What do you think?
Rate this book
Doomspell #3
La promesa del mago
Una novela de aventuras en un entorno mágico e inquietante con protagonistas inolvidables como el pequeño Yemi, demasiado joven para entender el alcance de sus poderes, o esos magos misteriosos, liderados por Larpskendya, que deciden el destino de cualquier mortal.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published September 5, 2002
7 people are currently reading
741 people want to read
About the author
Cliff McNish
41 books252 followersI was born in Sunderland, a city in the north-east of England.
I don’t recall too much about my first 8 years of life other than I loved being outdoors especially in the woods near our house. I came home every night covered in scratches.
My first real book memory is being given C.S. Lewis’s The Magician’s Nephew by my English teacher, Mrs Baldwin. I loved that, and all the other Narnia books.
So how did I become an author?
As a parent I was used to making up short and funny stories for my daughter, Rachel. When she was about ten, however, she wanted a story about a really, really nasty witch. This time I put pen to paper and what started off as a tiny scrap of an idea got bigger and bigger and BIGGER. It became The Doomspell.
After I finished it, I continued my love affair with fantasy by creating The Silver Sequence which I still think is probably my best and definitely my most original work. Following that, I tried to scare everyone half to death with a couple of ghost novels – Breathe and The Hunting Ground.
I could tell you more about myself, but the truth is that perhaps the biggest gift we can give anyone is our imagination and everything important I have to offer you about that is in the novels.
I don’t recall too much about my first 8 years of life other than I loved being outdoors especially in the woods near our house. I came home every night covered in scratches.
My first real book memory is being given C.S. Lewis’s The Magician’s Nephew by my English teacher, Mrs Baldwin. I loved that, and all the other Narnia books.
So how did I become an author?
As a parent I was used to making up short and funny stories for my daughter, Rachel. When she was about ten, however, she wanted a story about a really, really nasty witch. This time I put pen to paper and what started off as a tiny scrap of an idea got bigger and bigger and BIGGER. It became The Doomspell.
After I finished it, I continued my love affair with fantasy by creating The Silver Sequence which I still think is probably my best and definitely my most original work. Following that, I tried to scare everyone half to death with a couple of ghost novels – Breathe and The Hunting Ground.
I could tell you more about myself, but the truth is that perhaps the biggest gift we can give anyone is our imagination and everything important I have to offer you about that is in the novels.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
January 30, 2014
So, The Wizard’s Promise. I don’t know where to begin. Now, I won’t be totally ripping this book to shreds, as it is an enjoyable read and I did love it when I first read it, but on reflection it’s a disappointment, especially when following the perfection of The Scent Of Magic.
The book opens and we get a lot of set up which is done well although out of McNish’s immediate plot style, but it’s done well and feels needed and natural. Well, kind of, I mean for 7 chapters we don’t get a glimpse of Heiki and when we do we don’t get much explanation of her or what she’s been doing. Rachel lives a stable life even with these fantastical things happening to her, I’d have liked one chapter that at least mentions Heiki. Maybe that’s personal preference though, who knows. I’m just upset we had to brush over her like that, she could have easily been used as a device to explore Earth post High Witches as Rachel and Eric were.
We actually get to meet Larpskendya outside a life-threatening situation here, and see him as a real character, which I like – I’m glad his and Rachel’s friendship isn’t just off-screen anymore, and we get a sense of personality. I can praise this book in terms of character development. Except in terms of Rachel; her character seems to take a step backwards and actually become someone I wasn't on-side with. She had her moments but overall she came across as obnoxious and unlikable, and not intentionally like Heiki was (and if you've read my other reviews, you'll see I love her, and I love all bitchy characters really). But it wasn't part of her character, she was meant to be in the right and the good guy, which is why I found her irritating. That and her stupidity.
Part of this is the writing in the book. OK, so we establish the Gridda race and our chaotic evil Gultrathaca, and we know she's the big bad guy right? Fine, this is typical of McNish's style, and I understand it's there to set up two main characters but the book would be better if that scene was moved to later in the book as some chop and change flashback - it wouldn't be outside McNish's style, and would make the plot better. But we'll get to that later so I can keep this review chronological.
Yemi and his black stereotype sister Fola are taken by the Griddas, and Heiki loses her shit, and works children on Earth to the point where they faint from exhaustion, and she nearly goes insane with energy from anger. Remember in her story arc, she's just lost her close friend and trainer, Serpantha, one of the few people she's close too, and she's failed in the mission he set her. It's natural for Heiki to react this way, and this kind of continuity in character isn't found in Rachel, but again, getting to it. I like how Heiki wasn't completely redeemed, either, it seemed more natural she would still want to fight and basically do what she would have done but for the opposing team.
Shit goes down, and then chapter 9 happens and gives me so much hope and expectation for this book because it's the same quality as The Scent Of Magic. The conversation between Larpskendya and Rachel in chapter 9 seems so natural that I had to take a step back and remember that this wasn’t real but rather something that had been organically processed by an author. Honestly, their interaction felt so raw and it said a lot about the two characters subtext wise. We get their normal regular interactions earlier in the book, and while it seems normal for how these two characters would interact as friends, when you compare it to chapter 9 I love it for many reasons. The first being that the setting for their normal interactions and this one is the same, showing us the true contrast effectively, and making it more hard hitting. But I got thinking about it and when I really began to think about it and re-read the scenes…I noticed something about how Larpskendya presents himself, and if anything it adds to the dark tone of the book. When we first see him interact with Rachel for any extended period of time (something much awaited as in the first and second his interaction with others was always off screen) he puts an act on. Something that can be compared to what happens in book 2 when the High Witches react to Wizard’s names being called out, the idea that he isn’t a person but is just this personality he created for himself. When that shatters Rachel doesn’t know what to do, having never seen him distressed, and her trust in him cracking. It not only makes him a 3D character but it speaks volumes that he reaches out to Rachel and she sees a side of him she never has before, which I love because it has substance to it, and character development. Rachel’s world is shattered when Larpskendya stops being, well, Larpskendya, and becomes a person. I also like how while Rachel is hurt, Eric is distant and just pissed off. While it does adhere to gender roles I can hardly criticize it because it is in character, and builds up to Eric’s larger story arc. But Eric being so annoyed is realistic and raw as all the emotions are in this section of the book – he was 8 years old on Ithrea and he had to go through a lot of shit. I mean people died and he witnessed that, he’s gonna be a bit cold to emotions and be avoidant of showing them, as we have seen before in The Scent Of Magic.
