A fantasy world with strange gods, magical tattoos, wizards and sorcerers, a conquered city, a duchess in exile, and a whirlwind of action. I liked it. Enough that after reading Ink Mage, I requested the following two books in the trilogy.
What surprised me a few minutes ago when I checked the reviews was that the reviews of Ink Mage ran the gamut from 1 star to 5 stars. Those who didn't like it, really, really didn't like it. Plenty more reviewers liked it a great deal with 4-5 stars.
Reasons for low ratings ranged from the cursing, the sex, and the predictability. But...Ink Mage isn't listed as a YA novel (and I've read plenty of YA novels that contained much more of all 3 critical areas) and while I felt the cursing was maybe a little modern and I noticed it, it didn't seem over-the-top. The sex...well, there is a brothel in the city that plays an important role. As for predictability, yes. Hard to find a fantasy that doesn't have elements that are predictable, and fantasy tropes are always going to be present in some degree.
Think of Jung and Joseph Campbell, archetypes, collective unconscious, etc. Stories repeat themselves, but certain elements will always be included. I found enough original approaches to satisfy me, and I like fantasy tropes.
Heroes are constructions; they are not real. All societies have similar hero stories not because they coincidentally made them up on their own, but because heroes express a deep psychological aspect of human existence. They can be seen as a metaphor for the human search of self-knowledge. In other words, the hero shows us the path to our own consciousness through his actions. Source
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Rina, the main character, is both human and heroic. Her rather pampered life is interrupted when her city is conquered by invaders and betrayal, but she rises to the occasion. The minor characters are also well-developed, flawed, and capable of growth.
I liked that all of the women were strong and competent-- contributing instead of being shunted to the side. They aren't perfect, each one has flaws, but neither are they placeholders or dependent on men. When given the opportunity, even the women of the brothel prove their worth over and over; given their minor roles, I especially liked seeing this. (just realized I'm skipping ahead with the "over and over" phrase, but these former prostitutes carry into the next books).
I liked that Gischler wrapped things up; there is no real cliffhanger, even though you know the stories and the characters have two more books to go.
The novels are not epic fantasy in the way of Kate Elliot, Robin Hobb, Tolkien, George R.R. Martin, but the series does have some interesting characters, some moral dilemmas, and has some unique touches.
NetGalley
Fantasy. 2013. Print length: 402 pages.
The Tattooed Duchess presents new problems. The threat of a renewed invasion still exists and a new and even more malevolent menace is arising. A conflict is arising among the gods, and Rina must seek more tattoos of power to be able to combat the coming perils. The story expands, and the original "team" begins to split up to take care of specific problems.
NetGalley
Fantasy. 2015. Print length: 370 pages.
I liked the focus of the first book and felt the multiple perspectives and separate missions had a diffuse effect on the last two.
NetGalley
Fantasy. Jan. 19, 2016. Print length: 402 pages.
It's always a shame when the first of a series turns out to be the strongest but maybe it's because it was a unique idea and then when you got used to it, then it wasn't as gripping. I don't know :)
ReplyDeleteI have been craving some good fantasy and I've read from dark to epic to YA to... you get the idea, so it's not that I'm fussy about the sub-genre nor do I mind fantasy tropes which are hard to avoid. I just need to be grabbed by the throat and pulled in if I'm going to read a chunkster, which many fantasies are. I have Mistborn #1 and am hesitant to start it and find out that I'm not involved enough to continue. Anyway, thanks for a really good review!
I really love epic fantasy. The Farseer Trilogy by Hobb is a favorite. Haven't read the Mistborn series, but that would be a good one if Carl does his Once Upon a Time challenge this year!
DeleteInk Mage sounds good. I like that it has strong female characters...and not a lot of stupid ones. It's got a great cover, too. I think I might give this one a try...see whether I think it's a 5 or a 1. :)
ReplyDeleteIt was a little surprising how many strong women were included. Not perfect women, but definitely courageous and determined!
DeleteI like reading about strong female characters in all genres, maybe more so in YA and yes, in fantasy too. Ink Mage sounds like an interesting read to me.
ReplyDeleteI really liked the first one. I think some people who didn't like it much read it in serial from--little bits at a time. The author writes comic books for Marvel Comics and worked on X-Men, Curse of the Mutants, which is kind of interesting.
DeleteI really like the sound of this series, even with the later books in the trilogy not being as strong as the first. It's been so long since I read epic fantasy. I do enjoy it though.
ReplyDeleteI really liked the first one, but enjoyed the entire series. One of those that reads quickly because you get so involved. :)
DeleteMagical tattoos is fun! I don't think I've read many books that use that plot element. I'm going to see if I can get my hands on these books -- I have a bunch of travel coming up later in the year, so an epic fantasy series would be the perfect thing to read on planes.
ReplyDeleteAll three were from NetGalley! I really liked the idea of each tattoo adding an element of power. When I made the comparison to epic fantasy, I was trying to say that this trilogy is not of the same stuff of Eliott, Hobb, and other great writers of epic fantasy. It has many of the same elements, but not the great length and depth of, for example, Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. Gischler's books read much faster.
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