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What Members Thought
A nice, rather quiet fantasy story. Based on the blurb I was afraid this would be full of poetry, which is the kind of thing I tend to skim over, but there is nary a poem. There are characters called poets, and they can create and enslave something called “andats”, which are “ideas translated into a form which includes volition”. Sounds elaborate, but the andat in this book looks like a beautiful man, he’s mendacious and sneaky and unhappy, and his magic power is to remove seeds from cotton, whi
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Refreshing Fantasy. Promising Start to a Good Series
A SHADOW IN SUMMER was a wonderful read. It accomplished everything that a first fantasy book should. It introduced an engaging world, created interesting characters that were equally engaging, and completed the story while leaving the door open for the entire world to develop in future volumes.
I sometimes have difficulty starting new fantasy series because sometimes there is simply information overload on the world, the history, and the unique ...more
A SHADOW IN SUMMER was a wonderful read. It accomplished everything that a first fantasy book should. It introduced an engaging world, created interesting characters that were equally engaging, and completed the story while leaving the door open for the entire world to develop in future volumes.
I sometimes have difficulty starting new fantasy series because sometimes there is simply information overload on the world, the history, and the unique ...more
Interesting fantasy world where the youngest sons (non-heirs) of royalty join a monastery-like environment in the hopes of becoming "poets", or individuals who can capture some intangible embodiment of an idea ("Andats") and turn it into a human-like being capable of being harnessed for some use. For example, the Andat "Seedless" is used by his poet (Heshai) to make all the seeds fall out of the cotton that is harvested in his country to allow the weavers in his land to hold an edge in the indus
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Just didn't like this book as much as others. It wasn't quite the fantasy book I thought it would be. It was really more just a mystery book than a fantasy book. There was and Eastern flair but found it annoying. ENOUGH WITH THE POSES!!!!! That got old fast.
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So far, this is really great. Absorbing world building, with details that echo of familiar cultures, though completely transformed by the presence of one major world difference that has changed the shape of things. Characters are rich enough to get you invested in what happens to them. I like.
It slowed down and he built and built up to a moment that took so long to get to, that I kind of lost a little interest halfway there.
Still a fun read though. I enjoyed it and am waiting for the second book ...more
It slowed down and he built and built up to a moment that took so long to get to, that I kind of lost a little interest halfway there.
Still a fun read though. I enjoyed it and am waiting for the second book ...more
I don't know what it is about this book. I sat down just wanting to have a quick peek at it to check out whether I like the style. And all of a sudden I'm 150 pages in and wondering what it is I like so much. i guess I'll just have to agree with other people's praise...It's simply elegant...it's almost soothing to read it.
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3.5 stars. I liked a lot of things about it, but I kept putting it down and wandering away from it for days at a time, so I guess you could say it didn't propel me all the way through.
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Mar 21, 2011
Rachel
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Oct 09, 2011
Steven
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Dale Pearl
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Beth Tabler
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Aug 28, 2016
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hawkeye
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Apr 29, 2017
Amitai
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May 06, 2010
Ted
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Jun 07, 2019
Carrie
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Jun 28, 2019
Tani
marked it as owned-unread
