Enchanter

Not long after picking up this second book, I knew I was going to be angry a lot... and damn, I was right. Sighhhhh.

Enchanter is one of those books that you really want to like- great writing, beautiful imagery, lots of lovable characters... However, it's also one of those books you find yourself drawn to hate due to the stupid names for everything and a few really horrible characters, the main one being Axis, who is nothing but a giant douche (that's right). It doesn't help that everything in this entire damn series has to revolve around him. In the first book, I was fooled into thinking that I would grow to love Axis, but I was so very wrong. My dislike grew more and more as the story progressed, and by the time I'd picked up show more Enchanter and Faraday had been wholly wronged by that bastard, it was full blown hate. How could I respect him after he'd tossed aside poor, beautiful Faraday like so much garbage? The whole bullshit love triangle even colored my opinion of Azhure at first, though I've since gotten over it. If it weren't for Axis, I would have loved this series. Why couldn't he have just died and let someone less awful take his place as the main male character? Oh well. I gave this 3 stars because of the story, the few characters that I loved and the wonderful writing style. I did love some of this. show less

This is the second novel of The Axis Trilogy, and sequel to BattleAxe. As a general rule, the middle book of a trilogy is the weakest of the three. The first book is the set up and the third book is the final showdown, the middle book is where the characters learn what they need to and get placed on the gameboard where they need to be for the final attack. The hero becomes more heroic, he’s swayed by another woman but stands by his first true love, he meets new people, trains with old people and learns more about his past than he ever wanted to know.

That’s this book, with one exception. Axis the hero turns into Axis the… well, to be blunt, he turns into Axis the giant nob. The more this book progressed, the less I liked him. I show more don’t necessarily see that as a bad thing though, his actions made him human. His actions made him a man, not an idol. A man who, when faced with having to make a choice, has a moral lapse and refuses to make a decision. Literary & modern fiction is full of it, so why can’t fantasy be too? Why does a hero always have to be morally upright? Axis may have fallen from grace, but he’s still a fascinating character. Even more so than before, in a lot of ways.

Getting away from Axis and going to her villains, Douglass is a master at the terrifying. The skraelings who eat everything in their path, and the truly awful things people can do to each other in the names of race and religions are described in all their dark detail.

As a middle book, there aren’t too many surprises in Enchanter. It wasn’t boring, but I wanted to hurry through it to get to the next book, and see how this story ended.

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This series started out very well, but then started to lose its way a bit in this book. Only the Star Man can save the people from the coming darkness, but can the Star Man survive to become the Star Man, and does he really want to be one? What of the women involved in his life, which will be his true companion? Unfortunately, there are a few too many betrayals in this book, and the tired theme of 'church vs. natives' is beaten to death again in this book. There are some original concepts and some good writing, but nothing spectacular.

Ah. Here the series gets going! I liked this book much better than the first. While things are still moving at a moderately slow pace, secrets are being revealed and choices made. This book is a definite step up from the first one. I had trouble putting it down. I hope the rest of the series can live up to this one.

Storywise, this book gets farther into the series and the charactes, and as a reader you can't help but be compelled. The problem is, the writing is still elementary in skill.

There are many revelations in this book. In some cases, mysteries are solved, in other cases they deepen and some of the answers will create new questions. Things happen that you will see coming, others will catch you completely off guard. Combine that with the fact that this is a complicated story with a multitude of characters to keep track of, and you end up with a real page-turner. I literally flew through this book.

Full Review Here:

Dragons, Heroes and Wizards

Axis reunites Tecendor and a little more of the mystery is revealed. Good fantasy brain candy.