Receive Havenstar Compiled By Glenda Larke Represented In Script

view spoiler sexism ableism homophobia all presented as negative things but wow were they prevalent violence hide spoiler At first I wasn't sure what the names of things were but as the story unfolded these were explained it became even interestingI found this book really hard to put down when I did it still stayed in my mind I couldn't wait to see what happened next because I haven't come across anything uite like this before I couldn't even guess what I might be experiencing next because it was all so new I also loved all of the characters For me a great read One of my favourite books It never gets old this tale about friendship love courage believes and humanity I finally got my hands on an original copy always read the translation and it was as good and perfect as the version I've always read until nowOh and don't let yourself be fooled by the books horrible covers It has nothing of a run on the mill romance or fantasy book In theies they created some abominable covers for books I'm sure someone wrote a scientific paper about the why and how p Havenstar has a history a bit of a sad one It was Glenda Larkes writing as Glenda Noramly first novel released inunder the then Virgin books SF imprintIt raced up the chartsgetting toon the general list only to be orphaned and out of print as the publisher implodedThankfully Glenda was made of stern stuff and has gone on to release anothernovels with on the wayShe decided to re release Havenstar as a self published eBook No longer do fans have to contemplate inflated prices of paperback copies on of which none of the money is seen by Glenda its now available from a number of digital outletsThe Eight Stabilities are islands of order surrounded by lethal chaosand the order is being swallowed by the unstable The religious leaders of Chantry try to maintain the Stabilities by ordering the necessity of a once in a lifetime pilgrimage across the chaos And in that ever changing world the most important person is a mapmaker who can make a chart of secure pilgrimage routesKeris Kaylen is a mapmaker's daughter When her father is murdered and a mountain disappears Keris is betrayed by her brother Forced to flee into the Unstable she finds her safety is in the hands of a man bonded to the Lord Carasma the Unmakerand her ordered life is turned upside down Her survival will depend on a map and a place called Havenstarbut she can't reproduce the map and Havenstar may not even existHavenstar is a debut novel and to be expected there were some sections where I felt characters voice and register were a bit inconsistent Thats really nit picking though what is a rather original piece of fantasy writing A strong female character and mapmaker as lead an interesting mix of religion and magic I think Havenstar still stacks up against anything current in fantasy and exceeds uite a few in execution and concept It feels familiar in places a society controlled by the church and its Rule and exotic in others with the concept of the unstable and the unmaking of the world Theres enough of a touchstone for a reader of the heirs of Tolkien that you wont feel lost and enough fresh concept to reinvigorate you readingIts a stand alone book for those with an irrational fear of trilogies or a lack of time and a great introduction to Larke who seems to me to be somewhat of a hidden gem in Australian Fantasy writing circlesIf you are looking for some uality fantasy writing to fill your ereader after Christmas then try it out I dont think youll be disappointed This was the authors first published work but shortly after its appearance inthe publisher sank and the book with it Now the author has self published it hurray for the digital age Not only is it available once it has been picked up by a traditional publisher too A result whichever way you look at itThe story has one of the most original settings Ive encountered A cataclysmic event tore the world apart spreading chaos everywhere apart from a few islands of stability which are kept that way by rigorous adherence to a religion based system of rules Travel between these islands is made possible by accurate mapping of the chaotic patches between them Main character Keris is the daughter of a mapmaker who dies under mysterious circumstances in the unstable lands between islands and she is forced away from her home as a result And that doesnt begin to describe the complexities of this worldTheres no easy entry here The reader is dropped into this complicated background without a parachute so the early chapters are riddled with jargon and references to unexplained events places people It isnt long however before explanations begin to appear and although it took me a long time to work out the differences between tainted unbound excluded unstablers ley lit and the like things do become clearer The ley lines are the most significant element these are the ever shifting rivers of chaotic energy which criss cross the landscape the source of power for Carasma the lord of chaos and his minions Keris is accompanied on her journey into the unstable world between the eight stabilities by a motley collection of people a priest following orders a high ranking man making a pilgrimage alone a brothel keeper repenting of her sins a timid man trying to impress his father and so on The guide Davron and his tainted assistant Scow seem almost normal by comparison And then there's the mysterious Meldor who is blind but surprisingly adept for all that