Helpful Score: 4
The is a sequel to "The Green Rider," which I read shortly after it came out. It was good enough that I bothered to pick up the sequel - but not so good that I really went out of my way to find it.
"First Rider's Call" continues with more of the same. It's fantasy for those who like long stories with girls, horses, light romance and magic. Adequate, entertaining, but nothing really memorable or remarkable.
Karigan, the young woman who was called to the magical royal messenger service known as the Green Riders in the last book, now finds herself at the center of a problem - something is going wrong with the magic. It's becoming unpredictable, often wrong. Could the elflike people known as Eletians be behind this? Or is there a bigger issue going on? Karigan finds spiritual guidance from the first Green Rider, and seeks to solve this problem, sort out her love life, and gain some maturity.
"First Rider's Call" continues with more of the same. It's fantasy for those who like long stories with girls, horses, light romance and magic. Adequate, entertaining, but nothing really memorable or remarkable.
Karigan, the young woman who was called to the magical royal messenger service known as the Green Riders in the last book, now finds herself at the center of a problem - something is going wrong with the magic. It's becoming unpredictable, often wrong. Could the elflike people known as Eletians be behind this? Or is there a bigger issue going on? Karigan finds spiritual guidance from the first Green Rider, and seeks to solve this problem, sort out her love life, and gain some maturity.
Helpful Score: 4
Story was good, some details were either not explained enough or I felt it was unnecessary to the story line. The ending was not very good, answered some questions poorly and left others unanswered.
Helpful Score: 3
Karigan is such a likeable character that I only wanted good things to happen to her, but she attracts trouble. There's always something happening, pulling the story along at a fast pace.
I hoped that Miss Bunchberry and Miss Bayberry, the two most interesting and funny characters from the first book, would be part of this story, but they are not.
There's a lot unresolved at the end of First Rider's Call, so there better be another book!
I hoped that Miss Bunchberry and Miss Bayberry, the two most interesting and funny characters from the first book, would be part of this story, but they are not.
There's a lot unresolved at the end of First Rider's Call, so there better be another book!
Helpful Score: 2
The story is great, but there are quite a lot of irrelevant and unnecessary parts. The plot is very complex and intricate and often a bit overly involved. This long tale 600 pages was only a mere installment in the overall story. Yes, there was a crisis and it was averted. The characters were challenged, but the DYer wall is still crumbling and they dont know how to fix it, the evil has still yet to be completely vanquished, and Kerrigans role is still unclear. Individually, the depth of the characters is quite intricate. But there are a lot of them and it isnt always clear how they interact in the larger story. You can see that Kerrigan should be with the King, although it isnt at all clear if that will happen or not. It appears that Kerrigan should be the Captain of the Green Riders or will be at some point, although that isnt certain. I would expect that the wall will be fixed and that the evil will be thwarted, but wonder how many more books Ill have to read to get to that point.
I liked the involvement of the First Rider and the way they were able to find out about the Green Rider's history. I liked how they found the horn at the end, although I'd have liked it better if Kerrigan had been able to sound it rather than the Captain.
I liked the involvement of the First Rider and the way they were able to find out about the Green Rider's history. I liked how they found the horn at the end, although I'd have liked it better if Kerrigan had been able to sound it rather than the Captain.
Helpful Score: 2
Continuing from the first book - Green Rider; Karigan became a green rider when she stumbled on a dying rider who asked her to keep going on his behalf to send an urgent message to the king. In this book, Karigan tries to retire as a green rider and get back to her roots as heir to a merchant clan. Unfortunately it is not that easy to ignore the call, and the evil forces that she fought in the first book have not been completely extinguished. I found this book a little less exciting than the first one, possibly because it jumped back and forth in focussing on Karigan and on the wall. It was harder for me to get into, but it was still good.
