Magic And The Heart Pt. 1 by McCamy Taylor
Posted: August 09, 2007, 08:52:11 PM
It's hard to judge a serial by only the first part. Threads are left dangling intentionally, and you never quite know what's important or not.
That being said, there were a few definite things I liked:
First, that the magic has a rigid set of rules to make it work, and when it works, it follows the physics allowed in this universe.
Second, that for a universe that clearly extends across several dimensional planes, it's very well defined. Daema come from certain places, humans another, and spark gnomes from yet one more. Each has abilities specific to them. Even if I don't understand it all yet, the author seems to (and you'd be surprised and saddened how often an author seems just as clueless as an unfamiliar reader). I don't need to know the hows and whys, but I do need to think the author does.
Finally, that something more mysterious is going on, and that's really important for me. I want to know the place and story I'm reading about has depth. I can tell it has something to do with the scar, but I don't know what.
These seem a bit hard and fast (sorry), but on the down side, I'm afraid the hook seems weak, and takes too long to be set. I think the speech patterns of the characters may be too "modern" and didn't fit what I expected from a mythic/magical environment (but that could just be me). I would love to see more description and using more sensory input so that I could tell for sure what's going on. Sammual is awfully patient with Marc. That is, for someone known for being easily annoyed, he answers the constant stream of questions and explains everything with patience I would not possess. Plus the answers are in detail--perhaps in too much detail, almost to the point of infodump by dialog. Finally, I think the wording could be edited to be just a bit snappier or concise, and thereby pick up the pace a little.
Again, it's hard to judge everything from only one part, but there is enough mystery here for me to keep coming back for more. I'm curious to see what's really going on.
Nate
That being said, there were a few definite things I liked:
First, that the magic has a rigid set of rules to make it work, and when it works, it follows the physics allowed in this universe.
Second, that for a universe that clearly extends across several dimensional planes, it's very well defined. Daema come from certain places, humans another, and spark gnomes from yet one more. Each has abilities specific to them. Even if I don't understand it all yet, the author seems to (and you'd be surprised and saddened how often an author seems just as clueless as an unfamiliar reader). I don't need to know the hows and whys, but I do need to think the author does.
Finally, that something more mysterious is going on, and that's really important for me. I want to know the place and story I'm reading about has depth. I can tell it has something to do with the scar, but I don't know what.
These seem a bit hard and fast (sorry), but on the down side, I'm afraid the hook seems weak, and takes too long to be set. I think the speech patterns of the characters may be too "modern" and didn't fit what I expected from a mythic/magical environment (but that could just be me). I would love to see more description and using more sensory input so that I could tell for sure what's going on. Sammual is awfully patient with Marc. That is, for someone known for being easily annoyed, he answers the constant stream of questions and explains everything with patience I would not possess. Plus the answers are in detail--perhaps in too much detail, almost to the point of infodump by dialog. Finally, I think the wording could be edited to be just a bit snappier or concise, and thereby pick up the pace a little.
Again, it's hard to judge everything from only one part, but there is enough mystery here for me to keep coming back for more. I'm curious to see what's really going on.
Nate