Crysania
Registered User
- Joined
- Jul 27, 2001
- Messages
- 465
Finally finished Magister's Trilogy. I ADORED the 3rd book. I really liked the 1st book, wasn't thrilled with the 2nd, but the 3rd was the bomb. It's not a perfect series. I'm going to NOT compare it to Coldfire. I DO think that was a more COMPLETE series but I don't think it's fair to judge Magisters against it for the purpose of the simple question of is it good or not. Is it as good as Coldfire? No. But if I had never read Coldfire would I love Magisters? Yes. I think Freidman is VERY underrated.
Here are my thoughts: (MASSIVE SPOILERS)
But again, I really love the way it all came together in this book. The dialogue was well done, the passages fleshed-out and unhurried, the visionary scope vast and cinematic (for some reason, I love the scene where Colivar climbs onto the balcony of Nassan's palace all bloodied and wild above a crowd, then jumps and immediately turns into a soul eater), the characters - for the most part - were flawed and human and dark, the battles weren't there for the sake of being there, the dark thread through it all was interesting, there wasn't any gratuitous killing just bc GRRM has made it trendy.... yeah, I'm a big fan. It's going to appeal to some folks and it's not going to appeal to others and that's fine with me.
For me it was a joy to have finally loved a series of books for the first time in 7 years and it had me day dreaming and drifting off and freaking out at plot twists and picking out certain songs for a playlist (some GREAT tunes!) like I used to do when I was young and reading voraciously. It was a great ride and now I'm sad it's over.
Totally recommend it but it's not for everyone...if your brain isn't wired like mine you may not like it. lol.
Here are my thoughts: (MASSIVE SPOILERS)
Colivar. The end. LOVE. Good lord in heaven, that man.... It seems obvious to me Friedman is a bit in love with him herself and that's fine with me. He's giving Jiriki a run for his money for character I'd most like to.... er.... 'hang out' with... yeah.... lol! Whatever the case, Colivar is so freaking flawed it's beautiful. Weirdly the dynamic between him and Kamala and Ramirus brought to mind HOUSE MD and House, Cuddy, and Wilson (any House fans?). That scene between them after Colivar is rescued is stupendendous. I love how he slowly unravels bit by bit until he's nothing but a haunted man and then he loses his humanity only to find it again - and I think it's clear it is what he wants most. The love story with him and Kamala is lovely. It came upon subtly though sudden. He's finally found his equal his "confidant" - he regretted not being able to make Siderea that - and here he finds it in Kamala. She helps him find his humanity again. I'd rather a Kamala/Colivar love story the any of that Nicholas Sparks crap that's rampant everywhere. Blech. I like the darkness, the twisted pasts, the ambiguous morality, the pain that causes both bad, selfish decisions and self-sacrificing noble ones. It was just very well done. I tend to gravitate towards his type though - Colivar, Gerald Tarrant, Snape, Raistlin, Heathcliff, House MD.... you get the type... the fact that this one comes through unscathed was so surprising and satisfying....
I thought Gwynofar disappears in this book - which was ashame. Salvator already put the deathblow on the first ikati queen. I wish she had done it here to the 2nd instead of Salvator again. I only started liking Salvator at the very end when he was more tolerant of the magisters. I can't stand sanctimonious people and so he was not one of my favorites. I love that the Ikati are BEASTS and therefore it's hard to just blindly hate them. They just do what they do because they are programmed to. And the storyline about humanity vs. bestial instinct was really well done in these books - especially this 3rd one. I liked Rhys as a character and I love his Welsh name but I wasn't a fan of the Rhys-as-Kamala-lover storyline. What was the point of that? It just took away from the Colivar love story which was more important to the narrative imo. But whatever. I didn't like Kamala much in Book 2 - perhaps why I just wasn't a fan of that installment. Siderea -- seriously? She's going to be pissed off that the Magisters "abandoned" her? Let me give you a little tip, honey honey.... spread your legs for a crap ton of dudes and you get what you get. It's fine if you want to do that - whatever floats anyone's boat - but don't be delusional about it. You can't expect them to be emotionally attached to you and to be there for your emotionally - it is what it is. For being the master male manipulator, she sure was short sighted in this matter. I really just hated her by book 3. Some were disappointed she died too fast but if Nassan hadn't dealt the death blow, I'm not sure Colivar would have been able to. That brings me to my two main gripes about the series:
1. The Feminism was a tad heavy-handed and I'm as feminist as they come. It's like by the time I'm at the end of book 2 - all men are horny fools ruled by their sexual drive (sounds like an ikati) and all women are under their thumb unless they know how to manipulate. Except for Rhys but even he seems bestial in some respects. Luckily, I think she rights the boat on all this in Book 3 by showing us other aspects to the characters and having Lazaroth - really a woman - turn out to be the most unlikable of characters. The culture surrounding the Ikati queen and how she is treated and reacted to by her peers was brought to light in Book 3 and thus the whole concept was more palatable and interesting from my perspective
2. The biggest glaring issue I had with this series - and thus it's imperfection - is we never resolve the moral ambiguity about where the magisters get their power. So they're just going to go on killing people in order for them to live and provide the world with sorcery... ? That is the ONLY plot point I wish had been examined more. I really half imagined that at the end, the Magisters would be given a chance: DIE or live the rest of your natural life as a morati. I'm not sure how that would have came about, but that's what I had envisioned.
