From /tmp/sf.3694 Sun Nov 8 23:09:16 1992 Path: isy!liuida!sunic!news.funet.fi!cc.tut.fi!fuug!mcsun!uunet!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!mips!pacbell.com!pacbell!pbhyc!djdaneh From: sksircar@phoenix.princeton.edu (Subrata Sircar) Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: The White Mists of Power (review) by Kristine Kathryn Rusch Message-ID: <1991Dec19.190958.10659@pbhyc.PacBell.COM> Date: 19 Dec 91 19:09:58 GMT Sender: djdaneh@pbhyc.PacBell.COM (Dan'l DanehyOakes) Reply-To: sksircar@phoenix.princeton.edu Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.written Organization: Pacific * Bell Lines: 53 Approved: djdaneh@pbhyc.pacbell.com Kristine Kathryn Rusch is perhaps best known for her work on the Pulphouse Publishing hardcover magazine line and editing FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION. She has also won a John W. Campbell award as best new writer, and if this is the book she won the award for the decision was excellent. The story is nominally about a bard and a magician escaping death at the hands of a cruel lord and traveling together through a kingdom troubled by rumors of a magical cataclysm approaching. The plot moves along briskly, and a certain plot twist comes together rather nicely about 3/4 of the way into the book. From then on, the book quickly moves to wrap together the larger plot threads. This rapid resolution feels a little forced (but that's better than foreshadowing the whole thing to death, as is usually done) and drops one of my favorite characters, but on the whole does a neat job. The plotting is fairly tight, with a good feel for the situations and politics involved, while the magical elements keep the whole from seeming stale. The setting of the book combines elements from several "traditional" high fantasy stories in an evocative way. The exiled prince returning to claim his throne moves through a land where magic is strongly tied to the land, and each area sports a magical guardian whose loyalty is to the land, not the humans who rule it. The handling of the Enos is smooth and lends a breath of fresh air to the plot. Other stock-in-trade characters include the bumbling magician, the evil council members, the sinister, perveted lords, and the beautiful female mage with an ulterior motive. This would be fairly boring, except that it is woven together in a seamless whole and given a new life as a combination. The characters rise above their stereotypes and take on depth and dimension as the story unfolds. Seymour, the incompetent mage (child of two of the most powerful magic workers in the kingdom) in particular was well depicted, developing a real personality before being dropped to focus on the larger plot threads (he's left rather out of sorts at the end). Overall, for a first novel, this book is quite good. There are some excellent descriptive passages, some nice characterization, a few nice ideas, and the quality is even throughout. The ending was a trifle forced, and there was lot I felt that needed to be resolved for a completed, laid-to-rest storyline, but I enjoyed reading this book. I'll keep an eye out for other things she writes. Recommended: 6.5 out of 10. %A Kristine Kathryn Rusch %T The White Mists of Power %D November 1991 %G ISBN 0-451-45120-1 %I Roc, New American Library, Penguin Books, USA Inc. %K Fantasy %O Paperback $3.99 %P 302 pages -- Subrata Sircar |sksircar@phoenix.princeton.edu|Prophet & SPAMIT Charter Member I don't speak for Princeton, and they don't speak for me. "I wish people wouldn't instantly assume that I am an idiot." (Valentine) "A restaurant is a whorehouse that does food instead of sex." (Roger Lustig) From /tmp/sf.4258 Tue Feb 1 04:00:09 1994 Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written Path: liuida!sunic!pipex!howland.reston.ans.net!gatech!swrinde!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!decwrl!news.kpc.com!amd!amdahl!netcomsv!netcom.com!dani From: dani@netcom.com (Dani Zweig) Subject: Rusch: Heart Readers (spoilers) Message-ID: Organization: Netcom Online Communications Services (408-241-9760 login: guest) Date: Mon, 1 Nov 1993 20:50:51 GMT Lines: 16 Kristine Kathryn Rusch's "Heart Readers" is bad enough that it makes "The White Mists of Power" look good. I should have been warned by the speed with which it moved from the new-book rack to the used-book rack. Near the beginning, the protagonist is raped. Near the end she gets the rapist under her knife and doesn't let the opportunity go to waste. That's about it, except for a couple of hundred pages of ballast, mostly surrounding an uninteresting intrigue. Avoid. ----- Dani Zweig dani@netcom.com 'T is with our judgements as our watches, none Go alike, yet each believes his own --Alexander Pope