Helpful Score: 2
This was WONDERFUL - one of those once-or-twice-a-year reads where I walk around the house in a trance for three days thinking about the characters, about the world the book is set in. (I need to get 'ard' out of my head!)
There were so many strong, well developed characters in this book that almost anyone could enjoy it, despite the young adult heroine. She's learning to be who she is, and, to paraphrase her towards the end of the book, to stand up and do what she can do in a given situation. That's a classic coming of age theme, but it's also something people of any age can relate to.
Then there were strong male characters as well - her uncle Orma, who loves her and looks after her, her friend Kiggs. And perhaps best of all, Glisselda, who starts off as a seemingly vapid princess but is a fantastic, butt kicking female in her own right.
I haven't read other reviews on this book yet. I imagine things could be said about the nuts and bolts of the book - little things that didn't add up here, things that didn't work there. But it comes down to this: I loved the book, all the way through. It was thoroughly enjoyable, full of surprises, and made me think, too: overall a great read that I could recommend to almost anyone.
PS - BAND GEEKS - this is a must read!!
There were so many strong, well developed characters in this book that almost anyone could enjoy it, despite the young adult heroine. She's learning to be who she is, and, to paraphrase her towards the end of the book, to stand up and do what she can do in a given situation. That's a classic coming of age theme, but it's also something people of any age can relate to.
Then there were strong male characters as well - her uncle Orma, who loves her and looks after her, her friend Kiggs. And perhaps best of all, Glisselda, who starts off as a seemingly vapid princess but is a fantastic, butt kicking female in her own right.
I haven't read other reviews on this book yet. I imagine things could be said about the nuts and bolts of the book - little things that didn't add up here, things that didn't work there. But it comes down to this: I loved the book, all the way through. It was thoroughly enjoyable, full of surprises, and made me think, too: overall a great read that I could recommend to almost anyone.
PS - BAND GEEKS - this is a must read!!
High fantasy is my favorite genre, but it doesnt mean that Im an easy customer. It takes a lot for a fantasy to become a favorite of mine: in addition to nearly impeccable world-building, it also has to have empathic characters and enough action to satisfy the baser part of me. I had heard positive things about SERAPHINA before I was finally able to read it, but rave reviews often make me wary, worried that the book will never live up to the reviews promises. Happily, for me and the whole world, SERAPHINA is worthy of its high praise. Rachel Hartman writes with a sureness of hand and mind that sweeps readers into Seraphinas complex and fascinating world.
In SERAPHINA, dragons and humans have made an uneasy peace treaty, but the social tensions are still apparent and painfully recognizable in its similarities to the prejudices that minority groups in our world still suffer. I love that real aspect of the book, and feel that the countless instances of anti-dragon sentiment in SERAPHINA are authentic as a result.
The social tensions arent the only thing that make SERAPHINAs world-building so astounding. Its clear that Rachel Hartman did research on her Medieval-inspired fantasy world, from the clothing to the instruments to the layout of court (physical and human). If an aspiring cable TV channel *cough HBO and Game of Thrones crew cough* were to consider adapting this story, they would have plenty to go off of.
Splendid world-building by itself isnt enough to get me to love a fantasy, and thats where SERAPHINAs wonderful characters come in. Seraphina, Seraphina, you amazing protagonist. Youve had such a rough life and it in no way is going to get easier after the events of this book, and yet you handle it with an aplomb that those twice your age cannot often claim as their own. Seraphinas personality is the direct product of her difficult and isolated childhood, but it does not weigh her or the story down. The girl is resilient, ethical, intelligent, and determinedand she is not the only awesome character. Supporting characters are allowed a full range of thoughts and reactions, so that where we think well find potentially stereotypical character rolesin the spoiled princess, or the love trianglewe instead find refreshment.
Debut authors like Rachel Hartman show me that literary talent is not in danger of being swamped by the mediocre hype-fueled masses. Hartman has the detail-oriented skills to be a fixture in the fantasy genre, and the understanding of human beings and society to make her mark in any other genre shes interested in dabbling in. SERAPHINA was a heck of a debut, one that I sincerely hope marks the very beginning of a long and beautiful writing career.
In SERAPHINA, dragons and humans have made an uneasy peace treaty, but the social tensions are still apparent and painfully recognizable in its similarities to the prejudices that minority groups in our world still suffer. I love that real aspect of the book, and feel that the countless instances of anti-dragon sentiment in SERAPHINA are authentic as a result.
The social tensions arent the only thing that make SERAPHINAs world-building so astounding. Its clear that Rachel Hartman did research on her Medieval-inspired fantasy world, from the clothing to the instruments to the layout of court (physical and human). If an aspiring cable TV channel *cough HBO and Game of Thrones crew cough* were to consider adapting this story, they would have plenty to go off of.
Splendid world-building by itself isnt enough to get me to love a fantasy, and thats where SERAPHINAs wonderful characters come in. Seraphina, Seraphina, you amazing protagonist. Youve had such a rough life and it in no way is going to get easier after the events of this book, and yet you handle it with an aplomb that those twice your age cannot often claim as their own. Seraphinas personality is the direct product of her difficult and isolated childhood, but it does not weigh her or the story down. The girl is resilient, ethical, intelligent, and determinedand she is not the only awesome character. Supporting characters are allowed a full range of thoughts and reactions, so that where we think well find potentially stereotypical character rolesin the spoiled princess, or the love trianglewe instead find refreshment.