After that, we can link back to my issue with chapter 2, that sets up Gultrathaca. My issues with this is she comes to Earth and there is an chapter where Rachel, Heiki, Eric and Albertus discuss what to do. It renders the scene pointless, as we know Gultrathaca's true intentions, and not even in a dramatic irony kind of way, it just makes Rachel seem stupid, and this is covered up by a weak excuse of Rachel having to go.
Before I go on I should probably talk about Albertus Robertson, even though I like to pretend he never existed. McNish, pre-determinism and stalking isn't romantic, I don't know why he's even there - actually, I do. Plotdevice Ploterson is a character I loathed, and a pointless love interest. Is Rachel not interesting enough on her own? Look, I understand why he was there and purpose he served in the story, I do. But did he have to be a love interest? It was totally unnecessary. Maybe Rachel has the thing for pretentious bastards, but he's just another component in her destruction - there's character assassination, and then there's this. This is an entire new level of murdering a character in the most brutal way possible. She's the same Rachel at the start, but she becomes passive as hell. Credit to her, she gets shit done, but that's not the kind of passiveness I'm talking about. Flash forward to the end of the book when Rachel loses it and finally gets angry, and realises and thinks about all the things I meantioned in my Scent Of Magic review - we've been waiting for this! Now, Serpantha shoots her down, very kindly and for good reason, Rachel did pick the wrong time, but it's left after that. After the battle of Orin Fen everything's OK and Rachel disregards everything, and goes back to a precious golden girl. But the worst part is when Albertus kisses Rachel when she arrives back on Earth. Good job, it's not like anything more important is going on right? And if you look at the scene, he kisses her, she has no part in it, which sounds dodgy to me. Added to the fact she's stalked by him and it just makes me uncomfortable. Oh, and it's totally unnecessary. One more thing that annoys me about him though, at the end of the book he spells out some pseudo-intellectual bullshit message about not judging those by how they appear. A valid message, but after thousands of deaths and an endless war that's what you take away from it?
If he hadn't been a love interest I wouldn't have had an issue, but the point is he is, and everyone takes his word over Heiki's. Remember Heiki has spent time with Witches and knows a lot more than Plotdevice Ploterson, but even Rachel shoots her down and purposely makes her uncomfortable by bringing up what Heiki did. Rachel is naive, but she believes Gultrathaca with cautious hope. Again, this makes a chapter of Gultrathaca "welcoming" Rachel useless, as we know the truth. It would be better if the audience were like Rachel. Otherwise it's merely frustrating.
I'm pretty much OK with this book from this point onwards, it's good. But let's address the ending that led me to be dissatisfied to the point of me writing a 4th book myself on fanfiction. Yeah. That happened, it's a thing.
It all ends happily ever after, and even Eric's trauma is brushed over. He's killed people and it's never address and people act as if it isn't a big deal or mentally scarring experience. But like I said in the review of the Scent Of Magic, it adds an unintentional dark layer to the books, and says something about the society of Orin Fen. It's essentially a patriarchy fighting a matriarchy, both of which are dictatorships. This trilogy certainly lives up to its name of being a dark fantasy, but not always for the reasons the author intended. It becomes dark, and almost sinister, in the same way Alice In Wonderland can be. The idea of a society without rules and full of people who aren’t actually that helpful…or sane. At least some characters, like Serpantha, acknowledge the sexist bullshit going on but although the problem is acknowledged by some, nothing is done about it and it eventually screws the entire race of people over.
Most of this is just my rambled thoughts and analysis, but basically, this is an amazing trilogy but the conclusion is so average compared to what it has to live up to. I do recommend reading it, and just a reminder I criticize things I love, as opposed to what I did at 12/13 when I thought the things I loved were above criticism, and now I'm the opposite.
The book opens and we get a lot of set up which is done well although out of McNish’s immediate plot style, but it’s done well and feels needed and natural. Well, kind of, I mean for 7 chapters we don’t get a glimpse of Heiki and when we do we don’t get much explanation of her or what she’s been doing. Rachel lives a stable life even with these fantastical things happening to her, I’d have liked one chapter that at least mentions Heiki. Maybe that’s personal preference though, who knows. I’m just upset we had to brush over her like that, she could have easily been used as a device to explore Earth post High Witches as Rachel and Eric were.
We actually get to meet Larpskendya outside a life-threatening situation here, and see him as a real character, which I like – I’m glad his and Rachel’s friendship isn’t just off-screen anymore, and we get a sense of personality. I can praise this book in terms of character development. Except in terms of Rachel; her character seems to take a step backwards and actually become someone I wasn't on-side with. She had her moments but overall she came across as obnoxious and unlikable, and not intentionally like Heiki was (and if you've read my other reviews, you'll see I love her, and I love all bitchy characters really). But it wasn't part of her character, she was meant to be in the right and the good guy, which is why I found her irritating. That and her stupidity.
Part of this is the writing in the book. OK, so we establish the Gridda race and our chaotic evil Gultrathaca, and we know she's the big bad guy right? Fine, this is typical of McNish's style, and I understand it's there to set up two main characters but the book would be better if that scene was moved to later in the book as some chop and change flashback - it wouldn't be outside McNish's style, and would make the plot better. But we'll get to that later so I can keep this review chronological.
