Lady Pain

If you haven't read Lady in Gil, read it. Then read Scion's Lady. Then you won't need to read any of these reviews, because you'll know how wonderful this series is, and you'll be scrambling to get a copy of Lady Pain as quickly as possible so you can finish the tale.This is the darkest of the three, but no less wonderful. It's actually the book that convinced me to try the first--I saw this for sale, it looked very engaging, but realising it was the third in the series I found Lady in Gil and sat down to read it, and seem to remember finishing it that evening as it was too wonderful for words.I love Connie Willis (well, her better work, at least), and I love Mervyn Peake. I love Jane Austen, and I love Robertson Davies, and I love Rebecca Bradley. We must have more from her. Read these books and you'll agree!Note: a 3 star ranking from me is actually pretty good; I reserve 4 stars for tremendously good works, and 5 only for the rare few that are or ought to be classic; unfortunately most books published are 2 or less.

Twenty years ago, unwilling hero Tigrallef faced the power known as the Lady in Gil, and not so much defeated it as absorbed it. And every day since that fateful one, Tig valiantly fights the power that is inside him, preventing it from escaping and unleashing its might against the world. And while this power inside Tig keeps him young, and relatively free of diseases, it also seems to be eating away at Tig's soul, making him less and less human each day. Now, Tig and his family and friends travel around the world looking for the spell of banishment that will for once and for all defeat the power, before it gets the better of Tig and destroys the world. The quest to find this spell however has taken quite a toll on everyone; Tig's daughter Kat, in particular, is not sure of how much more she can take. And then Tig comes to the realisation that the spell he is so desperately searching for is in Gil. But that means entering the lion's den again and facing danger and old enemies. Will Tig's old enemy, the Primate, recognise Tig after all these years? No one (except Tig) is keen to make for Gil, but what if the spell is there after all? Can they afford to overlook the possibility? Wary and worried, Tig and company make for Gil..."Lady Pain" does not quite possess as wry and droll a tone as the first two books in the trilogy, "Lady in Gil" and "Scion's Lady," mainly because, as other reviewers have pointed out, this installment of the trilogy is told completely from Tig's son, Vero's, point-of-view. Years of watching out for Tig, especially given Tig has a rather naive and scholastic approach to things, has made Vero assume a more authoritative role toward his father than a son may ordinarily have done. Rebecca Bradley does a wonderful job of portraying this flip side of a father-son relationship, as well as Kat's (Tig's daughter) leery relationship with her father. This difficulty that Tig's children face in their dealings with their father, colours the tone of "Lady Pain" and makes it a much darker book. It also explains why the wry and droll tone is not always there. However, having noted that I do think that "Lady Pain" does compare well to the first two books in the trilogy. The story is an interesting, compelling and exciting one, that will definitely keep you riveted till the very end. The pacing is tight and the manner in which the plot flowed, seamless. I've enjoyed all three books in the series, and thought that "Lady Pain" rounded off things nicely -- it was nice to see familiar characters from "The Lady in Gil" again. Rebecca Bradley is a brilliant authour and has a wonderful prose style. All three books in this series are going on my 'must have' list. I do hope that Bradley writes more sci-fantasy books and that they get published soon!

Lady Pain successfully and with wry humor concludes the saga of Tig and his travails w/ the mystical force known originally as the Lady in Gil. But this time the story is told from someone else's viewpoint. This freshened the series up for me (not that I was bored w/ the first two books - I couldn't wait for the last in the series) but I really enjoyed Vero's take on life.Rebecca Bradley has created a believable and fantastic world that I enjoy visiting. I cared about what happened to her characters as well. I really liked Tig and Calla and the rest of their small band of wayfarers. Now that I've got all three books, I think I'll read them again, together. A good read for a rainy weekend!

Lady Pain takes place 25 years after the 2nd book in this series. Tig has held "the lady of gil" off destroying the world for all that time, while he and his family and friends sail the world, looking in old archives etc for the answer to Tig's problem. How to destroy the lady without destroying the world.In all that time Tig has not aged a day since he took on 'the pain' but he has become incresingly eccentric - and when he looses control vast amounts of people can easily die.This is not told from Tig's point of view but from the point of view of his son Vero. Finally, after all these years, Tig decides it's time to go back to Gil to find out if there are any answers there, as they can only find partial answers outside Gil. When they get to the island, things have changed Drastically. Not necessarily for the better.This book completes this story and ties up loose ends from books 1 & 2. Once again, the author has shown consistent good writing. This author is one to watch out for from now on.

After waiting anxiously for these past many weeks, I was able to obtain a copy of Lady Pain just yesterday, and I devoured it in one sitting. While honesty prompts me to admit that the work is likely not a good candidate to read if you have not read the first two in the series (Lady in Gil and Scion's Lady), it is nevertheless a satisfying conclusion to those works. The story touches intermittently on the twenty-year gap between the events of the first two books and the current events, but for the most part, leaves that for the reader's imagination (and those of us who still like to indulge our imaginations might appreciate that). There are an amazing number of the original cast of characters still around, but the character focus shifts to the younger generation--particularly, Tigrallef's son and daughter. This is somewhat disconcerting and disappointing at first, for anyone who has come to know and love Tig (and Shree and Chasco and Calla). Still, in the end, I was more than happy to know that the world moves on, with the next generation. I strongly recommend the series, and by all means, start at the beginning!