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Thirteen Orphans Breaking the Wall Jane Lindskold 9780765317001 Books

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Thirteen Orphans Breaking the Wall Jane Lindskold 9780765317001 Books

This kind of book is the only one of its kind, and I specifically sought it out because it was about the Zodiac. Video games use Zodiac archetypes in spades; literature not so much. And my God, was this a chore to get through.
The ratio of story to author-trying-to-convince-you-that-no-really-this-world-could-totally-work is about 10% to 90%. The concept in and of itself is not interesting enough to BE the story, and it is. If you've ever had somebody describe how awesome their idea for a D&D game is, this book reads like that. Heavy on the concept, low on characters you care about suffering and sacrificing. Very few fantasy novels are capable of being concept novels, and while science-fiction might get away with that more often, it's usually in the hands of the greats. Lindskold is just not on that level.
The concept is just okay. But it never goes anywhere. There is no story here until about 400 pages, when characters start taking action instead of sitting around having conversations about how magic works, being taught how magic works, and talking some more about how the magic totally works, you guys. I mean, J. K. Rowling never once explains how her magic really, really works, and she got a story out of it. Lindskold collapses under her own story's exposition, and the characters never really struggle with the human aspect of any of their magical responsibilities. There's never any "Holy crap, what!? I don't think I can handle this!" No "I know you guys need me, but I don't care. See you!" Lindskold makes her characters nod and shrug and talk it out, so that she can keep explaining how the world works. For PAGES AND PAGES. The main character walks in the door at the beginning and doesn't have to suffer a setback, a jolt, or a nasty shock to be handed "Magic is real and by the way this is how it works." 400 pages later, no one else we encounter has a vitriolic, stake-changing, heavily-emotional reaction that might drive the story.
I was really hoping for some very strong, character driven stuff, with compatible and incompatible signs and strong personalities clashing while the apocalypse draws ever closer. Instead, Lindskold's characters are calm and rational enough to talk the stakes right out of the story. And she explains why her characters are calm and rational, because we as the reader seriously need to know why that's a totally plausible reaction.
I didn't need another reminder for why adult fantasy is so ridiculously boring. I was looking for some inspiration, and if anything I discovered how NOT to tell a Zodiac story.


Tags : Thirteen Orphans (Breaking the Wall) [Jane Lindskold] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. <DIV><DIV><P>As evocative and moving as Charles de Lint’s Newford books, with the youthful protagonists and exciting action of Mercedes Lackey’s fantasies,Jane Lindskold,Thirteen Orphans (Breaking the Wall),Tor Books,0765317001,Astrology, Chinese;Fiction.,Folklore;China;Fiction.,Mah jong;Fiction.,AMERICAN SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY,Astrology, Chinese,China,Fantasy,Fantasy - Contemporary,Fiction,Fiction - Fantasy,Fiction Fantasy Contemporary,Fiction-Fantasy,Folklore,GENERAL,General Adult,Mah jong,United States