Yemi and his black stereotype sister Fola are taken by the Griddas, and Heiki loses her shit, and works children on Earth to the point where they faint from exhaustion, and she nearly goes insane with energy from anger. Remember in her story arc, she's just lost her close friend and trainer, Serpantha, one of the few people she's close too, and she's failed in the mission he set her. It's natural for Heiki to react this way, and this kind of continuity in character isn't found in Rachel, but again, getting to it. I like how Heiki wasn't completely redeemed, either, it seemed more natural she would still want to fight and basically do what she would have done but for the opposing team.
Shit goes down, and then chapter 9 happens and gives me so much hope and expectation for this book because it's the same quality as The Scent Of Magic. The conversation between Larpskendya and Rachel in chapter 9 seems so natural that I had to take a step back and remember that this wasn’t real but rather something that had been organically processed by an author. Honestly, their interaction felt so raw and it said a lot about the two characters subtext wise. We get their normal regular interactions earlier in the book, and while it seems normal for how these two characters would interact as friends, when you compare it to chapter 9 I love it for many reasons. The first being that the setting for their normal interactions and this one is the same, showing us the true contrast effectively, and making it more hard hitting. But I got thinking about it and when I really began to think about it and re-read the scenes…I noticed something about how Larpskendya presents himself, and if anything it adds to the dark tone of the book. When we first see him interact with Rachel for any extended period of time (something much awaited as in the first and second his interaction with others was always off screen) he puts an act on. Something that can be compared to what happens in book 2 when the High Witches react to Wizard’s names being called out, the idea that he isn’t a person but is just this personality he created for himself. When that shatters Rachel doesn’t know what to do, having never seen him distressed, and her trust in him cracking. It not only makes him a 3D character but it speaks volumes that he reaches out to Rachel and she sees a side of him she never has before, which I love because it has substance to it, and character development. Rachel’s world is shattered when Larpskendya stops being, well, Larpskendya, and becomes a person. I also like how while Rachel is hurt, Eric is distant and just pissed off. While it does adhere to gender roles I can hardly criticize it because it is in character, and builds up to Eric’s larger story arc. But Eric being so annoyed is realistic and raw as all the emotions are in this section of the book – he was 8 years old on Ithrea and he had to go through a lot of shit. I mean people died and he witnessed that, he’s gonna be a bit cold to emotions and be avoidant of showing them, as we have seen before in The Scent Of Magic.
After that, we can link back to my issue with chapter 2, that sets up Gultrathaca. My issues with this is she comes to Earth and there is an chapter where Rachel, Heiki, Eric and Albertus discuss what to do. It renders the scene pointless, as we know Gultrathaca's true intentions, and not even in a dramatic irony kind of way, it just makes Rachel seem stupid, and this is covered up by a weak excuse of Rachel having to go.
Before I go on I should probably talk about Albertus Robertson, even though I like to pretend he never existed. McNish, pre-determinism and stalking isn't romantic, I don't know why he's even there - actually, I do. Plotdevice Ploterson is a character I loathed, and a pointless love interest. Is Rachel not interesting enough on her own? Look, I understand why he was there and purpose he served in the story, I do. But did he have to be a love interest? It was totally unnecessary. Maybe Rachel has the thing for pretentious bastards, but he's just another component in her destruction - there's character assassination, and then there's this. This is an entire new level of murdering a character in the most brutal way possible. She's the same Rachel at the start, but she becomes passive as hell. Credit to her, she gets shit done, but that's not the kind of passiveness I'm talking about. Flash forward to the end of the book when Rachel loses it and finally gets angry, and realises and thinks about all the things I meantioned in my Scent Of Magic review - we've been waiting for this! Now, Serpantha shoots her down, very kindly and for good reason, Rachel did pick the wrong time, but it's left after that. After the battle of Orin Fen everything's OK and Rachel disregards everything, and goes back to a precious golden girl. But the worst part is when Albertus kisses Rachel when she arrives back on Earth. Good job, it's not like anything more important is going on right? And if you look at the scene, he kisses her, she has no part in it, which sounds dodgy to me. Added to the fact she's stalked by him and it just makes me uncomfortable. Oh, and it's totally unnecessary. One more thing that annoys me about him though, at the end of the book he spells out some pseudo-intellectual bullshit message about not judging those by how they appear. A valid message, but after thousands of deaths and an endless war that's what you take away from it?
If he hadn't been a love interest I wouldn't have had an issue, but the point is he is, and everyone takes his word over Heiki's. Remember Heiki has spent time with Witches and knows a lot more than Plotdevice Ploterson, but even Rachel shoots her down and purposely makes her uncomfortable by bringing up what Heiki did. Rachel is naive, but she believes Gultrathaca with cautious hope. Again, this makes a chapter of Gultrathaca "welcoming" Rachel useless, as we know the truth. It would be better if the audience were like Rachel. Otherwise it's merely frustrating.
I'm pretty much OK with this book from this point onwards, it's good. But let's address the ending that led me to be dissatisfied to the point of me writing a 4th book myself on fanfiction. Yeah. That happened, it's a thing.
It all ends happily ever after, and even Eric's trauma is brushed over. He's killed people and it's never address and people act as if it isn't a big deal or mentally scarring experience. But like I said in the review of the Scent Of Magic, it adds an unintentional dark layer to the books, and says something about the society of Orin Fen. It's essentially a patriarchy fighting a matriarchy, both of which are dictatorships. This trilogy certainly lives up to its name of being a dark fantasy, but not always for the reasons the author intended. It becomes dark, and almost sinister, in the same way Alice In Wonderland can be. The idea of a society without rules and full of people who aren’t actually that helpful…or sane. At least some characters, like Serpantha, acknowledge the sexist bullshit going on but although the problem is acknowledged by some, nothing is done about it and it eventually screws the entire race of people over.
