What do you think?
Rate this book
Lost Continent #1
The Charmed Sphere
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 Charmed Destinies anthology, The Charmed Sphere is the much-expanded story about a reluctant mage and an equally reluctant heir. Chime is living an idyllic life with her family in the rural hamlet of Jacob's Vale. But her life is turned upside down when one of the King of Aronsdale's most trusted advisers, searching the kingdom for shape-mages, identifies her as a promising mage with powerful undeveloped ability. Chime reluctantly agrees to travel to Castle Suncroft, where she is to be trained in the art of magecraft -- and also groomed for her marriage to Prince Muller, the heir to the throne of Aronsdale! Muller is the nephew to the king, and the last thing he wants to do is get married and rule a kingdom. He's more concerned with fashion than affairs of state. When the King of Aronsdale dies and Muller continues to postpone his royal ascension, the leader of a neighboring kingdom -- along with an insane mage bent on destroying Aronsdale -- sees the transition as the perfect time to strike.
Simply put, The Charmed Sphere is a novel of superlatives. If a reader were to choose only one new romantic fantasy to read, it should be Catherine Asaro's unforgettable gem. Paul Goat Allen
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 Charmed Destinies anthology, The Charmed Sphere is the much-expanded story about a reluctant mage and an equally reluctant heir. Chime is living an idyllic life with her family in the rural hamlet of Jacob's Vale. But her life is turned upside down when one of the King of Aronsdale's most trusted advisers, searching the kingdom for shape-mages, identifies her as a promising mage with powerful undeveloped ability. Chime reluctantly agrees to travel to Castle Suncroft, where she is to be trained in the art of magecraft -- and also groomed for her marriage to Prince Muller, the heir to the throne of Aronsdale! Muller is the nephew to the king, and the last thing he wants to do is get married and rule a kingdom. He's more concerned with fashion than affairs of state. When the King of Aronsdale dies and Muller continues to postpone his royal ascension, the leader of a neighboring kingdom -- along with an insane mage bent on destroying Aronsdale -- sees the transition as the perfect time to strike.
Simply put, The Charmed Sphere is a novel of superlatives. If a reader were to choose only one new romantic fantasy to read, it should be Catherine Asaro's unforgettable gem. Paul Goat Allen
480 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published February 1, 2004
37 people are currently reading
3013 people want to read
About the author
Catherine Asaro
93 books698 followersThe 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 and a three time recipient of the RT BOOKClub Award for “Best Science Fiction Novel.” Her most recent novel, Carnelians, came out in October, 2011. An anthology of her short fiction titled Aurora in Four Voices is available from ISFiC Press in hardcover, and her multiple award-winning novella “The City of Cries” is also available as an eBook for Kindle and Nook.
Catherine has two music CD’s out and she is currently working on her third. The first, Diamond Star, is the soundtrack for her novel of the same name, performed with the rock band, Point Valid. She appears as a vocalist at cons, clubs, and other venues in the US and abroad, including recently as the Guest of Honor at the Denmark and New Zealand National Science Fiction Conventions. She performs selections from her work in a multimedia project that mixes literature, dance, and music with Greg Adams as her accompanist. She is also a theoretical physicist with a PhD in Chemical Physics from Harvard, and a jazz and ballet dancer. Visit her at www.facebook.com/Catherine.Asaro
Catherine has two music CD’s out and she is currently working on her third. The first, Diamond Star, is the soundtrack for her novel of the same name, performed with the rock band, Point Valid. She appears as a vocalist at cons, clubs, and other venues in the US and abroad, including recently as the Guest of Honor at the Denmark and New Zealand National Science Fiction Conventions. She performs selections from her work in a multimedia project that mixes literature, dance, and music with Greg Adams as her accompanist. She is also a theoretical physicist with a PhD in Chemical Physics from Harvard, and a jazz and ballet dancer. Visit her at www.facebook.com/Catherine.Asaro
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 120 reviews
November 13, 2009
So, in an effort to branch out, I've been trying to read new authors. Plus, this gives me things to tell my mother when she asks what I want for Christmas (sequels!). A couple of weeks ago, I read The Charmed Sphere by Catherine Asaro. I was a bit wary, as I always am with new authors. But it did have pretty, pretty cover art.
So the basic premise is that protagonist Chime was found to be a powerful mage and asked to study at the capital (and hopefully marry the heir to the throne, since it was customary for the consort to be a mage). Of course, there are all kinds of problems -- the original heir is dead, his son is missing, and the cousin who is the current heir is seen as a flake. Plus, the neighboring kingdom -- which has had a sort of uneasy peace with the kingdom -- is up to no good, they might have a mage themselves, and people keep trying to kill Chime and Mueller (the cousin).
