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The Copper Sign (2006)

by Katia Fox(Favorite Author)

3.51 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

1611090342 (ISBN13: 9781611090345)

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

AmazonCrossing

series

Das kupferne Zeichen

review 1: I enjoyed the story in The Copper Sign, and thought the description of the craft of being a smith and a sword-maker was well done. I didn't always like that just at the moment that the main character found happiness something bad happened. The ending seemed sort of rushed, and it seemed to be missing some details. This was overall a good read and for any one who wanted to know a little more about sword making I would recommend it.
review 2: Katie Fox's "The Copper Sign" reads like a graduate thesis in medieval blacksmithing - well-researched, extremely detailed, and undeniably boring. A friend had recommended this book as a good companion to Ken Follett's "The Pillars of the Earth." I agree that it's a companion book in that both novels focus on craftsmen in th... moree Middle Ages. I also agree that both books are door-stop heavy.But the parallels end there."The Copper Sign" tells the lengthy tale of Ellen, a young English girl who wants to be a blacksmith with every fiber in her being. Due to the period's institutional sexism, Ellen faces what can charitably be described as an uphill battle. Things take an even more ominous turn when Ellen accidentally witnesses her mother's infidelity and Ellen must flee for her life. At a time when many people never wandered more than a few miles from the village where they were born, the prospects of a young girl leaving her home were bleak.Through a series of contrived plot twists and too-convenient deaths and changes of heart, Ellen's life becomes a series of incidents as she wanders from place to place, gradually building the skills needed to become a leading sword-smith. Indeed, her goal is to be so famous at her craft that she will make a sword for the King of England.The best scenes in "The Copper Sign" (the title refers to the copper "E" Ellen uses to adorn her first, greatest sword) focus on the craft of blacksmithing and swordmaking. Unfortunately, the book is over 600 pages and there's a lot going on besides swordmaking. While I respect anyone who takes the time to write a book, Fox quite simply cannot write dialogue. Her characters speak in simple declarative sentences! And she uses too many adverbs - 'crossly,' 'gruffly,' 'eagerly' - to describe how somebody is talking! And her characters end almost all their sentences in exclamation points! There are a lot of exclamation points in this book! If you like exclamation points, you will love "The Copper Sign"!Action scenes fall depressingly flat. Without giving too much away, a climactic scene sees a villain holding a dagger to Ellen's throat, daring another character to save her. In the very next paragraph, the good guy draws his sword, walks over, and stabs the villain in the chest - villain falls dead, scene over. What the heck???Granted, Ms. Fox did not write "The Copper Sign" in English (her book was translated into English by Lee Chadeayne, who also translated the recent hit, "The Hangman's Daughter"), so something may have been lost in translation. But the book's threadbare characters, tedious dialogue, and wandering narrative cannot be blamed on the translation.There's a good 300-page book in these 600-plus pages, but it would have required a strong editor to find it. less

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