It's Lirael and Nick people, that was all it took to sell me this book. Goldenhand starts up at the end of 'The Creature in the Case' short story, which in turn is set 5 or 6 months following the events of Abhorsen.
So Orannis has been defeated and Nick has made his way back to the Old Kingdom. At the same time he meets up with Lirael, a young woman from the Northern tribes, makes her way to the Clayr's glacier with news of Chlorr of the Mask.
Okay, I would pretty much love anything to do with the Old Kingdom, but unfortunately this entry seems a little disjounted. It's not disjointed enough to make it a poor entry but there is something a little off about the text.
It is slightly uneven in pace as it bounces between Lirael and Ferin. It suffers a little from X-Men 3 syndrome, the folly of telling two plots at once. If you can't do justice to both segments of text, please focus on one.
Once again Garth shows us that he can't write romance, with Lirael and Nick's relationship taking off almost at once.
And Ferin, his latest addition to his brilliantly, heroic women, is strangely blank. She's stoic to the point of blankness, and there is little effort to humanise her.
There is some gripping writing here though, and I love the world Nix has created. I just feel that this latest addition needed something extra. More interaction between Sabriel and Lirael perhaps. Even so, Goldenhand is still an awesome piece of fantasy, and I hope that we get some more of the Old Kingdom soon.
****
So Orannis has been defeated and Nick has made his way back to the Old Kingdom. At the same time he meets up with Lirael, a young woman from the Northern tribes, makes her way to the Clayr's glacier with news of Chlorr of the Mask.
Okay, I would pretty much love anything to do with the Old Kingdom, but unfortunately this entry seems a little disjounted. It's not disjointed enough to make it a poor entry but there is something a little off about the text.
It is slightly uneven in pace as it bounces between Lirael and Ferin. It suffers a little from X-Men 3 syndrome, the folly of telling two plots at once. If you can't do justice to both segments of text, please focus on one.
Once again Garth shows us that he can't write romance, with Lirael and Nick's relationship taking off almost at once.
And Ferin, his latest addition to his brilliantly, heroic women, is strangely blank. She's stoic to the point of blankness, and there is little effort to humanise her.
There is some gripping writing here though, and I love the world Nix has created. I just feel that this latest addition needed something extra. More interaction between Sabriel and Lirael perhaps. Even so, Goldenhand is still an awesome piece of fantasy, and I hope that we get some more of the Old Kingdom soon.
****
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