Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Collection
Publication
Tor Books (2001), Edition: 1, 448 pages
Description
A millennia-old prophecy was given when the Forbidden Ones were driven from Achar. And now, the Acharites witness its manifestation: Achar is under attack by an evil lord from the North, Gorgreal-his ice demons strike from the sky and kill hundreds of brave warriors in the blink of an eye. All Acharites believe the end is near. One young woman, Faraday, betrothed of Duke Borneheld, learns that all she has been told about her people's history is untrue. While fleeing to safety from the dangerous land, Faraday, rides with Axis, legendary leader of the Axe-Wielders-and hated half-brother of Borneheld-and a man Faraday secretly loves although it would be death to admit it. She embarks on a journey, which will change her life forever, in search of the true nature of her people. This grand and heroic story tells the tale of one woman's plight to learn the truth of her people and change their hearts and their minds forever. She fights against oppressive forces to share this reality and will not desist until everyone knows. . . . . The truth of the Star Gate… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member RealLifeReading
Ok so I would never have picked up this book if f I had been browsing the shelves. One look at the cover and I’d probably have put it back. Can you blame me? It’s not attractive. The colours are rather dull and washed out. I don’t quite know what those characters are doing.
The thing about The
Reading The Wayfarer Redemption is like having a nice cup of English Breakfast Tea in the morning. It won’t quite jolt you from the morning sleepies like an espresso will, but it will wake you up gradually enough to get you through the day. And since I do like my English Breakfast Tea, I’m off to request the next book from the library!
One thing that has me a little puzzled though is the titling of this series. The Wayfarer Redemption is also titled as BattleAxe. There is also a trilogy known as The Wayfarer Redemption Trilogy but is actually considered books four to six after the Axis Trilogy. Confused? Yeah so am I.
The thing about The
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Wayfarer Redemption is that it’s good in a cheesy 80s sort of way. Everyone is remarkably gorgeous, the kind who belong on the catwalk or on the cover of a magazine. Evil is really evil. And good is good. It’s all black and white, with little grey. There’s a prophecy that has the three races of this land Tencendor reunited under the StarMan (yeah, it’s very Ziggy Stardust. Other characters are named StarDrifter and Tree Friend! I mean, Tree Friend, really??). And of course battles and plenty of action against these wraith-like creatures called Skraelings and Skraebolds. There’s also a love affair between the pretties. Essentially it’s pretty much what a decent fantasy book is about. Love and war and the supernatural. It’s quite standard fare. Nothing that pushes the boundaries too much.Reading The Wayfarer Redemption is like having a nice cup of English Breakfast Tea in the morning. It won’t quite jolt you from the morning sleepies like an espresso will, but it will wake you up gradually enough to get you through the day. And since I do like my English Breakfast Tea, I’m off to request the next book from the library!
One thing that has me a little puzzled though is the titling of this series. The Wayfarer Redemption is also titled as BattleAxe. There is also a trilogy known as The Wayfarer Redemption Trilogy but is actually considered books four to six after the Axis Trilogy. Confused? Yeah so am I.
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LibraryThing member magemanda
A thousand years ago the people of Achar drove the Forbidden from their land in the War of the Axe. They pulled down huge swathes of woodland in their fear and now live by the Way of the Plough under the benign guidance of their deity Artor.
Troubling rumours are brewing from the north. Winter has
We meet Borneheld and Axis - Borneheld is heir to the throne of Achar, son of Searlas and Rivkah; Axis is his illegitimate half-brother, also son of Rivkah from when she took a lover and disgraced herself. Borneheld is the War Leader of Achar; Axis is the leader of the Axe-Wielders, the BattleAxe of the title.
Borneheld is sent the the border with reinforcements to try and hold back the Forbidden, while Axis is commanded by Jayme - the Seneschal of the Brotherhood (a sort of head priest figure, and Axis' foster father) - to seek out more information about the Forbidden in a bid to defeat them.
Axis is also commanded to take with him Faraday, Borneheld's betrothed, a very beautiful and innocent young woman whom Axis falls in love with. On the course of the journey Axis finds out more about the nature of the Forbidden and the Sentinels - and learns of the Prophecy. This Prophecy is about to change the course of his life forever.
