Green Rider

This review is also featured on Behind the Pages: Green Rider

Frustrated with an unfair expulsion from school, Karigan leaves to journey home. What she never expected to find was a dying man with two arrows protruding from his back. In F’ryan Coblebay's last moments, he asks Karigan to deliver his message to the king. It is a matter of life and death. Reluctantly she accepts his mission and in return receives a golden winged horse brooch. As she pins the brooch upon herself and rides off with F’ryan’s horse, Karigan unknowingly changes her life forever.

Karigan will not only become mixed up in the politics of the world, but she will cross paths with an old evil as well. I love how such a simple concept of delivering a message to the show more king was able to expand into a world filled with magic and intrigue. And the politics do not overshadow the plot, if anything they accent the characters' actions and stay well in the background. The main focus remains on Karigan’s journey and all the difficulties she endures.

I quite enjoyed how Green Rider layered past events for all the characters. Instead of overloading the reader with information, certain events would trigger characters to reflect back on their actions and reveal the deeper history. The world-building was so subtly woven into the story, that it slowly drew me in without even realizing it. And the use of magic in the world wasn’t overpowering. Similar to how the politics helped propel the story forward, the magic wasn’t heavily relied on. Characters who used it had to know how to survive on their own without magic as well. It truly was a tool to aid each person, instead of being their main source of skill or power.

As for characters, the Bayberry sisters were a delight. They were the integral piece needed to explain how magic worked in the world. And their personalities more than made up for the times they regaled Karigan with tales of their father’s magical research and his unfortunate mishaps. Listening to the audiobook, the voice actor made me laugh at their antics and I could just picture their body language and pose through their voices. It was a delight to take a moment from the main adventure and delve into the world of magic a bit more. And they were just the support Karigan needed at the start of her quest.

Now keep in mind Karigan is entirely new to the world of danger green riders endure. And while she has been taught how to defend herself, she has never had to apply the lessons in real life. Day in and day out as she is hunted by numerous assailants. This leads to Karigan making foolish decisions, and being unable to truly defend herself. Quite often she ends up with aid coincidentally showing up such as the Bayberry sisters. But each hard knock Karigan takes isn’t forgotten. She learns from her mistakes and by the end of the story, she is an entirely new person than she was at the start. And frankly, I can’t wait to see how else she develops in the next book.

Kristen Britain brings to life a world of magical messengers and ancient evil. There is so much left to uncover in the Green Rider series. By the end of this book, I found myself needing to know more about the evil that is breaking free, and just how Karigan is going to go about pursuing her life now. Once a green rider, always a rider. If you are a fan of high fantasy novels that scale down the politics and focus more on character development, this is the series for you. show less

The book Green Rider has been a very refreshing read. It was the first book to pull me out of my extended reading slump and it was done through Britain's great storytelling and world building. Personally, I was able to find everything that I had wanted for years. Karigan was a life-like and well-developed protagonist, the magic system of the world did not seem limitless or without logic, the adventure felt real and beautiful, and there were an abundance of strong female characters. Not to mention the lack of pointless pairing of the protagonist into intimate relationships with the first potential character that seem to plague modern novels. Kristen Britain had me snagged on the first page and hooked by page 50. I would recommend this to show more anyone who wants a quality fantasy novel. show less

I've seen this series floating around over the years but wasn't moved to try it until I found the first three books together at the thrift store and picked them up.

The story feels almost YA at first, beginning as it does with a girl running away from school after being suspended for fighting. We never do learn Karigan's age, but I'm guessing mid-teens. (I actually thought she might be younger, but she later makes friends with a 12yo girl, who refers to her as an adult.)

Karigan is walking through the forest after leaving school when she finds a dying Green Rider, one of the king's messenger service. She takes the rider's horse and gear when he implores her to complete his mission and deliver the message he was carrying. Oddly, she show more doesn't seem to have any gear or supplies of her own, despite the fact that she had decided to run away.

