The Wizard Hunters by Martha Wells

[meganbmoore]

Set around 30 years after The Death of the Necromancer, The Wizard Hunters begins with our heroine, Tremaine Valiarde, trying to think of a way to kill herself. But she can’t just die any way, it has to look like an accident. Being raised by an emotionally distant (I believe Tremaine refers to him as “emotionally dead” at one point) master criminal

Comments

[chomiji]

What, Ilias' tormented background wasn't angsty enough for you? And how about his brotherly relationship with Giliead? (Not to mention the immortal line about Ixion: "Ixion alive had been bad enough. Ixion, dead, headless and really, really annoyed was unimaginably worse ... .") Wells really does love to bring The Snark.

I'm glad you're enjoying this! I can never understand why an author like Wells languishes unbought, while so many pieces of crap - or at best, plastic - sell like hot cakes and get good reviews. (Stand by - if I can make myself finish reading it - for a prime example ... .)

[meganbmoore]

Ilias's angsty past is properly appealling, but I'm afraid it's hard to top the lead when she opens the book trying to think of a way to kill herself and make it look like an accident. (And his angsty past is also kinda common.)

No idea who Stand is by, or what it is...

[chomiji]

Ooops, that wasn't meant to be a title. It was an order, so to speak - "Just hang in there, and eventually I'll fill you in on this book, which is a great example of what I mean." The book in question is The Lies of Locke Lamora, but I was trying to be cagey - clearly a big mistake.

I didn't think that Ilias' backstory was any kind of record-breaker for angst, but I liked it, and it gives him (and Giliead) more character.

In puzzling over the book's relative lack of popularity, I find myself wondering whether people just don't find Tremaine sympathetic enough because she's so down-to-earth about her problems - "Hey, I can't stand my life, so I'm going to do something about it, but I gotta make sure it doesn't backfire on anyone else" - rather than angsting on about them.

[meganbmoore]

Hmm...I really liked Locke Lamora, but I think that, like Melusine, the narrative structure there is either going to suck you in, or make you think it's a ploy at being "interesting." I admit, though, that it didn't really click for me until a certain point. But there's plenty of truly, genuinely bad stuff out there that's massively popular, or stuff that's generic that's hugely popular. And let's face it, nothing tops Eragon in "how could anyone think this is good?"

Wells's book tend to be kind of an odd mishmash of things. The Ile-Rien books tend to be clear send ups to certain storytypes-Element of Fire is a swashbuckler, Death of the Necromancer a gothic revenge, and Wizard Hunters 1930s pulpy adventure-but then take them out of their normal elements and add magic and technology that's out of place to the story normally. For me, it's why I like them, so far, and helps with the sometimes convoluted and rambly plots, but I think the odd combinations are offputting for some.

[sienamystic]

I think Wells is great fun, and I have an unholy love for Element of Fire as well as a great fondness for Death of the Necromancer. I enjoy the Tremaine books, but there's something about them that keeps me at a bit of a distance. I've actually been pondering a reread so I could figure it out.

I really liked Locke Lamora as well, for what it's worth - but don't have much of an interest in reading the next book in the series.

[meganbmoore]

Element of Fire is great swashbuckling fun, and Necromancer is really good for its storytype, it just has a hero who isn't vbery likable, but that's probably deliberate.

The thing about Locke Lamora is that, when you finish, you just don't see what the point of a sequel would be.

[sienamystic]

Which is funny, because I have a vague memory of reading the author's LJ and hearing that he had the idea of stretching out the books not just into a series, but into a really, really long series. And...well, I really like Lynch's flair for dialogue, so I'd probably read for that, but I'm not sure about it all.

[meganbmoore]

Didn't know he had an LJ.

Sometimes, I think, authors tend to get attached to a character and not realize they need to just leave them be after their one send off, or make them too prominent so that they start taking over the story(see: lots of shounen manga) or are blind to their faults (see: ERAGON.)

While I don't really object to reading more about Locke and Jean, I'd rather read more about the city than them in another place.

[redbrunja]

Oh, man, I love the Wizard Hunters. I actually read the trilogy before I read death of a necromancer, which I liked much less.

But I adore Tremaine, and how even though she's neither a mage nor a warrior, she is clearly in control.

[meganbmoore]

And so very, very frank. And clueless in certain regards. Not that she's alone.

*currently finishing up the 3rd*

[redbrunja]

That's what makes her awesome. I will forever love the scene where she and Ilias get engaged, and some of the fall out from that, because it's priceless.

[meganbmoore]

And her perceived romantic rival is biggest on the "why do they have no brains?"