fantasy book reviews science fiction book reviewsbook review Katya Reimann Tielmaran, WInd from a foreign SkyWind from a Foreign Sky by Katya Reimann

Gaultry is a young, beautiful, spirited huntress, who has been raised by her great-aunt, a hedge-witch, on the border of Tielmaran. One day, the outer world cruelly ends her idyllic life, as a squadron of soldiers seeks to abduct her, and she finds herself a key figure in a prophecy that will bless or curse the entire realm.

Katya Reimann creates, for the most part, a well-imagined world with some fresh touches. However, the kindest thing I can say about her telling of the story is that, this being her first novel, she shows glimmers of potential. To identify the major problems:

First, the story begins, for the sake of excitement, as Gaultry and the prophecy are about to collide; consequently, the plot is over-burdened with flashbacks and info-dumps about the history of Tielmaran — information that could have been much more gracefully integrated via an earlier starting point.

Second, the magic ‘system’ involves drawing power from the realm’s gods (yet spells are called spells, not prayers), and its workings are never defined well enough to bear the crushing burden of the book’s climax, which also spins out of control from
Katya Reimann’s
inexperienced quill. (An unfortunate example from p. 374: “There was a weird short-circuited merry-go-round through all the bodies in the circle, an unpleasantly long dance, before the Glamour-spirits were properly settled.” Note that neither circuits nor merry-go-rounds are otherwise known to exist in Tielmaran.) Finally, several plot-threads are left dangling, presumably for the second and third installments.

Overall, this is worthy of a (cheap) used purchase or a library loan for undemanding fans of escapist fantasy.

The Tielmaran Chronicles — (1996-2002) Publisher: Gaultry enjoyed the simple, pastoral life of a hedge witch, where her most daunting task was to travel to the nearby village to purchase supplies. But her peaceful life is shattered when it becomes entangled in an ancient prophesy — a prophecy which names her and her headstrong twin sister, Mervion, as their nation’s salvation… or its destructio

Katya Reimann The Tielmaran Chronicles: 1. Wind From a Foreign Sky 2. A Tremor in the Bitter Earth 3. Prince of Fire and Ashes Katya Reimann The Tielmaran Chronicles: 1. Wind From a Foreign Sky 2. A Tremor in the Bitter Earth 3. Prince of Fire and Ashes Katya Reimann The Tielmaran Chronicles: 1. Wind From a Foreign Sky 2. A Tremor in the Bitter Earth 3. Prince of Fire and Ashes

Author

  • Rob Rhodes

    ROB RHODES was graduated from The University of the South and The Tulane University School of Law and currently works as a government attorney. He has published several short stories and is a co-author of the essay “Sword and Sorcery Fiction,” published in Books and Beyond: The Greenwood Encyclopedia of New American Reading. In 2008, Rob was named a Finalist in The L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future Contest. Rob retired from FanLit in September 2010 after more than 3 years at FanLit. He still reviews books and conducts interviews for us occasionally. You can read his latest news at Rob's blog.

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