Anyway, I had some problems with the magic system while thinking it could have been neat. The magic was based on shapes and colors -- mages had to focus through regular polygons or polyhedra and each kind of spell had colors -- for instance red spells called light and heat, green spells let the user sense emotions, orange and yellow spells soothed physical and emotional pain, and indigo and blue spells healed physical and emotional wounds. You could also reverse the spells to do the opposite -- cause harm and agitation -- but considering most powerful mages were wired into others' emotions, it wasn't a good idea at all. The shape aspect came in because mages need to focus through shapes, and the higher level mages could use different shapes for more power (triangle, square, regular pentagon... up to circle, then regular tetrahedron through sphere).
So, first problem. I somehow suspect the author needs to think a bit more about geometry. So, she specifies that regular/perfect shapes work, and imperfect shapes disrupt concentration (except for Mueller). For polygons, I assume that means regular ones. For polyhedra, I'd assume it meant the five Platonic solids (regular tetrahedron, cub/hexahedron, regular octahedron, regular dodecahedron, regular iscosahedron) , except one mage uses a square pyramid, and another uses a 18-sided shape. So maybe it's just 'shapes made of regular polygons', which seems a bit odd to me, since those don't really approach a sphere as the sides get infinite and are much less regular. (The Platonic and Archemedian solids do, but that limits you to 4, 6, 8, 12, 14, 20, 26, 32, 38, 62 and 92 faces -- I don't think anyone got higher than 20 without going to a sphere.) For that matter, you get 'box', 'cube' and 'hexahedron' all being used in the book, with no real reason as to why the difference in terminology.
So, second problem. The book suffers a bit from Planet of the Hats syndrome. So there's shape magic. It's common in the royal family and shape mages are revered, with them often wearing crystal polyhedra marking their rank and serving as a magic focus -- the more faces and the higher-frequency the color, the more powerful the mage. The royal family decorates with mosaics, which makes sense, since they are mages and the constant use of shapes will mean they always have a focus at hand. The nobility and middle class folks copy this, because royalty are trendsetters. The non-magic folks use shapes as rank like the mages (and boy howdy did I get sick of shape-title in ranks). The army is trained to march in formation so the mages can supplement them -- and here things got a bit silly, since each unit does a separate shape, and it's mentioned that losses causes problems in keeping the formation supported via magic, especially since you can't transfer guys from other units out. Here is where I'd like to see some concession to actual military tactics -- do something like the hoplites or Roman legions where you put all your dudes in lines with shields as a wall (you can get hexagons if you stagger the lines). That way, everyone knows whats what, the army can fill in holes, tactics match the formation, and you can use your archers or cavalry to keep the enemy from trying to get around your army. Jeez, no wonder the kingdom gets nearly taken over,
Third problem has to do with the Planet of the Hats syndrome. I can buy mages shaping things... except later we find out that:
-- There are, on average, only a couple green to indigo mages born per generation, plus the Royal Family. And the Royal Family doesn't seem to be spreading the blood around by having younger siblings and marrying them off to nobility.
-- No one bothers to train the red to yellow mages, despite the fact they are much more common, and the spells are still useful. Sure, they can't heal, but they can block pain and fear, and still use the army formation as a focus.
-- Somehow, having under a dozen mages makes up for the fact the Angry Despotic Kingdom to the north has a competent and larger army, and this kingdom... doesn't. Also Angry Despotic Kingdom doesn't have mages -- the mage they employ turns out to be a refuge from the Protagonist Kingdom.
It feels like the book tries to have its cake and eat it too. Magic is special and elite, but it also influences everything. Generally, that doesn't work.
(It does get pluses for showing that, despite a pretty ordered magic system, all the four mages we meet have unique talents and work in different ways.)
Also, the plot. It avoided a few of the cliches (Oh, look, the heroine meets the prince in disguise while she's upset about being pressured to marry the prince. How long can the author string this out... oh, good, she finds out right away and we don't get stupid melodrama), but it felt like the author was pretty much bouncing from plot point to plot point without giving time for things to develop. I think she could have gotten two books out of this if things were developed better -- the relationship between Mueller and Chime, the location of the missing heir and discovery that he was a bit crazy, and then the war (okay, battle) with Angry Despot Kingdom.
I also liked the protagonist, but the author really needed to lay off the 'she is so pure and good that the antagonist puts conquering the kingdom on the line to get her'. And here I'm going to go into ending spoilers...
