ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature.Up till now I've enjoyed Jennifer Fallon's Demon Child trilogy; her writing is competent (not beautiful, but competent), her characters intriguing, and the story was interesting enough. But I always had this feeling ... the same feeling I get when I watch my 2 year old daughter constructing a tower of blocks by stacking the big ones on top of the smaller ones ....Sure enough, just like my daughter's tower, in Harshini, it all comes crashing down.R'shiel finally embraces her role as Demon Child and we at last see her putting her riding leathers to good use -- she actually rides dragons in this novel (though it doesn't help much when taking a trip on a flying dragon takes just as long as it does in a rowboat). And that's probably the nicest thing I can say about R'shiel. She was never a particularly loveable heroine, but in Harshini, she's just a b*$. She is suddenly an outspoken expert in world politics and military tactics and the rulers of all the lands jump to obey her (even though she has no political or military experience and her grand plan in the last novel was a complete disaster). If they don't obey, she threatens to sic the gods on them. She's a bully, and it's hard to like people who act like that.Then we still have the problem with the arbitrary activities of the gods, the demons, and the Harshini. Gods and demons are called on to help at random times in random ways. I was really ticked when a demon popped out of nowhere to protect Brak from a crossbow bolt and Brak informed us that "the demons live to protect the Harshini." Huh? If this is true, why haven't we seen them protecting Harshini before now? R'shiel is supposedly undertaking this very dangerous and important mission, so where were the demons when she was beaten, raped, captured, stabbed in the gut, etc.? And, if they exist to protect the Harshini, why are they running around trying to gather believers so they can become gods? And, about the Gods: okay, I can understand a goddess of love, but a god of thieves? And, if Xaphista (the "bad" god) can so easily coerce people to try to kill R'shiel, why does he only try it with one person (who fails)? Why not several people? He's bad, but he's not smart. And I won't even get into the hypocricy of the Harshini not being able to do anything that might indirectly cause death -- there are too many logisitcal problems with that.The climax and ending of the novel was also random -- R'shiel's weird idea for killing the "bad" god was just plain silly. Most of what R'shiel does to solve problems is arbitrary and easy. She puts on a glamour to escape. She puts on a glamour to help other people escape. She threatens someone into doing what she wants them to. She gets crazy ideas that end up working. This randomness causes the reader to never be concerned that things won't work out in the end. I never felt any sort of fear or tension. Got a problem? Call a god or a demon, or do some random magic trick. Fantasy novel needs tension, and Fallon fails to deliver it in the last Demon Child novel.But, she's a good author -- I will not hesitate to pick up another Fallon series someday. Read more Jennifer Fallon book reviews at Fantasy Literature .
A fairly satisfying conclusion to this trilogy featuring the Demon Child, R'Shiel.Fallon continues to have a deft hand when it comes to managing the politics of the situation; there's been a lot of upheaval over the course of these books for the nation of Medalon and to her credit, Fallon doesn't ignore this. But the final rush to confrontation with Xaphista is generally pretty good, mostly because Fallon's character's carry the day when her plotting flags a little.There's a "twist" that was telegraphed pretty obviously and finally comes to the fore here, but it's handled deftly enough by the characters involved that the heavy-handedness is easy enough to overlook. Several other manipulations are finally unraveled and that works reasonably as the major conflict is assembled.Frankly, Fallon does a pretty good job of managing a race of people as important protagonists who are total pacifists. It's an unusual fantasy novel that has room for people who simply can't conceive of an act of violence, not through philosophy but through their actual nature. It makes for a good balance against their magical powers. Fallon tosses in a mild justification for the foundation of the Sisters of the Blade and how the purge of the Harshini finally came about, but it's a bit patronizing and I'm not sure it casts the moral light on the Harshini Fallon intended. However, the half-breeds aren't managed quite as well. While R'Shiel and Brak are both good characters, it's hard to see how their race would fit in this world in any time, considering how little restraint over their magical powers they seem to have, and how much power they actually have. The Harshini have built-in curbs, but what hold back the half-breeds? simple lack of numbers? enough interference from the gods?It's a bit of a problem, but not enough to derail things. This is more one of those things that you start thinking about after you've finished the books and start picking apart a few details. Measured against the strengths (the contrast of the atheist society of Medalon against all of its neighbors, the rather fun collection of Primal and Incidental Gods taking an active role in things, and a number of well-rounded & interesting characters like Damin, Adrina, Tarja, Garet and more supporting R'Shiel and Brak) the book still comes out ahead.Overall, things are wrapped up pretty neatly. While there are certainly consequences left hanging from the invasions and godswar, the major problems are handled well. Unfortunately, it looks like the next trilogy is a prequel, featuring characters that are present in the first trilogy, a practice I find deeply frustrating and likely to keep me from seeking it out any time soon. Sorry, but when you yank away any real threat on characters it's hard for me to take you seriously when you try to put them in "danger".
What do You think about Harshini (2006)?
The focus jumps around wildly in this final book, and it maybe a bit too chaotic. The characters are still wonderful and fun to watch, especially Damin and Adrinna. The Demon Child rushes from problem to problem, often bullying her way into a solution, and not just the people, the gods get bullied around too. There are some very sweet moments in this book and some heartbreaking ones too. This final installment will take you on an emotional rollercoster ride so you best hang on tight. I even found tears in my eyes at one point and I'm not an emotional type person. And at the very end was a bit of poetic justice that just masterful in its conception.The book wraps things up nicely, there was one exception, one character was left dangling without any resolution, but I'll let you figure out who for yourself. I found the pace and depth a little bit off compared to the other two but I'm far from disappointed. Honestly, I throughly enjoyed the whole series and don't regret a minute of the time I spent reading it. Likely I'll be reading it again, anytime I want a good character driven story with lovable characters.Read Full Review @ Dragons, Heroes and Wizards
—Shari Mulluane
I found this book just as hard to put down as the previous two in the series. It leaped right into the action and built to a rather long climax. The climatic battle of the book was a little short, to my mind, but was then replaced with a second climatic battle. Some of my quibbles were resolved in the final chapter, which was more an epilogue rather than wrapping up the story. A few storyline threads were left unresolved which I would have preferred tied up into a neat bow, but I can cope with how the book ended.
—Steve
Where Treason Keep is probably one of my all-time favorite reads if for nothing more than the fun character dynamics, Harshini is a one-time read. Having first read Fallon's The Tide Lords I was sad to find that the ending of this trilogy was also unsatisfying (although, certainly not to the same extent).Once again it is the adventures of Damin Wolfblade and Adrina that gave me the most joy and helped me turn each page with thrill. I still don't quite understand how their distrust of one another was finally resolved (more like I felt the dialogue was very inconclusive, but maybe that's the point), but I loved them nonetheless. King Hablot is a bastard, but terribly fun to read.R'shiel was just a disappointment. I was glad she was finally taking action and driving the plot, except she was such a senseless bully that she puts a whole new face on the meaning of "hero". She's really not that likable, and that she was the reason for the political changes-- well, I frankly wish Fallon had found another way to orchestrate the political changes that happened (like letting Adrina instigate), because there is very little in R'shiel's repertoire to suggest she had the intelligence for any of this.On top of which-- where Treason Keep felt more luck and smarts, Harshini feels more like luck and hard-to-believe scenarios, mostly because everything that happens has to do with R'shiel's bullying tactics.By far, the worst part was the final chapter of the book, which ends rather darkly, even if you feel that justice is served. I still enjoyed the book and reading the ending, but I think that things could have been done differently in any number of ways in order to improve the story.
—celestialchild
