- Paperback: 375 pages
- Publisher: Gollancz; paperback / softback edition (15 May 2003)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0575074426
- ISBN-13: 978-0575074422
- Product Dimensions: 23 x 15.2 x 3.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,007,447 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
The Weavers Of Saramyr
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
With The Weavers of Saramyr, Chris Wooding begins his first adult fantasy trilogy, "The Braided Path". His previous work, most notably the Silver Smarties Award-winner The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray (2001), was published for younger readers.
Here the fantasy empire ruling the land of Saramyr has an oriental flavour, a level of technology that allows rifles and bombs and a communications system relying on magic--the sorcery of the dreaded, masked Weavers. By manipulating the magical Weave of the world, a kind of fantasy cyberspace, Weavers can not only send messages over any distance but manipulate minds, fight intangibly and kill. They are incidentally made rotted and cancerous by their masks, and have revolting habits such as raping and killing small children. Make no mistake, these are the bad guys.
All other forms of magic talent are denounced as Aberrant and the talent-owners condemned to death. Rebellion brews among the Empire's people and powerful noble factions when it emerges that the Heir-Empress Lucia is Aberrant, with gentle powers of communication with birds and earth-spirits. Meanwhile another girl, Kaiku, is orphaned when her family is both poisoned by an unknown hand and attacked by "shin-shin" demons. Kaiku soon finds that she herself is dangerously Aberrant, apt to send out waves of uncontrollable fire. Kaiku makes a quixotic journey with unusual companions, and, by use of the mask that is her sole inheritance, enters a protected place to discover the grim secret of what's slowly poisoning the land. It is not, as the Weavers insist, the existence of Aberrants. Kaiku and her friends join the Red Order, a sisterhood of trained Aberrants, in a desperate effort to save Lucia from the general bloodshed of the inevitable Imperial coup. Many characters fail to survive for the backlash expected in volume two.
Although Chris Wooding overdoes the repulsiveness of the Weavers themselves--nightmare caricatures rather than plausible villains--his talent for atmosphere and description makes this a memorably intense, exotic adult-fantasy debut. --David Langford
Review
Author profile appeared in PN on 9th May.The book was described as: 'a marvellous piece of work, with vividly drawn characters and a tight, exciting plot... brilliantly imagined, and a long way away from standard orcs and broadswords setting of too much sub-standard fantasy.' 'The Weavers of Saramyr is a triumph, and resolutely stands out from the standard fantasy slop'DREAMWATCH 'Wooding goes to great lengths to describe the history of the lands and its gods and that makes you want to read more and more. A great read.'ENIGMA 'This is an admirable and original fantasy from a young writer who clearly has a long and successful career ahead of him. Recommended.'SFREVU.COM 'fluid, inviting prose, a cast of intriguing and deftly-drawn characters and a spritely plot that twists and turn engagingly'SFX 'A fast paced tale of adventure and intrigue.'SFSITE 'Wooding takes care to undercut fantasy cliches with skilful chracterisation, an oriental location and complex sexual politics.'THE GUARDIAN'This is how fantasy should be done... A really exceptional read.'SFCROWSNEST 'An intensely imagined world with many original and delightful aspects.'INFINITY PLUS 'His gift for description and breadth of vocabulary must be the env
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First Sentence
Kaiku was twenty harvests of age the first time she died. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
Kaiku was twenty harvests of age the first time she died. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
Having greatly enjoyed Chris Wooding's Retribution Falls: Tales of the Ketty Jay (Tales of the Ketty Jay 1) and its follow-up The Black Lung Captain: Tales of the Ketty Jay: Bk. 2 (Tales of the Ketty Jay 2) I decided to try one of his earlier works. 'The Weavers of Saramyr' is the first part of the Braided Path trilogy. Set in an entirely different universe to the Ketty Jay series there are no airships on display here and its a far more sombre affair than the adventures of Captain Frey and his crew.
To be honest I doubt I will be back for part two of the series. Although the Weavers of Saramyr shows Wooding's capacity for invention and flights of fantasy to good effect I found the plot less than compelling and it took me a long time to finish the book for that reason. Whilst Saramyr is an interesting, original fusion of quasi-oriental cultural influences, European-style dynastic politics from the 14th or 15th Century and nature focused mysticism the central story of Kaiku, Tane, Amara and the others never really grabbed me. It seemed to ramble without much direction during the first half of what is not a short book; so much so that by the time their quest did seem to gain some forward momentum in the final third the book had squandered much of my initial good will. By contrast I found the political machinations and intrigues far more interesting and gripping, but this element of the story felt rushed and short changed by the need to return to Kaiku, et al.
By the time the book reached what I found to be a rather deus ex machina conclusion I really didn't care that greatly about the overall outcome of the story. Certainly not enough to want to pick up the next volume in the series. Saramyr might have been a colourful, fantastical yet also believable world but it also deserved a more compelling, better paced and tighter focused story to show it off. I will just have to wait for the publication of The Iron Jackal, the next Ketty Jay Adventure.
