What do You think about Revelation (2001)?
I'm on page 314. I suppose this is a warning to all those I recommended book 1 to because I'm really struggling with this second book in the series. It's so graphic and unrelenting and the main character has lost absolutely everything and everyone, so I'm floundering along with him. Nothing happens but this incessant suffering for page after page.I'm persevering, but thought I'd give the heads up. I would still read Transformation, even if it ends up that I don't like the rest of the series. Book one is definitely stand-alone enough and worth the read._________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________I did it. I finished it. Upon completion, this is my response with TONS OF SPOILERS:No, no, no! This was a train wreck of a book. It's not worth reading 485 pages of confusion, so let me sum it up: There is NO scene between the MC and his wife. The book starts with them suddenly reunited, married and having a baby as a fait accompli. No relationship development AT ALL. Then he discovers she's suddenly NOT pregnant anymore and has sent his son away because the son is "possessed" by a demon. This leads to ONE conversation between the lovers and then he leaves/is kicked out to figure out if demons and humans are meant to be united into one being. What? He alienates his wife, his new Aife (Fiona), the rebel group, and the empire (Aleksander). No continuation of the great friendship that was the entire POINT of book 1.Once everyone hates him, he voluntarily enters the torture chambers of the demon dimension where we go through pages of torture and enchantment. Months later, he realizes he'll have to join with a demon to open the gate to send all these lovely? evil? demons back to some realm where perhaps they will be made whole (never explains how). He opens the gate, gets captured, fights off 4 wardens at once in his fugue realm, and then his wife, Ysanne, sticks a knife into him and leaves him to die. A last second rescue leaves him recuperating at the end of the book and no questions get answered about what is actually going on.The final 8 pages exhibit the poignancy and depth of feeling we remember from Book 1. I just didn't feel it through the majority of Book 2.I'm definitely not giving up, though. I have too much confusion to leave it at this point, but book 3 had better be better put-together.
—Lisa
Sadly, Revelation is nowhere near as involving as Transformation was. While Transformation was flawed, its beating heart was the relationship between Seyonne and Aleksander, and that relationship was almost completely absent in this follow-up. Instead, the novel follows Seyonne back to Ezzaria and then through several large set-pieces, each of which felt too dragged out. None of the new characters grabbed me, and the resolution was obvious from 200 pages away.I think the major flaw in this novel is its female characters. Carol Berg has admitted that writing women did not come naturally to her, and I think that is fairly obvious in Revelation. The story revolves around Seyonne's relationship with three women: his Aife Fiona, his wife Ysanne, and the demoness Vallynne. The plot rests on whether or not each of these women will trust him. And unfortunately, none of them is ever explored enough for the reader to make any sense of their decisions. Fiona in particular is given a clunky backstory at the very end of the novel that explains everything while explaining nothing. Each of the women was extraordinarily interesting in theory and completely flat in practice.Still, it was a decent novel. Berg's writing is never painful, though her pacing continues to be problematic, and when I think about the novel I can see the bones of a brilliant story. It is definitely strong enough (and leaves enough unresolved, though the novel has enough of an ending to satisfy temporarily) for me to read the final volume. I just hope that Aleksander returns and that Fiona, at the very least, is made more real than she was in this novel.
—Phoenixfalls
Book Two of The Rai~Kirah follows Seyonne, Warden of Souls on a very different adventure. He is back in Ezzaria and has served a year as the sole active Warden when a strange confrontation with a demon troubles him, and his reaction troubles his fellow Ezzarians even more. As a result Seyonne soon finds himself on is travels again, and then sought by Aleksander, but in his efforts to help his Prince he perversely ends up fighting against him on the side of the rebels. Here he meets Blaise, the rebel leader, in whom he recognises something special, a perception which only adds to Seyonnes problems. Blaise however is stricken with his own personal problem, a problem which indirectly will affect Seyonne.In his efforts to help Blasie Seyonne finds his way to an isolated Ezzarian, a meeting which leads him to his greatest trial yet. He finds himself in a situation no longer battling against the demons in one to one combat but now completely absorbed into their world. Although having initially entered voluntarily, he is at first imprisoned and tormented, and then released but not free. An uneasy truce exists as the demons tolerate Seyonne’s presence while they plot to control him and use him for their own ends. Uncertain who to believe in this strange world Seyonne finds himself facing a most difficult dilemma, should he acquiesce to the demons demands along with the hope of saving the world, or should he resist them and look to save himself and his family?Whichever way Seyonne turns it seems he ends up in trouble and torn in his allegiance, or more accurately worried that his friends will question his loyalty; yet despite that he is compelled to do what he believes to be right.Part Two is in now way repeats Seyonne’s adventures of Part One, and the level of tension is if anything greater. The complexity of the demon world is gradually open up to us, although I did find it difficult to follow or fully comprehend at times, leaving me a little confused; but that could be my failing. I do feel that too much of the book was devoted to Seyonne’s time in the world of the demons, much of which did not progress the plot significantly. The writing however is good and the imagery excellent, and the story otherwise is full of suspense and drama; I cannot wait to see what happens next in Part Three.
—Benjamin
