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The Key of the Keplian
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March 2013 - Mod's Choice - The Key of the Keplian
Yay! My library has it!
My library does not :(. I also can not find it in any of my book stores. I'll see about ordering 'cause it looks good!
Jalilah wrote: "My library does not :(. I also can not find it in any of my book stores. I'll see about ordering 'cause it looks good!"yaaay!
I'm already on chapter 2!
:-)
THis is good for me, yall!
I think I'm going to start this one tonight - I should finish Are You There Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea soon. :)It BETTER be good, MrsJoseph. :P
Becky wrote: "I think I'm going to start this one tonight - I should finish Are You There Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea soon. :)It BETTER be good, MrsJoseph. :P"
:-D
Cupcake?
>_><_<
...Ok. *Omnomnom* :D
OK... First line and I already have a question. LOL MrsJ - Is this a formatting issue, or something that I'll just need to read further to understand:
"The he old man was dying."
The he?
Formatting issue. O_oMy hard copy just starts with "The old man was dying."
K... That's what I thought, but I thought I'd just check to be sure.
So, I've read a little bit (5 pages?) and I don't really have an opinion yet. There's a lot of declarative sentences, but maybe that's intentional...? We'll see how it goes. Also I was a little confused by the scene in the house (cabin?) - because the hated and cruel aunt kept being referred to, and then "the woman" was on her way to see the old man, and I thought they were the same person, since the level of contempt seemed to be similar. It wasn't until the end of that section that I realized they weren't the same person.
Also, the timing seems off - one second the car is 10 minutes away, and then the girl brings her great-grandpa back inside and the car is there. Did it take 10 minutes to bring him in? It didn't seem like it.
Anyway... Nitpicking aside... I'm intrigued, and I like it well enough so far, so I'll give a chance. :)
IIRC, the car was 10 mins away when her grandfather started his death song. I just assumed it took a while.I confess, the first chapter is the weakest. She packed a great deal into that chapter and it didn't flow as well, I think.
He did his death song, the light flowed out of him, and then it says: "Her kin whom she had loved with all her heart was gone on his final journey. It was for her now to take her own road - the road that had been his last gift to her. The red car was nearing the final bend below her. In ten minutes or so it would be at the locked gate."
Then she remembered how he had felt about the "quarter-indian", then carried him inside and "Swiftly she laid him out on the bed, bow and knife at the ready." And then the next sentence is that the car was silenced as it reached the gate.
Starting chapter 2. Some things now make much more sense to me, already. But it's time for bed... so more tomorrow.
Becky wrote: "He did his death song, the light flowed out of him, and then it says: "Her kin whom she had loved with all her heart was gone on his final journey. It was for her now to take her own road - the r..."
Ahhh, I see what you're saying. I had to go back and read it again. I've read this book so many times that I don't always notice things like that.
My local library doesn't have it, or at least the catalog doesn't show it. Sadly, they have a custom here - they don't catalog paperbacks, only hardcovers. They might actually have it in some branches, but I have no way of knowing. :(
Olga wrote: "My local library doesn't have it, or at least the catalog doesn't show it. Sadly, they have a custom here - they don't catalog paperbacks, only hardcovers. They might actually have it in some branc..."O_o
That's...sacrilegious!
Sorta off subject but check this out.The best library card to have if your local library sucks ass is The Philadelphia Free Library. http://www.freelibrary.org/
For $35 a year you have 100% access to their ebook library (as a non-resident). They have a great catalog. I used to have a membership until I moved. We have a decent system here (state wide, local sucks).
So... I've read a little bit more and I'm still... meh. I feel like it's telling me lots of stuff, but not showing me anything. We don't experience time progression - we're just told it has passed and that stuff happened in it. It's kind of frustrating. An example, a little more than 10% in: Eleeri learned a language in mere sentences - first rudimentary, then phrases, etc - but we never get to experience her learning it other than the man pointing at a pot and saying something that Eleeri then repeats. And after learning the language apparently well enough to learn something of the place's history, the old man tells her the about it, which is where I've stopped for the moment. It didn't even make sense until midway through when Eleeri asked him a question, because the Cynan that was being referred to in 3rd person was never explained to be the person who was speaking until that point. I thought that Cynan was the ruler who was starting wars until Eleeri asked a question and Cynan sighed before responding.
I don't think I'm going to love this one. Sorry MrsJ. I'm holding out hope that it'll smooth out and I'll enjoy it more, but so far, it's just OK for me. =\
Becky wrote: "So... I've read a little bit more and I'm still... meh. I feel like it's telling me lots of stuff, but not showing me anything. We don't experience time progression - we're just told it has passed ..."I understand.