The story is quite derivative of Tolkien and other authors as Karigan encounters various allies and perils, but it lacks the deep worldbuilding that characterizes Tolkien. I don't mind a few tropes, but the story doesn't ever rise above them. The world actually seemed quite sketchy, as we only learn bits of history and geography right when we need them, a few facts and nothing more. In addition, random magic occurs fortuitously, which feels a little 'deus ex machina.' Characters lack depth and individuality, so that I lost track of who was who. The prose and dialogue were unremarkable. Karigan gets knocked on the head quite a bit and loses consciousness many times, waking up into situations that she then must escape.

One good thing was there were a good number of regular female characters, unlike Tolkien. There are also quite a number of ghosts and spirits, some of whom are bound by magic, and it is implied that use of magic keeps one from entering the afterlife. There's also a section which implies extensive rituals for the dead. This might have been interesting, but the author doesn't really explain any of this or give much context. No one seems surprised or frightened by the presence of spirits, which also implies that they are more or less ordinary, but again, no background is given. I was also relieved that there was no angsty romantic subplot (although some hints were scattered).

Overall, the story is just okay. I'm kind of surprised it has as high a rating here as it does. I probably wouldn't seek out the rest of the series, if I didn't already have the next two.

POV is third person, with Karigan and a number of other, minor narrators. Structure is straightforward linear time. show less

I absolutely adore this book. Karigan is such a fun and quirky heroine, who spends a lot of her time simply scared and confused. Britain also doesn't avoid the grittier scenes. She's not afraid to put her heroine in the middle of a forest at night while it's raining, and she's being chased by people who want to kill her and take the message she vowed to a dying man that she would deliver directly to the king. There's just enough humor to make the book fun, while still showing the heroine's true feelings (which very often include fear, frustration, and discomfort). What a wonderful adventure!

A re-read. I first read this when the book was first released and remember loving it, though I recognized at the time that it was obviously very heavily influenced by Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar books.

Re-reading this, that has not changed. And through adult eyes rather than teenaged ones, I can also see the flaws apparent in the writing. The plot is contrived and the main character is less a character and more an agent of the plot, moving it forward.

That said, I did still enjoy the book. I didn't continue on with the series before but I think I will again. Despite it all, I did like Karrigan and want to see how she grows.

The first impression one gets from reading the back cover of Green Rider is the obvious parallels to the Heralds of Valdemar series by Mercedes Lackey. Both involve messengers of the regent, special horses, and magic. And while there are some similarities, Britain's book reads with less magic and more grit and politics. The world is rougher, more dangerous; the land of the story is broken into clans, much as Europe was broken into multiple kingdoms, fiefdoms, etc. several centuries ago; clans who strive by any means necessary for more power, more land, more resources, something we're all familiar with in today's world. The core of the story revolves around a young girl who promises to carry an important message to the king, even though show more the messenger who passes it on to her is dying, mortally wounded at the hands of an unknown enemy. This girl, now thrust into matters that had never before intruded into her awareness, finds her eyes opened to the dangerous and intricate dance of power played out by the clans and the king and is made aware of the consequences of joining such a dance, even unwittingly. Overall, it's a satisfying read; I look forward to reading the next two books in this series. The pace runs well and the author isn't afraid of terrifying or humiliating her characters, which makes the drama and action all the more heartpounding, and the triumphs all the more cheer-worthy. show less

Britain jumps into the action and carries a quick pace throughout, which makes this an entertaining fast read. Karigan is a stubborn young woman, who gets in a fight at boarding school, is suspended, and runs away. On the road, she discovers a dying messenger with two arrows in his back. She agrees to carry his message to the king, and she's immediately swept into a long, twisting chase scene.

This is the second time I've read the book, and I have to say I remember liking it better the first time. The fast plot and the main character are both great, but at times, it feels quickly written, too, almost like it needed one more thorough editing. Still, I'd recommend.