Kristen Britain
Author of Green Rider
About the Author
Image credit: Photo credit: Czerneda Photography. Kristen Britain's Official Site
Series
Works by Kristen Britain
Linked on the Lake of Souls 2 copies
Avalonia 2 copies
The Dream Catcher 1 copy
Mr. Island 1 copy
Fantasy 1 copy
Associated Works
Out of Avalon: An Anthology of Old Magic & New Myths (15-in-1) (2001) — Contributor — 322 copies, 3 reviews
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Britain, Kristen
- Birthdate
- 1965-10-18
- Gender
- female
- Education
- Ithaca College (Film Production,1987)
- Occupations
- park ranger
author - Short biography
- Kristen Britain grew up in the Finger Lakes region of New York State, where she started her first novel - an undersea fantasy featuring herself and her friends - at the age of nine. She published her first book, a cartoon collection called Horses and Horsepeople, at the age of thirteen. After completing her degree in film production at Ithaca College in 1987 she made the logical (?!) leap from cinema to the National Park Service. Her many years as a park ranger enabled her to work in a variety of natural and historical settings, from 300 feet below the surface of the Earth to 13,000 feet above sea level on the Continental Divide; and from the textile mills of the American Industrial Revolution to the homes of Americans who changed the course of history.
Currently she lives in a log cabin in Maine where she writes full time and pursues interests reading, guitar playing, and cartoon illustration, supervised by a cat and a dog. She enjoys exploring the magical places around her and can often be found paddling a canoe in stillwater, ambling through the woods to mountain summits, or sitting along the rocky shore listening, watching, and daydreaming. This is her fantasy, at least. - Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- New York, USA
- Places of residence
- Maine, USA
New York, USA - Associated Place (for map)
- USA
Members
Reviews
Listening this time around. The story is entertaining. Good characters, good world-building. Kerrigan is maddeningly herself, if that makes any sense, often bad tempered, blundering into situations, misinterpreting things -- but that is realistic, eh? Ellen Archer is a decent reader. There are more than a few derivative moments, but there is enough that is original and the occasional surprise to keep me listening and enjoying. On to book 3 ***3/4
I should probably begin with a disclaimer that since I am a fan of this series my opinion might be biased. That being said, this book is still flawed.
The previous Greenrider books have all been lighter fare romp through a fantasy world with a few nice quirks, a suitably intimidating 'Dark Lord', and a fairly appealing protagonist all held together by a strong narrative pull. Mirror Sight excises four of these traits and leaves you with only Karrigan.
For the most part, Karrigan is a good show more protagonist; she's relatable, has her moments of strength and weakness, and has instants of weakness to counterbalance her heroic deeds. What Karrigan is not, however, is a powerful character in of herself. What I mean by this is that Karrigan does not cause natural excitement or friction in her character archetype, this means she is not really strong enough to carry a book on her own as opposed to, say, Jorg Ancrath from Prince of Thorns.
This fact is not so evident in the previous books because Karrigan is surrounded by a suitable, if thin, cast of supporting characters who she can interact with and help her carry the story through its weak points. Mirror sight displaces Karrigan, taking her far away from this supporting cast and instead gives you a whole new set of supporting cast that is at once rushed, and uninteresting.
Minor forthcoming.
Next, the fantasy element and all the nice little quirks that the previous books had are almost all gone from Mirror Sight because Kristen Britain decided the story should take place a couple hundreds years in the future and applied the old trope that technology messes with magic. So you're left with Karrigan in a smoky eighteenth century city where she can't even use most of the technology.
Finally, there is no narrative pull, in part because the story has very little narrative drive, which mean that its only source of progression is Karrigan and her new supporting cast of lackluster characters, and because you always have the sneaking expectation that everything is going to be rewritten; which it is. Not only are the event you experience in the book, but even their memory is abolished; literally this entire book is entirely invalidated in the last few pages. All those new supporting characters you were forced to learn about are gone, all the possible character progression that affected Karrigan is gone. You could skip this book ad pick up on the next and not be remotely lost. This is doubly unfortunate because the author almost gave Karrigan a new edge and story to experience. Karrigan gets pregnant in Mirror Sight. If she had been allowed to have her child it would have energized the rest of the series with a whole new, and very interesting, dynamic, both as Karrigan struggles to be a mother, as her father and friend learn to live the new baby and however Zachary chooses to react. Unfortunately, this, like everything, is erased from all existence, leaving the reader with nothing t show for reading a 700 plus page book. show less
The previous Greenrider books have all been lighter fare romp through a fantasy world with a few nice quirks, a suitably intimidating 'Dark Lord', and a fairly appealing protagonist all held together by a strong narrative pull. Mirror Sight excises four of these traits and leaves you with only Karrigan.
For the most part, Karrigan is a good show more protagonist; she's relatable, has her moments of strength and weakness, and has instants of weakness to counterbalance her heroic deeds. What Karrigan is not, however, is a powerful character in of herself. What I mean by this is that Karrigan does not cause natural excitement or friction in her character archetype, this means she is not really strong enough to carry a book on her own as opposed to, say, Jorg Ancrath from Prince of Thorns.
