Carol Berg | Fantasy Literature: Fantasy and Science Fiction Book and Audiobook Reviews

SFF Author: Carol Berg

Who would ever imagine that someone who majored in math so she wouldn’t have to write papers would produce fifteen epic fantasy novels? Carol Berg tells people that writing is “the hobby that ate my life.” She grew up in Texas in a family of teachers, musicians, and railroad men, taught math for a while, but worked as a software engineer for much longer. She has degrees in mathematics from Rice University and computer science from the University of Colorado. She lives, camps, hikes, and bikes with her husband in the Colorado Rockies. Her books have won the Prism Award, the Geffen Award, and multiple Colorado Book Awards. Her duology, Flesh and Spirit and Breath and Bone, was awarded the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Adult Literature. Visit Carol Berg at http://www.carolberg.com.

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THE BRIDGE OF D’ARNATH: Carol Berg is a favorite

THE BRIDGE OF D’ARNATH by Carol Berg

Carol Berg has been one of my favorite authors for years now, ever since I picked up Son of Avonar, having been intrigued by both the title and the cover. She’s an author who can handle first person point of view with skill (no, it’s not easier, trust me), weaves some truly fascinating plots with excellent twists, and creates interesting worlds peopled by races that feel unique in a genre full of elves, dwarves, and the like. Though she has her occasional disappointments,

Beth Johnson Sonderby (guest)´s rating: 5 | Carol Berg | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |

Flesh and Spirit: Elegant, beautifully crafted

Flesh and Spirit by Carol Berg

With the second book of The Lighthouse Duet, Breath and Bone, now out, I decided to refresh my memory, as it’s been a full year since I last read this one. I can remember being distinctly disappointed with it. Yet after some of what I’ve read this year (some of it being absolutely awful) I’d have to say my mind has changed somewhat.

This year my poor eyes have suffered so much awkward prose and poorly placed punctuation that Carol Berg’s elegant,

Breath and Bone: Carol Berg has left me a spoiled fantasy reader

Breath and Bone by Carol Berg

Anyone who’s read my review of Flesh and Spirit knows that I was a little bit disappointed in some aspects of the book (I maintain that this is due to the fact that Carol Berg has left me a spoiled, fussy fantasy reader). So how did Ms. Berg do this time around?

Okay, fair enough, Breath and Bone starts a little slow. This isn’t a huge surprise, since the story is more like one book broken into two,

Dust and Light: You call that an ending?

Dust and Light by Carol Berg

Really, Carol Berg?

I bought Dust and Light, your latest fantasy novel, because you wrote it, and because I loved the COLLEGIA MAGICA series. I had no idea you were going to do this to me.

I knew I was going to love your rich prose. In the first few pages, though, with great economy, you provided us with the big picture; a dead king, princes warring for a nation, a group of pureblood families who wield magic and go to extreme lengths to protect their bloodlines;

Marion Deeds´s rating: 4 | Carol Berg | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |

Ash and Silver: A lushly written novel of transformation

Ash and Silver by Carol Berg

At the edge of the eastern sea, the Fortress Evenide holds the Order of the Knights of the Ash. Greenshank is a paratus, one level below a knight, and is working day and night to be deemed ready for promotion. Greenshank is completely loyal to the Knights of the Ash, in part because he has to be. He has no memory of any life before two years ago when he was brought to the citadel. Then one day, returning from an assignment, he is accosted by an otherworldly woman,

Marion Deeds´s rating: 3.5 | Carol Berg | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |

The Spirit Lens: Berg gives us a hero who is a true courtier

The Spirit Lens by Carol Berg

Courtiers are figures of contempt and fun in most fiction. They are craven lickspittles and influence peddlers, usually without honor. In The Spirit Lens, Carol Berg gives us a hero who is a true courtier. He is diplomatic, disciplined, strategic and loyal to his king at all costs — and the costs are great.

The Spirit Lens is the first book in the Collegia Magica series. Portier de Savin-Duplais is the librarian at the Camarilla Magica.

Marion Deeds´s rating: 3.5 | Carol Berg | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |

The Soul Mirror: Challenges preconceptions

The Soul Mirror by Carol Berg

Carol Berg continues her Collegia Magica series with The Soul Mirror. The secret magical war being fought in the country of Sabria has left behind many victims: some dead, some maimed, some spiritually and psychologically damaged, and some intact in body and spirit but with reputation and honor destroyed. Anne de Vernase is one of these, the daughter of a traitor who not only betrayed country and king, but by betraying that king turned against his dearest and closest friend.

Marion Deeds´s rating: 3.5 | Carol Berg | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |

The Daemon Prism: Berg competently wraps up the quest

The Daemon Prism by Carol Berg

The Daemon Prism brings to a close the first three books in Carol Berg’s COLLEGIA MAGICA series. I say “the first three” because there are enough dangling threads — a new form of magic, a royal baby about to be born — to support more stories in this world if Berg wants to write them. The primary quest, however, is resolved.

Berg’s world is similar to medieval Europe. The first book, The Spirit Lens,

Marion Deeds´s rating: 3 | Carol Berg | SFF Reviews | no comments |

SFF Author: Carol Berg

THE BRIDGE OF D’ARNATH: Carol Berg is a favorite

Flesh and Spirit: Elegant, beautifully crafted

Breath and Bone: Carol Berg has left me a spoiled fantasy reader

Dust and Light: You call that an ending?

Ash and Silver: A lushly written novel of transformation

The Spirit Lens: Berg gives us a hero who is a true courtier

The Soul Mirror: Challenges preconceptions

The Daemon Prism: Berg competently wraps up the quest

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