Why I Will Not Be Reviewing Halíth Today
Posted 13th July 2011
Category: Not Finished Genres: N/A
1 Comment
For the first time in three years of voracious reading, I am choosing to not finish a book I started, ending my time spent on it at page 97. This book is a self-published fantasy called Halíth and I am supposed to be reviewing it today.
The reasons for my giving up on it are:
- That the author has tried too hard to use old-world language and it shows, and she repeats the name of her heroine far too many times.
- That when new people are introduced, the author often goes down a strict politically correct route which is completely inappropriate considering that fantasy fans are accepting of mythical beings and people.
- That it takes five seconds for Halíth to find people to kill (depending on the scene either bandits or goblins, in either case they were known about prior to the finding) and five seconds for her to kill them although she is completely unskilled. If it takes five seconds and no skill why hadn’t it been done before by the already-established local hero or the warriors stationed right there? Unfortunately in trying to show a woman’s bravery in this way one succeeds only in creating a mockery of plight.
I gave it many goes, but when the the girl got into bed beside a person (another girl) she’d never seen before (they were in her bed when she walked in) who said they were ill, I couldn’t justify spending any more time on it. You don’t just accept that the stranger you found is ill and shrug your shoulders, you go and seek help. And if they are ill you tend to want to find out whether they are contagious before you get so close to them, most especially in the case of strangers.
I’m afraid that a flick through the rest of book identified no changes with these issues and I cannot spend any more time trying to find any changes. I do believe, however, that the author, Kirsten Kelly, has potential, because the set-up is incredibly strong.
I know that not everyone will share my opinion and thus I would like to offer my copy of this book to someone who might enjoy it. Let me know via the comments if you are interested.