Okay, so Angry Despot King and Crazy Mage try to conquer Protagonist Kingdom. They are stopped by Our Heroes, who decide... hey, let's give Angry Despot Kingdom to Mueller and Chime, while the Missing Heir and his wife rule Protagonist Kingdom. Which was like... did Angry Despot King get hit by the Idiot stick and not leave some guys back home? And are they okay with this? And are the people, even if they were taxed horribly, okay with being taken over by the kingdom to the south? And did Angry Despot King's wife and son -- only mentioned under the 'he had a treaty marriage but was so bad that his wife went home' -- okay with this? Not to mention the neighbors, who might be a tad upset by Protagonist Kingdom taking over Angry Despot Kingdom, even if the ADK attacked first.
It was kind of a fairy-tale ending tacked on so that it would be happy, but the author didn't sell it to me.
Yeah, this was an interesting world, and I didn't mind the characters, but the plot was an Idiot Plot. I might read the next one, but it's definitely going on the 'buy used or get as gift' list. And it might improve with practice -- a lot of first-in-series books can be shaky.
So the basic premise is that protagonist Chime was found to be a powerful mage and asked to study at the capital (and hopefully marry the heir to the throne, since it was customary for the consort to be a mage). Of course, there are all kinds of problems -- the original heir is dead, his son is missing, and the cousin who is the current heir is seen as a flake. Plus, the neighboring kingdom -- which has had a sort of uneasy peace with the kingdom -- is up to no good, they might have a mage themselves, and people keep trying to kill Chime and Mueller (the cousin).
Anyway, I had some problems with the magic system while thinking it could have been neat. The magic was based on shapes and colors -- mages had to focus through regular polygons or polyhedra and each kind of spell had colors -- for instance red spells called light and heat, green spells let the user sense emotions, orange and yellow spells soothed physical and emotional pain, and indigo and blue spells healed physical and emotional wounds. You could also reverse the spells to do the opposite -- cause harm and agitation -- but considering most powerful mages were wired into others' emotions, it wasn't a good idea at all. The shape aspect came in because mages need to focus through shapes, and the higher level mages could use different shapes for more power (triangle, square, regular pentagon... up to circle, then regular tetrahedron through sphere).
So, first problem. I somehow suspect the author needs to think a bit more about geometry. So, she specifies that regular/perfect shapes work, and imperfect shapes disrupt concentration (except for Mueller). For polygons, I assume that means regular ones. For polyhedra, I'd assume it meant the five Platonic solids (regular tetrahedron, cub/hexahedron, regular octahedron, regular dodecahedron, regular iscosahedron) , except one mage uses a square pyramid, and another uses a 18-sided shape. So maybe it's just 'shapes made of regular polygons', which seems a bit odd to me, since those don't really approach a sphere as the sides get infinite and are much less regular. (The Platonic and Archemedian solids do, but that limits you to 4, 6, 8, 12, 14, 20, 26, 32, 38, 62 and 92 faces -- I don't think anyone got higher than 20 without going to a sphere.) For that matter, you get 'box', 'cube' and 'hexahedron' all being used in the book, with no real reason as to why the difference in terminology.
So, second problem. The book suffers a bit from Planet of the Hats syndrome. So there's shape magic. It's common in the royal family and shape mages are revered, with them often wearing crystal polyhedra marking their rank and serving as a magic focus -- the more faces and the higher-frequency the color, the more powerful the mage. The royal family decorates with mosaics, which makes sense, since they are mages and the constant use of shapes will mean they always have a focus at hand. The nobility and middle class folks copy this, because royalty are trendsetters. The non-magic folks use shapes as rank like the mages (and boy howdy did I get sick of shape-title in ranks). The army is trained to march in formation so the mages can supplement them -- and here things got a bit silly, since each unit does a separate shape, and it's mentioned that losses causes problems in keeping the formation supported via magic, especially since you can't transfer guys from other units out. Here is where I'd like to see some concession to actual military tactics -- do something like the hoplites or Roman legions where you put all your dudes in lines with shields as a wall (you can get hexagons if you stagger the lines). That way, everyone knows whats what, the army can fill in holes, tactics match the formation, and you can use your archers or cavalry to keep the enemy from trying to get around your army. Jeez, no wonder the kingdom gets nearly taken over,
Third problem has to do with the Planet of the Hats syndrome. I can buy mages shaping things... except later we find out that:
-- There are, on average, only a couple green to indigo mages born per generation, plus the Royal Family. And the Royal Family doesn't seem to be spreading the blood around by having younger siblings and marrying them off to nobility.
