Empyrion: The Siege of Dome, by Stephen Lawhead
In this second book of the Empyrion duology, Orion Treet has returned to Dome to do what he can to stop the annihilation of the Fieri. He must find allies and avoid being captured: but he is alone, for his friends chose to remain with the idyllic Fieri. Finding enemies at every turn, and some friends where he did not suspect, Treet must survive in hopes of saving the Fieri; for there is nothing less at stake than the fate of an entire race.
In this book we learn more about the gentle Fieri, and we see the growth of the main characters Treet, Pizzle, and Yarden. We finally see the rumored Dhogs, who turn out to be very crafty characters. We don’t see much of Crocker, who has fled to the northern Blue Forest because of the turmoil in his mind. What happens to Crocker is so terrible to me, because I liked him, and to see him as what he becomes is awful. But that is a major point of Lawhead: bad things happen to good people, and not everything happens perfectly.
That idea is really fascinating to me: you don’t see it very often. Everyone loves happy endings where the guy gets the girl and all the world is well. But there is something to be said for the bittersweet ending where not all ends well. We come to know the depths of joy and sorrow, and to appreciate each all the more.
The themes of rebirth and redemption are very present through The Siege of Dome, as they were through The Search for Fierra. At this point in his writing, though, Lawhead does not yet have the subtlety in his writing that marks his later books. This delicate touch gently introduces ideas and themes without the reader noticing they are there. But every author has to start somewhere, and the Empyrion duology is a good starting point.
As with the first book, the writing is a little choppy, the characters not quite fleshed out well, and some questions left unanswered. I had hoped while reading the first one that some of my questions would be answered in the second novel, but they were not. While this detracts slightly from my opinion of the book, I still greatly enjoyed reading it. Whatever issues it has, it is still a fascinating book full of fascinating people and ideas.
My question for Lawhead about this series would be: Is the Red Death somehow related to the mist the travelers pass through in the desert?
In this book we learn more about the gentle Fieri, and we see the growth of the main characters Treet, Pizzle, and Yarden. We finally see the rumored Dhogs, who turn out to be very crafty characters. We don’t see much of Crocker, who has fled to the northern Blue Forest because of the turmoil in his mind. What happens to Crocker is so terrible to me, because I liked him, and to see him as what he becomes is awful. But that is a major point of Lawhead: bad things happen to good people, and not everything happens perfectly.
That idea is really fascinating to me: you don’t see it very often. Everyone loves happy endings where the guy gets the girl and all the world is well. But there is something to be said for the bittersweet ending where not all ends well. We come to know the depths of joy and sorrow, and to appreciate each all the more.
The themes of rebirth and redemption are very present through The Siege of Dome, as they were through The Search for Fierra. At this point in his writing, though, Lawhead does not yet have the subtlety in his writing that marks his later books. This delicate touch gently introduces ideas and themes without the reader noticing they are there. But every author has to start somewhere, and the Empyrion duology is a good starting point.
As with the first book, the writing is a little choppy, the characters not quite fleshed out well, and some questions left unanswered. I had hoped while reading the first one that some of my questions would be answered in the second novel, but they were not. While this detracts slightly from my opinion of the book, I still greatly enjoyed reading it. Whatever issues it has, it is still a fascinating book full of fascinating people and ideas.
My question for Lawhead about this series would be: Is the Red Death somehow related to the mist the travelers pass through in the desert?
posted by Tai Schutz | Tuesday, October 10, 2006
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home