false 15419 0808522310 9780808522317 15 1 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15419.Crewel_Lye 8516 Piers Anthony 88901 2100 0 2009-08-15T22:30:26-07:00 1167514 255 2009-08-15T22:30:26-07:00 0 2009-08-13T08:52:13-07:00 1156080 69 2009-08-13T08:52:13-07:00 0 2009-08-11T15:57:05-07:00 1148065 33 2009-08-11T15:57:05-07:00 0 2009-08-11T13:42:10-07:00 1147502 1 2009-08-11T13:42:10-07:00 5 0 false Sun Aug 16 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 11 13:37:39 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 16 09:20:24 -0700 2009 Crewel Lye with a significant amount of hesitation on my part. I tend to dislike the Xanth novels that steer away from the main characters and focus on the lesser ones. This book is in fact one of the ones that I thought I would dislike.

I actually very much enjoyed Crewel Lye. First of all, it didn't quite fit the usual plot pattern of the other Xanth novels (go on an adventure, pick up companions along the way, fall in love with one companion, complete adventure). About ninety-percent of the book itself was a narrative of the character Jordan's life. It was a very nice narrative at that. It ran smoothly and without a dull moment; I didn't want to put it down. I very much enjoyed the story that Jordan told- it was very original and witty and the romance wasn't cheesy or over dramatic, but instead it was subtle and full of twists (I'm talking about the romantic involvement with Threnody here, not Bluebell Elf or Elsie). The end of the book itself was an enormous twist... it left me in a bit of a shock- but a pleasant shock.

The only part that thoroughly annoyed me was the character Jordan's obsession with barbarianism. Sure, I realize that this has to do with his personality and that he himself is a barbarian... but I was sick of reading about the 'nature of barbarians' in every other paragraph. I started to sigh and squirm unpleasantly every time that he went on about what barbarians do and how they live and their codes of honor and their appearances and their skills with weapons and their views on women and so on and so on.... as a reader I only received relief from this repetitive nonsense towards the end of the book.

Despite that little mishap that annoyed me oh so much, the story was amazing. Even though the text annoyed me quite a bit personally, it wasn't enough to take away a star from the fabulous Crewel Lye. I would definitely recommend this to a fantasy fan (as long as you don't mind truckloads of ridiculous puns). I loved it!]]>