Carregue numa fotografia para ir para os Livros Google.
A carregar... The Initiate Brother (1991)por Sean Russell
A carregar...
Adira ao LibraryThing para descobrir se irá gostar deste livro. Ainda não há conversas na Discussão sobre este livro. After a plague ravaged the Empire of Wa, there’s a new dynasty on the throne. And many who were once powerful are out of favor with the Emperor. Among these are the Botahist Monks, who have a unique control over their perception of time and their internal energy. They’ve been spiritual advisers to the court for a thousand years, but now their position is threatened. However, the Emperor views his greatest enemy of all as Lord Shonto, the powerful head of a great house and adopted father of Lady Nishima, the last surviving member of the old dynasty. The Emperor has hatched a plan to rid himself of Lord Shonto, but he didn’t count on Lord Shonto’s new spiritual adviser, the Brother Shuyun. Going into The Initiate Brother, I was unsure how it would end up treating its female characters. Fantasy novels aren’t always great about remembering that women exist and actually do things, but in this regard The Initiate Brother ended up being better than I feared. There’s multiple female characters who (*gasp*) interact with each other! While I don’t think it’s a fantasy series I’d recommend if you’re specifically looking for female characters, it is at least decent in that regards. I would have liked to see more of Lady Nishima’s relationship with Lady Okara, her artistic mentor. As you can probably tell by the names, the setting has clear influences from East Asia, China and Japan specifically. For instance, the Botahist Monks are clearly analogous to Buddhism. So far I haven’t found any Chinese or Japanese reviewers talking about how well they thought the cultural elements were handled. If anyone knows of a review like this, I would love a link. While I did enjoy parts of this book (particularly sections focusing on Lady Nishima), I also found it very slow moving. The end of the book cuts off very abruptly, making it more of a “Part One” than a stand alone story. While the copy I’m reading is a bundle of both books in the duology, I’m taking a break in between books in search of something with a faster pace. I am planning on coming back to the series when I’m in the mood for slower paced intrigue, but right now I have an itch for something with more action. Originally posted on The Illustrated Page. ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature. War and plague have recently swept across the kingdom of Wa, leaving a new emperor feeling insecure on his throne. He feels threatened by the ancient houses of Wa, and most especially by the revered Lord Shonto, an intelligent and highly competent man. When the emperor appoints Shonto as governor of the northern province of Seh, Shonto isn’t sure if this is an honor, or a trap. Both men have some excellent allies. Shonto has adopted the lovely and gifted Lady Nishima, the last heir of the former empire, and has recently secured as his spiritual advisor the Botahist monk Shuyun who is recognized by his brothers as the most promising monk in ages. He has also befriended a minor lord from the North who has little influence in that region, but seems to see things more clearly than his elders do. The emperor’s staff includes handsome and clever General Jaku Katta, the famous kickboxer, and Jaku’s clever young brother. Of course, all of these allies — Lady Nishima, Shuyun, Jaku Katta — have their own human desires and concerns. For example, Shuyun is worried about the Botahist order — the ancient scrolls are missing, and some of his brother monks have disappeared. When he leaves his monastery, he sees things which make him question some of the teachings of his faith. As you can tell by the names, Sean Russell’s The Initiate Brother, first published in 1991, is an Eastern-flavored fantasy similar to Lian Hearn’s Tales of the Otori and Guy Gavriel Kay’s Under Heaven. The Initiate Brother also reminds me of GGK’s work because it’s full of fascinating twisty political intrigue and there’s a large cast of realistic and appealing characters who we get to know well when we’re privy to their internal thoughts. If you’re a fan of GGK, you’re almost certain to enjoy The Initiate Brother (and you probably won’t mind the frequent POV shifts). The occasional use of short Japanese poems and a strategy game similar to the ancient Chinese boardgame Go, add to the world-building