| Title | : | Wit'ch Fire (The Banned and the Banished, #1) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0345417062 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780345417060 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Mass Market Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 428 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 1998 |
On a fateful night five centuries ago, three made a desperate last stand, sacrificing everything to preserve the only hope of goodness in the beautiful, doomed land of Alasea. Now, on the anniversary of that ominous night, a girl-child ripens into the heritage of lost power. But before she can even comprehend her terrible new gift, the Dark Lord dispatches his winged monsters to capture her and bring him the embryonic magic she embodies.
Fleeing the minions of darkness, Elena is swept toward certain doom-and into the company of unexpected allies. Aided by a one-armed warrior and a strange seer, she forms a band of the hunted and the cursed, the outcasts and the outlaws, to battle the unstoppable forces of evil and rescue a once-glorious empire...
Wit'ch Fire (The Banned and the Banished, #1) Reviews
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This is one of my favorite fantasy books of all time. I was stunned and completely entranced by the introduction of the story. It starts out in such a unique and impacting way, and then get's better and better. It is a page-turner for sure, making it extremely difficult to put down.
The characters are interesting, complex, and well thought-out. They definitely add to the reason why this is such a great book. There are some characters that I will never forget--Such as one of the heroes, Er'ril of Standi, whom I instantly fell in love and sympathized with. And of course, one of the villains, Greshym, whom is one of the most interesting and bad-ass dark wizards of all time in my opinion.
James Clemens' writing is superb. If your a writer, you might wish you could write as well as he does after you read this book.
As for his fantasy world, it is definitely one that you can get sucked into and wish to be a part of. The lands he creates are magical and beautiful and, as always, insert beautiful pictures in your mind.
The only thing I had a problem with in this book were all of the unnesessary aposthrephies. He uses them a lot in character names. Though they aren't distracting, I don't see why they need to be there most of the time.
With that being said, this is a worthwhile book to check out. If you like this book, then you will most likely enjoy the rest in this series. -
This book falls into a very unusual category for me. Books I don't especially like that I manage to finish. Since I only review books I finish this is one of the rare times you'll see a broadly negative review from me.
It took me two attempts. When I first bought it I tried to read it and gave up about a third of the way through. A few months later I uncovered it while tidying up and gave it another shot. This time I finished it, but I still wasn't entirely impressed.
This is Fantasy by the numbers in the worst possible way. Dark Lords, near human races, innocent protagonist with strange powers they didn't ask for and don't want, wise councillors, evil monsters - how many times have I read this story under other titles and names? Enough that I'd like to see something different for once.
The characters are interesting enough and there is good dose of plot tension in spite of the clicheness of the story - Clemens even pulled off a couple of surprises but the ending and most of the "twists" were predictable. And for some reason beyond the cliches and the predictability it grated on me. This I suspect is a personal foible, so if you don't mind formulaic fantasy this might float your boat.
I won't be buying the rest of series though. Two stars. -
Bravo! A good fast read! now i am hooked. This was such a great, easy and creative book. i was hooked after the first page.
The characters were easy to fall in love with and follow, along with the story. the author made the mental visions so easy and vivid of the surroundings and the characters actions felt so real.
i would highly recommend this author and this book. -
I read this book for the first time 8 years ago. I was new to the Fantasy genre, quite young and loved it absolutely. So much so that I bought the four remaining volumes and read them all back to back. So I was a bit afraid not to love it as much this time. What if I realize it's not good at all? I have so fond memories of this series!
Fortunately, I loved it as much as the first time!
Where to begin?
Maybe with the only "flaw": it's a slow book, at least, it was to me. Everything builds slowly to get to the end. But it's not really a flaw: I was impatient because I already read the book and knew where we were heading. And I wanted to get there quickly to start the real journey!
The best part of this re-read was getting back to the characters and picturing the scenes just like the first time. It's like I got back to friends and familiar places: it was great! When we get to the orchard, I didn't have to make an effort to instantanely picture the trees, the valley, Elena and Joach! Same for the forests, the village, the roads or anything really!
