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A review by tui_reads
Kirith Kirin by Jim Grimsley
Capsule review: high fantasy with an Arthurian flavour (but not directly Arthurian as far as I can tell; or anyway my Arthurian knowledge isn't strong enough to make the analogies if they exist). A few elements unique & spectacular, a few flaws frustratingly typical of the genre. I am very glad I read it, anyway.
Also I felt a tiny bit cockblocked by the ending. If I'm going to get through 550 pages of high fantasy, dammit, I don't want the happy ending summarised for me! I want to experience it in detail for at least as long as the author spent on describing troop movements!
On the other hand, though, there are things I got out of this book that are unique to high fantasy and yet not that common in the genre nevertheless - a story that is epic in scope yet driven by personality and individuality, rooted deeply in character and clearly favouring character over plot. And some parts of this book are genuinely unique. I don't think I've ever read something where they take a 100-year break in the middle for the protagonist to go into a coma and the battle with the dark lord is, essentially, lost - or at least the victory is put on hold for a long time ... those elements were fascinating, worthwhile, I treasured them.
So: uneven, I guess, but I'm very glad I read it.
Spoiler
I can't give this book a rating because I don't know if I loved it or I hated it. I couldn't put it down, that's for sure. I got stuck in the world, captivated by its rhythms. At the same time, the magic system, deliberately opaque, bothered me quite a bit. I understand that it's supposed to be outside my mortal ken, but this is quite a frustrating experience as a reader when key plotpoints hang on magical technicalities. Moreover, as the book went on, quite intentionally, I believe, Jessex in particular and Kirith Kirin got more and more distant, with fewer and fewer flashes of warmth and humanity, and that wasn't necessarily an enjoyable experience.Also I felt a tiny bit cockblocked by the ending. If I'm going to get through 550 pages of high fantasy, dammit, I don't want the happy ending summarised for me! I want to experience it in detail for at least as long as the author spent on describing troop movements!
On the other hand, though, there are things I got out of this book that are unique to high fantasy and yet not that common in the genre nevertheless - a story that is epic in scope yet driven by personality and individuality, rooted deeply in character and clearly favouring character over plot. And some parts of this book are genuinely unique. I don't think I've ever read something where they take a 100-year break in the middle for the protagonist to go into a coma and the battle with the dark lord is, essentially, lost - or at least the victory is put on hold for a long time ... those elements were fascinating, worthwhile, I treasured them.
So: uneven, I guess, but I'm very glad I read it.