Warrior (original 2006; edition 2008)

Even though fantasy is not normally my "thing," I enjoyed this book because of its theoretical discussions of magic, witchcraft, etc. I found this a very satisfying, thought-provoking (but not too heavy) read.

This book is now published under the title Warrior, by the by. I highly recommend reading the sequel (Warrior and Witch, now published as Witch) as well. Although this book can stand on its own, I felt a lot of satisfaction and understanding as a result of reading both texts.

I LOVED this book. Seriously could not put it down, which is actually a bad thing because I should be studying for midterms. But it was amazing. the plot is absorbing and the characters are relatable, even though I did find myself like Eclipse more than either Mirage or Miryo. The world takes a little getting used to, but it wasnt spoon-fed to the reader, which I enjoyed. it is a very creative idea for a story and I cant wait to see where it goes in the next book (seeing as how it ends rather abruptly). its a new twist on the age old questions of How do you define evil? and What makes a person - nature or nuture? ( )

When a witch is born, a doppelganger is created. For the witch to master her powers, the twin must be killed, but what happens when the doppelganger survives?
Mirage, a bounty hunter, lives by her wits and lethal fighting skills. She always gets her mark. But her new mission will take her into the shadowy world of witches, where her strength may be no match against magic.
Miryo is a witch who has just failed her initiation test. She now knows that there is someone in the world who looks like her, who is her: Mirage. To control her powers, Miryo has only one choice: to hunt the hunter and destroy her.

This book is a must have for any fantasy/urban fantasy reader. The setting has an old school fantasy feeling with a well worked out combination of new and old dialogue. The entire book is written in third person, fluidly switching between Miryo and Mirage throughout and delving into the world making you feel like you have already known about it forever avoiding long winded description that pulls a person right out of the story.
Each girl has a best friend who acts almost as the level headed side of them.
Each character in the book was well developed and given a very ‘3d’ feel. Even the minor characters had depth.
The plot has a strong complexity and twists and turns – enough to keep it from becoming shallow and predictable but not so much so that the reader will get lost.
Marie Brennan is a talented author capable of keeping a book on that perfect line of balance and I have to say that Warrior falls at or near the top of my list of top reads. There is nothing bad to say about this book.
I will definitely be picking it up to read over and over.
A+++ ( )

How would you react to learn you would be killed by your clone? A weird tale but interesting. ( )

So over the weekend I finished up a book I’ve been meaning to read for at least a year now. It was a very fun read, too: DOPPELGANGER by Marie Brennan.

The best part about waiting to read a book is this: the sequel’s already out, and I don’t have to wait for it to be published. ;)

Anyway, the book sounded interesting and had been recommended to me, so I bought it. And then I decided that, based on the back cover, I knew what was going to happen. So I delayed reading it. And delayed. When I did pick it up about a week ago, I had determined that I didn’t care if I knew what the ending would be, because I still wanted to read it, even if my hopes weren’t very high.

I was wrong.

Well, not entirely. I did still have a very close idea how the ending would work out, even if I got some very critical details wrong. (That was a nice change, actually. Not only is the way it’s written much better than the ending I had been expecting, but it’s nice to get a twist like that to an ending that you’ve been predicting.)

And I was also not wrong in my initial thought of “this looks like a fun book.” It is a fun book. Very much so. (Ooh, and there wasn’t any obligatory romance in it! Very nice change.)

I do recommend this one. It was a very enjoyable read. ( )