-- No one bothers to train the red to yellow mages, despite the fact they are much more common, and the spells are still useful. Sure, they can't heal, but they can block pain and fear, and still use the army formation as a focus.
-- Somehow, having under a dozen mages makes up for the fact the Angry Despotic Kingdom to the north has a competent and larger army, and this kingdom... doesn't. Also Angry Despotic Kingdom doesn't have mages -- the mage they employ turns out to be a refuge from the Protagonist Kingdom.
It feels like the book tries to have its cake and eat it too. Magic is special and elite, but it also influences everything. Generally, that doesn't work.
(It does get pluses for showing that, despite a pretty ordered magic system, all the four mages we meet have unique talents and work in different ways.)
Also, the plot. It avoided a few of the cliches (Oh, look, the heroine meets the prince in disguise while she's upset about being pressured to marry the prince. How long can the author string this out... oh, good, she finds out right away and we don't get stupid melodrama), but it felt like the author was pretty much bouncing from plot point to plot point without giving time for things to develop. I think she could have gotten two books out of this if things were developed better -- the relationship between Mueller and Chime, the location of the missing heir and discovery that he was a bit crazy, and then the war (okay, battle) with Angry Despot Kingdom.
I also liked the protagonist, but the author really needed to lay off the 'she is so pure and good that the antagonist puts conquering the kingdom on the line to get her'. And here I'm going to go into ending spoilers...
Okay, so Angry Despot King and Crazy Mage try to conquer Protagonist Kingdom. They are stopped by Our Heroes, who decide... hey, let's give Angry Despot Kingdom to Mueller and Chime, while the Missing Heir and his wife rule Protagonist Kingdom. Which was like... did Angry Despot King get hit by the Idiot stick and not leave some guys back home? And are they okay with this? And are the people, even if they were taxed horribly, okay with being taken over by the kingdom to the south? And did Angry Despot King's wife and son -- only mentioned under the 'he had a treaty marriage but was so bad that his wife went home' -- okay with this? Not to mention the neighbors, who might be a tad upset by Protagonist Kingdom taking over Angry Despot Kingdom, even if the ADK attacked first.
It was kind of a fairy-tale ending tacked on so that it would be happy, but the author didn't sell it to me.
Yeah, this was an interesting world, and I didn't mind the characters, but the plot was an Idiot Plot. I might read the next one, but it's definitely going on the 'buy used or get as gift' list. And it might improve with practice -- a lot of first-in-series books can be shaky.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 1, 2009
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.
July 7, 2010
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 Dawnfield (Yes, really). The prose and dialogue runs from banal to purple. The plot fell into the hoariest (and for me most loathed) romance novel cliche--"marriage of convenience." As the most powerful female shape-mage in the kingdom, Chime must marry the male heir to the throne--no matter how they feel about each other or how unqualified either is for their role.
As a fantasy the book falls into cliche as well: the setting is fantasy standard pseudo-European medieval without any touches making it distinctive other than the shape-magery. The villain is from central casting--one dimensional twirl-the-mustache seeking to invade and conquer. The magical system of "shape-mages" who power their spells based on geometic designs was original--even unique--but that very uniqueness came across as eccentric rather than clever to me and never developed in a way I could buy into her world. Just nothing here that would make me want to read further in the series.
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 Dawnfield (Yes, really). The prose and dialogue runs from banal to purple. The plot fell into the hoariest (and for me most loathed) romance novel cliche--"marriage of convenience." As the most powerful female shape-mage in the kingdom, Chime must marry the male heir to the throne--no matter how they feel about each other or how unqualified either is for their role.
As a fantasy the book falls into cliche as well: the setting is fantasy standard pseudo-European medieval without any touches making it distinctive other than the shape-magery. The villain is from central casting--one dimensional twirl-the-mustache seeking to invade and conquer. The magical system of "shape-mages" who power their spells based on geometic designs was original--even unique--but that very uniqueness came across as eccentric rather than clever to me and never developed in a way I could buy into her world. Just nothing here that would make me want to read further in the series.
Want to read
November 15, 2021it's cover love what can I say
February 3, 2012
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 was fairly complex. The list of names, including aliases, occasionally became something I had to sit and think about. Although a lot of the details were needed, the book seemed bulky. Chime's character switched a lot between seeming like herself and seeming like Iris. I really believe their roles in the book were switched at one point. Della, the mage who trains mages, seems incompetent with all her guffawing about the mage powers being impossible. She is consistently wrong, and yet these people listen to her. The story falls into the trope that true love conquers all and while this is typical, it made me roll my eyes, especially where the character of Jarid and his faults were concerned. Chime's family grew apples, but their names were Bell, Drummer and Chime. At least her father's name was Appleton.