All of them feel like real fully rounded people and if they arent exactly people you would meet down the pub Scow is described thus His head was built on a grand scale perhaps twice normal size and his outsized face was circled by an animals mane The hairfurof it cascaded down on to his shoulders hiding his neck they all have their own secrets and tragedies The tainted in particular those caught out while crossing a ley line and transformed in some way are very tragic figures unable to return to the stabilities unable even to touch other people Davron is particularly tragic and the way he and Keris gradually come to understand one another and the development of their slowly unfurling love story undeniable and yet impossible is masterfully doneThe story is intriguing right from the first page and uickly builds to a fast paced and dramatic adventure The conseuence of a world infused with chaos is that anything can happen at any moment creating a tale which crackles with tension and Ill be honest fear some of those tainted and wild creatures were pretty horrifying And yet there was always humour too especially from Corrian the pipe smoking former brothel keeper with her down to earth attitude and appetite for life and the timid uirk who takes to life in the unstable world with surprising nonchalanceThe religion of this world is not at first sight much different from any other hierarchical rigid dogmatic religion but beneath the surface its unusual For one thing its an integral part of the division between stable and unstable areas The stable zones are maintained by the continuous application of kinesis a kind of gesture around the borders and rigorous adherence to exhaustively detailed rules within the boundaries which prescribe what may be grown where what colours and styles of clothing may be worn how many children may be born and what jobs they can do All of this is intended to minimise the number of changes occurring and thus maintain order a kind of stultifying stasis Inevitably this leads to some painfully inhumane results Babies surplus to the permitted two are removed at birth and brought up in the religious order Those who are deformed or who defy authority are thrown out of the stabilities altogether left to survive as best they can Inevitably such a system has its share of the secretly defiant the petty tale tellers and the corrupt who will bend the rules or turn a blind eye for a consideration I wasnt sure whether the author was making a general point about organised religion but I found it very thought provokingThis book is awesome It has all the characteristics I look for in fantasy an original well thought out world a simple but powerful magic system compelling characters who behave realistically and a plot which never lets up for a moment Its emotionally engaging too I always cared about the characters and there were moments that reduced me to tears Keris the map makers daughter is a fantastic heroine and the ending well the ending was perfect I cant describe it any other way A truly wonderful story Five This is the book that started it all My mum picked up forp at some sea side tourist store thinking it was some love in the dust romance Upon realizing it wasn't she handed it to me when I was just a kid not even a teenager yet I shared it with my friends and my original copy disappeared

for years because I lent to to someone who lent it to someone else I went to ebay to find another copy and thats where I found out that it wasn't actually in print any due to publishing problems It was ranging from anywhere betweenpounds at the time I managed to swipe a copy foruid through much patienceIt was THE book that started my love for Fantasy books and I can still pick this book up today and fall in love with the pages and characters all over again Whenever people ask what my favorite book is it is the first thing I think of The word is deep engrossing and frightening and the story goes through some unexpected turns The characters are colorful and flawed and I adore each one whether they be the bad guy or the good guy or the guy who can't make up their mind I just love this book to death and don't want to say anything that could spoil the story for anyone curious about reading it Pretty decent read and I guess I'd round this up tooverall The world building was complex and intricate and I struggled to follow all the rules but the author did a fab job of not info dumping and letting the story naturally progress so that you learned as things happened The plot was fast paced and there was a lot of goings on in this cross country journey The secondary characters were all well rounded and added a bit of comic relief to what could have been a bit of dark fantasy read Of course to really enjoy a story I have to like my MC and Keris was pretty awesome The love story had real potential to be fantastic but fell a bit short somewhere I'm not sure if they fell for each other too fast it still took them likepages in before they admitted it but still sometimes I like a little angst before we go straight to I love you's and We're going to get married However I still really enjoyed the story and would read a seuel if there was one All Keris Kaylen ever wanted was to be a mapmaker like her father Instead she finds herself on the run into the realm of Carasma the Unmaker Lord of Chaos When her path crosses that of the traitorous aristocrat Davron Storre shes way out of her depth with no idea that the magic map shes inherited might make a difference to the world.