I also understand Norton's issue, too. She's trying to pack a lot of info into a very short period of time. Most people (like me) have been reading Witch World forever and already know all this stuff (happens in other books). But this book is a gateway book into the series (IMO) for people who haven't read it and want to get started. It's one of the best places to start if you can't get down with the 1960s writing of the original Witch World. So, she has to explain a lot.
I think it does smooth out as you get past the Cynan section (chapter 3) and start getting into the actual story. But, I also have to admit to a major bias. :-D
Since I'm a huge fan, I totally appreciate you even trying. That's so sweet of you. You're a great friend. :-) And I really mean that.
Yeah, I guess that makes sense. It's just the little things that I think would make a big difference. Even just after she was helping Cynan. She decided to get the horses first before seeing to him, because she, I guess assumed, that he wasn't gonna die in a few minutes. But he'd obviously collapsed, and he had been attacked, and the very next paragraph says that it was due to loss of blood, though none of his wounds were themselves life threatening. But if he bled out that much, TOGETHER they could be, and she didn't even check. It felt like she was more concerned with rounding up the horses than making sure this guy that she went out of her way to help was OK. Maybe I'm just nitpicking, but those little things not adding up take me out of the story.
I really liked this book, but it's been a while (I think I read it when it was brand new), and I can't remember a lot about it other than I liked it. :) I've always been a fan of the Witch World.
Becky wrote: "Yeah, I guess that makes sense. It's just the little things that I think would make a big difference. Even just after she was helping Cynan. She decided to get the horses first before seeing to him..."I see what you mean. I felt she rounded up the horses because they were items of great value. She would have no clue if she would ever have the opportunity to do so again. Plus, if she ended up needing to take him a great distance for shelter...she'd need the horses to transport him. She helped him but didn't know him - so...selfish thoughts, first?
Yeah, and that makes perfect sense, MrsJ. But that wasn't shown, we aren't privy to that insight into the decision, so we have to guess at why she'd have done it. You know? We know that horses mean a lot to her, obviously, but it just would add a depth to her as a character to have that bit of detail. Have her take a second and weigh the options - think it through, "Should I do this, or this?" Even if she didn't care about the guy at all and only wanted the 2 horses, that's something that gives a reality to the story and the character. I can completely understand that. She's on her own, and she gave him a chance, but she's not responsible for him. She is responsible for herself and horses would make it so much easier for her.
So far, she's had zero struggles. Everything she set out to do has been done as a matter of course. It's like there's not even a question of how it would be, so no need to explain anything, even when it's contradictory, like the danger of the injuries that Cynan had. But he was OK because... he just was.
I don't know if what I'm saying even makes sense. LOL
Becky wrote: "Yeah, and that makes perfect sense, MrsJ. But that wasn't shown, we aren't privy to that insight into the decision, so we have to guess at why she'd have done it. You know? We know that horses me..."
lol! You're making sense. You want more internal monologues. I'm trying to remember if Norton writes like that or not.
Uhh, no I wouldn't say that either. LOL It's just that I want there to be more. I want to be shown things, like the reason for deciding to do A over B, or how she did A after deciding to do it, not just told that the decision and action happened off-screen.
Like, before Eleeri leaves, she's thinking about her need to hunt to provide food for Cynan... and then next it's just "She hunted well."
Great. She's supposedly a great hunter. Apparently. We'll have to take your word for it, since it's been mentioned several times but we've yet to see any evidence of it. O_o
I guess that the show vs tell thing is my biggest gripe, because otherwise I'd say I'm mostly liking it. We'll see how the rest of it goes. :)
Alrighty - about 25% in now, and Eleeri has just found the mare and foal being hurt and stepped in to stop it. I liked this bit quite a lot. Finally I understood Eleeri! YAY! :D I liked seeing her in action - I hope there's more to come. :)
Yaaaaaay!!! :-D *happy dance!*
Are the Gray Ones supposed to be like wolves? Similar to how Keplians are like horses?
Nevermind... Question answered. LOL
LOL!
Erm... (view spoiler)I still feel like everything comes far too easily to Eleeri, too.
I do like her more now, though I wish her trials were a little more like trials. LOL
Becky wrote: "Erm... [spoilers removed]I still feel like everything comes far too easily to Eleeri, too.
I do like her more now, though I wish her trials were a little more like trials. LOL"
I thought that was a little odd as well. Especially since she is not technically a "witch" in the Witch World sense.