Well, that is a basic description of the events that fill this novel, but don't do justice to the sheer amount of information that Douglass manages to fit in. She creates four completely different races, with a shared history; she sets up a family dispute that threatens to destroy the land and leave it open to Gorgrael, the foe; she puts in a Prophecy and many mystical doings.
With this in mind, the pace is explosive. I whipped through this six hundred page book in a matter of a couple of days, which (even given the fact I am currently trapped in my house by snow) is fast. The writing is simple and easy to follow; the concepts presented are smooth and Douglass builds up a decent fantasy world.
It is just a shame the writing is so damn bad, and the book is rife with cliches. Honestly, as I was reading through the novel I second guessed just about everything that happened, from Rivkah's 'surprise' resurrection, and Faraday turning out to be more than she seemed. Oh, and when Timozel is mentioned as resenting Axis within the first paragraph of introducing him, what's the betting he goes on and betrays Axis.... What's that? No bet, you say? When you know how a novel will pan out, it doesn't give you a great inclination to continue reading.
This book is in need of a heavy edit. For instance, within the first ten pages or so we encounter the word 'perplexion'. Unless I'm completely wrong, Douglass is making up words here - and a decent edit should have picked this up. A decent edit would have also turfed out some of the erroneous information Douglass info-dumped into the novel.
And, oh boy, is Douglass fond of her info-dumping! Every time she needs to introduce a new race, or the history of a race, or the religion of the country she over-uses the naive wide-eyed character that is having everything explained to them. This happens over and over and over and over....... again. It is a lazy method, and some of what Douglass brings into the story is just unnecessary for the story - it seems she is so proud of the notes she produced when world-building that she can't bear to leave anything out.
An edit would also have prevented some of the "oh, come on!" moments. For instance, at the end of chapter 51 we hear about the Charonites for the first time (on page 567 in my edition). In chapter 53 one of the characters suddenly says they need to seek the assistance of the Charonites. It makes me roll my eyes and jars me right out of a story when an author is as lazy as this. All it would have taken was a brief mention of this long-lost race during one of the many info-dumps we have to endure and it would have been much smoother!
I also have to mention Douglass' cutesy names for her Icarii characters, and also a method she uses throughout the book as a naming convention. We have characters such as StarDrifter and GoldFeather (yes, note the capital letter sat halfway through that word) and places such as the WildDog Plains (again, note the capital letter). Axis is the BattleAxe. I hate it! Every time I read one of these names I roll my eyes, which, although common in fantasy (Douglass is far from the only offender) it is the first time I've seen traditions of writing so cavalierly discarded.
Alongside this is the way that Douglass names the months: here, we have Raven-Month, Hungry-Month, Rose-Month etc etc. It makes the characters sound backward and childish when they say them.
And I'm not sure I am supposed to laugh at some of the sections I chortled at.... Everytime Axis and his Axe-Wielders leave a place, they go through the following ritual:
"Axe-Wielders, are you ready?" "We follow your voice and are ready, BattleAxe!" "Then let us ride!"
Douglass probably thought that this would sound stirring and majestic, but it just made me giggle a bit - especially when they perform the ritual on those occasions when they are supposed to be *silently* approaching an enemy in order to surprise them!
There are many more ways that I can be scathing - the characters are self-consciously made out to be good when they (surprise, surprise!) turn out to be evil later on; the military men immediately take on board the Prophecy as complete truth without any scepticism; a lot of the time Douglass forgets the saying 'show, don't tell' - but it's just too easy to mock.
What is sad is that Douglass obviously has a fantastic imagination, because the Way of the Plough, and the nature of the Forbidden are good ideas and could have been amazing in the hands of someone who could, y'know, actually write!
This is the first in a trilogy - on the one hand I don't want to read any more of the books because it is so much cliched nonsense; on the other hand I am compelled to find out what happens next! So I award it three stars - the two dimensional characters and bad writing on one side; compared with the fantastic pacing and imagination on display makes this a distinctly average fantasy novel.
Troubling rumours are brewing from the north. Winter has
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come - and stayed. Icy wraiths are appearing from the mist and killing soldiers at the border stronghold before vanishing. They are believed to be the Forbidden, massing in order to invade Achar and kill the Acharites.We meet Borneheld and Axis - Borneheld is heir to the throne of Achar, son of Searlas and Rivkah; Axis is his illegitimate half-brother, also son of Rivkah from when she took a lover and disgraced herself. Borneheld is the War Leader of Achar; Axis is the leader of the Axe-Wielders, the BattleAxe of the title.
