Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #158754 in Books
• Published on: 1997-09
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 576 pages

Customer Reviews

Promising start with some good moments and ideas
I was put on to this book mostly because I am a big fan of C J Cherryh (apparently a good friend of the author) and she has recommended the books pretty heavily. I did actually find some of the atmosphere and dialogue had a familiar flavour to them (no idea which way the influence runs . . .), although Fancher concentrates mostly on the emotional lives of the characters and misses out the pages of politics you often find in Cherryh's books. I enjoyed this one, not enough to rush out and buy the next ones but I intend to some day, especially as this volume seemed mostly concerned with setting up the characters and situations for future books. I found the world interesting but not especially well developed, though this may change. If I have any criticisms it's that I found the intensity of the relationship between the brothers a bit hard to take at times - I enjoyed this but found it a bit hard to sustain disbelief. Not a great novel but lots to like in it.

Not everything is what it seems....
Not everything is what it seems in Jane Fancher's Ring of Lightning. The first point of views you experience is that of the oldest and the youngest Rhomandi brothers. Their thoughts give you two colored perceptions of their city and their middle brother, Mikhyel. However, as the story unfolds and you see their world through the eyes of other characters, your perceptions change. You find yourself sympathizing with Mikhyel. I found him becoming my favorite character in the book, followed closely by Dancer, the mysterious protege of Mother. And who is Mother? A creature who has taken an interest in the Rhomandi brothers. This is fantasy as it's meant to be written. No elves, no magic spells or wizards, no dragons. Just a character driven piece with attention to the small things that make you feel this place exists, these people exist. If you like CJ Cherryh, or Siege by Lynn Abbey, you'll like Jane's Ring series. Pick up the first book and you'll be hooked. Oh, and tell Mother I sent you!

I just couldn't wait to see what happened next!
Three very different brothers, whose fate is very much intertwined, in a world powered by ley lines and politics reminiscent of C.J.Cherryh and Marion Zimmer Bradley crossed with Lois McMaster Bujold. I came to care very much about each of Fancher's characters, human and nonhuman alike. Plenty of action and adventure as well, making this book such a page-turner that I just couldn't put it down!. --Margaret Adamson Fincannon.