Debut authors like Rachel Hartman show me that literary talent is not in danger of being swamped by the mediocre hype-fueled masses. Hartman has the detail-oriented skills to be a fixture in the fantasy genre, and the understanding of human beings and society to make her mark in any other genre shes interested in dabbling in. SERAPHINA was a heck of a debut, one that I sincerely hope marks the very beginning of a long and beautiful writing career.
It took me a while to warm up to this book, but once I did it was hard to put down. An excellent story, good characters, and touches on some important themes.
I love a good fantasy read and was really looking forward to one that had dragons too! This ended up being a very slow book that was very beautiful written. The world is incredibly detailed but I thought Seraphina as the heroine was a bit bland.
Seraphina has just joined court as the lead musicians assistant, right as tensions between the Dragons and the humans reach a climax. When a Prince of the realm is killed in a very Draconian way Seraphina cant help but be drawn to the investigation. She finds herself investigating along side the charming and intelligent Prince Lucian. Seraphina cant let herself get too close to Lucian though because she has terrible secrets of her own that she must hide.
This book is beautifully written but moves at a very deliberate place. Much of the story involves Seraphinas day to day life as a musicians assistant. It takes quite a while for Seraphina to get deeply involved in the investigation (200 pages or so) and it seemed like this story could have been beautifully told in about half the page space.
I had a lot of trouble liking Seraphina and thought she was kind of a lackluster character. She comes across as too passive and too quiet. I understand she was hiding a terrible secret and was trying to pass unnoticed; but I had trouble really noticing her as a reader as well. I love music and her passion for music should have helped me relate to her. Unfortunately there are very few scenes where Seraphina is really involved in music and, when she is, it always feels like shes apologizing for her interest.
There were some good characters in here. Lucian was a wonderfully complex character that I really enjoyed. The Princess was also very engaging; she seemed to be all laughter and fluff in the beginning but ended up being made of very strong stuff as the story continued.
Dragons are portrayed with the ability to pass as humans although it is uncomfortable for them. Ive heard talk about how creative this is and am puzzled. Sagara has been portraying dragons like this for some time in her Chronicles of Elantra series; Sagaras dragons are more mysterious and have a much more engaging history behind them. I did think that Hartman did an excellent job showing how much difficultly the dragons had with human emotion.
The world is very solidly built; Hartman has created a full history for this world and it is full of detail. It is well done but I didnt think it was all that more creative than other fantasies out there.
The story is also fairly predictable, it ends how you think it is going to end. There werent all that many twists and turns that left me surprised. In general I guess I just had trouble with the story really grabbing me, it didnt have any intensity to it.
Overall this is a very beautifully written fantasy, the writing is lyrical. The world is intricate with a lush history behind it. For me the story just was way too wordy and moved way too slow. I found Seraphina to be a lackluster character, thought the plot was incredibly predictable, and just didnt think the world was all that creative. This is one of those books that when I started it I thought it was excellent, then about 300 pages into it I just wanted it to be over. I would recommend this to fantasy lovers who love their stories beautifully written but deliberate. If you are interested in the dragons as people story definitely check out Michelle Sagaras Chronicles of Elantra, they are appropriate for YA and older and are much more interesting.
Seraphina has just joined court as the lead musicians assistant, right as tensions between the Dragons and the humans reach a climax. When a Prince of the realm is killed in a very Draconian way Seraphina cant help but be drawn to the investigation. She finds herself investigating along side the charming and intelligent Prince Lucian. Seraphina cant let herself get too close to Lucian though because she has terrible secrets of her own that she must hide.
This book is beautifully written but moves at a very deliberate place. Much of the story involves Seraphinas day to day life as a musicians assistant. It takes quite a while for Seraphina to get deeply involved in the investigation (200 pages or so) and it seemed like this story could have been beautifully told in about half the page space.
I had a lot of trouble liking Seraphina and thought she was kind of a lackluster character. She comes across as too passive and too quiet. I understand she was hiding a terrible secret and was trying to pass unnoticed; but I had trouble really noticing her as a reader as well. I love music and her passion for music should have helped me relate to her. Unfortunately there are very few scenes where Seraphina is really involved in music and, when she is, it always feels like shes apologizing for her interest.
There were some good characters in here. Lucian was a wonderfully complex character that I really enjoyed. The Princess was also very engaging; she seemed to be all laughter and fluff in the beginning but ended up being made of very strong stuff as the story continued.
Dragons are portrayed with the ability to pass as humans although it is uncomfortable for them. Ive heard talk about how creative this is and am puzzled. Sagara has been portraying dragons like this for some time in her Chronicles of Elantra series; Sagaras dragons are more mysterious and have a much more engaging history behind them. I did think that Hartman did an excellent job showing how much difficultly the dragons had with human emotion.
The world is very solidly built; Hartman has created a full history for this world and it is full of detail. It is well done but I didnt think it was all that more creative than other fantasies out there.
The story is also fairly predictable, it ends how you think it is going to end. There werent all that many twists and turns that left me surprised. In general I guess I just had trouble with the story really grabbing me, it didnt have any intensity to it.
Overall this is a very beautifully written fantasy, the writing is lyrical. The world is intricate with a lush history behind it. For me the story just was way too wordy and moved way too slow. I found Seraphina to be a lackluster character, thought the plot was incredibly predictable, and just didnt think the world was all that creative. This is one of those books that when I started it I thought it was excellent, then about 300 pages into it I just wanted it to be over. I would recommend this to fantasy lovers who love their stories beautifully written but deliberate. If you are interested in the dragons as people story definitely check out Michelle Sagaras Chronicles of Elantra, they are appropriate for YA and older and are much more interesting.