Getting back to the characters was a delight. I really love them all, except one of them: I just can't bear Mogweed. Really, I can't. My favorite characters are probably Nee'lahn and Kral. They particularly move me. She is small and wants nobody to see her, she wants to melt in the setting, to stay invisible around people. But when she has something to say to her friends, she does without hesitation. She is fierce, she is brave, and Kral is the opposite of Nee'lahn: male, mountain man, big and assertive. But he is also very touching. But just like her, Kral is brave and won't back from a fight to save his friends.
I also love the other characters: Tol'chuk moves me too, he is close to Kral in my heart, and I was surprised by the love I felt for him the first time I read the book, because I never encountered an like him and loved him; Fardale, how can I not love him? I mean, ; Elena, of course, even if she's not my favorite character, probably because she is a child here and can't do anything on her own, needing others - which is normal, it's not a criticism - and so is not really on the forefront. Well, sometimes, she is Er'ril ... I didn't remember he was sexist! But he is. Because of the way magic was in his time: I still loved him: for his despair, his loss of hope, and his growing affection I'm not clear or coherent here, I just love them all!
And that's also something I love with this series: it's diverse and original. We don't follow ordinary characters - even if Er'ril sometimes was a bit stereotypical maybe. They are from diverse backgrounds, different races, and they sometimes have something special: Er'ril and Tol'chuk for instance!
I also love the fact that there is an inserted story in this series: a narrator tells us the story. We don't know who he is for the time being and he doesn't interrumpt the tale while he is telling it, but he'll push the reader to keep reading with some sentences like: "I have no more ink and no more heart for tonight to keep telling"! Thank you man, let's go grab book 2 then!
This book was the first I read where there were some awful scenes and creatures: skaltum, gore, blood, monsters, darkness, WORMS. Why do authors put worms like these in their books? What is it with worms? I don't understand!! I still loved the world and wanted to get more, to re-discover more! I had forgotten some things, and it was great to read them anew!
I didn't remember the ending, it got back to me while I was reading it!
So, it was a great read, both because of nostalgia and because this book is genuinely good for me! Can't wait to go on with my reread! -
The synopsis said it grabbed you and wouldn't let you go...I didn't find that. I've read a lot of fantasy and I suppose that after a while when you start one there is always a danger that you'll just get the feeling, "ya I've been here before". i suppose that might be what happened here, I'd seen it all before. It just didn't catch my interest.
I was in a pretty stressful time when i opened this book, but I was looking for something to read and ready for a good fantasy, a good epic fantasy as it would mean that I had a good long story to look forward to.I got into Jim Butcher's Codex series after starting this and like it a lot....oh well.
I don't plan to follow it up with the rest of the series. -
Old Skool (90s) epic fantasy that features a Tolkien-style plot mixed with Brom-like gothic horror. The prose is very different from, say, Tad Williams…but it’s immersive, reads smoothly, & has a cinematic feel—tender, gentler scenes are mixed amongst lots of action + gore, while lovable heroes stand off against strangle-worthy villains ranging from creepy humans to grotesque monsters.
NB: Male fantasy authors don’t always do a good job incorporating female characters with any nuance, but both Elena & Nee’lahn match the magical/emotional strength(s) of their male companions while still feeling feminine & not simply a male dream of How Women Think. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised by the author’s portrayal of all the protags; while clearly a fan of classic motifs & templates, he turned several expectations on their heads in terms of personality or background. Nice. (The snarky prologue was a fab touch & while it’s clearly tongue-in-cheek to fellow fantasy fans, it also makes me wonder about a couple things in the story & whether they can be taken at face value.)
Strong 4 stars—lots of fun despite a few cheesy bits. 🍎❤️ I’m not ready to call this a keeper just yet, as I’ve had other series disintegrate after promising starts, but if Book 2 builds in this vein I’ll be pleased to add it retroactively. 😬 -
This is possibly my favorite fantasy series (next to Tad Williams and Tolkien) and it starts out in a captivating manner. The world is entirely original and beautiful and the characters are beyond wonderful and endearing. It's been a while since I read them, but my experience with reading these was phenomenal.
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یک کمی خواندنش برای من دیر بود. ولی ترجمه هادی خان امینی، سن و سال نمی شناسد.
