Russell Kirkpatrick

I really, really wanted to enjoy this book. The scenery is stunning, the descriptions are flowing and beautiful, the world is large and real -- but the story falls flat. I felt as if I were reading a travelogue, rather than a novel.

While the world built by Kirkpatrick is definitely as sweeping and real as any I have read, the characters are flat and unreal, the dialog is stilted, and the storyline lacks depth. Kirkpatrick definitely has potential, and is a very capable writer -- but he needs show more to work on his story more and his scenery less.

I am certain that I will continue to read books by this author, in hopes that he learns to strike a balance between the world and the story. The potential is definitely there, but it was not realized in this novel. show less

Interesting. The overtly religious aspects of the series came into focus, and actually weren't quite as bad as I feared. But … too often I found myself unable to tell which character was doing what – there's not much differentiation between the various characters, and their voices, actions, and motivations all blur into one. While Leith is (sadly) believable, the female characters in particular seemed pretty two-dimensional. Beautiful? Check. Willful? Check. Punished for their show more willfulness? Check. In love with the appropriate male hero? Check. By the time the Ice Queen arrived, it was a bit like watching a doll being unpacked. Need to ramp up the Girl Power quotient? Insert gratuitous exotic powerful female in the last few chapters.

The other bit of tokenism that annoyed was the Children of the Mist. I don't know if non-New Zealanders would pick up that they were based on Maori (complete with bits of dialogue in Te Reo, which I really loved). The trouble is, the main character we meet as a representative of the people was even more of a stereotype than the female characters. Dark-skinned savage? Check. Goes off about honour? Check. Has a big club? Check. One of the most interesting aspects of the series was the points it raised about colonialism. Which were completely undermined by making Te Tuahungata such a cliché.

Another problem I had was that I kept hearing the echo of other fantasy series behind various sections – a common grumble with fantasy. Although it was less annoying here than it can be (don't get me started on His Dark Materials), it was something that interfered with the pleasure I had in the story. Strong echoes of both Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time and Tad Williams’s Memory, Sorrow and Thorn series, and even stronger echoes of CS Lewis's Narnia books. And if the arrival of the southern fleet seems familiar but you can't place it, reread The Return of the King.

My final complaint was that the ending was too pat. Too much was resolved without anything actually happening to bring it about. Deus ex machina is one thing, but this felt more like the author realising he'd left three or four dozen loose threads, and no ideas left about how to tie them up. (Not helped by Orbit sticking a couple of pages of Kirkpatrick's next novel in the end of the book!) Again, the annoying thing is that Kirkpatrick obviously has good ideas, and is capable of good writing.

Having said all that, it's an interesting debut, and did deliver things it promised – just not all of them.
I will keep my eyes open for his next books. show less

The first word that comes to mind in regard to the book is 'gentle'. It's a very gentle read, measured in pace, with plenty of quiet talks around the fireside. Quite beautiful actually.

This main impression doesn't mean that there aren't any battles (all smallscale), or some very tense moments. It's just the wonderfully rendered descriptions of the landscape (it is called 'Across the Face of The World' for a reason) have a lulling effect, which is not to be confused with boring, and create a show more sense that you've been transported elsewhere.

The characters blend with their landscapes, growing and changing as the landscape does. There are heartful talks, prophecies, self-reflection and spouts of anger. The characters are all very human, and therefore very likeable.

The book does start out with only a few characters forming the central Company, but others are encountered along the way, from individuals to new cultural groups, and these encounters are all interesting and, even when not central to the plot, help the pace keep moving.

There are shifts of perspective that are sometimes unclearly delineated. These shifts aren't confusing in any way, and actually help that lulling effect, adding to that ever-moving feeling that the book has.

There's no doubt that this is a book devoted to world-building, and a very convincing world it is. It's not often you find a world so carefully constructed and it's a great pleasure to read. show less

Ech, bleah. What started out as a decent fantasy quest adventure has turned into a tedious bit of proselytizing and a limp romance between two characters who seem to have nothing in common other than having gone on the adventure together. I don't like being lectured by authors about the nature of faith (especially when it's clear that there's a not-so-veiled conversion narrative aimed at the reader), and I don't like contrived plots that pair up characters just because they're heroes of show more opposite gender.

I especially don't like the way that it obvious that the author thinks that just because the male hero is attracted to the female hero, she must eventually accept that he's her One True Love... even though it's clear her character really isn't interested in any sort of relationship at all, and that his character is besotted only with a fantasy and shows little understanding or respect for her as a person. (Which, perhaps, is not surprising, given how weakly developed her character is.)

I don't normally stop reading a series before the end of the last book, and it is even more rare that I'd stop before the end of a book midseries. But I'm doing that with this one; I just can't take it any more. show less