Yeah... It was just weird. I just got to the point right after Eleeri visits the Escore village lord and lady, and that bit was a little irritating to me.
It seems like things in this story are either extremely convenient and far too easy, or extremely contradictory.
This section was both. LOL
(view spoiler)
One other thing that has been bothering me is that at this point, we should know Eleeri, and we should be in firm pronoun territory if she's not being referred to by name. But still, at 50% of the book, and after (apparently) 5 or 6 years of following Eleeri's story - Norton keeps reverting to calling her "the girl".
I don't get this. She's NOT a girl anymore, and doing this just creates distance from Eleeri for the reader... or at least for me. It connotes innocence, which is maybe what she's intending, since Eleeri's supposed to be of the Light, but unfortunately, it also connotes inexperience, naivete, & immaturity. And those all contradict what we're told and have seen of Eleeri.
I want to like this, and every time it seems like I am starting to, it just... slips away.
Trying to determine what to read now that Frost Burned is history. I mean besides going back to reread the whole series. (I know how MrsJ feels about Kate.) I downloaded the sample to this and the other BotM Daughter of Smoke & Bone.
The sample ends on, "Far Traveler would not have sent her to die. . . . With the hovering machine, triumph turned to horror. The Social Services woman shrieked wildly."
Sigh. Now *that* is the way to end a sample to force me to buy the book . . .
I ended up buying daughter in hardcover. I love it.
I ended up buying daughter in hardcover. I love it.
Becky wrote: "Yeah... It was just weird. I just got to the point right after Eleeri visits the Escore village lord and lady, and that bit was a little irritating to me.
It seems like things in this story are..."
Ok, I finally got to that part! (I know, I know)
I think the copy you have maybe worded a bit differently than mine. My copy has (view spoiler)
I do agree that (view spoiler)
Snarktastic Sonja wrote: "Trying to determine what to read now that Frost Burned is history. I mean besides going back to reread the whole series. (I know how MrsJ feels about Kate.) I downloaded the sample to this and th..."
I thought the beginning was a great attention catcher, too. "The old man was dying. Once, she had thought he would live forever. Now she was older and knew that all things died in their time."
*sigh*
That phrase used to have very little meaning for me...but then my Poppa died. He was larger than life to me. I used to think that he would live forever. I totally understand that feeling now. It means something totally different for me as an adult than it did when I first read this a very long time ago.
Just read the first chapter so I could start participating in the discussion.When I was younger, I read every Witch World I could find, which wasn't as many as I wanted. This book does have the feel of a classic WW book, only so far it feels more coherent and explanatory. There was a lot that was never explained in the beginning of WW books--Andre just dropped you in with the escaping main character and let you figure it out on the run, just like they did.
My one possible objection to it is that it always feels a little weird to read romanticized Native American culture as a white person. I have no idea of Lyn's heritage, but there's so much appropriation of Native culture and mythology by white people romanticizing it, that it makes me a little leary. It's hit all the stereotypical elements--being ostracized, family connections, cultural legacy, buckskin, homemade maps, living off poor soil, social services, evil alcohol--and that gets me nervous. At 16, I would have loved it. At my advanced age, it's got my feelers up.
Carol, I agree regarding the Native American thing - I just didn't really know how to put it into words. I think you said it perfectly. MrsJ - Regarding the Bear-kin conversation - in the copy I have, Jerrany says:
(view spoiler)
Carol wrote: "My one possible objection to it is that it always feels a little weird to read romanticized Native American culture as a white person. I have no idea of Lyn's heritage, but there's so much appropriation of Native culture and mythology by white people romanticizing it, that it makes me a little leary. It's hit all the stereotypical elements--being ostracized, family connections, cultural legacy, buckskin, homemade maps, living off poor soil, social services, evil alcohol--and that gets me nervous. At 16, I would have loved it. At my advanced age, it's got my feelers up."I first read this at a pretty young age. :) I never really thought about it, TBH.
When I do think about it, I do think of it as very romanticized. The time line is totally off for a lot of the stuff in it (I have a thing about timelines. I actually count them out if I'm provided with actual dates O_o). It was published in 1995. I do realize that Far Traveler was her great grandfather but when you look at it, the things she's taught and the comments made about settlers, etc doesn't quite match the pub date. He'd have to be her great, great grandfather to have lived that life, right? So I always took it as a complete romance in order to carry Eleeri into WW as this particular type of person with this particular skill set.
After I read this, I went and looked up Lyn. I'd never done that before. She's from New Zealand. Huh. That could mean a number of things...
