- Paperback: 448 pages
- Publisher: Tor; New edition edition (11 Jan 2002)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 033390754X
- ISBN-13: 978-0333907542
- Product Dimensions: 23.1 x 15.2 x 3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 2,156,790 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
The Ill-Made Mute (Bitterbynde Trilogy 1)
and over 900,000 other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Visit the Amazon.co.uk Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
This first novel by Australian Cecilia Dart-Thornton launches the Bitterbynde series, a saga of a young woman's search for her past and her destiny. An orphaned refugee taken in as a servant of powerful Isse Tower, a prominent Relay Station in the world's communications network, the main character is a nameless, badly scarred mute with little hope for better. He eventually escapes by stowing away on a magical Windship and is befriended by cheerful Sianadh, a self-professed madman and adventurer. Sianadh gives his companion two precious gifts: a name, Imrhien, and the knowledge that he is really a she, raised as a boy to protect her from even worse treatment. Together the two journey into the deep green heart of a great forest, defeat the tricky magic of various eldritch wights and discover a vast treasure that will change their lives forever. When Imrhien learns of Maeve One-Eye, a healer who may be able to heal her scars and restore her memory, the girl is determined to seek her out. On the dangerous journey, Imrhien meets and falls in love with the Dainnan ranger Thorn, but doubts he could ever return her affections. While this novel doesn't stand well alone, readers who crave long and detailed journeys through fantastic lands filled with magical creatures will enjoy Imrhien's travels. Dart-Thornton's world takes many traditional elements of epic fantasy and manages to stir them into something charming and new. --Charlene Brusso
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Description
Book I in the 'Bitterbynde' trilogy, and a landmark debut in the realm of Fantasy writing. In a world where creatures of legend haunt countryside and forest, to be caught outside after dark means almost certain death, so the inhabitants of Isse Tower are amazed when a mute, starving foundling is discovered outside their gates. With no recollection of either its name or past, the child comes to realize that the only hope of happiness lies with a wise woman residing in distant Caermelor. But to get there, the newly named Imrhien must survive a wilderness of endless danger. Lost and pursued by unhuman wights, Imrhien is eventually saved by Thorn, a mysterious and handsome ranger, but unknown to them both a dark force has summoned the Unseelie, and malignant hordes amass in the night...
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not your average fantasy novel.,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Ill-made Mute (The Bitterbynde Trilogy) (Hardcover)
At the start of the story our main protagonist is injured, amnesiac, and mute. The reader finds things out with this character, and is kept guessing right to the end. I can't write too much without giving plot spoilers.The story starts at Isse Tower, a home for a powerful aristocrat, nexus in the worlds communication system - perhaps a cross between a castle and a stately home - where messages and valuable trade items, carried through a strange and dangerous world by Stormriders, (and air ships) can be exchanged. HOwever, our main character soon journeys in other parts of the world, and has adventures interesting to read about, though perhaps not such fun to live through! Some elements (wights, seelie and unseelie) are drawn from traditional folklore sources, and there are attributions in the back of the book. However, this will not enable you to second guess the plot - it will take you by surprise. Now I can't wait to read the second book in the trilogy.
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Over-written, but worth the slog,
By
This review is from: The Ill-Made Mute (The Bitterbynde Trilogy) (Paperback)
I'll admit that, for about the first 50 pages or so of this book, I could cheerfully have put it down and not bothered to finish. Cecilia Dart-Thornton has a lush, heavily-detailed writing style which really interfered with me getting into the story and, to be honest, which annoyed me quite a bit.Once I really engaged with the character, though, I found this to be an excellent, mature read. Yes, the character does come of age and yes, the plot revolves around a quest for self-knowledge, but this story has little in common with the common run of fantasy novels. There's a maturity here that can't help but ensnare the reader. I found the world-building breathtakingly detailed, and although I found myself skimming great chunks of descriptive detail right to the end, I also ordered my copy of The Lady of the Sorrows as soon as I finished the last page. What greater praise?
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Simply not compelling,
This review is from: The Ill-made Mute (The Bitterbynde Trilogy) (Hardcover)
I shall have to confess that I gave up about one third into the book. I see that there are many reviws here that are full of praise, so pay no heed to my review unless you find that you have the same preferencs as me:
I like to get into the story, and I like page-turners and "un-put-down-ables". The urge to find out what is going to happen next, or to learn more about the world in which the story is set, will make me read on. Now do not get me wrong, I do not like shallow writing, on the contrary, I like to experience as much of the culture around the actual plot as I can. My problem with this book was that it simply went too far. Ms Dart-Thornton writes page after page filled with a lot of description and little action, and even less action that seems to be relevant to a plot. Yet, she somehow manages to leave out proper descriptions of important things, like how the towers work. I am sure she had it all worked out in her head, but she fails to pass this knowledge on to the reader. I put this book down because I just couldn't see where it was going, and it was hard to read. If you are an extremely patient soul, perhaps you will be rewarded, and perhaps I just cannot appreciate a true masterpiece. It depends on what you like in a book.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews |
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
- Books > Fantasy > Contemporary
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