The book is definitely worth a read, but I think too much happened. It could have easily been two or three books instead of one. Having Iris as the main character would have been boring, but Chime's insistence that she wasn't good enough got boring in its own right. The descriptions of all of the rooms shapes was slightly annoying as well.
All in all, I would recommend this book as a nice casual read for someone who enjoys a lot of action and mental bookwork.
The concept of the shapes and colours forming spells was interesting. It was fairly complex. The list of names, including aliases, occasionally became something I had to sit and think about. Although a lot of the details were needed, the book seemed bulky. Chime's character switched a lot between seeming like herself and seeming like Iris. I really believe their roles in the book were switched at one point. Della, the mage who trains mages, seems incompetent with all her guffawing about the mage powers being impossible. She is consistently wrong, and yet these people listen to her. The story falls into the trope that true love conquers all and while this is typical, it made me roll my eyes, especially where the character of Jarid and his faults were concerned. Chime's family grew apples, but their names were Bell, Drummer and Chime. At least her father's name was Appleton.
The book is definitely worth a read, but I think too much happened. It could have easily been two or three books instead of one. Having Iris as the main character would have been boring, but Chime's insistence that she wasn't good enough got boring in its own right. The descriptions of all of the rooms shapes was slightly annoying as well.
All in all, I would recommend this book as a nice casual read for someone who enjoys a lot of action and mental bookwork.
April 20, 2023
So many folks believe themselves to be million dollar critics on this site, so much so that I almost wonder if they enjoy reading at all?
I will happily give this book five stars as I fell in love with the reluctant romance at the beginning and all the shared bonds throughout. The magic system is quite clever and unique, and I believe that certainly is the backbone of Asaro’s world. Are there more questions at the end? Are there some questions I have around magical limitations? Sure, but at its core this is an easy read, with wonderful characters, and a vibrant cast of characters. I’d happily recommend this book.
I will happily give this book five stars as I fell in love with the reluctant romance at the beginning and all the shared bonds throughout. The magic system is quite clever and unique, and I believe that certainly is the backbone of Asaro’s world. Are there more questions at the end? Are there some questions I have around magical limitations? Sure, but at its core this is an easy read, with wonderful characters, and a vibrant cast of characters. I’d happily recommend this book.
September 24, 2015
I picked this up awhile ago and couldn't get into it at all. I kept it because I had 3 others in the series. I'm glad I did because the 2nd time I picked it up, I had a hard time putting it down. I don't normally read straight fantasy so maybe that's why I didn't get into it right away. But it turned out to be an enjoyable read and now I want to read more by Catherine Asaro.
August 25, 2023
This book makes me wish I paid more attention in Geometry class. Regardless it was fun looking up all the shapes our oh so reluctant (at first) mage Chime mentions.
Super fun magical fantasy book.
Highly recommend!
Super fun magical fantasy book.
Highly recommend!
February 6, 2011
With The Charmed Sphere, award winning SF author, Catherine Asaro makes her first attempt at writing a fantasy novel. Uh, literally, it would seem.
This may be a case of where high expectations doom a book. Given Asaro's reputation, I would have expected something more; something that didn't read like My First Fantasy Novel.
It starts off well enough, with Chime Headwind, a farmer's daughter, hiding from a royal entourage. She knows she has mage power and doesn't want to be recruited into king's service. (I still don't know why she hides from her magic. It is explained, but still doesn't make much sense.) She is soon discovered by the Shape-mage mistress of Suncroft. Chime unhappily agrees to accompany the royal party back to Suncroft, where she will hone her magic abilities and...marry the prince. (Apparently, it is the custom of this country, to match the most powerful female mage in the land with the prince.) Along the way to Suncroft she runs away, only to unwittingly encounter her groom-to-be, Muller Dawnfield. (Ugh, these names.) Neither knows who the other is, and this could have made for the beginning of a cute and sexy story.
Instead, Muller's royal guard show up, and the story soon turns to Chime's struggles with mastering shape magic and courtly manners. Muller and Chime's relationship turns rather tepid in the face of the trite and tedious approach to sex that goes with this kind of fantasy. Especially irritating is the inevitable slut-shaming heaped on Chime, when she and Muller eventually do the nasty, pre-marriage. (To Chime's credit, she at least isn't terribly ashamed.)
But the real problem lies with the simplistic characterization of good and evil and...simplistic characterization. The side of good is represented by Chime, Muller, Muller's cousin Jarid, and Chime's rival, Iris. All are beautiful and good. And pure. Whatever that means. The kingdom is bright and sunny and cheerful. Mages in this land never use their power for anything harmful. (Except to turn the army into super-soldiers who can more easily slaughter the enemy.)