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4 stars - English paperback
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I heard of it through an extremely high recommendation from a friend, and he has also gotten several of our mutual friends to read it and all have appreciated it. I have now read through the third book in the series and am liking them. I even got my mother (far more of a fantasy aficionado than I) to start reading the books and he is liking them. I find the story to be clever and really like its development. The main character (a young female wit'ch) is very admirable and the band of characters she joins up with are each unique. I like the way this author (as many fantasy authors do) melds several smaller story lines into a bigger overall picture. I am intrigued by the way the story starts (with it being told by someone after the facts of the story itself) because it leaves you wondering how it's going to end right from the get-go.
I would also like to say, in response to other reviews, the use of apostrophes didn't bother me. Sure, they exist. But once you realize that, you can move on - or at least I could.
The only note I would like to make and the reason my review isn't as raving as it could be is that I have mixed feelings about this series. Whereas I am an avid and voracious reader and normally can't put a book down once I start it (regardless of its quality, honestly!), in this book series I've stopped for months at a time and gone on to other books entirely, which is unheard of for me. I do always pick this series back up (for example, I definitely do intend to read the 4th and 5th books, but it's been many months since I finished the 3rd), but the fact remains that mid reading the books and between each book in the series, I've stopped for great spans of time, which is very unlike me. Normally if this ever happens, I find something I didn't understand that put me off it just before I stop reading a book, but in these books the only common denominator was that each time I left the books was when it focused for any length of time on the bad guy(s) and their thoughts, plans, etc. I found it to drone on for too long and while yes, I think it's important to get a feel for the villains, they do not hold my attention enough for me to want to continue to read and read about them.
So while I absolutely DO recommend this book series to others and am looking forward to finishing it myself, I have slight reservations about wholeheartedly saying you all should rush out (or rush onto the internet as the case likely is) and buy it right now! But for the most part, do I think it's an impressively well-written, highly entertaining piece of literature and absolutely worthy of the 4 stars I'm giving -
فقط بگم برای خودش ارباب حلقههایی بود.
النا دختر مزرعه داری است که ناگهان در یک بعدازظهر متوجه میشود قدرت جادویی دارد و بلافاصله در همان شب درگیر ماجراهای جادویی میشود. او نخست پدر و مادر، سپس خاله و برادرش را از دست میدهد. اما دوستانی پیدا میکند و به کمک آنها پیش داییاش میرود و آنجا میفهمد که وظیفه دارد با قدرتش در مقابل جادوی سیاه ایستاده و سرزمینش را آزاد کند. اما در شروع سفرش دایی خود را هم از دست میدهد.
در این سفر با یک شمشیر زن یک دست به نام ارریل، یک دختر نیفای به نام نیلهام، یک مرد کوهنشین به نام کرال، یک دورگه اوگره به نام تولچاک، یک شاهزاده الوین به نام مریک و یک دوقلوی سیلورا به نامهای فارداله و ماگوید همراه میشود و تقریبا همه این افراد به نوعی به او کمک کرده و همقسم میشوند تا شکست جادوی سیاه همراه او باشند. -
I had to debate a lot between two and three stars, but I'm coming down on the side of two.
Clemens has a pretty beautiful story here, and there are some very interesting races and characters. The plot itself is actually pretty involving, except for the how familiar as it feels to fleeing the shire because of the Nazgul errr I mean fleeing the village because of the Ra'zak errr I mean fleeing the village because of the Skal-tum (Talk about recycled!)
The novel suffers though under two things:
1. An absolute deluge of characters. I'm serious, the entire book is filled with introducing characters. Since I was a kid I have always read three or four books at the same time, but the sheer number of introductions in this novel made this one hard to follow along with. Sick of the author introducing a new character at every major plot point? He will step it up by introducing two at a time, then splitting them up. Read this with a pad of paper, you're going to need it!
2. Sticking an apostrophe into names doesn't make them different. The Dw'arfs, the El'vin, and the Og'res are all still completely recognizable, and the gimmick of apostrophes doesn't add ANYTHING to Wit'ch Fire.
I meant it when I said there is a wonderful plot buried in here to get through. I love the Chiric magic system, I love the dichotomy of light and dark, and I especially like the story of the Og're. It is some work to get through it though, and I can't say that it would be of average enjoyment to the average casual reader, hence the two stars.
