Geist

Reading this book was an exciting adventure!

The details are so exquisite that the reader feels like they are there with the characters. This was a different style of novel than what I usually read, and I absolutely loved it! The characters are real in their strengths and weaknesses. Sorcha is a powerful Deacon and a member of the Order. She is spirited, sharp tongued, incredibly powerful, and an excellent heroine. She is both likable and is so complex it is hard to believe she is not real!

She is thrown into a partnership with the novice Deacon, Merrick Chambers. Merrick provides a great balancing to Sorcha, and while younger, he is no less powerful then his strong willed partner. Merrick is kind, diplomatic, and has so much depth show more beyond his years.

Then there is the sexy Pirate Pretender Read. A comic twist, and rebel good guy that you can't help but admire. As bonds form and sparks fly, the characters blend to create a force to defend the mortals from the Otherside.

The development of the bond, the Order, and the world which the Deacons protect is beautifully portrayed. This novel is packed with adventure, mystery, romance, power, and deception. The characters face an evil so great their world has never encountered anything of that magnitude before. They are forced to rethink all the rules they thought they knew. They must put their allegiance to the order, their love, and their lives are on the line to fight the great evil that threatens them.

This novel is a must read! show less

Fantasy with a touch of horror/supernatural? I particularly liked one of the main characters, Sorcha. She's got some maturity and experience, a lot of edge, is married . . . a woman, not a girl. This is not cliche fantasy and that works for me! I had a LOT invested in her emotional choices and will have to read the next book just to see how that pans out. I'm not sure the love interest I had my hope up for is going to catch her eye as strongly as he did mine.

I found this work much more character driven that world building/event/premise based. I cared about what they were doing more than what was going on. Ballantine has a consistent and solid writing style that suits this series very nicely. Her voice is believable, natural and that show more made it easy to stay immersed. There were a few places where the editing could have been stronger, but that's just mean getting my Virgo on. Definitely worth reading. Quite enjoyable! show less

I picked up a copy of Geist while browsing in a local bookstore. I was thoroughly hooked by the amazing cover art by Jason Chan and the intriguing premise:

Between the living and the dead is the Order of the Deacons, protectors of the Empire, guardians against possession, sentinels enlisted to ward off the malevolent haunting of the geists…

Among the most powerful of the Order is Sorcha, now thrust into partnership with the novice Deacon, Merrick Chambers. They have been dispatched to the isolated village of Ulrich to aide the Priory with a surge of violent geist activity. With them is Raed Rossin, Pretender to the throne that Sorcha is sworn to protect, and bearer of a terrible curse.

But what greets them in the strange settlement is show more something far more predatory and more horrifying than any mere haunting. And as she uncovers a tradition of twisted rituals passed down through the dark reaches of history, Sorcha will be forced to reconsider everything she thinks she knows.

And if she makes it out of Ulrich alive, what in Hell is she returning to?

I wasn't really sure what to expect with Geist since I'd never heard of Philippa Ballantine. I was thrilled with the book, though. Absolutely thrilled! The book mythology was really interesting -- Deacons and geists and undead possession -- and I loved the idea of Actives and Sensitives, and the occasional pinch of steampunk. But my favourite thing by far was how the relationship between Actives and Sensitives is symbiotic but not co-dependent -- a really interesting magical connection that gets explored in a lovely, deep way over the course of the novel. The characters are also really great. Sorcha's a powerful Active and this prickly, pent-up woman whose depth is revealed over the course of the novel. Her new partner, Merrick, is also a rich character, with an interesting past and lots of magical power of his own (of the Sensitive variety). The other main character, Raed, is a great foil for the two Deacons. His interactions with Sorcha are a lot of fun and he and his crew add some lighter moments to the story.

I can't wait to read Spectyr!

http://ireadgood.wordpress.com show less

MY THOUGHTS:
This book started off slow but once past a couple of chapters it started to pick up... then it's action after action until the very end! So pace-wise, it wasn't too bad. The story telling quality was just a tiny, itsy-bitsy shade from being a masterpice. I find myself needing little short breaks while reading this book. But during my breaks, the story would pull me back as the characters prance around my head and I imagine alternative plots to the story. And then when I read on, I get surprised by the unexpected turn the plot went instead! Ahhh.... this author is good at inventing stories indeed!! The other thing I really liked about this book is that it has a well-structured story. I like stories with cohesive structure show more because it is easier to wrap my mind around it if it does, therefore, really ranks high up with me as a reader. I like it when I can wrap my head around a story as oppose to one where I struggle to do so. Authors of books without a well-structured story, I tend not to buy again.

