Jesse Kaukonen, coder and fantasy novelist at farstrider.fi
Ratings:
1 = I did not like this book 2 = OK, not recommended 3 = Good, recommended 4 = Very good 5 = Read this NOW
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The three-volume Journeys of the Catechist is the quest of a hero who questions every person and animal he meets, …
An adventure of epic proportions continues as Ehomba, a man bound by honor, travels through exotic and perilous lands on …
Arriving in the land of Ehl-Larimar, he and his loyal friends face their greatest battle: thwarting Themaryl's powerful captor, Hymneth …
Arriving in the land of Ehl-Larimar, he and his loyal friends face their greatest battle: thwarting Themaryl's powerful captor, Hymneth …
The three-volume Journeys of the Catechist is the quest of a hero who questions every person and animal he meets, …
The three-volume Journeys of the Catechist is the quest of a hero who questions every …
The weirdest book series I read last year is Journeys of the Catechist by Alan Dean Foster. This is a trilogy of:
The basic premise is simple: in a remote backwater, a simple goatherder finds a shipwreck along with a dying man, who with his dying breath passes on his quest to save a princess from an evil sorcerer. Due to the traditions of this simple goatherder's culture, someone's dying wish cannot be ignored. Thus, he shares the news to his wife and family, gets some supplies & various items from his village, and heads out to find this faraway land he has never heard of.
The story is composed entirely of episodic chapters where the main character travels to one weird place after another where something magical or unusual happens. The main character …
The weirdest book series I read last year is Journeys of the Catechist by Alan Dean Foster. This is a trilogy of:
The basic premise is simple: in a remote backwater, a simple goatherder finds a shipwreck along with a dying man, who with his dying breath passes on his quest to save a princess from an evil sorcerer. Due to the traditions of this simple goatherder's culture, someone's dying wish cannot be ignored. Thus, he shares the news to his wife and family, gets some supplies & various items from his village, and heads out to find this faraway land he has never heard of.
The story is composed entirely of episodic chapters where the main character travels to one weird place after another where something magical or unusual happens. The main character observes the weirdness, appreciates it, understands what it is, and moves on. Every now and then he utilizes one of the many magical items he received from the wise people of his village. As the story goes on, he picks up a few companions who add personality to the otherwise monotone main character's solo adventuring.
The series' weakest point is the plot, which is essentially given in the first paragraph of this review. The character arcs are essentialy non-existent However, the series makes up for its downsides with the extremely unusual and imaginative worldbuilding: among the many stops along the journey, we meet a dog that is also a witch who herds lightning bolts, a kraken that became a huge caffeine addict after attacking a coffee shipment, and a town where fish swim through the air and no one considers it odd.
Verdict: If you read other books out there and find yourself saying, "I've already seen this a hundred times before", you will find Journeys of the Catechist a positive surprise.
"17 years ago: A girl in South Dakota falls through the earth, then wakes up dozens of feet below ground …
Sylvain Neuvel: Waking gods (2017)
"26 years ago: A girl in South Dakota falls through the earth, then wakes up dozens of feet below ground …
Sylvain Neuvel: Waking gods (2017)
"26 years ago: A girl in South Dakota falls through the earth, then wakes up dozens of feet below ground …
You're never too old to make a bad decision. After twenty winters on the road, Tanyth makes one last pilgrimage …
In the middle of the South Pacific, a thousand feet below the surface of the water, a huge spaceship is …
The first volume of a definitive two-part history of the Targaryens in Westeros is set centuries before the events of …
When Coraline steps through a door to find another house strangely similar to her own (only better), things seem marvelous. …
