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Fiona Patton

Author of The Stone Prince

23+ Works 1,254 Members 14 Reviews 1 Favorited

Series

Works by Fiona Patton

Associated Works

Sun in Glory and Other Tales of Valdemar (2003) — Contributor — 1,042 copies
Crossroads and Other Tales of Valdemar (2005) — Contributor — 820 copies
Moving Targets and Other Tales of Valdemar (2008) — Contributor — 607 copies
Changing the World: All-New Tales of Valdemar (2009) — Contributor — 525 copies
Finding the Way and Other Tales of Valdemar (2010) — Contributor — 389 copies
Under the Vale and Other Tales of Valdemar (2011) — Contributor — 305 copies
DAW 30th Anniversary Fantasy Anthology (2002) — Contributor — 304 copies
Elemental Magic (2012) — Contributor — 251 copies
No True Way: All-New Tales of Valdemar (2014) — Contributor — 244 copies
Elementary (2013) — Contributor — 241 copies
Crucible: All-New Tales of Valdemar (2015) — Contributor — 198 copies
Tempest: All-New Tales of Valdemar (2016) — Contributor — 177 copies
Fantasy Gone Wrong (2006) — Contributor — 175 copies
If I Were An Evil Overlord (2007) — Contributor — 165 copies
Assassin Fantastic (2001) — Contributor — 164 copies
Pathways: All-New Tales of Valdemar (2017) — Contributor — 139 copies
Women of War (2005) — Contributor — 132 copies
Choices: All-New Tales of Valdemar (2018) — Contributor — 115 copies
Passages (2020) — Contributor — 109 copies
Seasons: All-New Tales of Valdemar (2019) — Contributor — 104 copies
Magical Beginnings (2003) — Contributor — 101 copies
Maiden, Matron, Crone (2005) — Contributor — 95 copies
Boundaries: All-New Tales of Valdemar (2021) — Contributor — 91 copies
Villains Victorious (2001) — Contributor — 91 copies
Knight Fantastic (2002) — Contributor — 87 copies
Little Red Riding Hood in the Big Bad City (2004) — Contributor — 77 copies
Once Upon a Galaxy (2002) — Contributor — 76 copies
Shenanigans (2022) — Contributor — 75 copies
Sirius The Dog Star (2004) — Contributor — 67 copies
Warrior Fantastic (2000) — Contributor — 64 copies
The Dimension Next Door (2008) — Contributor — 64 copies
Pharaoh Fantastic (2002) — Contributor — 61 copies
Children of Magic (2006) — Contributor — 59 copies
Zombie Raccoons & Killer Bunnies (2009) — Contributor — 59 copies
By the Light of Camelot (2018) — Contributor — 58 copies
Apprentice Fantastic (2002) — Contributor — 58 copies
The Mutant Files (2001) — Contributor — 57 copies
Imaginary Friends (2008) — Contributor — 54 copies
Camelot Fantastic (1998) — Contributor — 53 copies
Oceans of Magic (2001) — Contributor — 50 copies
The Repentant (2003) — Contributor — 47 copies
Mythspring: From the Lyrics and Legends of Canada (2006) — Contributor — 45 copies
Mob Magic (1998) — Contributor — 40 copies
Slipstreams (2006) — Contributor — 37 copies
Fellowship Fantastic (2008) — Contributor — 36 copies
Human for a Day (2011) — Contributor — 36 copies
Army of the Fantastic (2007) — Contributor — 35 copies
Bless Your Mechanical Heart (2014) — Contributor — 33 copies
The Bakka anthology (2002) — Contributor — 22 copies
Over the Rainbow: Folk and Fairy Tales from the Margins (2018) — Contributor — 2 copies

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Ignore what the book blurb says, this is really a story about Prince Demnor's personal journey from being a curious and sensitive child to a teenager dealing with between him and his mother to a country's proud ruler. All that stuff about Heathland and rebellion is really only a small part of the book. The plot moves slowly with lots of focus on the characters' inner thoughts and motivations, and plenty of flashbacks to give us the background on how Demnor became who he is now. The multiple POVs the story was told through meant we got to see different perspectives on the same scene, and I really like the fact that we were shown the villain's perspective as well. Overall, I enjoyed this book although I did at times wish the plot had a little more action.… (more)
 
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serru | 9 other reviews | Oct 6, 2022 |
Over long and dull. A perfect book for learning how *not* to write a novel, sadly. There is a decent story, but it's buried under the overwhelming detail of the history Ms. Patton has come up with for her book. It's nice to have the background, but it over takes the main plot at times and makes it really hard see what she's driving at. This book could have used some of the lighter touches of Tanya Huff.
 
