Turning the Storm

Some of the other reviewers explained how this book differed from the first in the writing style. Overall the book was good but it seemed rushed and their was a twisted ending that left probably the largest dissapointment. It put in a protaganist that didn't need to be there to make a simple plot more intriguing. Instead it rushed over interesting character devolopment, into more of a battlefield who's who. I enjoyed the books, but they overall are less then steller.

In Turning the Storm, Naomi Kritzer has hit her stride. The sudden change of tone that marred the first book, Fires of the Faithful, is absent here. The book reads very consistently. Elianna is also a more believable character in this volume - her inept (but successful, largely due to chance (criticisms regarding deus ex machina become appropriate here)) approach to spying is much more believable than her suddenly discovered prowess as a warrior was in the previous volume. Character development is even and believable - one can easily imagine that a person would respond to the other characters in the way Elianna does. Like the first book, it is written in the first person, so the reader gets a good peek inside the protagonists head.The setting, based apparently on southern Europe of the Renaissance period is believable, if not compelling. The characters on the other hand, seem to think very much like modern Westerners, so they do not fit into the environment as well as they could.Some readers may be put off by the culmination of Elianna's incipient lesbianism (thankfully, it is not graphically depicted). A bigger problem, is Elianna's motivation. Unlike many of the classic fantasy books, where the reader can feel the urgency and necessity of the hero's cause, Elianna seems mostly driven by a need for revenge. While she has a concern to free the people who follow her, it becomes clear that those who she has allied herself to are willing to replace to preserve the status quo as long as they become the ones in charge.Had it been a choice, I would have given it 3.5 stars. I think the backstory concerning Gaius and the discovery of magery and the initial conflict between the Old Way and the new religion represented by the Fedeli might make a much more involving read. That said, this is still a good paperback novel for reading on an airplane or when you have nothing else to do on a wet afternoon.

The perfume war fought between the mages of Verdiana and those of the Kingdom of Vesuvia devastated the lands leaving behind a desert. Out of this fiasco, the Fedeli force everyone to practice their religion while the Circle of Mages hones their skills for the next battle.The Fideli assault the conservatory where Eliana practiced the violin. She flees to the wasteland, where she eventually leads a counter revolt as the head of the newly formed Lupi. A battle against the mages leaves many of her supporters dead. Eliana joins the outlawed Redentori and is a major reason they defeat the Mages in another skirmish. Cutting off enemy supply lines, Eliana and her side cause the Fedeli and Circle mages to prepare for an upcoming fight. Though a great military tactician, Eliana can win only if she is not betrayed by her allies.TURNING THE STORM is a mega action-packed fantasy tale that never slows down until the final battle is done. Eliana is a great warrior-leader, a sort of Joan of Arc, who rallies her forces through intelligent strategy and by front line example. The prime motif of the tale is oppression as shown by the repression of any religion except that practiced by the Fideli and the abuse of power by the Mage and the other leaders. Still with all that action, a strong lead heroine, and a deep message, the villains are real complex protagonists supported by strong beliefs. With this book and FIRES OF THE FAITHFUL, Naomi Kritzer shows how thought provoking yet entertaining the genre can be when a talented magician casts a writing spell on the readers.Harriet Klausner