Most of this is just my rambled thoughts and analysis, but basically, this is an amazing trilogy but the conclusion is so average compared to what it has to live up to. I do recommend reading it, and just a reminder I criticize things I love, as opposed to what I did at 12/13 when I thought the things I loved were above criticism, and now I'm the opposite.
August 6, 2016
I just really love this series, I don't care that I'm too old to read these books ahahah
April 10, 2016
It has taken me 16 years since reading The Doomspell to finish reading this trilogy. Up until a couple of years ago I didn't even know it was one, but the story of Rachel and Eric have stayed with me. I've rated the trilogy based on how I would of done if I'd read it completely all those years ago. I loved how it is a tale of trying to bring different people together, of sacrifice and friendship.
March 25, 2014
Was a good end to the trilogy. Rachel's character wasn't as well developed, I feel, as a lot of the supporting ones. Though I do like how Eric's character has grown from the first book. I was rooting for him the whole time!
Also, no Morpeth in this book.. Which is uncool since I adore him!
Also, no Morpeth in this book.. Which is uncool since I adore him!
July 14, 2009
A sweet enough set of children's books which are good because they are a little bit different and very imaginative. I imagine a 12 year old would get into them more than I did
September 5, 2019
Deze was weer prachtig. Een plot dat me werkelijk verraste. Ik zal de serie met plezier ooit nog eens lezen.
Een lastig boek om samen te vatten, ik hoop dat ik het later nog kan volgen...
--------------
We gaan weer verder waar deel twee ons heeft achtergelaten. De kinderen van de aarde hebben nu bijna allemaal toverkracht, en gaan niet meer naar school. Veel te druk met experimenteren om naar een saaie leraar te luisteren. Ook zijn heiki en Robin heel goede vriendinnen geworden.
Ook maken we kennis met Serpantha, de broer van Larpskendaya. Hij is nu de hele tijd bij Yemi, om hem te beschermen tegen de naderende Gridda's (De allerslechtste heksen)
Yemis toverkracht is onvoorstelbaar groot, en niet iets dat de tovenaars ooit eerder gezien hebben. En hij heeft ook Heebra verslagen in het vorige deel, en de kans is daarom nu groot dat de Gridda's hem voor hun eigen plannen willen gebruiken.
Op een dag krijgt Serpantha bericht van Kalla, de dochter van Heebra. Ze wil overleggen, zegt ze. Dit blijkt een val, en hij komt in de handen van de Gridda's terecht. En dan wordt Yemi zelf ook ontvoerd. Larpskendaya wordt overal achterna gezeten, en is op het gegeven moment spoorloos. De aardkinderen staan er alleen voor. En op een dag komen een paar Gridda's Robin en Erik halen, onder het mom dat zij heus niet zo slecht zijn als de hoge heksen van hun maakten. Maar uiteraard was dat een val en ze worden gesplitst. Robin moet het tegen tallozen opnemen, en overleeft dit maar net. Erik wordt opgesloten en getest, en merkt daardoor dat zijn krachten veel groter zijn dan hij wist. Op een dag wil Gultrataka hem meenemen de ruimte in, naar de tovenaarsplaneet, Orin Fen. Omdat hij kan voelen waar het is. Ze nemen een enorme strijdmacht mee en gaan op weg. Erik is van plan alle Gridda's te doden met zijn antimagie, als ze daar eenmaal aankomen. Maar hij aarzelt, en dit mislukt. Maar op de planeet blijken geen tovenaars meer te zijn, enkel nog de oude, normale heksen voordat de hoge heksen zich hadden afgesplitst. Het was ooit een ras! En de hoge heksen hebben van een deel van hun soortgenoten Gridda's gemaakt. En bijna is de hele missie naar oorlog over zodra hij begon, maar Gultrataka kan het niet. En dus doodt Erik haar, en probeert dit ook met alle andere Gridda's. Maar dan bedenkt hij zich.
De heksen nemen de Gridda's in zich op in hun oude planeet, en zorgen voor ze. Alles is dan toch nog vreedzaam opgelost.
Het boek sluit zich met dat Robin graag naar Itrea wil om Mordan op te zoeken, of naar huis. Maar Serpantha vraagt haar om mee te gaan naar Ool, om daar de resterende hoge heksen te bevrijden. En Larpskendaya wil haar eerst zijn thuisplaneet laten zien. En dat doet ze.
Een lastig boek om samen te vatten, ik hoop dat ik het later nog kan volgen...
--------------
We gaan weer verder waar deel twee ons heeft achtergelaten. De kinderen van de aarde hebben nu bijna allemaal toverkracht, en gaan niet meer naar school. Veel te druk met experimenteren om naar een saaie leraar te luisteren. Ook zijn heiki en Robin heel goede vriendinnen geworden.
Ook maken we kennis met Serpantha, de broer van Larpskendaya. Hij is nu de hele tijd bij Yemi, om hem te beschermen tegen de naderende Gridda's (De allerslechtste heksen)
Yemis toverkracht is onvoorstelbaar groot, en niet iets dat de tovenaars ooit eerder gezien hebben. En hij heeft ook Heebra verslagen in het vorige deel, en de kans is daarom nu groot dat de Gridda's hem voor hun eigen plannen willen gebruiken.