and inspire the story. The plot, which is layered with conflict and intrigue, gradually and inexhaustibly rises to a tense climax at the end of the novel. Then it stops. I was sorry that I didn’t have the sequel, Gatherer of Clouds, on hand to begin immediately, but I will be picking it up soon — it promises plenty of excitement and I look forward to finding out what happens to these interesting people. I listened to Blackstone Audio’s production of The Initiate Brother, read by Elijah Alexander. Mostly I enjoyed Mr. Alexander’s narration — he has a superb reading voice. However, because the cast of characters was so large, he used a couple of annoying techniques to distinguish minor characters. For example, in this ancient Oriental culture, the merchant Tanaka has a Boston accent and a female nun sounds like a Chicago mobster. More distracting, though, was what happened when Mr. Alexander ran out of voices. Instead of recycling, he gave each new character a peculiar speech tempo which often makes the character seem like he has a speech impediment or, worse, like he is mentally disabled. I doubt that this is what Sean Russell intended for his emperor. Realizing that such a large cast must be problematic for an audiobook reader, I’m willing to overlook this little quirk — and I’ll be happily reading the sequel on audio. Era da tempo che cercavo una storia ambientata in tempi e luoghi impregnati di una filosofia a me tanto familiare da esser percepita come un qualcosa di conosciuto e già vissuto precedentemente. Storia che, grazie alla segnalazione di R.Paura (e con l'aiuto di Jacopo, che ringrazio per il ritrovamento di due dei tre volumi), ho finalmente trovato. Non voglio scrivere considerazioni che mi porterebbero inevitabilmente a fare accenni sui contenuti, perciò mi limito a dire che trovo questo primo volume davvero fantastico: molte domande restano in sospeso e invogliano al proseguimento della vicenda, tenendomi sulle spine per conoscerne gli sviluppi. Spero davvero di poter trovare altre storie altrettanto valide, ed in tal senso sono graditissimi gli eventuali suggerimenti. sem críticas | adicionar uma crítica
Está contido emPrémios
Fiction.
Science Fiction.
HTML: Plague and warfare have swept across the Orient, ravaging the ancient kingdom of Wa, devastating the royal line, and leaving a new dynasty on the throne??a new emperor, Akantsu, filled with fear of all who might seek to wrest the empire from his grasp. Among those out of favor with the new liege is the Order of the Botahist Monks, whose mystical powers have enabled them to hold positions as spiritual advisors to the imperial court for nearly ten centuries. But Emperor Akantsu fears none so greatly as he does Lord Shonto, the brilliant leader of the most important of the old families, whose influence could rally the great houses against the throne and whose adopted daughter, the beautiful and talented Lady Nishima, is the last surviving member of the old royal family. Sent to be military governor of a northern border province long threatened by barbarian invaders, Lord Shonto knows he is being lured to his death. But Akantsu has underestimated his foe, for not only is Lord Shonto the greatest military genius of the age but he has with him a spiritual advisor from the Botahist order??a young man gifted with extraordinary martial arts skills and magical abilities, Initiate Brother Shuyun. And even Lord Shonto does not realize the true potential of this young monk. Only time will reveal that Shuyun's magical powers have not seen their equal in nearly a thousand years??not since the Perfect Master himself walked the paths of the emp Não foram encontradas descrições de bibliotecas. |
Current DiscussionsNenhum(a)Capas populares
Google Books — A carregar... GénerosSistema Decimal de Melvil (DDC)813Literature English (North America) American fictionClassificação da Biblioteca do Congresso dos EUA (LCC)AvaliaçãoMédia:
É você?Torne-se num Autor LibraryThing. |
There are a couple of drawbacks, though, greatest of which is that this novel is not a stand-alone. The first volume of a duology, it very much ends on a bated breath with everything in the balance. A small complaint, that may be put to the lie in the second volume, is that while the female characters are brilliant and dynamic, they simply aren't on stage enough. We'll have to see about that, then. I do have to thank my friend Martin for recommending this book over and over until I picked it up; thanks, Martin! ( )