I'm up in the air about the sequels... we will just have to see how my "To Read" list progresses. -
I read WIT'CH FIRE when it was first published in 1998 and loved it. I decided to listen to the audio version while on a flight to England, to see if after 20 years if I would feel the same. The answer is a definite yes.
Clemens' spin on witches, dryads, trolls, elves, and the world he created was interesting. One thing I admire Clemens/Rollins for is his ability to create strong and interesting female characters like Elena. Granted Elena doesn't start off as a strong woman but a young girl on the brink of womanhood, uncertain, afraid, and dealing with a gift/curse she has no understanding of. However Clemens shows us there is a core of strength within Elena that eventually will be tempered. That's one of the reasons I loved this story. The supporting cast of characters, which is pretty diverse, helping Elena on her journey were interesting. I didn't realize the first time I read the book that they actually added to the world building, letting me see the land of Alasea from their eyes and experiences. It was clever way of doing it without info dumping. The magic system is original and unique, especially Elena's power. The story was also more enjoyable since it was narrated by Jennifer Van Dyck who did a wonderful job with all the voices.
WIT'CH FIRE was a great revisit and it made me want to listen to the other books in the series. -
Un bon trois pour ce premier tome qui traine dans ma PAL depuis les calendes grec. Une histoire qui donne envie, avec des originalités de scénarios et des personnages intéressants.
Pour les moins bon points : Une temporalité qui ne me plait pas, c'est très personnel mais une introduction à un tout nouveau monde qui vous raconte 20 minutes d'une époque pour faire un bond de 5 siècles et vous raconter 2 jours de l'époque dans laquelle va se dérouler l'intrigue, ça ne me convient pas. J'ai besoin de voir vivre tout ce petit monde.
Je ne suis pas transporté par la façon dont le livre est écrit. L'introduction m'a fait abandonner ce livre deux fois mais une fois passer le cap, tout va mieux.
Je pense lire la suite mais je ne ressens pas non plus d'urgence particulière, comme avec les sagas avec lesquelles j'accroche vraiment.
Oh et la couverture du tome 2 de l'édition actuelle est absolument hideuse... A tel point que cela m'a retenu de l'acheter, et je voudrais pas avoir l'air de chipoter mais quand on voit le prix des livres et son augmentation en ce moment, je me dis que les maisons d'éditions ont intérêt à faire attention aux couvertures, que ce soit en grand format ou en poche... -
Rating: 3.75 stars
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and to think i almost didn't pick up the free used copy available at the english department...
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Not my usual type of book but the world and characters were interesting enough to keep my attention till the end.
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I agree with both the positive and negative reviews on this one.
It was captivating, or I wouldn't have bothered finishing it.
I liked several of the characters or at least found them compelling.
I was REALLY bothered by the awkward, stiff dialogue and a few writing-tics the author has, such as needing to emphasize a point by repeating it. ("He found himself completely immobilized. He could not move." Like that. Grrrrrrrrrr!) I will be continuing with the series, though, because I am particularly drawn to the idea of a destructive book of power, and a young woman coming into her dangerous powers and not being just 100 percent altruistic about using them. Yes, Elena has to save everybody's collective butts, but she actually ENJOYS the feel of power, of making her enemies hurt, watching the baddies squirm. That adds a note of complexity that makes me want to keep going and see if Clemens gets more comfortable writing dialogue. -
Chronique entière :
https://plumesdelune.wordpress.com/20...
J’ai beaucoup apprécié cette lecture !
Si le pitch de base est très classique, les péripéties et la narration m’ont bien emballée. Le style de l’auteur est très fluide, on entre rapidement dans l’histoire et les personnages sont suffisamment développés et profonds pour qu’on s’attache à eux.
Paradoxalement j’ai trouvé l’héroïne, Elena, très effacée par rapport à ses acolytes, comme si l’auteur avait du mal à cerner lui même ce personnage. J’ai trouvé ça dommage, elle est finalement assez creuse, mais c’est peut être voulu pour qu’elle puisse évoluer dans la suite de l’histoire, donc on verra bien dans les tomes suivants.
En bref : un début épique de saga ! J’ai hâte de lire le tome 2 ! -
I absolutely loved this series. What first caught my attention was not just the vast amount of characters in each novel, but also the wonderful characterization and the beautiful world building. However, if you have a terrible memory with names or if you just have a difficult time remembering what ability each character possesses, then I would move swiftly along.
