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14th out of 90 books
—
105 voters
The Charmed Sphere (Lost Continent #1)
by
Catherine Asaro (Goodreads Author)
The Barnes & Noble Review
Nebula Awardwinning author Catherine Asaro, renowned for her epic science fiction saga of the Skolian Empire (The Quantum Rose, Spherical Harmonic, et al.), has penned her first full-length fantasy novel with The Charmed Sphere -- a story about insatiable greed, wild magic, and untamed love.
Originally a novella entitled "Moonglow" in 2003's Ch...more
Nebula Awardwinning author Catherine Asaro, renowned for her epic science fiction saga of the Skolian Empire (The Quantum Rose, Spherical Harmonic, et al.), has penned her first full-length fantasy novel with The Charmed Sphere -- a story about insatiable greed, wild magic, and untamed love.
Originally a novella entitled "Moonglow" in 2003's Ch...more
Mass Market Paperback, 473 pages
Published
July 1st 2005
by Luna Books
(first published February 2004)
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This book has an interesting concept and was a long read. It could have used a better editor, however. There were discrepancies in the timeline, issues with name changes, some issues with incorrect usages and spellings that a spellcheck wouldn't have caught, but a good beta reader might have. Editing would have helped and I wouldn't have been pulled as quickly out of the story. I think that was really what bothered me most.
The concept of the shapes and colours forming spells was interesting. It...more
The concept of the shapes and colours forming spells was interesting. It...more
Jul 06, 2010
Lisa (Harmonybites)
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
No One
The cover claimed Asaro was a Nebula Award winner and her biography that she was a physicist. Given that, I had high expectations for this book--I hoped for great writing and a fresh take on fantasy. I was disappointed; I never found the novel better than mediocre.
The characters, plot and style came across to me as pure romance aisle--and that's not a compliment with me. Even the names of the female protagonist and her love were eye-rolling: Chime Headwind and Muller Startower Heptacorn Dawnfie...more
The characters, plot and style came across to me as pure romance aisle--and that's not a compliment with me. Even the names of the female protagonist and her love were eye-rolling: Chime Headwind and Muller Startower Heptacorn Dawnfie...more
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A world where magic is defined by shape [for power] and color[for type]. A really cool premise. A small kingdom is under threat from a neighboring kingdom and must use its mages to supplement it's army. So it sounded good.
Then I met the characters. Bunch of whiny, pansy, selfish, no self confidence bunch of pathetic losers. The characters teenager'ish angst and self-doubt completely ruined this book for me. It was not enjoyable and I will not be reading any more by Asaro.
Then I met the characters. Bunch of whiny, pansy, selfish, no self confidence bunch of pathetic losers. The characters teenager'ish angst and self-doubt completely ruined this book for me. It was not enjoyable and I will not be reading any more by Asaro.
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
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intriguing. plus, i was in love with the book cover. =)
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I found The Charmed Sphere in my favorite second hand book store and I couldn't put it down. When I went to look for more like it, I was delighted to find it was a series and I lucked out to have started with the first one. I've loved all of them. I thought I would tire of the plots from book to book but they differ so to the point that even though they are similar in nature, they are still fresh and new and intriguing to read. I was unable to put them book down till the last page.
I love the fa...more
I love the fa...more
This book has a very compelling story. The good characters had so much depth. I really felt I could get inside their heads. They all had some complex that made them feel more human. I also loved the way magic is used in the story. It was so unique to me. I have never heard of using shapes and colors for magic as the author describes. The author also has nice writing style that is easy to understand, especially after reading a book where a third of the words were old English. That is very helpful...more
This was a decent book with an unusual premise for the rules of magic spells used by the characters. Shape mages use perfect shapes, like pyramids, spheres and cubes to cast spells. Different colours of shapes indicate different types of spells.
Something odd about the novel was the way in which time flew. Often months and years pass in which nothing of note occurs. This is probably realistic, but given the characters are supposed to be experiencing crises over these periods of time, it removes a...more
Something odd about the novel was the way in which time flew. Often months and years pass in which nothing of note occurs. This is probably realistic, but given the characters are supposed to be experiencing crises over these periods of time, it removes a...more
This fantasy novel confused me a bit - the corniness of certain elements (the way that magic works via colors and shapes, the character names, the ridiculous military formations, the absurd coincidences, etc) led me to think this surely must be a children's books, but the romance arc definitely didn't feel like a children's book. Despite the many flaws I did somehow get drawn in - so although I was rolling my eyes quite a bit, I still wanted to read on.
Not a lot to say.
On the 2nd page I read the line "The stately procession crested the ridge like a wave of people", and it only went downhill from there.
I gave it a 100 pages to pick up, but it never got close to redeeming itself.
Two dimensional characters plus a rather stale fantasy setting and a fairly dull (even if original) take on magic. It all adds up for a pretty bad read.
Needless to say, I won't be reading the sequel.
On the 2nd page I read the line "The stately procession crested the ridge like a wave of people", and it only went downhill from there.
I gave it a 100 pages to pick up, but it never got close to redeeming itself.
Two dimensional characters plus a rather stale fantasy setting and a fairly dull (even if original) take on magic. It all adds up for a pretty bad read.
Needless to say, I won't be reading the sequel.
This book actually has a really cool way for using magic. It was written by a woman who majored in physics, and the magicians use shapes and color to channel their power. The higher the color (in a rainbow scale i.e. ROY G BIV) the more power. The more sides a prism has the more power can be channelled through it. So a really powerful magician would wield his power through say, a violet icosahedron. Very interesting.
I truly didn't know what I expected, but certainly something better than this. The plot is incredibly cheesy and had me rolling my eyes from the very beginning; both the story and the characters are as stereotypical as they can get and I really couldn't make myself treat this novel seriously after I've read the first several pages. Maybe someone can overlook the clichés and bad writing, but - sorry - I'm not that person.