I thought Gwynofar disappears in this book - which was ashame. Salvator already put the deathblow on the first ikati queen. I wish she had done it here to the 2nd instead of Salvator again. I only started liking Salvator at the very end when he was more tolerant of the magisters. I can't stand sanctimonious people and so he was not one of my favorites. I love that the Ikati are BEASTS and therefore it's hard to just blindly hate them. They just do what they do because they are programmed to. And the storyline about humanity vs. bestial instinct was really well done in these books - especially this 3rd one. I liked Rhys as a character and I love his Welsh name but I wasn't a fan of the Rhys-as-Kamala-lover storyline. What was the point of that? It just took away from the Colivar love story which was more important to the narrative imo. But whatever. I didn't like Kamala much in Book 2 - perhaps why I just wasn't a fan of that installment. Siderea -- seriously? She's going to be pissed off that the Magisters "abandoned" her? Let me give you a little tip, honey honey.... spread your legs for a crap ton of dudes and you get what you get. It's fine if you want to do that - whatever floats anyone's boat - but don't be delusional about it. You can't expect them to be emotionally attached to you and to be there for your emotionally - it is what it is. For being the master male manipulator, she sure was short sighted in this matter. I really just hated her by book 3. Some were disappointed she died too fast but if Nassan hadn't dealt the death blow, I'm not sure Colivar would have been able to. That brings me to my two main gripes about the series:
1. The Feminism was a tad heavy-handed and I'm as feminist as they come. It's like by the time I'm at the end of book 2 - all men are horny fools ruled by their sexual drive (sounds like an ikati) and all women are under their thumb unless they know how to manipulate. Except for Rhys but even he seems bestial in some respects. Luckily, I think she rights the boat on all this in Book 3 by showing us other aspects to the characters and having Lazaroth - really a woman - turn out to be the most unlikable of characters. The culture surrounding the Ikati queen and how she is treated and reacted to by her peers was brought to light in Book 3 and thus the whole concept was more palatable and interesting from my perspective
2. The biggest glaring issue I had with this series - and thus it's imperfection - is we never resolve the moral ambiguity about where the magisters get their power. So they're just going to go on killing people in order for them to live and provide the world with sorcery... ? That is the ONLY plot point I wish had been examined more. I really half imagined that at the end, the Magisters would be given a chance: DIE or live the rest of your natural life as a morati. I'm not sure how that would have came about, but that's what I had envisioned.
But again, I really love the way it all came together in this book. The dialogue was well done, the passages fleshed-out and unhurried, the visionary scope vast and cinematic (for some reason, I love the scene where Colivar climbs onto the balcony of Nassan's palace all bloodied and wild above a crowd, then jumps and immediately turns into a soul eater), the characters - for the most part - were flawed and human and dark, the battles weren't there for the sake of being there, the dark thread through it all was interesting, there wasn't any gratuitous killing just bc GRRM has made it trendy.... yeah, I'm a big fan. It's going to appeal to some folks and it's not going to appeal to others and that's fine with me.
For me it was a joy to have finally loved a series of books for the first time in 7 years and it had me day dreaming and drifting off and freaking out at plot twists and picking out certain songs for a playlist (some GREAT tunes!) like I used to do when I was young and reading voraciously. It was a great ride and now I'm sad it's over.
Totally recommend it but it's not for everyone...if your brain isn't wired like mine you may not like it. lol.
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