It does remind me of an Australian friend I had back in HS. He didn't know any people of any color or race than Caucasian. He'd never met any Aborigines nor any other native people. He completely believed that people of color and Native Peoples lived as they were portrayed on American tv. *sigh* Which meant that all Native Americans lived on reservations and all Black people lived in ghettos.
Not that Lyn believes the same thing! Just relating a memory this brought up.
Becks, Re: Bear-kin (view spoiler)
It's interesting to read this with other people. Yall are making me take a step back and actually analyze the text. I've never read any of these with anyone besides my mom (who read Norton while they were being printed).
Becky wrote: "Erm... [spoilers removed]I still feel like everything comes far too easily to Eleeri, too.
I do like her more now, though I wish her trials were a little more like trials. LOL"
I would add to this question . . . what was the purpose of this 'experiment'? And, certainly, she never knew of the fruits. It was like one little instance, and then nothing else related it to it?
I can add - I finished the book this morning. With my daughter tapping her foot because it was time to go to the gym. So, work out or read? That was the question. ;)
I adored the Keplians and their relationships with Eleeri. I liked that some of the females (smirk) left the pack to go find lives of their own. I liked the strength exhibited by all of them. It certainly would not have been easy to leave a life you knew for one you didn't - even if the one you knew was painful. It showed strength of character to do so.
The Indian thing didn't really bother me, but I can see why it might do so.
This is the first Witch World book I have read - I can't find the early ones at my library - and I am willing to read them in non-digital format just from MrsJ's word. So, what *did* really bother me is I felt like I was missing something. I didn't really understand *what* Witch World was? And, how any of this was related. Which characters were from WW? And, how did they get where they were?
I adored the writing style. It was so lyrical in nature - it just flowed. Almost like music. It reminded me of the feel of the early Pern books by
Anne McCaffrey. Even though there is not really a ton of action or dialog, the story just glided along.
MrsJoseph wrote: "...Kin names and "kin rolls" are a big deal in WW..."See, this is one of the things I missed. Even though I could see some of it by the way it kept getting trotted out, I didn't quite understand why.
Sigh. I really wanted to start at the beginning. :(
message 47:
by
MrsJoseph *grouchy*, *good karma*
(last edited Mar 11, 2013 05:32PM)
(new)
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rated it 5 stars
Yaaaaaay! I'm glad you enjoyed it!Sadly, you were missing a lot - the Witch World series is pretty long and has a rather detailed history. I *think* there are two continents as well. If not, there are at least 5-6 lands plus the Waste.
I like this book because there are a lot of explanations in it - the first few books start very much in medias res.
I have about 95% of the series (in print with about 50% in hard cover). There is such a rich history to Witch World - there's even one that tells of the people who originally came to WW. There's so much that isn't even touched on in this book.
Like, Escore (where Eleeri ended up) was an almost totally abandoned land before book...
I feel that this book is very abbreviated and barely touches on the Turning or the war between Escarp and Karsten (caused by the Karsten Triple Horning on the Old Race), the Hawkbrothers are mentioned not really at all, nor the Sulcars or the people of the Dales. Then there's a whole other group of people...that are mostly an enemy people who liken themselves to Hounds. They are mentioned not at all. Neither are the shapeshifters or the Waste (which is a like a desert but it has lots of magical debris). Lormet (sp?) is mentioned at the very end of this book - but what isn't told is that Lormet is the only place in the entirety of WW that gathers the knowledge of all people. It features pretty heavily in the Witch World: The Turning series arc.
Ummm, *looks around, realizes she's bored everyone to death*
Guess I'll stop now.
message 48:
by
MrsJoseph *grouchy*, *good karma*
(last edited Mar 11, 2013 05:19PM)
(new)
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rated it 5 stars
*Shouts at the leaving crowd*Where's everyone going??! I haven't even mentioned how important family relations, Kin Rolls, blood ties and Kin responsibility is yet!
MrsJoseph wrote: "*Shouts at the leaving crowd*Where's everyone going??! I haven't even mentioned how important family relations, Kin Rolls, blood ties and Kin responsibility is yet!"
Heck, I wasn't leaving. I was just being so very sad that I missed so much. :(
Check and see if your library has this book: The Gates to Witch World. It's an omnibus of the first three books. It might be easier to find.
Fantasy Aficionados
Books mentioned in this topic
The Blue Sword (other topics)The Blade Itself (other topics)
Best Served Cold (other topics)
The Gates to Witch World (other topics)
Frost Burned (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
David Weber (other topics)Anne McCaffrey (other topics)
So, I'm bogarting the March 2013 read for a comfort read!
:-)