The Price of Spring (Long Price Quartet, #4) in /r/Fantasy Discussion Group

Aug 27, 2022 Sarah Aubert rated it it was amazing

This is a finale executed perfectly, elevating every book that came before. The characters, who I had come to understand so well over the past four years, were given satisfying conclusions, and the plot supported the themes while maintaining perfect tension. This was my favourite of the series and will ensure that I think of these books for years to come.

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Jan 11, 2015 Maggie K rated it it was amazing

Wow,I can't say enough good things about this series. An unexpected wonder. I was always surprised with action and the characters. A new favorite! ...more

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Jul 20, 2013 Althea Ann rated it it was amazing

An excellent conclusion to a truly impressive series.
You could probably read this on its own, but the experience would be much richer for having read the ones that come before – I recommend reading the whole series (4 books, each set 15 years apart.)
[A bitchy aside here – not enough of these were printed. I ended up having to get this one through interlibrary loan… why do publishers always do this!? (I know why, that is a rhetorical question. It’s just annoying.)]
As the book opens, the cities of An excellent conclusion to a truly impressive series.
You could probably read this on its own, but the experience would be much richer for having read the ones that come before – I recommend reading the whole series (4 books, each set 15 years apart.)
[A bitchy aside here – not enough of these were printed. I ended up having to get this one through interlibrary loan… why do publishers always do this!? (I know why, that is a rhetorical question. It’s just annoying.)]
As the book opens, the cities of the Khaiem and their rivals/enemies of the Kingdom of Galt have been thrown into a disastrous situation due to the actions of the andat (a kind of magical golem) at the conclusion of the previous book (An Autumn War). Fifteen years have passed, but the kingdoms, instead of working together (a solution which would ensure survival), have both weltered in bitterness and failure.

Now, both the Khai and his old friend/enemy/rival Maati each have a plan to save the lands of the Khaiem. However, the plans are completely mutually incompatible. Each works hard and desperately to convince others to make the compromises and sacrifices necessary for a scheme to work. Each is convinced of the rightness of his actions. But the reader sees that disaster seems inevitable.

At first, I had doubts about the book, because one of the main characters is operating on the premise that conclusions on a topic, if researched and created by women rather than men, will be utterly different, because men and women think so differently. I don’t agree. But Abraham deals with this deftly, and although gender politics are a large part of the book, his characters are all fully-realized individuals. Abraham is truly excellent at creating complex characters and multivalent relationships between them – one of my favorite things about this series is that it presents characters from different angles – it shows believably how people change, how one person can be seen differently by different people, at different times. The reader can’t trust that someone who seems to be a villain at one time will remain a villain.

In a vivid and unique setting, Abraham concludes a story which is difficult at times, thoughtful, and deeply satisfying.
...more

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Apr 17, 2019 Rinaldo rated it it was amazing

Shelves: united-states, fantasy, favorites

4.5/5

Once again, Abraham proved that long game does pay off. It's Long Price Quartet after all, a series about the weight a generation has to bear, the cyclical follies, and the price they have to pay.

Recently, I watched a documentary about environmental damage in my country. Dirty energy sources were the folly of the older generations, but an absolute necessity and inseparable element of life for my generation. Yet, it is also a price that my generation and the next have to pay at some point. ...more

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Dec 26, 2017 Cody rated it it was amazing

The Long Price Quartet is amazing. Nothing else needs to really be said.

It's a world where one nation holds the leash of extremely powerful magical constructs called andat. They are brought into being by people trained as poets, whose job it is to train to describe a feature of the the world and by fully describing that feature in a way that hasn't been done before, so bring an andat into being under their control.

For instance, an andat called Seedless can remove seeds from things. All things th The Long Price Quartet is amazing. Nothing else needs to really be said.

It's a world where one nation holds the leash of extremely powerful magical constructs called andat. They are brought into being by people trained as poets, whose job it is to train to describe a feature of the the world and by fully describing that feature in a way that hasn't been done before, so bring an andat into being under their control.

For instance, an andat called Seedless can remove seeds from things. All things that have a seed can have that seed removed by the andat at any time and in any quantity from any distance.

None of the other nations of the world hold the power of the andat and this sets the stage for the conflict across all 4 novels.

Aside from the clever magic system, I was incredibly impressed with the characters in this quartet. They feel so real, with proper motivations and proper maturity. Otah, Maati, and Liat all make some stupid decisions and mistakes as young people, but you get to follow them across decades over all 4 books and watch them deal with the consequences of their decisions through all of that time. Maati and Otah's friendship goes through so many twists and turns and when there are arguments, I felt they were handled in mature fashion. Not like in other novels I've read where once there is a falling out there is no chance of reconciliation or just talking things out. In The Long Price Quartet, adults behave like proper adults and it was such a breath of fresh air.

Then there was the writing style which not only includes lots of the world-building terms (which start coming so naturally, I was thinking using them after I finished reading), but also uses a sparse style to tell the story. The style may be sparse, but the metaphors and other descriptions are beautiful exactly because they elicit such a powerful image through the use of the perfect words for that situation.

I won't even risk spoiling the plot, but suffice to say the power imbalance in the world that the andat cause are most definitely the central conflict in the novels and some drastic events transpire because of it. There are times you see a plotline building and think, "This will end like any other typical fantasy novel and this scheme will never work." And then the scheme works and the entire world changes. It's amazing to watch happen. It was nice to be surprised again.

Any fantasy fans are doing themselves a disservice by not reading The Long Price Quartet. ...more

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Nov 03, 2010 DeAnna Knippling rated it really liked it

Not as intense as the first three in series, but rather good, and a satisfying ending AND a satisfying wrap-up. Still want to beat Maati's head in, as I have throughout this series. ...more

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