The main antagonist, Anvil the Forged, is an evil mage who uses his powers to harm others. Get it? Harm others, so you know he must be evil. He's in league with a power-hungry king from a cold and dark country. Because shoveling snow would make anyone E.V.I.L.
Oy. Even modern day Disney is cranking out more complex stories and characterization.
So is Charmed Sphere really bad? As in, "Nothing, not even waterboarding, could make me read another book by this author?" (I.e., like Nicholas Spark's, The Choice.) No. In fact, I'm giving one of Asaro's SF novels a try soon.
But it's not good.
Fans of old time, Disney-esque plot lines, with pure-as-snow protagonists and antagonists who are evil, just because, will enjoy this book. Those who like their stories a good deal edgier, should look elsewhere.
This may be a case of where high expectations doom a book. Given Asaro's reputation, I would have expected something more; something that didn't read like My First Fantasy Novel.
It starts off well enough, with Chime Headwind, a farmer's daughter, hiding from a royal entourage. She knows she has mage power and doesn't want to be recruited into king's service. (I still don't know why she hides from her magic. It is explained, but still doesn't make much sense.) She is soon discovered by the Shape-mage mistress of Suncroft. Chime unhappily agrees to accompany the royal party back to Suncroft, where she will hone her magic abilities and...marry the prince. (Apparently, it is the custom of this country, to match the most powerful female mage in the land with the prince.) Along the way to Suncroft she runs away, only to unwittingly encounter her groom-to-be, Muller Dawnfield. (Ugh, these names.) Neither knows who the other is, and this could have made for the beginning of a cute and sexy story.
Instead, Muller's royal guard show up, and the story soon turns to Chime's struggles with mastering shape magic and courtly manners. Muller and Chime's relationship turns rather tepid in the face of the trite and tedious approach to sex that goes with this kind of fantasy. Especially irritating is the inevitable slut-shaming heaped on Chime, when she and Muller eventually do the nasty, pre-marriage. (To Chime's credit, she at least isn't terribly ashamed.)
But the real problem lies with the simplistic characterization of good and evil and...simplistic characterization. The side of good is represented by Chime, Muller, Muller's cousin Jarid, and Chime's rival, Iris. All are beautiful and good. And pure. Whatever that means. The kingdom is bright and sunny and cheerful. Mages in this land never use their power for anything harmful. (Except to turn the army into super-soldiers who can more easily slaughter the enemy.)
The main antagonist, Anvil the Forged, is an evil mage who uses his powers to harm others. Get it? Harm others, so you know he must be evil. He's in league with a power-hungry king from a cold and dark country. Because shoveling snow would make anyone E.V.I.L.
Oy. Even modern day Disney is cranking out more complex stories and characterization.
So is Charmed Sphere really bad? As in, "Nothing, not even waterboarding, could make me read another book by this author?" (I.e., like Nicholas Spark's, The Choice.) No. In fact, I'm giving one of Asaro's SF novels a try soon.
But it's not good.
Fans of old time, Disney-esque plot lines, with pure-as-snow protagonists and antagonists who are evil, just because, will enjoy this book. Those who like their stories a good deal edgier, should look elsewhere.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 20, 2011
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.
August 12, 2019
Magic too convoluted.
Heroine's motivations weak and dumb.
Hero is boring.
Again a weak willed woman with lots of power, apparently overwhelmingly beautiful.
Author is behind the times.
Strong and powerful women are the way of the future.
Heroine's motivations weak and dumb.
Hero is boring.
Again a weak willed woman with lots of power, apparently overwhelmingly beautiful.
Author is behind the times.
Strong and powerful women are the way of the future.
March 22, 2014
Nauseatingly bad dialogue. The whole mage power being based on rainbow colors and geometric shapes made it seem like a failed pilot for a children's television series.
October 9, 2015
Well, that was different. I certainly wasn't expecting a fantasy romance, with a touch of math/science thrown in.
Picked this up because the author will be at an event I'm attending in the nearish future and I'd never read any of her work. Blurbs here and there say she's got the chops in science: Harvard and UCLa in physics and chemistry, and deep into molecudyne (look it up if you don't know what it is) research. She also is a dancer, both jazz and ballet. (And married to a astrophysicist at NASA, though it strikes me odd that this information is included in her bio.) I had hoped to read a stand alone book of hers, but as that wasn't available when I was looking, I chose a early book in a series.