I give this novel and the series 5/5. -
This is not good, and you shouldn't read it. The plot was lacking in originality, but honestly my main problem was with the author's writing. And the bizarre tendency to insert apostrophies in the middle of words in order to make them exotic (that's my best guess, in any case). This series is comparable to a badly written romance series. Fantasy trash.
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I liked this series, but seem to remember cringing at some prtty sexist plot-lines. (But apparently it wasn't enough to throw me off the series - which is something I am known for doing.) It was a pretty well-paced, original and interesting story.
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I just couldn't connect to this book. I am a big fan of James Clemens later series The Godslayer Chronicles and I thought I needed to read his earlier work, but reading this felt like work. Also what is with the apostrophes in the middle of so many words...it just seems weird.
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i did not like this book at all because it did not have a good storyline to it . this is the first book that i have read by this writer . and i do not think that i will be reading anymore by this writer . i wanted to like this book so bad . but i just could not get in to the storyline .
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This is part one of a 5 part series called "the Books of the Banned and the Banished". its JRR Tolien's "lord of the Rings" on steroids mixed with acid. Unstoppable fantastic read.
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Re-reading my favourite fantasy series for the third time. It's been 10+ years since the last time and I love it just as much.
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Three stars.
I originally read this book when it was first released (back in 2002 my copy informs me - lordy) and enjoyed it. Re-reading it now, my response is it's okay, but not especially good.
This book is a very old-fashioned fantasy, and it reads like one. After a brief prologue telling us the source of magic power is disappearing, the book jumps forward 500 years and the story starts proper. We meet our main character, Elena, a thirteen year old girl who unexpectedly develops the ability to use magic - she's a wit'ch.
Yes, Elena is a Chosen One, and her story follows a very old-fashioned Chosen One path. She and her brother are forced to flee their village when the agents of the dark one turn up, and are joined by a mismatched band of helpers: Er'ril the one-armed swordsman, Nee'lahn of the nyphai, Tol'chuk the half-ogre, the giant mountain man Kral, a pair of shape-shifter twins and Meric the silver haired elv'in. Obviously, it takes a while for them all to run into each other - in fact they all meet up at about the end of the book.
This wasn't a bad book as such, it was just painfully familiar - you know from the start that Elena is going to be the Girl with All the Gifts, and every time one of the other characters turn up you know they're going to be part of Elena's Magnificent Seven.
On a nitpick-y front, the apostrophes in this book drove me mad. I'm not keen on them in names, but some of the words with them in made absolutely no sense. 'Elv'in' is bad enough, but 'wit'ch' was infuriating (at one point Elena gets badly burnt and has 'wit'ch hazel' smeared on the burns - I almost threw the book across the room at this point).
If you like old-fashioned fantasy of the sort written by Brooks, Eddings and Feist, you may enjoy this book. If you prefer the more recent writings of people like Abercrombie or McClellan, you may be best advised to avoid it. -
Found this in the library and literally just grabbed it because I liked the cover and thought the premise sounded cool but I am so shook by how good this was! Big Lord of the Rings vibes but not as long-winded with the world building. All of the characters and their lore were very cool and I liked how they didn't really all converge until the end. They're all working towards the same goal but they have their individual reasons for doing so which makes shit interesting! Also, while the main protagonist is a thirteen year-old girl, it didn't really feel YA to me. Which, I do love YA, but I find that sometimes YA fantasy can get a little predictable but this was not that. The ending was very open-ended as this is the first in a series so I'm curious to see if I like the others as much as this one
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Diese Reihe hatte ich vor sage und schreibe 15 Jahren schon einmal gelesen - damals war ich ein Teenager und Das Buch des Feuers hab ich in einer Nacht verschlungen. Insgesamt hat die Reihe mich vor all den Jahren sehr begeistert, kürzlich musste ich wieder an diese fünf Bücher denken und hab mich entschieden, sie nochmal zu lesen. Band 1 habe ich nun durch und ich muss sagen, bis auf die abnormal häufig auftretenden Apostrophe hatte ich auch 15 Jahre später großen Spaß am Buch, an der Welt und den Charakteren. Freue mich schon auf Band 2, Das Buch der Stürme.