Borneheld is sent the the border with reinforcements to try and hold back the Forbidden, while Axis is commanded by Jayme - the Seneschal of the Brotherhood (a sort of head priest figure, and Axis' foster father) - to seek out more information about the Forbidden in a bid to defeat them.
Axis is also commanded to take with him Faraday, Borneheld's betrothed, a very beautiful and innocent young woman whom Axis falls in love with. On the course of the journey Axis finds out more about the nature of the Forbidden and the Sentinels - and learns of the Prophecy. This Prophecy is about to change the course of his life forever.
Well, that is a basic description of the events that fill this novel, but don't do justice to the sheer amount of information that Douglass manages to fit in. She creates four completely different races, with a shared history; she sets up a family dispute that threatens to destroy the land and leave it open to Gorgrael, the foe; she puts in a Prophecy and many mystical doings.
With this in mind, the pace is explosive. I whipped through this six hundred page book in a matter of a couple of days, which (even given the fact I am currently trapped in my house by snow) is fast. The writing is simple and easy to follow; the concepts presented are smooth and Douglass builds up a decent fantasy world.
It is just a shame the writing is so damn bad, and the book is rife with cliches. Honestly, as I was reading through the novel I second guessed just about everything that happened, from Rivkah's 'surprise' resurrection, and Faraday turning out to be more than she seemed. Oh, and when Timozel is mentioned as resenting Axis within the first paragraph of introducing him, what's the betting he goes on and betrays Axis.... What's that? No bet, you say? When you know how a novel will pan out, it doesn't give you a great inclination to continue reading.
This book is in need of a heavy edit. For instance, within the first ten pages or so we encounter the word 'perplexion'. Unless I'm completely wrong, Douglass is making up words here - and a decent edit should have picked this up. A decent edit would have also turfed out some of the erroneous information Douglass info-dumped into the novel.
And, oh boy, is Douglass fond of her info-dumping! Every time she needs to introduce a new race, or the history of a race, or the religion of the country she over-uses the naive wide-eyed character that is having everything explained to them. This happens over and over and over and over....... again. It is a lazy method, and some of what Douglass brings into the story is just unnecessary for the story - it seems she is so proud of the notes she produced when world-building that she can't bear to leave anything out.
An edit would also have prevented some of the "oh, come on!" moments. For instance, at the end of chapter 51 we hear about the Charonites for the first time (on page 567 in my edition). In chapter 53 one of the characters suddenly says they need to seek the assistance of the Charonites. It makes me roll my eyes and jars me right out of a story when an author is as lazy as this. All it would have taken was a brief mention of this long-lost race during one of the many info-dumps we have to endure and it would have been much smoother!
I also have to mention Douglass' cutesy names for her Icarii characters, and also a method she uses throughout the book as a naming convention. We have characters such as StarDrifter and GoldFeather (yes, note the capital letter sat halfway through that word) and places such as the WildDog Plains (again, note the capital letter). Axis is the BattleAxe. I hate it! Every time I read one of these names I roll my eyes, which, although common in fantasy (Douglass is far from the only offender) it is the first time I've seen traditions of writing so cavalierly discarded.
Alongside this is the way that Douglass names the months: here, we have Raven-Month, Hungry-Month, Rose-Month etc etc. It makes the characters sound backward and childish when they say them.
And I'm not sure I am supposed to laugh at some of the sections I chortled at.... Everytime Axis and his Axe-Wielders leave a place, they go through the following ritual:
"Axe-Wielders, are you ready?" "We follow your voice and are ready, BattleAxe!" "Then let us ride!"
Douglass probably thought that this would sound stirring and majestic, but it just made me giggle a bit - especially when they perform the ritual on those occasions when they are supposed to be *silently* approaching an enemy in order to surprise them!
There are many more ways that I can be scathing - the characters are self-consciously made out to be good when they (surprise, surprise!) turn out to be evil later on; the military men immediately take on board the Prophecy as complete truth without any scepticism; a lot of the time Douglass forgets the saying 'show, don't tell' - but it's just too easy to mock.
What is sad is that Douglass obviously has a fantastic imagination, because the Way of the Plough, and the nature of the Forbidden are good ideas and could have been amazing in the hands of someone who could, y'know, actually write!