I would actually like to rate this book as 3.5. As the first full length novel from the author it has a very good plot; the magic system is innovative and explained really well: the characters are all very believable and easy to relate to as none of them are perfect. But, there is a lack of detail, of filling out. However, it is definitely worth a read. I will be continuing the series.
This is the first full-length novel by the author I've read. I've been meaning to read other books by Asaro, and have read stories by her and have loved them but for some reason, this is the first book of her's I've picked up. The beginning was a bit slow, but I think that was because I had read "Moonglow" in Charmed Destinies which was basically retelling the first part of the book from different perspectives. I was interesting, though, to see that Chime had a different side than that presented...more
I think it is an excellent YA novel. There are enough complexities that will engage the reader, while keeping it simple enough for a young person to grasp the ideas portrayed without frustrating them. The story is interesting and will draw the reader into it. If I were at that stage of development, I would give it 5 stars.
I did not finish the book. It is thick and might look intimidating but it is suprisingly easy to follow and understand. Although I did get half way through the book and it got repetative to me because it was about love and stuff like that. Overall I would like to pick up where I left off.
This book was the first fantasy romance with a female protagonist that I ever read, and for that alone it holds a very dear place in my heart. More than anything I love the rules Asaro has created for her magic wielders, and I love the politics that she constructs in her world.
It's not a perfect book, but I really enjoyed this one. It's very sweet, the four main characters each have a nice arc, and the magic system was new, but worked well for me. I'd recommend it, but especially because it's a good lead-in to the next book, which is even better.
Catherine Asaro shares many aspects of her writing with Mercedes Lackey. They both write science fiction and fantasy from a female perspective with romantic elements and serious ethical considerations. Try The Charmed Sphere , the first novel in her Aronsdale series.
Among fantasy books in which people are born endowed with magical talent, this book takes a different angle. (Ha, get it? Angle.) Geometric objects are the key to unlocking magic in this world, and I liked the story enough to read the next book in the series.
Terrible. Lines like, "She quirked one of her perfect eyebrows at him" and "Telli laughed, her melodic voice chiming like bells," and of course, "willowy curves." God help us all. Some of the most cliched, boring piece of fantasy I have ever laughed at.
2.5 out of 5 stars.
I liked the mage/magic set up in this one. The characters were average. Not too horrible, but nothing special. A fun read but a little too long and wars are boring. I probably wouldn't recommend it though, since there are much better books out there to read.
I liked the mage/magic set up in this one. The characters were average. Not too horrible, but nothing special. A fun read but a little too long and wars are boring. I probably wouldn't recommend it though, since there are much better books out there to read.
Interesting idea for magic- although it was too hard not to think of things like D&D dice when she was describing the shapes. I wish they'd done more with the idea of "flawed" shapes. The bigotry was a little too much. Romance was just ok.
I read this book because I really enjoyed science fiction novels by this author. I didn't think this was as good - it seemed a bit contrived and/or lacking in direction. It think Ms Asaro's strong point is her science. But I can't say it was horrible because I've bought two others in the cycle.
It is basically a fantasy (read the blurb) but later on there are the tiniest hints of how the universe of these characters could have a connection to this one.
Each book in the cycle seems to follow the p...more
It is basically a fantasy (read the blurb) but later on there are the tiniest hints of how the universe of these characters could have a connection to this one.
Each book in the cycle seems to follow the p...more
This is the first Fantasy Romantica I've read, so I really don't have a basis for comparison. So standing on its own, at first it intimidated me with all the talk about shapes and spells and such (reminded me of math and numbers...not my strong suit). But I kept reading because it's a fantasy romantica and I wanted to get the feel for it since what I'm writing now COULD end up a fantasy romantica or it could be a fantasy romance, depending on where my characters take me. Anyway, after a while I...more
This book deserves more of a two and half rating.
I can't say I liked it very much. The writing drove me absolutely up the wall. Some of the ideas were neat, and the story was sort of interesting, but the characters were about as dry as a sheet of paper.
It took me about three hundred pages to really get into it and for about a hundred pages it was quite pleasant. Then it was back to the usual irritation.
Nothing surprising happens the entire book.
I can't say I liked it very much. The writing drove me absolutely up the wall. Some of the ideas were neat, and the story was sort of interesting, but the characters were about as dry as a sheet of paper.
It took me about three hundred pages to really get into it and for about a hundred pages it was quite pleasant. Then it was back to the usual irritation.
Nothing surprising happens the entire book.
This was so life affirming after I had read Mists of Avalon. I loved it. Pretty steamy, though. Although, I knew it was published by Luna when I picked it up... :-)
Very quick, easy read.
Not the greatest thing out there, but just a bit of PG-13 fantasy/romance if you don't want to think for a few hours. :)
Not the greatest thing out there, but just a bit of PG-13 fantasy/romance if you don't want to think for a few hours. :)
It was an interesting premise, but the characters were badly written. There were awkward time skips and unexplained emotions/motivations which was disappointing as the magic system of colours and shapes was intruiging.
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The author of more than twenty-five books, Catherine Asaro is acclaimed for her Ruby Dynasty series, which combines adventure, science, romance and fast-paced action. Her novel The Quantum Rose won the Nebula® Award, as did her novella “The Spacetime Pool.” Among her many other distinctions, she is a multiple winner of the AnLab from Analog magazine...more
More about Catherine Asaro...
The author of more than twenty-five books, Catherine Asaro is acclaimed for her Ruby Dynasty series, which combines adventure, science, romance and fast-paced action. Her novel The Quantum Rose won the Nebula® Award, as did her novella “The Spacetime Pool.” Among her many other distinctions, she is a multiple winner of the AnLab from Analog magazine...more
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