Sea Without a Shore (Moontide Magic Rise)

This book is full of interesting political intrigue!!!!!! I am 16 years old, and I think politics is boring and stupid, but Sea Without a Shore's old-world-ish politics were fresh, interesting, realistic, and altogether entertaining. The way Russel integrates the old legends of mage lore into the Moontide and Magic Rise series is great because it is very believable, and interesting as you follow the characters, on either side of the Farr court, discovering more and more about the legendary mages. Tristam's part in the book is being the modest hero, whom everything seems to happen to because he is special, no doubt. Russel accomplishes much with the long dialogue of the characters and their subtle movements. Never a dull moment, enough intelligent conversations intertwine with exciting action. In this book, the Swallow finally reaches Varia, a seeming tropical paradise that provides ample culture, tradition, natives, and mysterious places for much adventure into the unknown. The Dutchess is always a source of mystery, her strong yet vulnerable character revealed yet never fully understood. The characters made this book, as does the great ending that involves most of the main characters. A must-read! I can't wait to read their predecessors, the river into darkness series!

Book Two of Moontide and Magic Rise is good for the same reason as its predecessor: fascinating characters, locations, and intrigue. Russell is excellent at weaving an intricate tapestry of storylines, leaving the reader in just enough darkness that he or she will want to read on to solve the mystery. I'm glad to have stumbled upon Sean Russell, as I was beginning to think there were no more writers left, only people very poorly copying very poor ideas from television.

Moontide and Magic Rise is the only thing of Sean Russell's I've read so far but definitely will read more. The big draw for me was that it was very original in what has become a deluge of Jordan/Goodkind themes. The first of the two books took off pretty slowly, there was a bit much detail spent on the mundane. Maybe by the second book I was used to it but I definitely thought it was the better of the two. With only 100 pgs. to go I was thinking there's no way this will wrap it up and then found myself disappointed that it did because I wanted more! Good story.

As with all his other books, Russell takes the reader through a rich landscape filled with interesting and fully developed characters. The "scent" of magic continues through book 2 and keeps the reader hungry for the next page. My only gripe is that I'm still waiting for book 3. If you're a compulsive reader, I'd suggest you either wait until all the books are out or buy them now, so they don't go out of print, and stockpile them. Russell's books capture my interest in a way that, previously, had only been captured by Guy Gavriel Kay's books.