This is the first in a trilogy - on the one hand I don't want to read any more of the books because it is so much cliched nonsense; on the other hand I am compelled to find out what happens next! So I award it three stars - the two dimensional characters and bad writing on one side; compared with the fantastic pacing and imagination on display makes this a distinctly average fantasy novel.
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LibraryThing member whitewavedarling
This is one of those fantasy books that backs up the stereotype that I hear all the time in academia. The characters and the story/plot are incredibly engaging, but the writing, quite honestly, is horrendous.
LibraryThing member cr_kell
This book is the first in a series of six. The story is definitely epic. The variety and depth of characters is wonderful. My only major complaint is the speed of the story. It is very very slow in this first book. The entire book feels like a pologue. Other than that, it is a very indepth
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introduction into the world of Achar. Show Less
LibraryThing member StarGazer72
The writing is extremely poor. Comma splices and run-ons abound, the omniscience lacks subtlety, and plot devices and deus ex machina dominate the action. I would not read the rest of the series.
LibraryThing member gaildessmann
Being a fantasy lover, I thoroughly enjoyed this book as well as the rest of the series and the series that followed on The wayfarer redemption. I have recommended it to many students and staff in the school library and have not had a bad report. Well worth reading, Sara Douglass is a fine author
LibraryThing member TheOneTree
Quite simply an epic that starts slowly and builds into something that you just can't put down, nor do you wish to.
Extremely good series - riveting fantasy epic.
Extremely good series - riveting fantasy epic.
LibraryThing member TheBooknerd
Based on the description and cover art, this seemed like a good story. However, I found it to be a very slow, uninteresting read; I couldn't even get halfway through.
LibraryThing member TraceyLea
I first read this book in 1996. It was a suggestion by some of the other guys I hung out with in our “study area”. I think three or four of them had already read it and loved it so I had to be in on it too. After such a gory beginning, which was probably what drew the attention of a bunch of
It was well worth it. I loved the political intrigue, population ethos, and the feeling there was a religious war which was on the brink of developing.
I was smitten with the hard done by main character, or who I thought was the main character, until I had a chance to get to know him. I also hated the twist delivered on meeting the protagonists love interest. Innocence is always taken advantage of an it is shocking to see so blithely portrayed in this book.
This book rates at 4.5/5 stars. It is another story I can read over and over. Rich and satisfying this book is almost as dogeared as my copy of the eye of the world by Robert Jordan.
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17-year-old guys. Having just read this book again I am surprised I continued with it at all. I have a squeamish Stomach even now, as a teenager I was even worse.It was well worth it. I loved the political intrigue, population ethos, and the feeling there was a religious war which was on the brink of developing.
I was smitten with the hard done by main character, or who I thought was the main character, until I had a chance to get to know him. I also hated the twist delivered on meeting the protagonists love interest. Innocence is always taken advantage of an it is shocking to see so blithely portrayed in this book.
This book rates at 4.5/5 stars. It is another story I can read over and over. Rich and satisfying this book is almost as dogeared as my copy of the eye of the world by Robert Jordan.
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LibraryThing member jenreidreads
When I started this novel, I was very excited by it. The beginning was very strong; the Skraellings were super creepy, and the mystery presented with the two pregnant women was intriguing. The momentum was definitely lost for me a few chapters in, though. A lot of repetition, info-dumping,
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clichés... I think the basic plot is still interesting and fresh enough, though, that if there had been better editing, this novel would have been much better. I intend to read the rest of the series, but only from the library. Show Less
LibraryThing member Liz1986
Great story and very engaging characters. :)
LibraryThing member AshleyMiller
Sara Douglass’s first book, The Wayfarer Redemption: BattleAxe was a great start to what seems to be a very good series. It took me a few chapters before I really got into it, but then I was hooked! I realize there are a lot of negative reviews of the book, but after reading their reviews I
I thought the plot had original aspects, was interesting, and not too complex nor too simple. It is one of the better good vs. evil fantasy books I have read; however, it is pretty much just that. Douglass doesn’t have any gray areas. That doesn’t bother me too much though. It’s just what a basic fantasy book is about and that’s what I like about it. Not to mention that she has all the elements of a good fantasy book including different races, a prophecy, and magic (though it’s a little different than many novels).
