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Jennavier

Jennavier

Currently reading

Bearing an Hourglass
Piers Anthony
Peter the Great: His Life and World
Robert K. Massie
A Curse Dark As Gold - Audio Library Edition
Elizabeth C. Bunce
The Ocean at the End of the Lane: A Novel
Neil Gaiman, Neil Gaiman
Les Misérables
Victor Hugo, Isabel Florence Hapgood
In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin
Erik Larson
Healing Trauma
Peter A. Levine
Tess Gerritsen's Rizzoli & Isles 8 Book Bundle: The Surgeon, The Apprentice, The Sinner, Body Double, Vanish, The Mephisto Club, The Keepsake, Ice Cold
Tess Gerritsen
Touchstone - Melanie Rawn Touchstone tells the story of the traveling theater-ish group of the same name. They get together and go through some trials but mostly successes. The man action is between group founder Cayden and group newbie Meika. Cayden likes order and Meika is crazy, but Meika's talent is the one thing really taking Touchstone to the next level. Cayden can also see the future so he's constantly trying to change the things he sees in his dreams.
If that synopsis seems confusing it's because the novel is confusing. When I call what they do theater it's the closest equivalent I can come up with. The learning curve on Touchstone is really steep. For the first third of the book I was lost. When I finally got the concept the magical set up was interesting. The sad thing is that there is no real pay off after learning the system. The novel turns out to be a docu-drama about the group. It's a bit like reading a book about the early days of the Beatles. By the end there was still no real bad guy or plot set up. Fine for most novels but not for traditional fantasy.
I can't really explain why, but Touchstone feels dated. The writing style is reminiscent of the fantasy written in the 90s. Considering that I think things have changed for the better it didn't help me to like the book.