Look at that cover! The art department deserves a bloody raise!! If I was on one of my retail therapy sessions and browsing the shelves of a bookstore, this cover would trigger my book buying radar with an irristible pull!

I didn't like the inconsistent rules of magic in this world of the geists though. In the scene where we first witnessed Raed's change, he lost his clothes. But in The Melding scene, they did not loose their clothes. They came off it presumed to be fully clothed. Now, that is not consistent. But because of the wonderful "story building skills" that this author displayed and the enjoyment I got out of this book, I would still give it a high rating.

Empirical Evaluation:
Story Telling Quality = 4
World Building = 5
Character Development = 5
Pace = 4
Plot = 5
Story Itself = 4.5
Ending = 4.5

Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5 show less

There is something about team books that draw me in. More than just the fact you can often have two entirely different personalities being forced to work together because they truly are stronger together then apart. I think that it can lead to some very telling social problems. Sorcha, for instance, is extremely powerful as an 'Active' (or the 'brute strength'). She'll kick anyone's butt and do it with a smile, or rather smirk, on her face. She cannot however react normally in a social setting. She has Nynnia convinced that if she goes near her, Sorcha will flay her alive, is in a failing marriage with her original partner Kolya and tends to crush Merrick's (her current partner) spirit more often than not. Her lack of perfect is kind of show more why I like her however. She doesn't try to change or convince others she is anything she's not.

Merrick on the other hand is like an over-eager puppy at times. He's younger, inexperienced and doesn't always censor his mouth (or thoughts) well enough. He's a 'Sight', the directing force to Sorcha's blunt force. Basically without him Sorcha can't direct all her power and without Sorcha, Merrick doesn't have any physical power of his own. Ballantine doesn't set them up as romantic interests. For one, Sorcha is married (unhappily or otherwise). For two, Ballantine is at pains to emphasis that not all Pairings have to be romantic. They can happen, but if there's a souring on one end, there'll be a souring at the other as well.

Instead Sorcha has a sort of love interest in Raed, aka the Pretender, a quasi-Pirate who helps Sorcha and Merrick out. A lot of what Raed says is subterfuge and misdirection; he isn't the most truthful of people, but he has his reasons. I didn't feel like there was a lot of substance to him though, didn't feel like there was a concrete reason why Sorcha would risk a whole ton load of trouble to start something with him.

The world of Geist is an intriguing blend of fantasy, paranormal and history. It's not really any more of one genre than another, nor is any of it emphasized above each other. Fans of history may be able to spot all the historical references that were slightly skewed to fit in with the world, while fans of fantasy will be able to spot the magic's used and fans of the paranormal will marvel over the 'undead' that Sorcha and co. fight. It has a little something of everything in other words.

I look forward to the next book in the series and finding out more about Nynnia (who is more than she appears, try understanding what though, cause I sure didn't) and seeing where Sorcha's marriage goes, her partnership with Merrick (which is highly irregular) and the burgeoning feelings for Raed. show less

The action starts rolling right from the beginning. Good action, good characterization, pretty good world building in this fantasy. It's set in another world where our main character, Sorcha, is a magic wielder in an Order that fights demonic otherwordly infestations or "geists". She's an "Active", in a system where Actives and Sensitives partner magically; the Actives are the fighters. She's a tough, mature, powerful woman who tell it like it is, not so great at the whole diplomacy and make-nice thing, estranged fom her Sensitive husband and partner. An interesting character, flawed but very human. She's sent on a special and mysterious mission and partnered with a brand new young Sensitive. They find a whole lot of trouble and highly show more unusual and hazardous geist action along the way, as well as a handsome rogue prince with a geist curse. This book is number one in a series, clearly, and it's primarily a fantasy, with a little bit of steampunk and a bit of sex thrown in, though not enough to turn off the guy reader I don't think. It crosses genres quite well, I can see the high fantasy sort of reader enjoying it as well as the urban fantasy reader. show less

I’m not sure why I didn’t love this book – there’s a fresh, original fantasy adventure. There’s a strong female protagonist and a wily sidekick, and even a seductive, mysterious adventurer. Somehow, though, I never got as far into it as I wanted to. I have a sneaking suspicion that it had to do with the cigars.