Daughter of Ancients by Carol Berg
So, why did this start out being about a 30-something woman dealing with grief who got caught up in a fantasy plot, and then turn into her son’s fantasy plot? Not that I dislike Gerick, but I prefer the series I originally started reading.
It’s not that there’s anything wrong with the plot, or with Gerick, though what happens to him is always more interesting than Gerick on his own, as are the people around him. But the first book was Seri learning about another world and dealing with the truth of her own past and her demons. The second was mostly evenly divided between Karon reconciling his selves, Gerick being turned into a Zhid, then regaining his humanity, and Seri trying to save her husband and son. The tail end, however, was almost wholly focused on Gerick, and between that and the time lapse between books, we never got to see Seri and Karon work out their many problems. The third book was mostly focused on the fear that Gerick would become a Zhid again, and his proving that he wasn’t.
Then we get to book four. There, we add in D’Sanya, who spent years being warped and tortured by the Zhid, who believes she is saving the world, but is actually destroying it. We also add in Jen,the first person Gerick put a slave collar on when he was a Zhid, who spent years reclaiming herself, and who has to deal with her need for vengeance and reconcile Gerick-the-Zhid with who Gerick is now. So, with two new, interesting plots to explore, what’s the focus? Round three of the threat of Gerick losing his humanity to become a Zhid and destroy the world.
Meanwhile, Seri has been relegated to almost a small supporting role in what used to be her story.
Short version: good series, but later books never live up to the promise of the first.
It’s not that there’s anything wrong with the plot, or with Gerick, though what happens to him is always more interesting than Gerick on his own, as are the people around him. But the first book was Seri learning about another world and dealing with the truth of her own past and her demons. The second was mostly evenly divided between Karon reconciling his selves, Gerick being turned into a Zhid, then regaining his humanity, and Seri trying to save her husband and son. The tail end, however, was almost wholly focused on Gerick, and between that and the time lapse between books, we never got to see Seri and Karon work out their many problems. The third book was mostly focused on the fear that Gerick would become a Zhid again, and his proving that he wasn’t.
Then we get to book four. There, we add in D’Sanya, who spent years being warped and tortured by the Zhid, who believes she is saving the world, but is actually destroying it. We also add in Jen,the first person Gerick put a slave collar on when he was a Zhid, who spent years reclaiming herself, and who has to deal with her need for vengeance and reconcile Gerick-the-Zhid with who Gerick is now. So, with two new, interesting plots to explore, what’s the focus? Round three of the threat of Gerick losing his humanity to become a Zhid and destroy the world.
Meanwhile, Seri has been relegated to almost a small supporting role in what used to be her story.
Short version: good series, but later books never live up to the promise of the first.