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345th out of 2,151 books
—
5,616 voters
God Stalk (Kencyrath #1)
by
P.C. Hodgell
In the first book of the Kencyrath, Jame, a young woman missing her memories, struggles out of the haunted wastes into Tai-tastigon, the old, corrupt, rich and god-infested city between the mountains and the lost lands of the Kencyrath.
Jame's struggle to regain her strength, her memories, and the resources to travel to join her people, the Kencyrath, drag her into several...more
Jame's struggle to regain her strength, her memories, and the resources to travel to join her people, the Kencyrath, drag her into several...more
Paperback, 288 pages
Published
August 1st 1983
by Berkley
(first published 1982)
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3.5 stars
Due to the acquisition of GoodReads by Amazon on March 28, 2013 and my existing and continuing boycott of all things Amazon, the review I wrote after reading this book now resides, safe and secure, at my blog. You can read it by following this link: http://bit.ly/138mymf
Due to the acquisition of GoodReads by Amazon on March 28, 2013 and my existing and continuing boycott of all things Amazon, the review I wrote after reading this book now resides, safe and secure, at my blog. You can read it by following this link: http://bit.ly/138mymf
I loved this book back in the 80s; I can still remember the art on the hardcover edition from my local library, which obviously isn't this cover. Nor is it the cover of the edition which I have, Chronicles of the Kencyrath, which also includes the second book, Dark of the Moon. Anyway, I recently reread it with a slightly different perspective - PC Hodgell was a graduate of Clarion, and somehow that made me read it differently. It's still a reasonably well-crafted book; the city of Tai-tastigon...more
1 like · like · see review
I enjoyed everything but the first and last chapter of the book very much. Those left me with the feeling that the rest of the novel didn’t really matter, and that the bigger questions weren’t answered.
Initially I had trouble getting into the book, as the heroine (Jame) doesn’t know what’s going on now and she has a 10-year memory gap in her past. The initial mysteries who and what Jame is, and what she was doing outside the city of Tai-Tastigon are all presented in chapter 1 but are not resolv...more
Initially I had trouble getting into the book, as the heroine (Jame) doesn’t know what’s going on now and she has a 10-year memory gap in her past. The initial mysteries who and what Jame is, and what she was doing outside the city of Tai-Tastigon are all presented in chapter 1 but are not resolv...more
This is one of the most epic Mary Sues I have encountered outside of Harry Potter or teenie self-insert het fanfic. The extent of her Mary Sue powers is pretty mind-boggling, in fact, so much so that "What improbable special power will she discover next?" got to be as interesting and suspenseful as the highly adventurous adventure plot - which actually was rather interesting, though not without various serious flaws. The flaws are mostly what you'd expect of a Mary Sue's adventure, at least, if...more
Aug 25, 2011
Estara
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
fans of dark epic fantasy with occasional flashes of humor
Recommended to Estara by:
Auto-buy author and series - reread in preparation of reading Honor's Paradox
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
This series is among my all-time favorites, and I'm a big fan, but I'll try to give it a balanced review. Since this starts a series, this is a series review as well.
I don't want to waste your time, so I'll begin with the series' negatives:
1. The series is unfinished, and there are at least three or four more books to go.
2. The first book and the most recent are a quarter century apart. The writer's style has changed over time; she plots better now, but the excess of imagination and ideas slows....more
I don't want to waste your time, so I'll begin with the series' negatives:
1. The series is unfinished, and there are at least three or four more books to go.
2. The first book and the most recent are a quarter century apart. The writer's style has changed over time; she plots better now, but the excess of imagination and ideas slows....more
This book seems almost incoherent at times. I think I'm missing something. I think I'm missing a LOT of somethings. Often, I felt like I had no clue why things were happening.
For instance, Jame has amnesia. That's mentioned several times. But she remembers her name, her father, her brother, her culture, history, but not other things? What exactly is she forgetting? Despite them SAYING she has amnesia and mentioning a few minor things she has forgotten, it's not really dwelt on. It's not a plot...more
For instance, Jame has amnesia. That's mentioned several times. But she remembers her name, her father, her brother, her culture, history, but not other things? What exactly is she forgetting? Despite them SAYING she has amnesia and mentioning a few minor things she has forgotten, it's not really dwelt on. It's not a plot...more
3 likes · like · see review
6/11/11
I am in fact reading an omnibus edition, but since the books were written so far apart, I thought that I would record/review them separately.
My first impression is really good. The writing has been very nice so far and the story catching.
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6/12/11
This is a very good book, there is no doubt about it. As most people said, there is one word to characterize it: creative. P.C. Hodgell has a deluge of original ideas. In fact she has so many that the strongest point of this novel is also it...more
I am in fact reading an omnibus edition, but since the books were written so far apart, I thought that I would record/review them separately.
My first impression is really good. The writing has been very nice so far and the story catching.
