Nancy B. reviewed on 6/24/2005 + 22 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

An allegorical fantasy whose central character is a 15-year-old misfit in an oddly isolated Utopian society. Lerris, constantly bored and perpetually questioning, is considered a threat to the order of Wandernaught. Despite his youth, he is asked to choose between exile or undergoing a dangergeld, a journey of discovery and exposure to all the world's wonders and threats. He opts for the latter and is instantly off on a high adventure where he easily recognizes that the real question is whether to choose good or evil, and then which is which. The quest leads Lerris to self-awareness and the beginnings of real wisdom. Synopsis by Reed Business Information, Inc.

I'm giving this one a 4, because Modesitt at least came up with a different approach to the standard fantasy. Order and chaos (order denoted as black, chaos as white) are the things Lerris, who's 15, must choose between in order to go forward in his life.

However, while the premise is interesting, I found my interest waning pretty early in this book. I've tried twice to get thru this, but each time found myself...bored.

Why? It's written in first person, which isn't a bad thing; I just don't think it adds anything to the tale. Then there's Lerris himself, who seems already jaded and bored right off the bat. I'm not against a teenager with angst, but Lerris seems to whine a bit more than I could handle (no, it's not every paragraph, fortunately).

Then there's the sometimes bizarre "sounds" Modesitt invents. For example, a horse going "wheeee" or something similar to that. Sprinkled occasionally throughout, that's fine. But he tends to overdo it.

I've seen that it seems to be marketed in some places as a Young Adult novel, and maybe that's who this is for. Yes, I had plenty of angst when I was 15, so I think teenagers will connect with this, maybe even 20 somethings.

If you've read a lot of fantasy and are looking for something different, this is for you IF you can get past Lerris' whining and the sound effects ;-). Teenagers might be more understanding of Lerris and the story in general (after all, they seem to like Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card and I couldn't stand that book).

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