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mimmsmilk's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
I didn’t read this book blind to Lindholm’s writing; I’ve read her entire Realm of the Elderlings series under her more famous penname, Robin Hobb, and count those books as some of the best I’ve ever read.
This is all to say I may be biased in this review. That being said, all of the discourse I’ve seen online is mainly that her older Lindholm books are okay, but not on the same level as her Hobb books.
To me, that’s not the case. In Harpy’s Flight, Lindholm creates a vast, important world, and then shrinks the perspective with lazer-like focus to a pinprick, focusing only on a single journey in one minuscule part of it. It makes me hunger for more while admiring the author’s restraint. The reader gets no heavy exposition unless it matters to the small cast of characters. Lindholm and Hobb are on par with their ability to study and show characterisation on a deeper level.
It does deal with dark themes, but I will say there is more of a sarcastic, feminine edge to Lindholm’s writing than when she writes as Hobb.
The writing is a little rougher, but in no way bad. There were some moments, especially at the beginning, where I was a little lost in the structure; there are many flashbacks inserted in a way that made it difficult to orient myself in the general timeline.
It was a book I started one day and stayed up all night to finish. Very excited to read more.
This is all to say I may be biased in this review. That being said, all of the discourse I’ve seen online is mainly that her older Lindholm books are okay, but not on the same level as her Hobb books.
To me, that’s not the case. In Harpy’s Flight, Lindholm creates a vast, important world, and then shrinks the perspective with lazer-like focus to a pinprick, focusing only on a single journey in one minuscule part of it. It makes me hunger for more while admiring the author’s restraint. The reader gets no heavy exposition unless it matters to the small cast of characters. Lindholm and Hobb are on par with their ability to study and show characterisation on a deeper level.
It does deal with dark themes, but I will say there is more of a sarcastic, feminine edge to Lindholm’s writing than when she writes as Hobb.
The writing is a little rougher, but in no way bad. There were some moments, especially at the beginning, where I was a little lost in the structure; there are many flashbacks inserted in a way that made it difficult to orient myself in the general timeline.
It was a book I started one day and stayed up all night to finish. Very excited to read more.
sebjoe's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
books_n_bananas's review
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
twelfthfox's review
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
arkenst0ne's review
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
saraishelafs's review
5.0
The story is told well eliciting emotions and sustaining involvement with the characters. I enjoyed it as much as I enjoy novels by Robin Hobb (wink,wink)
echo86's review
4.0
I like how the main characters play off each other. The cultural aspects of this world are nice and subtle without explicitly explaining every race and culture that exists. This is a lighter story than her Robin Hobb series but enjoyable none the less.
angrywombat's review
4.0
Well....
That was something...
"Harpy's Flight" was the first fantasy novel written by Margaret Ogden (a.k.a Robin Hobb, Megan Lindholm). I knew it was her first novel and was expecting something fairly rough... but oh boy was I wrong.
I think most people who read fantasy will have heard of Robin Hobb and the fan-frikken-tastic series of series that is the "Realm of the Enderlings". The characterisation in those books really sets the standard in fantasy (I feel) and are some of my favourite books these days. So when I went looking at her early works I was going in with very lowered expectations. But from the first we get some great "Hobb" writing. The whole book if from the point of view of Ki - a woman bent on revenge.
The writing is on point. We get a great scene of climbing a mountain to get to a Harpy nest, and the writing really sucked me in. I still think that the Courtney Schafer did better rock-climbing in "The Whitefire Crossing, but this comes close. Ki is a woman driven to revenge for the death of her husband Sven and two kids. It almost feels a reverse of the cliche of the hero's wife being killed off... But Ki saw the loves of her life taken by a mated pair of Harpys, and now she is willing to throw away her life in the pursuit of revenge.... She survives, miraculously, but the act ripples out over the whole story.
The "rough" bit of this book is the structure. It starts sort of in the middle. There is a forward track of a smuggling trip across a mountain pass that goes wrong, and a series of flashbacks that details how Ki and her husband met, his family and their traditions. Including the odd religion that worships the Harpy's as psychopomps who carry the souls of the deceased. (So yes, that revenge causes problems for her...) The transitions between the forward and flashback narratives is not handled very nicely - abrupt and sometimes a little confusing.
But the good here is great :) The "worldbuilding" is very subtle and always in support of the events around Ki -everything seems incidental and in the background until it comes front and centre and impacts Ki in some new way. Also the world itself feels interesting - with humans only one of a number of "sentient species".
While this is only book one of a series of 4, it feels like a stand alone novel about a broken woman slowly trying to find a new connection to life.
Definitely would recommend and will be reading the rest of the series!
That was something...
"Harpy's Flight" was the first fantasy novel written by Margaret Ogden (a.k.a Robin Hobb, Megan Lindholm). I knew it was her first novel and was expecting something fairly rough... but oh boy was I wrong.
I think most people who read fantasy will have heard of Robin Hobb and the fan-frikken-tastic series of series that is the "Realm of the Enderlings". The characterisation in those books really sets the standard in fantasy (I feel) and are some of my favourite books these days. So when I went looking at her early works I was going in with very lowered expectations. But from the first we get some great "Hobb" writing. The whole book if from the point of view of Ki - a woman bent on revenge.
The writing is on point. We get a great scene of climbing a mountain to get to a Harpy nest, and the writing really sucked me in. I still think that the Courtney Schafer did better rock-climbing in "The Whitefire Crossing, but this comes close. Ki is a woman driven to revenge for the death of her husband Sven and two kids. It almost feels a reverse of the cliche of the hero's wife being killed off... But Ki saw the loves of her life taken by a mated pair of Harpys, and now she is willing to throw away her life in the pursuit of revenge.... She survives, miraculously, but the act ripples out over the whole story.
The "rough" bit of this book is the structure. It starts sort of in the middle. There is a forward track of a smuggling trip across a mountain pass that goes wrong, and a series of flashbacks that details how Ki and her husband met, his family and their traditions. Including the odd religion that worships the Harpy's as psychopomps who carry the souls of the deceased. (So yes, that revenge causes problems for her...) The transitions between the forward and flashback narratives is not handled very nicely - abrupt and sometimes a little confusing.
But the good here is great :) The "worldbuilding" is very subtle and always in support of the events around Ki -everything seems incidental and in the background until it comes front and centre and impacts Ki in some new way. Also the world itself feels interesting - with humans only one of a number of "sentient species".
While this is only book one of a series of 4, it feels like a stand alone novel about a broken woman slowly trying to find a new connection to life.
Definitely would recommend and will be reading the rest of the series!
annastarlight's review
4.0
Harpy's Flight is the debut novel of Megan Lindholm, also known as Robin Hobb. While reading I realized how refreshing it is to read a short fantasy story, rather than the drawn-out tomes that are still in fashion.