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Medair (2000)

by Andrea K. Höst(Favorite Author)

4.27 of 5 Votes: 5

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Andrea K. Hösth

review 1: 3.5This duology was enjoyable, but a bit confusing for me. I enjoyed the first book- The silence of Medair- immensely. It had great and credible world building, the idea of Heralds with their satchels was fascinating, and I loved the idea that the heroine was not a hero, but simply a loyal Imperial messenger driven to desperation. What a heartbreaking and intriguing place to pick up a story- the complete failure of an everyday person in her attempt to save all that she knew due to an ill-fated twist of magic. I really liked that the set up allowed Host to ask interesting questions about hanging onto the wounds and prejudices of the past, and whether you can hate a culture that has become your own. However, the reason I have reservations in my love for the Medair duology is... more twofold- I felt that it started like an adventure fantasy, but the second book ended like a love story. While I was somewhat satisfied with the emotional arc that Medair went through and the resolution of her relationships, I was frustrated because I felt like it just ended with "And they lived mostly happily ever after..." I wanted more- the world is left in a pretty messed up state and I would have liked to have seen some resolution there.Which highlights my second point - Host made some pretty strange choices in plotting the direciton of the story. What starts as an interestingly twisted fantasy gets twisted and then twisted again and then twisted again, so that they story was somewhat random and almost out of shape. Again, it allowed Host to ask and explore interesting questions- would your life be different or better if you didn't let other people's opinions shape your self worth? - but I felt more like the author was pulling random levers than taking me on a carefully plotted joureny with Medair, and that was at times uncomfortable. Don't let my reservations stop you from reading these books though- I did enjoy and would definitely recommend it as an entertaining and truely interesting take on a fantasy story, but I didn't enjoy it as much as the later Touchstone series, which had just as many twists but was maybe better plotted. I plan to continue reading Andrea Host's catalogue since I have enjoyed the interesting stories she tells.
review 2: It's exciting to be finally able to give a five star rating to a book -- with the explosion of paranormal and the urban fantasy genre, good ones seem hard to come by recently. But I found this one captivating. Though it builds on the potentially trite theme of forbidden love, it rises far above the formulaic, instead using the theme to probe deeper questions of anger, forgiveness, loyalty, honor and love. Medair is a re-publishing of two books in one: The Silence of Medair and The Voice of the Lost. However neither one is even remotely stand-alone, so I recommend getting this compound volume.The book opens about a year after Medair returns from a quest for a magical horn to save the empire she serves as a herald from the invading Ibisians. Though her quest was successful, she has returned 500 years too late. Her side lost and the once-invaders are now as much a part of the new country she comes home to as the indigenous population is. She struggles to lay down the cause she fought for, the resentment she feels for the Ibisians and understand her new role -- what does it mean for her to serve her empire so long after the one she swore allegiance to was drastically changed? (Warning: possible spoilers below)Events throw her reluctantly in with an Ibisian nobleman, one who reminds her too much of the king who conquered her people. Host uses Medair's ambivalent dealings with both men, the one from the present and recollections of Ibisian king to probe feelings of loss and anger and the possibility of forgiveness and acceptance. I love how Host moves between present and recalled events to unfold both current and back-story. No info dumping here. Instead dramatic recollections are skillfully woven into the story thread and serve explain Medair and her issues.Medair is a real and likable character, trying hard to do the right thing in a situation where the choices are no longer clear. Her struggles and moral dilemmas seem real to me (if perhaps a touch repetitive, but I can over look this). She is a strong heroine, but avoids the superhumanness that's can be an annoying trap in this genre. I especially like how she tries to be honest with herself when she probes her motivations -- how shame, desire for the approval of others, mixes with her sense of duty, her desires. She has some blind spots, but these are also developed in interesting ways -- the-lady-doth- protest-too-much sort of thing. I also love the world created, with complex cultures and traditions. I also have a soft spot for authors who make up enough new words that they offer the reader a glossary. (I personally hate having things over-explained in the story itself. Just enough is given in context to make most aspects understandable here.)I should admit that this book has a number of flaws, some of them I would complain about bitterly in the case of most books. But this one has so much going for it, I would almost prefer to ignore them... I kind of felt that too much went on in the second book -- we go from one dramatic change to another. This was primarily a character-driven novel such that the action served to put the characters in situations where they might change and grow. This was done masterfully in the first book, but the second I felt like a number of things were over-the-top and served more as a distraction from what the characters were doing, unless this was supposed to be a prequel to another series or something. Toning it down would have made for a more believable and powerful backdrop for the character development. I also have a beef with the secondary characters. Though not as one-dimensional as often is the case, they were done a disservice by the Medair-only POV. Their problems were not focused on enough to make them truly compelling. Finally, the Decian uprising was entirely unconvincing to me. Why were they so unhappy again if the Ibisian rulers were so just? How did the king know how to use wild magic if no-one else knew how? Why now? Way too many loose ends... And finally, how was it that Medair's invisibility ring was destroyed in one chapter and then remarkably was used again 4 chapters later??? -- think this is a sign that a better editor was in order.In spite of these problems, this is the best book I've read in a long time. The love story is masterfully told. Starting so subtly you hardly see it coming. It grows so gradually you almost don't notice. And then there is a twist that's like -- holy crap I totally didn't see that coming but explains so much! Amazing. Antithesis of Bella-Edward insta-love BS. Anyway, this one really stuck with me. I finished it and had to go back and re-read a bunch of parts of it (I almost _never_ do that) and it was even better the second time through. Highly recommended. less

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