Child of the Grove

Once this fantasy adventure gets going, and that takes a while, a few gleams of originality shine from the pseudo-Tolkien porridge. I am much more a fan of Tanya Huff's later books, which while firmly in the modern mode of fantasy have a much more individual voice.

A truly innovative and well-written book. It begins with the child of the union between the Mother's First-Born and a mortal king, and rather than say It happened," Tanya Huff brings this story to its fullness. Then there is the story of the Princess, and finally the fully-fleshed story of the last of the Wizards, the so-named Child of the Grove. It is an excellent way to explain Ardhan's history without expanding what are really three short stories into yet another trilogy, and the concise language makes this an engaging read. I've re-read this for the third time since I bought it in 1991, and finally found the sequel without having to buy the 2-in-1 book. So yay."

I have enjoyed it almost as much as when I had read it the first time years ago. I will, though, have to admit that there were some weakness in the story. Some aspects were underdeveloped (the whole Riven thing) which I would have loved to have explored.

Still, it’s nevertheless a very enjoyable read, a nice change from the horror genre I’ve been mostly reading these days.

I love Tanya Huff's writing. I think it's the relationships between the characters that I like so much. Child of the Grove was the first book by her that I ever read, and now that I've read it so often the covers both fell off, I still find it just as enjoyable as the first time i read it.

The characters are easy to miss once they are gone from the story, or once the story is over. From the boy, becoming king on a battlefield, to the young wizard, who must always walk a precarious line between princess and wizard, but has one friend who sees her as just who she is, to the gruff dwarf, who having watched over mortals once, and cared for them deeply, is hesitant to do so again.

It was nice to be part of their world, and feel what they all show more felt, for just a little while. show less

I'm pretty sure I had heard good things about this author, so I picked up this book. And ok, she's a quite successful writer; from everything about her online, she seems like a really extra-cool person.
But this book was the sort of book that I have to guess that all those people one encounters who are totally dismissive of fantasy-as-literature have read at one point or another.
It's aiming for light reading with a humorous touch – and there are some funny bits – but it frequently reads more like an outline for a novel than an actual novel. To the extent that the characters HAVE characterizations, they act and talk like 20th-century teenagers. The setting, with wizards, royalty, dragons, etc, is completely generic. It reminded me a show more bit of David Eddings – and I really don't like Eddings.
To be fair, after looking online, I have discovered that this was Huff's first novel. Another review online says that, in it, Huff "has not quite found her 'voice' yet." So I am going to assume that her writing improved greatly after this book. show less