-----
6/12/11
This is a very good book, there is no doubt about it. As most people said, there is one word to characterize it: creative. P.C. Hodgell has a deluge of original ideas. In fact she has so many that the strongest point of this novel is also it...more
I really debated whether to give this fantasy book (and the subsequent three books in the series) three stars or four. On one hand the plot is complex and background information is revealed in bits and pieces, leaving one to feel rather out of the loop or possibily even stupid. I kept feeling like I was missing something. Also, the author has a tendency to digress into strange dream or alter reality scenes that seem to go on forever. On the other hand, I really dig the protagonist who is a stron...more
Apr 03, 2013
Verity Brown
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Fantasy fans who want something different for a change
Recommended to Verity by:
Robin McKinley
I was first alerted to this series by the story "Stranger Blood" in the Imaginary Lands anthology, but when I finally found this book at the used bookstore, I was skeptical--what, another hive-of-scum-and-villainy fantasy city story? Not my thing at all. But on the strength of the incredible world I glimpsed in "Stranger Blood," I started reading. And never regretted it.
Jame's story is unlike anything else out there in fantasy literature. Even if you think you've seen these tropes before, you r...more
Really good dark fantasy series. Likable and engaging heroine, who means well put causes a swath of destruction around her. My only critique of her is that in the first book she has Mary Sue elements where she comes off as Extra Special and Talented, but the rest of the books get better about it. I like that Jame is hapless, impulsive, brave, rootless, inquisitive, resourceful, struggles between being a cosmic and sociopolitical pawn and being her own agent, and is a walking warning about how go...more
Perhaps the best of the series. In this one Hodgell introduces Jame and the final world on the Chain of Creation. It's well paced, the conflicts are generalyl balanced with Jame as the one who tips things one way or the other -- usually making no one happy for long. That's her special gift and it's best demonstrated in this book. The fate of a dancer, an inn, a guild, the city and empires are all decided by her actions. In later books the scale and sweep of the damage she leaves in her wake seem...more
When I started reading, I felt lost and was thinking I'd have to read it again to get it. But as Jame, who has forgotten her recent history, learns so do we and it works really well. The questions have been answered and I have a better idea what's going on. I'm impressed that PC managed to dole out information without being frustrating or coy. The notes at the end of the book could have been at he beginning, but I don't think they would have been any more helpful, because the world has to be exp...more
I know this book has been around a while and received rave reviews but I wasn't as thrilled with this book as I had hoped I'd be. Maybe it's because I delved into the world of Tolkien and Feist as a young reader and had a preconceived notion it would be along those lines. It was definitely an interesting world but not one that I cared to linger in. I also had trouble connecting with the heroine of our tale. Don't get me wrong, I love many the anti-hero but I can't quite put a finger on why I cou...more
I have heard some good things about this series and I wanted to like it. However, this story didn't really work for me. The plot seems to jerk along. I would be reading a section and getting into the story and suddenly the story would move in time and space and something seemingly unrelated would happen. Also, I really couldn't develop and empathy for the characters -- not even Jame the main POV character. This reduced my enjoyment of the story. Things did finally pull together ... but I really...more
This book and its sequels drew me in as few books do. The author drops you right into a fully-formed world, provides very little direct exposition, but I never got lost or thought, "Wait, what's happening here?" The style isn't the lofty, breathtaking prose of much high fantasy I could mention, but like an excellent butler does its job well without calling attention to itself—no mean feat. If I go on I'll just descend into expressing my enthusiasm with random keyboard-mashing, so GO READ THEM AN...more
This book was...umm, different. And, not necessarily in a bad way. Just in a way that had me scratching my head every now and then.
It had all the typical fantasy elements--gods, magic, intrigue, action, vivid imagery. The author introduced some very creative and original concepts, but, at times, they seemed almost overwhelming and confusing. Just when I thought I understood what was happening, something would get thrown into the mix that had me wondering what it meant to the overall storyline.
To...more
It had all the typical fantasy elements--gods, magic, intrigue, action, vivid imagery. The author introduced some very creative and original concepts, but, at times, they seemed almost overwhelming and confusing. Just when I thought I understood what was happening, something would get thrown into the mix that had me wondering what it meant to the overall storyline.
To...more
The city of Tai-tastigon, mysterious as it is, fails to draw me in. It forms no shape in my mind's eye, and slips like shadows from my dreams' landscape.
The main character, Jame, mysterious as she is, with cryptic memories sprouting like weeds from her brain, a thief incomparably skilled yet honorable, a being of as-yet-undiscovered powers, fails to form as a coherent person. Sometimes she is tortured. The next instant, she is carefree and joking. No transition between these two states.
The tone...more
The main character, Jame, mysterious as she is, with cryptic memories sprouting like weeds from her brain, a thief incomparably skilled yet honorable, a being of as-yet-undiscovered powers, fails to form as a coherent person. Sometimes she is tortured. The next instant, she is carefree and joking. No transition between these two states.
The tone...more
May 10, 2007
Mrelia
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Anyone who likes good fantasy
This series has been a favorite of mine since my early teens, when I found it in a garage-sale stack of paperbacks. I was reading the first couple chapters while Mom was rooting around in the glassware.