Op een dag krijgt Serpantha bericht van Kalla, de dochter van Heebra. Ze wil overleggen, zegt ze. Dit blijkt een val, en hij komt in de handen van de Gridda's terecht. En dan wordt Yemi zelf ook ontvoerd. Larpskendaya wordt overal achterna gezeten, en is op het gegeven moment spoorloos. De aardkinderen staan er alleen voor. En op een dag komen een paar Gridda's Robin en Erik halen, onder het mom dat zij heus niet zo slecht zijn als de hoge heksen van hun maakten. Maar uiteraard was dat een val en ze worden gesplitst. Robin moet het tegen tallozen opnemen, en overleeft dit maar net. Erik wordt opgesloten en getest, en merkt daardoor dat zijn krachten veel groter zijn dan hij wist. Op een dag wil Gultrataka hem meenemen de ruimte in, naar de tovenaarsplaneet, Orin Fen. Omdat hij kan voelen waar het is. Ze nemen een enorme strijdmacht mee en gaan op weg. Erik is van plan alle Gridda's te doden met zijn antimagie, als ze daar eenmaal aankomen. Maar hij aarzelt, en dit mislukt. Maar op de planeet blijken geen tovenaars meer te zijn, enkel nog de oude, normale heksen voordat de hoge heksen zich hadden afgesplitst. Het was ooit een ras! En de hoge heksen hebben van een deel van hun soortgenoten Gridda's gemaakt. En bijna is de hele missie naar oorlog over zodra hij begon, maar Gultrataka kan het niet. En dus doodt Erik haar, en probeert dit ook met alle andere Gridda's. Maar dan bedenkt hij zich.
De heksen nemen de Gridda's in zich op in hun oude planeet, en zorgen voor ze. Alles is dan toch nog vreedzaam opgelost.
Het boek sluit zich met dat Robin graag naar Itrea wil om Mordan op te zoeken, of naar huis. Maar Serpantha vraagt haar om mee te gaan naar Ool, om daar de resterende hoge heksen te bevrijden. En Larpskendaya wil haar eerst zijn thuisplaneet laten zien. En dat doet ze.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 3, 2020
Το τρίτο μέρος της τριλογίας μπήκε μπροστά κατευθείαν με το που έκλεισε το δεύτερο.
Σαν αντιβίωση,μεταφερόμαστε ένα χρόνο μετά.
Πιστός στο μοτίβο του ο συγγραφέας. Αυτήν την φορά όμως η μετάβαση είναι πιο ομαλή.
Τα παιδιά είναι πλέον ανεξέλεγκτα και όλα έχουν έρθει τα πάνω κάτω. Και γιατί όχι?
Πώς θα αντιδρούσε ο καθένας μας αν είχε μαγικές ιδιότητες που ήξερε ότι θα τον εγκατέλειπαν κατά την ενηλικιωση!? Δεν θα προσπαθούσε να της αξιοποιούσε στο έπακρο χωρίς όρια?
Έτσι λοιπόν,ένα χρόνο μετά δημιουργήθηκαν ομάδες και "ειδικότητες".
Οι δύτες,οι ριψοκίνδυνοι,τα χαρισματικα παιδιά,τα αδύναμα,οι ειδικοί στις πτήσεις,οι φρουροί,λοι συμμορίες,οι κλέφτες (ας μην ξεχνάμε,ότι κάποιες χώρες ζουν σε άθλιες συνθήκες και μια τέτοια κατηγορία ήταν αν μη τι άλλο αναμενόμενη) και οι άγρυπνοι,οι οποίοι είναι μονίμως σε επιφυλακή,για τις υποβοσκουσες απειλες.
Οι μάγισσες πλέον έχουν ηττηθεί και έχουν γυρίσει στον Ουλ,τον πλανήτη τους,ο Λαρπσκεντια πηγαινοέρχεται ανάμεσα στην Γη και τον πλανήτη του για να ελέγχει την κατάσταση,η Ρέιτσελ είναι ο ήρωας τους,το παιδί μύθος,ο Γεμι κάθε μέρα γίνεται ολοένα και πιο δυνατός και όλα βαίνουν καλώς.
Ή μήπως όχι? Στον Ουλ,οι Γκριντα,η πιο πολεμοχαρής φυλή των μαγισσών,έχει αναλάβει τα ηνία. Και διψούν για πόλεμο. Θέλουν να επιτεθούν στην γη και ταυτόχρονα να ανακαλύψουν τον Οριν Φεν,τον πλανήτη των μάγων και να τους εξοντώσουν.
Η ιστορία,μετα την κοιλίτσα του δεύτερου μέρους της τριλογίας,παίρνει τα πάνω της.
Οι μάχες είναι πιο επικές,πιο δυναμικές.
Το δε τέλος,αναπάντεχο.
Αυτό που λάτρεψα,είναι ότι παρόλο που υπήρξε αναφορά στα ξόρκια θανάτου,εν τούτοις αποφάσισε να μην τα χρησιμοποιήσει ο συγγραφέας και να κάνει το παραμύθι σκοτεινό.
Αν και αφηγήθηκε μια σκηνή σχεδόν ολοκληρωτικής καταστροφής,αποφάσισε να μην την ολοκληρώσει και να επιφέρει την λύτρωση με αναπάντεχο τρόπο.
Ίσως κομματάκι φλωρικο,αλλά ας μην ξεχνάμε ότι μιλάμε για παιδικό-εφηβικο βιβλίο.
Καλύτερο απόσπασμα,κατά την ταπεινή μου άποψη :
"Πρόδωσαν; Ναι,ας το πούμε και έτσι,μας πρόδωσαν. Ποιος μπορεί να πει τι ήταν αυτό που έκανε τις μεγάλες μάγισσες να ξεκινήσουν τη φοβερή πορεία που χάραξαν; Άραγε οι μάγοι δεν εφταιξαν καθόλου; (....) Εξάλλου,είναι ανάγκη μια προδοσία να πληρωθεί με μια άλλη;"
Σαν αντιβίωση,μεταφερόμαστε ένα χρόνο μετά.