I found the plot line a cross between romance and a pre-Twilight YA romance, which, for me, was not that satisfying. The opening scene reminded me of Camelot, where Arthur and Guinevere meet, she running away from her husband to be, he, hiding in a tree to escape the girl who would become his queen. As a result, I hummed the opening song to the musical for a day and a half-- major ear worm. At first I thought the scene a rip-off, but have decided it's probably an homage to Alan Jay Lerner (and Lowe). The magic system, based on the premise that people who are born with mage powers cover a rainbow spectrum of ability, and use geometric shapes to cast and enhance their spells. I can imagine that someone who dislikes math might be disgruntled by the interweaving of power and shapes here. For me, keeping track of characters, their mage color, shapes, and other interrelationships was a bit confusing.
As to the story, I wasn't all that captivated, but I can see where others, who have more patience for romance, might. And had I read this when I was under 20, I might have liked it more. And I just wasn't interested enough in any of the 4 main good guy characters, or the primary evil character, to even worry if they were in danger or not. I'm sorry to say that for this reader, the sphere definitely wasn't charmed, but I'm not giving up on the author. have found that our library system has one stand alone novel, which has won the HOMer Award for Best Science Fiction Novel. I've placed a request and will give that a try. I'd like to be able to honestly tell her when I meet her that I've read and enjoyed something she wrote.
Picked this up because the author will be at an event I'm attending in the nearish future and I'd never read any of her work. Blurbs here and there say she's got the chops in science: Harvard and UCLa in physics and chemistry, and deep into molecudyne (look it up if you don't know what it is) research. She also is a dancer, both jazz and ballet. (And married to a astrophysicist at NASA, though it strikes me odd that this information is included in her bio.) I had hoped to read a stand alone book of hers, but as that wasn't available when I was looking, I chose a early book in a series.
I found the plot line a cross between romance and a pre-Twilight YA romance, which, for me, was not that satisfying. The opening scene reminded me of Camelot, where Arthur and Guinevere meet, she running away from her husband to be, he, hiding in a tree to escape the girl who would become his queen. As a result, I hummed the opening song to the musical for a day and a half-- major ear worm. At first I thought the scene a rip-off, but have decided it's probably an homage to Alan Jay Lerner (and Lowe). The magic system, based on the premise that people who are born with mage powers cover a rainbow spectrum of ability, and use geometric shapes to cast and enhance their spells. I can imagine that someone who dislikes math might be disgruntled by the interweaving of power and shapes here. For me, keeping track of characters, their mage color, shapes, and other interrelationships was a bit confusing.
As to the story, I wasn't all that captivated, but I can see where others, who have more patience for romance, might. And had I read this when I was under 20, I might have liked it more. And I just wasn't interested enough in any of the 4 main good guy characters, or the primary evil character, to even worry if they were in danger or not. I'm sorry to say that for this reader, the sphere definitely wasn't charmed, but I'm not giving up on the author. have found that our library system has one stand alone novel, which has won the HOMer Award for Best Science Fiction Novel. I've placed a request and will give that a try. I'd like to be able to honestly tell her when I meet her that I've read and enjoyed something she wrote.
January 16, 2022
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 when trying to read about how magic works and how the army is set up and other complicated topics like that, that the reader needs to know but isn't directly related to the story line.
Now the book's not without it's flaws. Over all the writing was good, but some of the comparisons that the author drew were humorous to me when that really wasn't intended. Also, some of the dialects didn't seem to stay consistent.
The lack of any sort of love triangle or tensions gave this book more of a mellow, mushy tone. I won't lie I enjoyed it, though.
I also felt the bad guys were inconsistent in their badness.
All in all, this was a super fun read.
Now the book's not without it's flaws. Over all the writing was good, but some of the comparisons that the author drew were humorous to me when that really wasn't intended. Also, some of the dialects didn't seem to stay consistent.
The lack of any sort of love triangle or tensions gave this book more of a mellow, mushy tone. I won't lie I enjoyed it, though.
I also felt the bad guys were inconsistent in their badness.
All in all, this was a super fun read.
August 17, 2011
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 fantasy fairytale. It's just what I love to read. It has the magic and fantasy that I love but it also draws in that fairytale that princess, castle, old world time life that takes you away and lets your imagination roam. The best of both worlds come together in one story. I haven't found anything else like it and I love it.
I love the fantasy fairytale. It's just what I love to read. It has the magic and fantasy that I love but it also draws in that fairytale that princess, castle, old world time life that takes you away and lets your imagination roam. The best of both worlds come together in one story. I haven't found anything else like it and I love it.
September 27, 2019
What a great cover.
Unfortunately, for me, the story itself did not quite measure up.