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THE HILLS ROLLED up to the moon on slopes of wind-bent grass, crested, swept down into tangled brier shadows. Then up again and down, over and over until only aching muscles distinguished between rise and descent, climb and fall. A nigh...more
--------------------------------------------------------------
THE HILLS ROLLED up to the moon on slopes of wind-bent grass, crested, swept down into tangled brier shadows. Then up again and down, over and over until only aching muscles distinguished between rise and descent, climb and fall. A nigh...more
This book is more like coming on in the return section of the hero's journey, after the hero has left society and found how to change society, but needing time to re-integrate again with her people and reflect on her past. Jame has in fact had her past stripped from her (but not her honor), leaving her a blank slate of a Kencyr's ideals. So here we get to see how a Kencyr acts without the messiness of the political dispute going on in the homelands. I'm still unclear on how the power of the Thre...more
4/5; 4 stars; A-
This was a fantasy story with a female protagonist. There were some pretty dark moments but no so much that it overshadowed the sense of adventure evoked by the story. I enjoyed the different characters, the presence of magic, the strange culture of the city, and all the gods. The appendices at the end were really useful. (In fact, I think I would have enjoyed the story more if I read them before the book.)
This was a fantasy story with a female protagonist. There were some pretty dark moments but no so much that it overshadowed the sense of adventure evoked by the story. I enjoyed the different characters, the presence of magic, the strange culture of the city, and all the gods. The appendices at the end were really useful. (In fact, I think I would have enjoyed the story more if I read them before the book.)
3 likes · like · see review
This book had many layers, a tapestry richness. It is a standalone with a richly developed plot yet it left enough mystery for a handful of sequels. The good news is that now you don't have to wait 10 years for each sequel.
I first read this and loved it when it first came out decades ago. I just reread it in preparation of diving into the sequels. It was good now as it was the first time I read it.
I first read this and loved it when it first came out decades ago. I just reread it in preparation of diving into the sequels. It was good now as it was the first time I read it.
A lot of things happened in this book, some of them were very cool, and most were interesting.
My main criticism is that the book felt very unfocused. The significance of certain events was never really brought out. There is this little 3 page afterword that explains some of it. I think it would have been better to write it into the story.
My main criticism is that the book felt very unfocused. The significance of certain events was never really brought out. There is this little 3 page afterword that explains some of it. I think it would have been better to write it into the story.
A good story, well told. A backstory almost as good, though less developed as Tolkien's Middle Earth, but . . . but . . . .
It just didn't work for me. I think it was the clunky opening. Hodgell's writing got better as the story progressed, but the first hundred pages were so poor that I almost quit after the first several chapters.
It just didn't work for me. I think it was the clunky opening. Hodgell's writing got better as the story progressed, but the first hundred pages were so poor that I almost quit after the first several chapters.
An old-fashioned sort of fantasy, in that the prose is spare & moves quickly (only 265 pages!) and the author expects you to remember lots of intricate knotty plot details instead of spoon-feeding them to you. Dark & intriguing - looking forward to the sequels!
I love the heroine's self-deprecating humor, and the author's worldbuilding. This author has a gift for what I think of as the cryptic archetype--stuff I never thought of as an archetype until it surfaces in the story and seems so ...resonant, emotionally.
I LOVE this book. I still cannot imagine why it was not picked up by a large publisher and promoted the heck out of. I recently purchased the latest book and wanted to re-read the series. (There's only four, and this is the first one.) It's a sci-fi, fantasy novel, and it is rich, layered, and thoroughly enjoyable. We pick up our heroine, Jame, injured, on the run, suffering from an infected haunt bite. She knows her name, and bits and pieces, but not much else. In this condition she staggers in...more
4.5 stars. This is an original, superbly written debut novel with outstanding world-building. It is always nice to come across an older, lesser known (in least in my case) book that contains truly creative and unique ideas and this book does that. The City of Tai-tastigon is truly the main character of the book with its thousands of gods (most with their own temples) and its confusing, maze-like streets. Add to that a strong, well-drawn main character with unique and unsual skills and a deftly w...more
Excellent book. Totally different than anything I've ever read. I like all the ones in the series (that I've read so far!). Definitely have to have a 'quiet' imagination to follow the history on this.
Quirky and dark, but incredibly imaginative. One of my favorite series. On the down side, she's also an incredibly slow writer. Well worth the wait, though.
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“A face stared up at her from the mirror beside her hand. Was that really what she looked like? Was that really what she looked like, all sharp lines and huge silver-grey eyes? Certainly, no one would ever call those features beautiful, Jame thought ruefully; but were they really enough like a boy's to have fooled that old man the alley? Well, maybe with that long black hair out of sight under a cap. It was a very young face and a defiant one, she thought with a odd sense of detachment, but frightened, too. And those extraordinary eyes... what memories lived in them that she could not share? Stranger, where have you been she asked silently. What have you seen? The thin lips locked in their secrets.
"Ahhh!" Jame said in sudden disgust, tossing away the mirror. Fool, to be obsessed with a past she couldn't even remember. But it was all behind her now.”
—
2 people liked it
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"Ahhh!" Jame said in sudden disgust, tossing away the mirror. Fool, to be obsessed with a past she couldn't even remember. But it was all behind her now.”
Jul 07, 2009 02:57pm
Jul 07, 2009 04:08pm
Happy Mooching!
Sep 05, 2009 12:30pm