Roberson, Jennifer: The Song of Homana
The Song of Homana
Author: Jennifer Roberson
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 327
Final Thoughts: A lot to chew on...
Having read the first half of the omnibus and not being disappointed, it seemed only natural to follow my reading of Shapechangers with that of The Song of Homana.
At 327 pages, Song is only 50 pages longer than its predecessor, but it felt longer to me. This is probably due to the fact that I took more time to read it, and interspersed with the reading of other books, but I think it moved more slowly as well. The switch from Shapechangers' limited third person narrator to Song's first person one confused me a bit, and I had to go back to be sure the first had been in third person. I don't particularly understand why Roberson made the switch, because I think it would have done equally well in third.
I have to admit that I didn't like this as well as I wished I would. I didn't understand Carillon's complete lack of caution about Electra and his inability to see her truly. I felt like Finn was rather a cardboard character, though he shouldn't have been in light of the very real conflicts he deals with. The further discussion of the idea of fate that was so interesting in the first book didn't bring much enlightenment, and though it didn't detract from the plot I felt like it wasn't truly a motivating factor in the story, though it should have been. And the death of one of the main characters seemed cheap and unnecessary to me. Of course, I don't know where the series is supposed to go, but based on my current understanding it seemed superfluous.
Though I won't swear off the rest of the series, it will probably be some time before I pick up the next volume. I'm a bit disappointed, but it might be that I wasn't in the right kind of mood for this kind of story by the time I'd finished it.
Book #35