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fuzzipueo | 9 other reviews | Apr 24, 2022 |
When I purchased this book, I did not notice the date it was published. I thought it was maybe 5-10 years old based on the amount books in the series (not sure how I thought that considering the cover design, but I did). Once I started reading it, I quickly realized it was older than I thought. That is not meant to be derogatory in any way. The theme, scope and world building of this novel simply has an older feel to it. It's definitely a sword and sorcery novel, draws heavily on British history in the world building, particularly the tensions between the scots and the brits and the protestants and the catholics. I'm not going to expose my lack of British history by attempting to point to any particular years, battles or monarchs that are used as a jumping off point. There is, unsurprisingly, glorification of battle and several characters clearly think violence is foreplay (think "honorable" violence like a duel or watching a fight not abuse). There is a high emphasis on honor, loyalty, and fealty.

The writing, plot and characterizations are quite solid and generally fall in line with what you might expect from a fantasy book of it's era with two notable exceptions that allows this book to stand out even today. Gender equality. This is a world where for the most part, gender discrimination does not seem to exist. People are treated the same regardless of gender. The same titles are used (expect in one case where a cleric is referred to as Sister), a Prince is a prince whether male or female, a priest is a priest. There is also a form of free love. One of the ways the society prevents unwanted pregnancies (if you are going to have gender equality in women going to war, this is key), the nobility have contracts with same gender courtesans (called companions). Some are in love with their companions, some simply use them for sex, and some companions are also contracted and nurses and nannies. There is in general quite a positive attitude to sex and love. This is not however, a steamy, sexy read. Any and all sex is fade to black (which personally I am ok with)

What keeps this from being five stars is that it definitely is pre Sanderson's law and there is some religious/sorcerous shannigans happening during some of the battle scenes that felt unsatisfactory to me due to being heavy on the symbolism and mysticism and light on the mythology and logic behind it. It's definitely the style of the time it was published, if this book was a recent novel, there might be more of an explanation on the mechanics of the sorcery or more focus on characters with sorcerous powers.

All in all, this was a solid 4 stars. Definitely recommend for readers looking for some fantasy with gay sub plot and not a gay romance set in a fantasy world (the second seems much easier to find). Also, for fans of sword and sorcery fantasy and for readers tired of patriarchal fantasy and interested in a different perspective on gender norms.
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Sam_Ash | 9 other reviews | Jan 7, 2021 |
This book was intense. There was political intrigue, war, romance. Everything. My mind is still swimming. I was expecting an interesting read but I wasn't expecting a new book for my favourites list.

The writing is good. The story flows very well and the language isn't too much or lacking. The characters are all pretty fresh and interesting. I fell in INSTANT love with Kelahnus. He was literally everything in this book for me. My enjoyment of the book was literally hinging on how his story progressed. I cried a few times because of him. Everyone else was pretty awesome too. Even the evil guys. I love how Patton shows so many POVs. Normally, I hate that with a passion but she does a really great job. Sometimes it goes into omniscient narrator but that never takes away from the book; only adds.

I described this book as "recklessly cute" as I was reading it. (Cute is my umbrella term for everything awesome, cool and badass.) Like, people do some really irresponsible stuff in this book but it all flies. Patton is magical in her character portrayal that way. I was even feeling for the bad guys. I mean, they kinda make sense a bit, you know?

I definitely recommend this book. Though, I would say steel yourself for the ride, if you're prone to emotional overwhelming like I am.
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Isana | 9 other reviews | Jul 7, 2020 |

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Works
23
Also by
50
Members
1,254
Popularity
#20,454
Rating
½ 3.6
Reviews
14
ISBNs
21
Languages
1
Favorited
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