Πιστός στο μοτίβο του ο συγγραφέας. Αυτήν την φορά όμως η μετάβαση είναι πιο ομαλή.
Τα παιδιά είναι πλέον ανεξέλεγκτα και όλα έχουν έρθει τα πάνω κάτω. Και γιατί όχι?
Πώς θα αντιδρούσε ο καθένας μας αν είχε μαγικές ιδιότητες που ήξερε ότι θα τον εγκατέλειπαν κατά την ενηλικιωση!? Δεν θα προσπαθούσε να της αξιοποιούσε στο έπακρο χωρίς όρια?
Έτσι λοιπόν,ένα χρόνο μετά δημιουργήθηκαν ομάδες και "ειδικότητες".
Οι δύτες,οι ριψοκίνδυνοι,τα χαρισματικα παιδιά,τα αδύναμα,οι ειδικοί στις πτήσεις,οι φρουροί,λοι συμμορίες,οι κλέφτες (ας μην ξεχνάμε,ότι κάποιες χώρες ζουν σε άθλιες συνθήκες και μια τέτοια κατηγορία ήταν αν μη τι άλλο αναμενόμενη) και οι άγρυπνοι,οι οποίοι είναι μονίμως σε επιφυλακή,για τις υποβοσκουσες απειλες.
Οι μάγισσες πλέον έχουν ηττηθεί και έχουν γυρίσει στον Ουλ,τον πλανήτη τους,ο Λαρπσκεντια πηγαινοέρχεται ανάμεσα στην Γη και τον πλανήτη του για να ελέγχει την κατάσταση,η Ρέιτσελ είναι ο ήρωας τους,το παιδί μύθος,ο Γεμι κάθε μέρα γίνεται ολοένα και πιο δυνατός και όλα βαίνουν καλώς.
Ή μήπως όχι? Στον Ουλ,οι Γκριντα,η πιο πολεμοχαρής φυλή των μαγισσών,έχει αναλάβει τα ηνία. Και διψούν για πόλεμο. Θέλουν να επιτεθούν στην γη και ταυτόχρονα να ανακαλύψουν τον Οριν Φεν,τον πλανήτη των μάγων και να τους εξοντώσουν.
Η ιστορία,μετα την κοιλίτσα του δεύτερου μέρους της τριλογίας,παίρνει τα πάνω της.
Οι μάχες είναι πιο επικές,πιο δυναμικές.
Το δε τέλος,αναπάντεχο.
Αυτό που λάτρεψα,είναι ότι παρόλο που υπήρξε αναφορά στα ξόρκια θανάτου,εν τούτοις αποφάσισε να μην τα χρησιμοποιήσει ο συγγραφέας και να κάνει το παραμύθι σκοτεινό.
Αν και αφηγήθηκε μια σκηνή σχεδόν ολοκληρωτικής καταστροφής,αποφάσισε να μην την ολοκληρώσει και να επιφέρει την λύτρωση με αναπάντεχο τρόπο.
Ίσως κομματάκι φλωρικο,αλλά ας μην ξεχνάμε ότι μιλάμε για παιδικό-εφηβικο βιβλίο.
Καλύτερο απόσπασμα,κατά την ταπεινή μου άποψη :
"Πρόδωσαν; Ναι,ας το πούμε και έτσι,μας πρόδωσαν. Ποιος μπορεί να πει τι ήταν αυτό που έκανε τις μεγάλες μάγισσες να ξεκινήσουν τη φοβερή πορεία που χάραξαν; Άραγε οι μάγοι δεν εφταιξαν καθόλου; (....) Εξάλλου,είναι ανάγκη μια προδοσία να πληρωθεί με μια άλλη;"
December 31, 2019
Al final creo que este es el libro que más me ha gustado de esta trilogía. Por fin Eric ha tenido el protagonismo que se merecía (de los niños es el que mejor me ha caído desde el principio). Y no me ha parecido mal el final. Valorando la trilogía en conjunto, creo que sí hay libros de este tipo, en plan pensados para niños de entre unos 8 y 12 años, que pueden ser leídos por adultos sin que apenas pierdan cualidades. Pero ya se sabe que en otros casos esto no es así, y esta trilogía me parece un claro ejemplo de ello. Habiéndola leído como adulta, me resulta muy fácil sacarle defectos que de pequeña seguramente ni habría visto. Una pena por lo tanto no haber comprado estos libros cuando los veía en las librerías hace años, pero me alegro de haberlos leído de todas formas. Al menos me he quitado la curiosidad que tenía por ellos desde hace siglos.
July 17, 2022
Can't say that I fully enjoyed this series. This by far was my favourite book in the trilogy, that being said.
I didn't like the way that Rachel just kind of faded in the background of this book. It was way more about Eric and the Yemi being the lead. She was so powerful in the first book I was sad what happened with her character.
It also was very odd to me the relationship between the adults and children (alot of kissing between older characters and Childern which gave me the ick.) And also the relationship between Rachel and the wizard seemed off to me.
I did however love the griddas characters, much better than the second books antagonist. Wish we had introduced them sooner.
Overall an okay series. Definitely dated for sure and needs work on pacing and character development.
I didn't like the way that Rachel just kind of faded in the background of this book. It was way more about Eric and the Yemi being the lead. She was so powerful in the first book I was sad what happened with her character.
It also was very odd to me the relationship between the adults and children (alot of kissing between older characters and Childern which gave me the ick.) And also the relationship between Rachel and the wizard seemed off to me.
I did however love the griddas characters, much better than the second books antagonist. Wish we had introduced them sooner.
Overall an okay series. Definitely dated for sure and needs work on pacing and character development.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 18, 2021
I mean what the hell was this!!!
This novel went so much beyond my imagination that it's hard for my mind to come back from Orin Fen , Ool and Ithrea. This was truly the best one amongst the trilogy. The story kept me hooked till the end and to be honest it was a more convincing read in Paperback (just a personal opinion).