Thirteen Orphans Breaking the Wall Jane Lindskold 9780765317001 Books Reviews

Book arrived in perfect condition, and several days before I expected it. I had intended to get the book on , but it wasn't available. Excellent service!
Ms Lindskold, the author of the wonderful "Wolf" series, plus many good stand alones, has started a new series which promises to be a winner. "Thirteen Orphans" had me staying up late trying to finish it. The premise of magic combined with Chinese "legend"? is spell binding! The characters are well developed and completely realistic, which doesn't always hold true in the Fantasy genre. Events follow a completely logical path without being obvious. Ms Lindskold has hit it again. A real page turner. Don't miss it!
Interesting mix of Chinese culture, magic, and adventure. I enjoyed the story, I learned something about Mah Jong, and I got invested in the characters enough to want to read the rest of the series.
This is the beginning of a new series for Lindskold, and it's a good one. Unlike the "Wolf" series, which is straight fantasy in a fantasy world, this one is set entirely in this one and in essentially the present, though it has echoes from ancient times and another world. In 213 BCE, when the "first emperor of China" burned most of the books other than those dealing with practical things (agriculture, medicine, science, law, etc.) and executed most of the scholars who knew what was in them, a relative handful of Chinese scholars, along with their families, were able to open gates to a parallel world (known as The Land of Smoke and Shadows) and fled there, where they largely flourished for many years. They had an emperor, and he was supported by a council of twelve advisor mages, named for the 12 animals of the "Chinese zodiac." (Actually, per this book, the advisers came first and gave their designations to the zodiac in later years; there was significant travel between China and the Land over the years.) But sometime in the late 19th century there was a war in the Land and the emperor was killed and the advisers exiled to our world. They brought with them the only surviving son of the emperor, who was a small boy at the time; he's referred to as the Cat. (At least one version of the Chinese zodiac that I've seen replaces the Hare/Rabbit with the Cat, but not Lindskold's.) Over the years the Twelve were forced out of China, fleeing first to Japan and later to the US, and they interbred with the locals so that the current representatives for the most part don't look very Chinese. There's a prologue from the point of view of Albert Yu, the current Cat, but the rest of the book is told from the alternating POVs of Brenda Morris, the 19-year-old daughter of Gaheris Morris, the current Rat, and Pearl Bright, a former child actress (she appeared with Shirley Temple in quite few movies) who is the current Tiger. Gaheris was intending to introduce Brenda to Albert as the heir of the Rat, but when they got to his office in a San José mall, he wasn't there, and there was a strangely laid-out mah-jongg set on a table. (Lindskold spells it mah-jong, but I've always seen it the other way. De nada.) Gaheris calls Pearl Bright and goes off to do some investigating while Brenda waits in the office for Pearl to arrive. (She lives in SJ herself, so the wait wasn't long.) Someone is stealing the memories of the Twelve, and by the time everything is clear there are only four left who can still operate, counting Brenda, who isn't really one of them but is subbing for her father--Brenda; Pearl; Des (who looks fairly pure Chinese), the Rooster; and Riprap, a mostly African-American athlete, the Dog. There's a lot of action, with Righteous Drum, the Dragon from the Land; his daughter, Honey Dream, the Snake; and Flying Claw, the Tiger, providing the opposition for most of the book. The characters are good, the premises are interesting, and the writing up to Lindskold's usual quality.
What a wonderful story! I know nothing of mah-jong, but it doesn't matter. The characters are so well drawn and believable, and the twists and turns of the story always catch me by surprise, but make perfect sense as I see them unfold. The book ends in a way that neatly ties up loose ends, while still keeping me eager to see what happens next.
If you've never read anything by Jane Lindskold, do yourself a tremendous favor and pick up one of her books Child of a Rainless Year is a wonder, The Buried Pyramid is totally intriguing, Brother to Dragons, Companion to Owls is a heart-grabbing delight, and all of them, The Pipes of Orpheus, Changer, the wolf series, starting with Through Wolf's Eyes, are mystical, delightful, enchanting, riveting... every single one of her books grabs the heart and mind and takes you on wonderful journey. Just read her books. All of them. You won't be sorry.
This kind of book is the only one of its kind, and I specifically sought it out because it was about the Zodiac. Video games use Zodiac archetypes in spades; literature not so much. And my God, was this a chore to get through.
The ratio of story to author-trying-to-convince-you-that-no-really-this-world-could-totally-work is about 10% to 90%. The concept in and of itself is not interesting enough to BE the story, and it is. If you've ever had somebody describe how awesome their idea for a D&D game is, this book reads like that. Heavy on the concept, low on characters you care about suffering and sacrificing. Very few fantasy novels are capable of being concept novels, and while science-fiction might get away with that more often, it's usually in the hands of the greats. Lindskold is just not on that level.
The concept is just okay. But it never goes anywhere. There is no story here until about 400 pages, when characters start taking action instead of sitting around having conversations about how magic works, being taught how magic works, and talking some more about how the magic totally works, you guys. I mean, J. K. Rowling never once explains how her magic really, really works, and she got a story out of it. Lindskold collapses under her own story's exposition, and the characters never really struggle with the human aspect of any of their magical responsibilities. There's never any "Holy crap, what!? I don't think I can handle this!" No "I know you guys need me, but I don't care. See you!" Lindskold makes her characters nod and shrug and talk it out, so that she can keep explaining how the world works. For PAGES AND PAGES. The main character walks in the door at the beginning and doesn't have to suffer a setback, a jolt, or a nasty shock to be handed "Magic is real and by the way this is how it works." 400 pages later, no one else we encounter has a vitriolic, stake-changing, heavily-emotional reaction that might drive the story.
I was really hoping for some very strong, character driven stuff, with compatible and incompatible signs and strong personalities clashing while the apocalypse draws ever closer. Instead, Lindskold's characters are calm and rational enough to talk the stakes right out of the story. And she explains why her characters are calm and rational, because we as the reader seriously need to know why that's a totally plausible reaction.
I didn't need another reminder for why adult fantasy is so ridiculously boring. I was looking for some inspiration, and if anything I discovered how NOT to tell a Zodiac story.