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40th out of 66 books
—
19 voters
Wizard of the Grove (Wizard of the Grove #1-2)
by
Tanya Huff
Now available in one volume, the novels which began Tanya Huff's career. Child of the Grove and The Last Wizard form a powerful fantasy duology about the last wizard ever to be born into the world. It is the saga of Crystal, a daughter of Power whose destiny is to put an end to the war between wizards and the mortal world. Now this magical tale is collected in one volume a...more
Paperback, 576 pages
Published
January 1st 1999
by DAW
(first published 1998)
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May 28, 2009
Celeste
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommended to Celeste by:
Hassan Chaudhri
Shelves:
fantasy
I would have loved this book when I was in high school at the height of my fantasy reading days. The books are more about Crystal and her personal relationships and dealing with her power than it is about about high magic or wizard battles per se, even though those happen too. Because of that the plot climaxes feel rather anti-climatic. The second book in particular is almost more of a romance novel without the steamy sex scenes than it is a fantasy book. All that being said, the books sucked me...more
When thinking of fantasy this novel assigns itself well to genre: mythical creatures, magic, and feudal monarchies with lands both civilized by man and left for fey to rule. Though it does so abide by the archetypes of the Wizard of the Grove novels ("Child of the Grove" and "The Last Wizard") do stand out as good works by their own right. The series does more work to involve the reader in the principal characters and their internal conflicts- grief, love, sexuality, self-esteem, acceptance -tha...more
This is the first Tanya Huff book I've ever read that didn't involved queer characters but despite that, it was a good read. It featured a strong female lead, an interesting mythology of her world, and a multi-generational tale leading of the events leading to her birth. It was very sweet but not quite as funny and trashy as some of her other novels. I enjoyed it.
I rather appreciate Tanya Huff's handling of sexuality for Crystal - the books are pretty heteronormative, but they also treat it as unremarkable that she's had casual sex with a number of men. So point on and off there.
Well-written, engaging story, believable characters, and lots of magic in a world unlike our own. What more do you want? (In a fantasy novel, at least.)
Well-written, engaging story, believable characters, and lots of magic in a world unlike our own. What more do you want? (In a fantasy novel, at least.)
Tanya Huff is a skilled writer who excells at complex, layered plots. By the end of the 2nd volume you're still wanting more. Enjoyed her characterization of Death, vaguely reminiscent of Terry Pratchett's although quite distinct. Loved the dragons & hope that there is a more of them for me to discover.
This is classic Swords & Sorcery with a female hero as is often the case with Huff. You can count on her for a happy read. There's always hope, the bad guy deserves what he gets, the horrors are used to show how bad he is but not elaborated and dwelt upon and there's a happy romantic ending. If I had read this in my tweens I would have loved it. As an old lady I still enjoyed reading something that's not depressing or gory for a change.
While I adore Tanya Huff, I definitely like her later stuff better. Both halves of this were perfectly serviceable with strong female characters and one of the more unexpected love triangles I've seen, but I didn't find it particularly memorable.
Read the Last Wizard and enjoyed it but was so disappointed at the ending. You wait the entire book for a plot line to reach fruition and then at the end of the book, snap, its over and its so confusing and vague you don't know what really happened. Then the book is done without more explanation. So everything until the last 3 pages or so was interesting.
It's been a while since I read this but I remember really enjoying it. all of Tanya Huff's books are a little bit epic and a little bit fluff. Makes for both an easy read, with a little bit of depth.
This book is actually a duology of two novels written about the same character, Crystal, who is the last wizard. Crystal is a strong female character, which I always appreciate in fantasy novels, and the author adds some light humor and interesting world-building. Unfortunately, the first novel is much stronger than the second one. Whereas the first novel has great world-building and an interesting look at the immortal races, the second novel has a rather ludicrous plot where Lord Death falls in...more
I got to page 150 and gave up. It begins with a prince visiting his mother who's a hamadryad. The country is going to war and the prince wanted to visit his mother before leaving. Then it goes into the prince's father dying and the prince becoming King. Next it talks about the King's children and their childrens' children. Finally there's a princess who has a child with a God, and children of humans and Gods birth wizards. This young wizard gets taken away to learn about her powers when she's 10...more
I really enjoyed this book -- the weaving in of familiar motifs in ancient myths and legends in the fantasy world of wizards, gods and "Elders" was fun. I stayed interested throughout.
I'm really enjoying Huff's fantasy stuff. It's not amazing literature, but it's definitely some of the better fantasy that I've read in the last few years.
I tried, but finally had to put it down. Not a bad book, it's "ok" but my time for reading is too short to spend it forcing myself through a book not to my taste.
Love this book, its an easy read, but I have read this one over and over and it never gets old. The poor book is falling apart.
I have re-read the book over and over again. And if anything - I have become more attached to it over the years.
Aug 10, 2011
Mary B.
added it
Like so many fantasy books this reads like soft-core porn in certain places. Why is that?!
I'm not sure why but I was just very disappointed in these two novels. The characters just didn't seem 3 dimensional.
I own the two books separately but this seemed a convenient way to rate both. Worth reading!
I liked this book, but thought it was a bit sad. I liked some of Tanya's later novels much better.
Early fantasy from Huff - two novels in one volume. Not bad, but not much more.
Another very good set of books from Tanya Huff. I couldn't put it down.
good read, could actually have been a little longer.
Jun 16, 2010
{eri}
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
fantasy fans
Recommended to {eri} by:
the random shelf at Northwest Regional that I pulled this off of :]
Shelves:
own
This book is a definite buy for myself. The two novel compilation felt extremely long as I stretched it out to make it last. The first novel Child of the Grove was absolutely fantastic and The Last Wizard was also very, very good. It had almost everything that I was looking for in a fantasy novel. My only complaint would be that it seems to have hasty conclusions, with aspects introduced in the novels that never become important or are mentioned again and endings that leave you wishing there was...more
My favorite book EVER!
Very early Huff, and not a wonderful start, to be completely honest - there are actually two books in this omnibus edition, and the first is basically mediocre. But the second book makes up for it and then some. Right around the time everyone started mocking the hell out of Lord Death, I started giggling and didn't stop. He alone makes this a worthwhile read; honorable mentions go to Doan, Bryon, and Zarsheiy, even if most of her lines consist of "BURN YOU BITCH BURN" (I'm only paraphrasing a bi...more
Good read.
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"Born in Halifax, Nova Scotia: Although I haven't actually lived "down east" since just before my fourth birthday, I still consider myself a Maritimer. I think it's something to do with being born in sight of the ocean. Or possibly with the fact that almost no one admits to being from Ontario…
Raised, for the most part, in Kingston, Ontario. It was the late sixties, early to mid seventies. Enough s...more
More about Tanya Huff...
Raised, for the most part, in Kingston, Ontario. It was the late sixties, early to mid seventies. Enough s...more
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Mar 22, 2009 09:49pm