Exiles' Return

Ghatti's Tale #3

by Gayle Greeno

The realm of the Canderis is badly shaken when they learn that a neighboring land is home to the Resonants, a race of telepathic men and women who use their mind-altering abilities to transform innocent people into mindless slaves.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Science Fiction, Cats, Adult Fiction, Adult

560 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

Reviews

[X · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book. I liked the concept and the characters, but I also liked the previous two books better. Part of the reason is because Jenret was not in this one so much, but I also felt that there were some inconsistencies and that the story didn't tie together as well as it could. The story-within-a-story aspect was neat, but we never really learn how Matty's story ends, and it doesn't really say that Doyce ever finished her history manuscript, though one must assume she did. As it is the last book in the trilogy, I just felt that it should have wrapped things up a bit more instead of leaving me wondering about so many details, the worst being the last page which most likely leads into the sequel trilogy or simply leaves the reader wondering.

I love the ghatti though, as well as the mindspeech and the entire concept of the world. I'm glad I read the book; it just could have been better.

[Michelle Swanson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really solid end to the 1st part of the Ghatti series! The last book to me was the best just for the fact the author includes alot about the first seeker his Ghatti and how some things were established.

The first seeker fleshed out more and I kind of wish we had more time with the first seeker,
as that seemed to be more exciting to me then some of the main story line, Would have liked to see more of how the capital
was built etc.. I think the author could do a hole book just featuring Matty the first seeker
some reason I found myself more drawn to him then Doyce the main character, maybe because he actually goes places and
Doyce stays put in the same place most of the books she isnt doing as much as Matty was, and the early dynamics of seeking
seem way more intresting as rules to how things are done feel more like your understanding the world these books are built
around.

Still the main story line is solid and has a good ending to this part of the three main books.



Slight Spoilers ahead ..........................................................................................................................


Will be interested how the next 2 books fair looks like a big 17 year time jump for next ones, not sure I like that
because id be interested seeing more about the children growing up and Doyce's General seeker position.
Curious to see if the author will do a 17 year jump or if there will be some about the first 17 years.

[James]

The realm of the Canderis is badly shaken when they learn that a neighboring land is home to the Resonants, a race of telepathic men and women who use their mind-altering abilities to transform innocent people into mindless slaves. Original.

[Brent Moffitt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Weak ending to the trilogy.

[Jenny]

DNF at around 50%. I really didn't enjoy Jenret as a character especially after how he has changed in Mindspeakers Call. He just put a bad taste in my mouth.

[Indigo Crow · Rating 3 out of 5]

Of the three books in this series, this one is definitely the weakest.

I felt like there were a lot of missed opportunities for character and world development with this book. The "story within a story" came off more like filler than anything else to me; just a means of stretching the page count out to make it appear longer than it really was. I was already missing Doyce with the second book. I didn't think she had enough going on with her there. In this book, though, she has even less focus. There are reasonable explanations for that, but the "story within a story" takes up space that could have been used to better focus on and develop Doyce's character, I think. The story of Matthias and Kharm was one of the missed opportunities I mentioned, too. For as much as Greeno includes his story within this book, she could have simply taken all that and turned into into a prequel. I, personally, would have really liked that! Instead, we get his story mixed with our main characters', and we hardly hear much from them. When we do, it doesn't amount to a lot of development.

I think it was at the beginning of the second book in the series that Greeno had included a forward that complained about the troubles that are involved with writing a trilogy, and part of me wonders if writing a trilogy had been what she had originally intended when she first started. The first book (Finder's Seekers) wrapped up relatively cleanly and didn't demand another book be written. That was why I got that impression initially. Something about the means in which the story's direction has gone gives that impression as well. I can't say what it is exactly, but there's something there that just doesn't quite fit right.

Things got a lot more interesting toward the very end of the book. The very, VERY end of the book felt a bit rushed, though. I wouldn't have minded if it had gone on another 10 pages or so to make a little extra room for the things I felt got rushed along, but overall, I think it ended pretty well.

Greeno is a good writer and I did feel like I had been drawn into her world. There are a couple more books as a spin-off series to this one, but nothing else besides that was done with this world or its characters, and that disappoints me. And there again we have the problem of missed opportunities, I feel. I would very much love to have this world expanded with new characters and new adventures. Alas, I think such things will only be able to live within my own head, since Greeno hasn't written anything in quite a number of years...

[Brenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it! Of course, one of the things I appreciated in the first book was 2-3 pov's. Now, since the story has developed so well, there are many many points of view to explore, but Gayle does it with grace. You have Jenret and certain Resonants on one side, you have Doyce in her camp, let's add Baz and the crazy Reapers, King of Marchmont and Arras on another. Add other miscellaneous threads that get loose and you have one crazy tale that somehow doesn't frustrate you as you hop from segment to segment.

[Rowan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Much the same as the first two - a major difference, and perhaps due to reading them back to back, is how in this, and in each of the previous books, the plot seems to plod for the first 3/4 of the book and then suddenly, almost too quick to follow easily, rush into the climax. Would be more satisfying to not just wait and wait for everything to finally build together like watching a reticent kettle boil, but to have it more evenly dispersed. Also, it strikes me as a bit easy to always hang the climax on one person: Vesey's immolation in the first one, Maurice's death in the second, and in this one Baz and Hyln. It just seems so easy to always have one charismatic person at the crux of the group, and that without that person everything returns to being more or less ok. While impressive in the scope of the problem this one takes on (learned and unreasoned bigotry) these large-scale issues rarely hinge so completely on one person and it seems as though her descriptive powers could have been diverted to better use untangling these complicated issues rather than relying on a flash-point climax scene.

[Marissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very cute. What is it with female sci-fi or fantasy writers and cats? Ah well. And why the teaser at the end if this is the last of the series? I could have done very well without it. Fun stuff though. Does make me want to be able to talk with cats. But that would probably be amusing in any universe. :)

[Cat · Rating 4 out of 5]

The third volume in the Ghatti's Tale series is probably my favorite. I love how the story was resolved, how the characters grew and changed and ultimatly how the whole series ended.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book, will have to see if I can track down the rest of the series

[Jutta · Rating 5 out of 5]

read 11.21.12-11.22.12

[Wayne Kearney · Rating 1 out of 5]

The story started slow and uninteresting and never got beyond that. At the 200 page point, nothing had continued to happen that I cared about, so I abandoned it for more interesting tales.

[T J · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the best of the trilogy! It has mystery, excitement and danger. On in all these three books were a good one read!

[Jocelyn Montalvo Cullum]

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/11868402

[Pat · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just couldn't get interested in this book, so it took me forever to read. It has all the elements of a "grabber" but for some reason it didn't.

[Rah Rahrah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the whole series.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Still has exceptionally strong and therefore fascinating characters, but does tend to drag when the plot flounders for something to do.

[Sally · Rating 3 out of 5]

2 copies