Throughout the story there were plenty of little twists, so I didn’t find it to be entirely predictable. Also, I almost found myself crying during some parts! It’s definitely an emotional story.
I also enjoyed the world building. I thought the author did a fantastic job with her descriptions of the places the characters travel. There wasn’t too much detail nor too little. This was important because throughout the entire novel the characters are traveling.
Douglas doesn’t have the greatest of characters, but I enjoyed them nonetheless. I really fell in love with Axis throughout the novel, and I disliked Bornheld with a passion. It was great to actually care about some of the characters, or have feelings toward them (love, hate, etc) because that is what really gets me involved in a story besides a good plot. Axis is the leader of the axewilders and you get to see him change throughout the novel. He is probably the only character in the novel who has decent character development. Once he is no longer under the “protection” of his caregivers he realizes everything that he was taught may be wrong. Faraday is a highborn lady who is betrothed to Duke Borneheld, the half-brother of Axis. She has quite an emotional journey throughout the novel trying to figure out her place in the prophecy and why she had to be chosen.
Axis, Faraday, and Borneheld are the main characters in the story so far. There are others who go along with them on their journey including Axis’s second in command, some Sentinels, and Faraday’s champion, as well as others they meet on the way.
This was one of the few novels I have read where the writing and the dialog are actually good. I didn’t have any problems with it or find anything to be repetitive.
This particular book doesn’t really have an ending so if you want to read the book be prepared to read the trilogy!
I would recommend this novel to any one who loves fantasy! It is not the best fantasy book I have read, but it is still very enjoyable. If you are newer to fantasy this is a great place to start. There is a little violence and some subtle sexual content, but it should be fine for anyone over 16.
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disagree with a lot of what people say.I thought the plot had original aspects, was interesting, and not too complex nor too simple. It is one of the better good vs. evil fantasy books I have read; however, it is pretty much just that. Douglass doesn’t have any gray areas. That doesn’t bother me too much though. It’s just what a basic fantasy book is about and that’s what I like about it. Not to mention that she has all the elements of a good fantasy book including different races, a prophecy, and magic (though it’s a little different than many novels).
Throughout the story there were plenty of little twists, so I didn’t find it to be entirely predictable. Also, I almost found myself crying during some parts! It’s definitely an emotional story.
I also enjoyed the world building. I thought the author did a fantastic job with her descriptions of the places the characters travel. There wasn’t too much detail nor too little. This was important because throughout the entire novel the characters are traveling.
Douglas doesn’t have the greatest of characters, but I enjoyed them nonetheless. I really fell in love with Axis throughout the novel, and I disliked Bornheld with a passion. It was great to actually care about some of the characters, or have feelings toward them (love, hate, etc) because that is what really gets me involved in a story besides a good plot. Axis is the leader of the axewilders and you get to see him change throughout the novel. He is probably the only character in the novel who has decent character development. Once he is no longer under the “protection” of his caregivers he realizes everything that he was taught may be wrong. Faraday is a highborn lady who is betrothed to Duke Borneheld, the half-brother of Axis. She has quite an emotional journey throughout the novel trying to figure out her place in the prophecy and why she had to be chosen.
Axis, Faraday, and Borneheld are the main characters in the story so far. There are others who go along with them on their journey including Axis’s second in command, some Sentinels, and Faraday’s champion, as well as others they meet on the way.
This was one of the few novels I have read where the writing and the dialog are actually good. I didn’t have any problems with it or find anything to be repetitive.
This particular book doesn’t really have an ending so if you want to read the book be prepared to read the trilogy!
I would recommend this novel to any one who loves fantasy! It is not the best fantasy book I have read, but it is still very enjoyable. If you are newer to fantasy this is a great place to start. There is a little violence and some subtle sexual content, but it should be fine for anyone over 16.
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LibraryThing member sweetzombieducky
I started out immensely enjoying this book, but right around the time Axel got his bump & grind on with the little murderess, Douglass lost me. The characters were just too stupid to live and seemed to have no motivation other than blind love and lust. Wouldn't read anything else from this
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author. Show Less
LibraryThing member Karlstar
The best part about this series is the first book. It gets off to a good start with some good characters. There's really not much unique here, but it is well written and interesting.
Awards
Aurealis Award (Shortlist — Fantasy Novel — 1995)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1995
Physical description
448 p.; 6.38 inches
ISBN
031287717X / 9780312877170