a joy to explore… but there is little action or intrigue or, as I said, plot to flavour the experience.

I wish I had more positive things to say as I think Ms Flewelling is capable of brilliant, beautiful work – but this isn’t one of them. I feel it’s a jumping block for the rest of the series and she did an injustice to herself and her work by not making the plot of this novel something more compelling. Watching characters develop is great, but it does run dull without any action happening.

I think I will give Lynn Flewelling a break for a month or so, as I crave something crass and gory.

Characters: 6/10
Setting: 7/10
Plot: 2/10
Dialogue: 7/10
Overall: 4/10 ( )