I will surely recommend this to all my younger siblings and all those elders who wish to escape this world into a snowy world full of magic.
There's a sentence by a Gridda that I liked alot - "Only a fool did not fear what it could not threaten" and I have thought about this since.
It's a utter thriller , imaginative and breath-taking read.
This novel went so much beyond my imagination that it's hard for my mind to come back from Orin Fen , Ool and Ithrea. This was truly the best one amongst the trilogy. The story kept me hooked till the end and to be honest it was a more convincing read in Paperback (just a personal opinion).
I will surely recommend this to all my younger siblings and all those elders who wish to escape this world into a snowy world full of magic.
There's a sentence by a Gridda that I liked alot - "Only a fool did not fear what it could not threaten" and I have thought about this since.
It's a utter thriller , imaginative and breath-taking read.
June 5, 2022
De toda la trilogía este es el que más me ha gustado y me ha mantenido alerta hacia la lectura, pero aún así no logra engancharme del todo, a pesar que hay mucha más magia, acción, personajes y explicaciones que por cierto no convencen mucho a toda la trama, lo que si puedo destacar es el protagonismo que se le da a Erick, ese si es un gran cambio para la narrativa, porque siempre sentí que su historia podía dar más por ser tan singular, pero claro no podemos poner l peso de todo el libro en los hombros de ese personajes, la construcción de mundo le falta, sentí que me quedo debiendo explicación. Para ser un último libro lleva la acción necesaria para cerrar toda la historia.
April 3, 2018
Enthralling
I don't understand how this series isn't as well known as Harry Potter or Narnia. It's a seriously beautiful story, each character leaps off the page and takes root inside of you. I will never forget these books, the wild imagination of the storyline or the fantastic creatures, and of course, the abundance of love that is worked into this tale. I cannot get over the beauty of it, the thrill of it! Read this series!! It's totally suitable for ten year old's and up.
I don't understand how this series isn't as well known as Harry Potter or Narnia. It's a seriously beautiful story, each character leaps off the page and takes root inside of you. I will never forget these books, the wild imagination of the storyline or the fantastic creatures, and of course, the abundance of love that is worked into this tale. I cannot get over the beauty of it, the thrill of it! Read this series!! It's totally suitable for ten year old's and up.
September 8, 2020
2,5 αστέρια. Καλύτερο απο το δεύτερο, σαφέστατα. Για μένα οι καλύτερες στιγμές της τριλογιας είναι αυτές εκτός της γης και τίποτε δεν έφτασε το Φιλι της Ντραγκουινα (συμπεριλαμβανομένης και τής ιδιας της Ντραγκουινα).
October 30, 2020
all I can say is that i’m glad I managed to finish this series. for such a short trilogy, it took me so much will power to finish :(
January 9, 2021
เป็นการต่อสู้ที่ออกไปถึงนอกโลกเลย... ค่อนข้างประหลาดใจ แต่ก็สนุกดี ชอบตอนเริ่มเรื่องมากเลย
April 14, 2021
Great read, I loved this series very fast paced good character development.
January 6, 2022
This series seems like a classic children's story. Very action packed. Shows the per of youth.
March 19, 2025
Es el más flojo de los tres. Pero había que acabar la trilogía
January 8, 2022
Cliff Mcnish a mi gusto te acabas de convertir en uno de los más grandes escritores de fantasía que he leído. Un libro lleno de magia por doquier, emocionante actividad, imaginación desbordada y con un final amable y compasivo. A mi parecer no es un libro para niños es un libro para todo aquel que disfruta de la literatura fantástica. Thank you very much for this beautiful 3 books. :)
November 23, 2020
¡ATENCIÓN, PUEDE CONTENER SPOILERS DE LAS ENTREGAS PREVIAS DE LA SAGA!
La Promesa del Mago es la tercera parte de la trilogía del maleficio, y aunque es cierto que el primero no estuvo mal, también lo es que esta saga va decayendo a medida que avanza. En esta nueva entrega nos situamos justo después de que las brujas fuesen derrotadas en la Tierra. Ahora, todos los niños tienen poderes —o la gran mayoría, algunos no tienen la suficiente magia— y se ha formado una nueva jerarquía, en la que los niños mandan sobre la Tierra. Sin embargo, a pesar de que parece que todo está bien, las Gridas han regresado al mundo de las brujas, y quieren ser ellas quienes dominen la Tierra esta vez.
En este caso la trama se divide entre dos mundos, la Tierra y el mundo de las brujas, lo que ayuda a que podamos saber lo que está pasando en cada momento. De igual forma, he de admitir que en este caso la trama se me hizo de lo más pesada y que me costó muchísimo terminar la novela, pues sentía que prácticamente volvía a ser lo mismo que en las entregas previas, solo que con personajes distintos.
Por otro lado, en esta nueva novela se nos dan muchos más detalles sobre el mundo de los magos y el de las brujas, sobre el nacimiento de estos y de dónde surgió todo, cosa que me ha gustado mucho.
Algo que no me ha gustado es en referente a los personajes, pues en esta nueva aventura uno de los personajes respecto a las previas desaparece por completo y, aunque se da una cierta explicación, este personaje no vuelve a aparecer, cosa que no me ha gustado nada. Eso sí, se nota una evolución en el desarrollo de los personajes en esta entrega, pues los niños han crecido y se nota que tienen más madurez que antes.
Sobre el final, he de decir que se me ha hecho predecible y que podría haber sido mucho más. Resulta un final muy simple para un cierre de una trilogía de fantasía.
En definitiva, un cierre de trilogía del que esperaba más y que podría haber sido mucho mejor, en el que se resuelven todas las incógnitas que faltaban, pero de una forma repetitiva y tediosa.