Chime was well-developed, and her relationship with Muller was sweet and believable. But the relationship between the other two was too rushed, and the baddies were all pretty cardboard.
The land itself was pretty well fleshed out.
The whole colors/shapes magic angle was very interesting.
However, it dragged along at some points - especially when we had to hear about their perfect beauty and their wardrobe one more time. And the writing was so twee at points it made my teeth hurt.
What could have been a good story tipped over into too-precious.
Do yourself a favor: If you want better fantasy stories, check out Patricia McKillip. If you want better romance stories, check out Tessa Dare.
Unfortunately, for me, the story itself did not quite measure up.
Chime was well-developed, and her relationship with Muller was sweet and believable. But the relationship between the other two was too rushed, and the baddies were all pretty cardboard.
The land itself was pretty well fleshed out.
The whole colors/shapes magic angle was very interesting.
However, it dragged along at some points - especially when we had to hear about their perfect beauty and their wardrobe one more time. And the writing was so twee at points it made my teeth hurt.
What could have been a good story tipped over into too-precious.
Do yourself a favor: If you want better fantasy stories, check out Patricia McKillip. If you want better romance stories, check out Tessa Dare.
November 20, 2018
Dear pretties,
I really enjoyed this plot, and the monarchal intrigue. The magic system is uniquely spectacular, and stands out compared to other run of the mill high fantasies. I also plan to continue the series, that is if; I can find them. Pretties that are good at algebra and geometry, just might dig this. So be a look out for it. Until next time...
Lots of Love,
shizuku
I really enjoyed this plot, and the monarchal intrigue. The magic system is uniquely spectacular, and stands out compared to other run of the mill high fantasies. I also plan to continue the series, that is if; I can find them. Pretties that are good at algebra and geometry, just might dig this. So be a look out for it. Until next time...
Lots of Love,
shizuku
November 20, 2014
I actually really liked this series. It was fun without taking itself too seriously. Simple and cute. Really.
HOWEVER, in the later books it becomes much more graphically sexual which turned me off. I don't read them anymore, but if you're ok with the sex, this series is really enjoyable!
HOWEVER, in the later books it becomes much more graphically sexual which turned me off. I don't read them anymore, but if you're ok with the sex, this series is really enjoyable!
May 17, 2022
Having read and loved the Skolian empire books, I was a bit disappointed that this book read like a YA novel. It was a fast read though. Kinda like - the food was bad and the portions too small. So, eh?
March 5, 2008
Very silly, trashy brain candy. Fun if you don't feel like thinking much, but very recycled and very juvenile author voice.
September 24, 2008
intriguing. plus, i was in love with the book cover. =)
February 1, 2014
This is a wonderful book. I have read it twice and I know I will be able to read it many more. It has action and romance and magic and mystery. I love this series and I love Catherine Asaro
November 15, 2015
There are aspects to this book that seem a little tacked on or unformed, but I really enjoyed the main characters and their romances and interactions with each other. If you read fantasy in part to see how the characters get through the magical times, this is a good one. The characters are given individual focus while your expectations are also flipped upside down. You realize at some point that the character you have become the most invested in would probably seem like something of an antagonist had the perspective been a little different.
November 26, 2016
This was one of my favourite books of all time when I was little. I loved it, and all the books after it. But reading it now, I couldn't stand it. I found the characters ridiculous and over-dramatic, the writing unrealistic, but the plot was still good. It's so sad when you outgrow a book. Out of respect for how much I loved this, I won't give it less than four stars!
June 11, 2013
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.
July 19, 2016
I stopped halfway and I couldn't go on anymore. The cover and the plot caught my attention but the actual book was very boring and the characters shallow. I hear it was originally a short story, maybe in that format it was better... I may try to read that one. But The Charmed Sphere wasn't up to my expectations and I don't think I'll continue the series.
:(
:(
August 19, 2015
It's an interesting book. The characters had a lot of depth, but their personalities could be annoying at times. The magic system was unique, but it felt a bit forced. It has good points and bad points. Overall, it is pretty decent and worth the read, even if it's not amazing.
August 12, 2014
This was my first book by Catherine Asaro her characters were likeable and real and the story just developed so well i couldn't read fast enough and went on to read the next three in the series. I highly recommend this series and i enjoy her style of writing it.
September 26, 2007
Very light reading. O.k. plot, but I wasn't fond of the shallowness of the characters. It definitely took some determination to finish the book.
April 8, 2016
Horrible couldn't even finish it. How boring, how cliche, how annoying. Yuck waste of time
Displaying 1 - 30 of 120 reviews