This fact is not so evident in the previous books because Karrigan is surrounded by a suitable, if thin, cast of supporting characters who she can interact with and help her carry the story through its weak points. Mirror sight displaces Karrigan, taking her far away from this supporting cast and instead gives you a whole new set of supporting cast that is at once rushed, and uninteresting.
Minor forthcoming.
Next, the fantasy element and all the nice little quirks that the previous books had are almost all gone from Mirror Sight because Kristen Britain decided the story should take place a couple hundreds years in the future and applied the old trope that technology messes with magic. So you're left with Karrigan in a smoky eighteenth century city where she can't even use most of the technology.
Finally, there is no narrative pull, in part because the story has very little narrative drive, which mean that its only source of progression is Karrigan and her new supporting cast of lackluster characters, and because you always have the sneaking expectation that everything is going to be rewritten; which it is. Not only are the event you experience in the book, but even their memory is abolished; literally this entire book is entirely invalidated in the last few pages. All those new supporting characters you were forced to learn about are gone, all the possible character progression that affected Karrigan is gone. You could skip this book ad pick up on the next and not be remotely lost. This is doubly unfortunate because the author almost gave Karrigan a new edge and story to experience. Karrigan gets pregnant in Mirror Sight. If she had been allowed to have her child it would have energized the rest of the series with a whole new, and very interesting, dynamic, both as Karrigan struggles to be a mother, as her father and friend learn to live the new baby and however Zachary chooses to react. Unfortunately, this, like everything, is erased from all existence, leaving the reader with nothing t show for reading a 700 plus page book. show less
Following on from 'Green Rider' , I re-read this book, too, so I can go on to the third book in the series, which I recently bought. I must admit, I peeked into the third book, to see how a tentative romance is going.
Karigan G'ladheon, the heroine of the first book, has returned home after having to act as a Green Rider - a king's messenger facing innumerable dangers. She wants to go back to her life as her merchant father's heir, but the Riders need her, and she is called back to action by show more the ghost of the first Rider, the founder of their corps.
As a result of her first adventure, tainted wild magic is being let loose in a land which has rejected magic for centuries, and the people of Sacoridia no longer know how to deal with it. The Green Riders are the only ones who have innate magic, albeit secretly, so they are at the forefront of this new war. Karigan relearns secrets lost to the centuries through her contact with the First Rider's ghost, faces heartache as her colleagues bear the brunt of the attacks, and realises that she seems to have begun a romance that must remain unfulfilled - or must it?
This book is as well written as, or better than, the first book, with the action coming thick and fast, and there are some nicely evocative descriptive passages. Karigan is a likeable heroine, with a strong sense of loyalty to her friends and country - but she does have a temper, which tends to get her into trouble. This story brings the history of the Green Riders - and the kingdom - into play, which fills in some of the background to the first story nicely. I do wish, though, that there was a map - my geography's gone a bit squiffy.
(September 2010)
4.5 stars show less
Karigan G'ladheon, the heroine of the first book, has returned home after having to act as a Green Rider - a king's messenger facing innumerable dangers. She wants to go back to her life as her merchant father's heir, but the Riders need her, and she is called back to action by show more the ghost of the first Rider, the founder of their corps.
As a result of her first adventure, tainted wild magic is being let loose in a land which has rejected magic for centuries, and the people of Sacoridia no longer know how to deal with it. The Green Riders are the only ones who have innate magic, albeit secretly, so they are at the forefront of this new war. Karigan relearns secrets lost to the centuries through her contact with the First Rider's ghost, faces heartache as her colleagues bear the brunt of the attacks, and realises that she seems to have begun a romance that must remain unfulfilled - or must it?
This book is as well written as, or better than, the first book, with the action coming thick and fast, and there are some nicely evocative descriptive passages. Karigan is a likeable heroine, with a strong sense of loyalty to her friends and country - but she does have a temper, which tends to get her into trouble. This story brings the history of the Green Riders - and the kingdom - into play, which fills in some of the background to the first story nicely. I do wish, though, that there was a map - my geography's gone a bit squiffy.
(September 2010)
4.5 stars show less
I have so many million feelings about this book I feel like it's impossible hold them entirely still, and that's why when I finally got to talk to a friend about it after finished the last pages a few weeks ago, we ended up talking about the book, series, direction, choices for almost two hours straight after a party had cleared from her house.
I love the direction this book is headed, and I love that a lot of it feels like it's all natural progression. Revelations about the far past, and show more about the current goings on everywhere. I love the romances, and how they are noble, tangled in duty, family, character growth, gain, and loss, well fitting to all the positions all the people are in. I love the new sides of the Elt and magical creatures we got.
I feel like there are so many things I want to say and too many of them are spoilers that were just *So Well Done* in the book. I can't stop recommending this series more and more, especially the further on in it gets and how beautiful this woman's writing continues to grow. show less
I love the direction this book is headed, and I love that a lot of it feels like it's all natural progression. Revelations about the far past, and show more about the current goings on everywhere. I love the romances, and how they are noble, tangled in duty, family, character growth, gain, and loss, well fitting to all the positions all the people are in. I love the new sides of the Elt and magical creatures we got.
I feel like there are so many things I want to say and too many of them are spoilers that were just *So Well Done* in the book. I can't stop recommending this series more and more, especially the further on in it gets and how beautiful this woman's writing continues to grow. show less
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