Lo mejor: el poder resolver las preguntas que se habían quedado en el aire.
Lo peor: lo repetitivo de la trama.
La Promesa del Mago es la tercera parte de la trilogía del maleficio, y aunque es cierto que el primero no estuvo mal, también lo es que esta saga va decayendo a medida que avanza. En esta nueva entrega nos situamos justo después de que las brujas fuesen derrotadas en la Tierra. Ahora, todos los niños tienen poderes —o la gran mayoría, algunos no tienen la suficiente magia— y se ha formado una nueva jerarquía, en la que los niños mandan sobre la Tierra. Sin embargo, a pesar de que parece que todo está bien, las Gridas han regresado al mundo de las brujas, y quieren ser ellas quienes dominen la Tierra esta vez.
En este caso la trama se divide entre dos mundos, la Tierra y el mundo de las brujas, lo que ayuda a que podamos saber lo que está pasando en cada momento. De igual forma, he de admitir que en este caso la trama se me hizo de lo más pesada y que me costó muchísimo terminar la novela, pues sentía que prácticamente volvía a ser lo mismo que en las entregas previas, solo que con personajes distintos.
Por otro lado, en esta nueva novela se nos dan muchos más detalles sobre el mundo de los magos y el de las brujas, sobre el nacimiento de estos y de dónde surgió todo, cosa que me ha gustado mucho.
Algo que no me ha gustado es en referente a los personajes, pues en esta nueva aventura uno de los personajes respecto a las previas desaparece por completo y, aunque se da una cierta explicación, este personaje no vuelve a aparecer, cosa que no me ha gustado nada. Eso sí, se nota una evolución en el desarrollo de los personajes en esta entrega, pues los niños han crecido y se nota que tienen más madurez que antes.
Sobre el final, he de decir que se me ha hecho predecible y que podría haber sido mucho más. Resulta un final muy simple para un cierre de una trilogía de fantasía.
En definitiva, un cierre de trilogía del que esperaba más y que podría haber sido mucho mejor, en el que se resuelven todas las incógnitas que faltaban, pero de una forma repetitiva y tediosa.
Lo mejor: el poder resolver las preguntas que se habían quedado en el aire.
Lo peor: lo repetitivo de la trama.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 9, 2016
Two reasons I shouldn't really be writing a review of this book: 1) I'm not a kid. 2) I haven't read the first ones in the series. (I wish libraries would work out a system to flag it up if you are not ordering the first book in a series.) So, having said that... I was quite disappointed in it. It started off beautifully, and the first couple of pages had me quite enchanted. Then I realised it was going to go along tired old lines of battle, and my interest dropped considerably. The prapsies and the Griddas were hard to visualise, and I found this was getting in the way of my enjoyment, because I kept puzzling about how to put them together in my mind. (This is probably a problem from coming in at this stage in the series.) I found the ending a bit trite too. Yes, it's good to get the Christian message of love out to children everywhere, but the fact is that there will always be people who can't be reached - some psychopaths, some brain damaged people, some substance abusers... and I'm sure there are other categories. Teaching that everyone can be reached by love is actually putting children in danger because they will think they can change people. I was a victim of this when I was growing up, and it has really blighted my whole life, because I made the wrong decisions, and put trust in the wrong people, believing that love can change everything. No folks... it's a great way of dealing with relationships once you have carefully built them, but do take great care because life is not that simple.
December 19, 2018
No puedo decir mucho de este libro, más allá de que hice una relectura diagonal y rápida para saber de qué iba la historia y cómo avanzaba.
Me temo que ya lo empecé sin ganas, pues, al releer el primero, no me gustó demasiado y no me dejó con ganas de leer el resto de la saga. Claro que tenía los tres libros por casa y me había propuesto leerlos todos, cosa que llevaba años queriendo hacer, así que me puse a ello y, al ver que este libro me interesaba tan poco como sus predecesores, opté por hacer una lectura salteada.
Y peca de los mismos errores que ya mencioné al escribir mi opinión sobre el primer y el segundo libro, además de un señor deus ex machina de manual, por lo que voy a evitar repetirme.
(Este es el tercer libro de la trilogía, por cierto, no el segundo. Y he copiado mi opinión del anterior porque se da el mismo caso con ambos libros.)
Me temo que ya lo empecé sin ganas, pues, al releer el primero, no me gustó demasiado y no me dejó con ganas de leer el resto de la saga. Claro que tenía los tres libros por casa y me había propuesto leerlos todos, cosa que llevaba años queriendo hacer, así que me puse a ello y, al ver que este libro me interesaba tan poco como sus predecesores, opté por hacer una lectura salteada.
Y peca de los mismos errores que ya mencioné al escribir mi opinión sobre el primer y el segundo libro, además de un señor deus ex machina de manual, por lo que voy a evitar repetirme.
(Este es el tercer libro de la trilogía, por cierto, no el segundo. Y he copiado mi opinión del anterior porque se da el mismo caso con ambos libros.)
June 19, 2012
My review of The Scent of Magic applies here as well, but I must admit that at the end of this I really wanted another novel in the series!
June 3, 2015
Totally EPIC! When i started reading the first book of the trilogy, Doomspell, i couldn't imagine the extent of this incredible story! I really, really enjoyed reading all three books. The last one is the perfect ending. I couldn't wish for more. Mister McNish, thank you for this pleasure!
July 13, 2016
Nice way to end the trilogy but didn't really want to put it down. Why did it have to finish that way? I spent almost an hour coming up with so many other great ways it could have ended. Never mind. Overall I enjoyed reading the trilogy.
August 22, 2019
I read the Doomspell trilogy when I was a child so I don't really remember many details, but what I do remember is that even if I've never been a great reader, I remember having an amazing time reading this trilogy.
August 29, 2024
58min
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews