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The Weavers Of Saramyr: Book One of the Braided Path: Braided Path 1 (Gollancz S.F.)
 
 
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The Weavers Of Saramyr: Book One of the Braided Path: Braided Path 1 (Gollancz S.F.) (Paperback)

by Chris Wooding (Author) "Kaiku was twenty harvests of age the first time she died ..." (more)
4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
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Price For All Three: £17.80

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Product details

  • Paperback: 384 pages
  • Publisher: Gollancz; New Ed edition (8 April 2004)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0575075422
  • ISBN-13: 978-0575075429
  • Product Dimensions: 17.6 x 11 x 3.2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 106,840 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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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 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.



Product Description

A richly textured, darkly evocative fantasy set in a beautifully realised fantasy world, the Saramyr trilogy tells the story of an empire that rules over a land being overwhelmed by evil. An evil that comes from within the empire's centre, a sect of magicians close to the throne intent on killing any child born with magical powers. But now the empress has given birth to just such a child and revolution is brewing. Akin to the works of Robin Hobb, this is a hugely involving fantasy set in a world with an enticing oriental flavour.
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Customer Reviews

11 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.9 out of 5 stars (11 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Something Different, 4 Jan 2004
This review is from: The Weavers of Saramyr (The Braided Path, Book 1): Weavers of Saramyr Bk.1 (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.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A reminder of how good epic fantasy can be, 16 Feb 2009
By A. Whitehead "Werthead" (Colchester, Essex United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)      
This review is from: The Braided Path: Weavers Of Saramyr, The Skein Of Lament, The Ascendancy Veil (Gollancz S.F.) (Paperback)
The Empire of Saramyr is vast, rich and powerful. The Blood-Empress Anais tu Erinima is one of the most powerful and respected rulers in Saramyr's history, and her rule seems secure. However, the nobility learns that Anais' daughter Lucia has magical powers, marking her out as an Aberrant. Amongst the people of Saramyr only the Weavers are allowed to wield magic in the service of the Empire, and Aberrants - especially women - are to be killed on sight. Anais' determination that her daughter will follow her onto the Imperial Throne splits the nobility and incurs the displeasure of the Weavers, and the seeds of civil war are sewn.


Meanwhile, a young woman named Kaiku and her handmaiden Asara are the sole survivors of a devastating attack that leaves her home in flames and her family murdered. Taking refuge in the wilderness, Kaiku learns that she also harbours the powers that mark her as an Aberrant, but as she travels through Saramyr, trying to find the secret her father unearthed that got him and his family killed, she gradually learns that the Aberrants are not the wanton forces for evil the Weavers have presented them as, and that the Empire is facing many threats to its existence from within and without.

The Braided Path Trilogy was originally published between 2003 and 2005, consisting of the novels The Weavers of Saramyr, The Skein of Lament and The Ascendancy Veil. In 2006 the three books were re-released as a thousand-page omnibus simply entitled The Braided Path. It's well worth tracking down the omnibus edition with its plethora of maps and a very handsome cover.

The Braided Path is an epic fantasy and contains all the requisite battles, political intrigue and memorable characters the subgenre demands. It also has some nice twists on the conventions of the genre. The technology level is higher than normal, with rifles and cannons coming into use, and the culture of Saramyr skews towards Asia by way of Renaissance Italy. The Asian feel of the books makes itself known in the types of monsters that appear, the use of spirits and spirit magic and the types of languages that are featured in the book. Given that Asian-influenced fantasies can easily turn into The Lord of the Rings But With Ninjas!, the author avoids that temptation and successfully gives the trilogy a rich atmosphere.


The trilogy is deftly paced, with an enormous number of characters, conspiracies, plots, subplots and factions featured in its relatively modest length (the entire trilogy is shorter than a lot of Steven Erikson's individual Malazan novels, for example). It takes the reader on a wild and enjoyable ride, and it certainly reminded me of how good epic fantasy can be in the right hands. In fact, alongside The First Law Trilogy, The Ten Thousand and The Lies of Locke Lamora, The Braided Path is probably the most outright enjoyable work of epic fantasy I've read in the last few years.

There are a few minor niggles with the book. Occasionally the prose feels a little too modern, and the use of the word 'genetic' at one point feels slightly out of place. Wooding also hints at many other places in the world where stories could be waiting to be told but doesn't expand on them, although it's more of a compliment that he makes the world a living, breathing place that feels like it existed before the story begins and is still there when it ends. American readers may also feel short-changed that the trilogy is not available, at this time, from an American publisher, although copies of both the trilogy and omnibus are available as imports from Amazon.com.

The Braided Path (****½), in its omnibus format, is an excellent work of epic fantasy fiction and I heartily recommend it.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Oriental Fantasy With A Hint Of X-Men, 22 Aug 2006
By Kevin Stevens (Sussex, England) - See all my reviews
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.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantasy at it's best
I had grown bored with the Fantasy genre it all seemed to be so predictable,that was until i read this trilogy. Read more
Published 1 month ago by FDJ

5.0 out of 5 stars a word of warning...
I have not yet read the book as I have only just received it, so my star rating might change. In the meantime however, I thought I'd give a quick word of warning about one aspect... Read more
Published 8 months ago by AnetteF

4.0 out of 5 stars The braided path.
I bought this book for my grandson. All I can say is that he really enjoyed it. He also enjoyed the fact that all the books were in one volume so he didn't have to wait to get the... Read more
Published 9 months ago by Adela Harris

5.0 out of 5 stars 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

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing
Oh my. Although I may be a tad young to truly appreciate these books, they non the less were a magical and breath-taking read. Read more
Published on 12 Aug 2007 by G. Belben

5.0 out of 5 stars 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

5.0 out of 5 stars 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

5.0 out of 5 stars 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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