To be honest I doubt I will be back for part two of the series. Although the Weavers of Saramyr shows Wooding's capacity for invention and flights of fantasy to good effect I found the plot less than compelling and it took me a long time to finish the book for that reason. Whilst Saramyr is an interesting, original fusion of quasi-oriental cultural influences, European-style dynastic politics from the 14th or 15th Century and nature focused mysticism the central story of Kaiku, Tane, Amara and the others never really grabbed me. It seemed to ramble without much direction during the first half of what is not a short book; so much so that by the time their quest did seem to gain some forward momentum in the final third the book had squandered much of my initial good will. By contrast I found the political machinations and intrigues far more interesting and gripping, but this element of the story felt rushed and short changed by the need to return to Kaiku, et al.
By the time the book reached what I found to be a rather deus ex machina conclusion I really didn't care that greatly about the overall outcome of the story. Certainly not enough to want to pick up the next volume in the series. Saramyr might have been a colourful, fantastical yet also believable world but it also deserved a more compelling, better paced and tighter focused story to show it off. I will just have to wait for the publication of The Iron Jackal, the next Ketty Jay Adventure.
7 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A slight Oriental feel to the world in this book, which was different. The characters are well written, with interesting abilities. I liked the struggle that Kaiku endured during the story and the author wasn’t afraid to upset the reader by making bold choices. I enjoyed the Weaver characters, as they came over foul but interesting. The plot did slow a bit during detailed back history scenes, but not enough to spoil the story and the ending left me wondering what came next.
6 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The book is set on an oriental world slightly like that of Tsuranuanni from the Empire trilogy by Raymond E. Feist and Janny Wurts with rival houses vying for more power through alliances and deceit. People appear to be more technologically advanced than in most fantasy novels with rifles and bombs the weopons of choice alongside swords and daggers, however this in no way detracts from the story and fantasy purists should not be put off.
The style of writing is excellent, descriptive but also fast paced and you find yourself completely immersed in this strange and beautiful world. The plot is well thought out with characters responding logically to situations and plenty of suspense thrown into the mix. Put simply this is the type of book which you constantly tell yourself that you'll go to sleep/do the washing up/walk the dog after reading just one more chapter.
My only complaint is that the Weavers are just too evil and despicable, it leaves them too one dimensional and how they come up with their plans for world domination while obviously completely insane is a little puzzling, as is why the noble families put up with their habits. This is a very small complaint about an excellent book and the other two books in the trilogy maintain the high standard set with this opener.
In conclusion this is one of the best fantasy debuts that i have read and i've read alot. If you enjoy fantasy novels by Feist, Martin, Eddings etc then you'll love this book. I've read it three times since its release and enjoyed it every time.
The style of writing is excellent, descriptive but also fast paced and you find yourself completely immersed in this strange and beautiful world. The plot is well thought out with characters responding logically to situations and plenty of suspense thrown into the mix. Put simply this is the type of book which you constantly tell yourself that you'll go to sleep/do the washing up/walk the dog after reading just one more chapter.
My only complaint is that the Weavers are just too evil and despicable, it leaves them too one dimensional and how they come up with their plans for world domination while obviously completely insane is a little puzzling, as is why the noble families put up with their habits. This is a very small complaint about an excellent book and the other two books in the trilogy maintain the high standard set with this opener.
In conclusion this is one of the best fantasy debuts that i have read and i've read alot. If you enjoy fantasy novels by Feist, Martin, Eddings etc then you'll love this book. I've read it three times since its release and enjoyed it every time.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
The uneven start of an epic story
For an author whose career has been much more attuned to young adult science fiction and fantasy, "The Braided Path" trilogy happens to be a turning point in Chris Wording's... Read more
Published 2 months ago by ManInsideTheHelm
A fascinating world
This is the first in the 'Braided Path' trilogy (the others are 'The Skein of Lament' and 'The Ascendancy Veil'). Read more
Published 10 months ago by Mrs. Pauline M. Ross
Magisterial fantasy
Chris Wooding's fully fledged trilogy opener, The Weavers of Saramyr, trumpets a stunning talent on the fantasy stage from a young author. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Mark
Unnecessary
Other reviews have covered the plot. For me there were just too many references to raping of small boys and some of the connections too personal (describing a happy boy and his... Read more
Published 20 months ago by Sherlock
Gripping to the last
When I got this book it was because i needed something to read and I'd already read one of Wooding's books before so I thought why not? Read more
Published on 29 Sep 2007 by Confette
Not another spin on the story told a thousand times over.
I tend to find that with most fiction storys, they all seem to have the same storyline and a very similar ending, most seem a spin of Tolkiens "Lord Of The Rings" series. Read more
Published on 8 Oct 2006 by Chilli Spice
Get caught in the Weave
I recently bought this on a whim, as I am prone to do, as I am a fan of computer games such as Onimusha and oriental movies and I have to say I was blown away. Read more
Published on 21 Mar 2005 by David Stewart Mckee
chris woodings first adult novel does not disappoint
being the computer addict that i am - books dont usually tempt me away from it. but this one certainly did - for a good few days!!! its amazing. from beginning to end. Read more
Published on 16 Sep 2003 by Shaun Russell
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