Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful, 26 Nov 2002
I enjoyed this series from start to finish but have to admit that this one is my favourite. McKenna has crafted a dynamic and believeable world with genuine history and politics, and her characters are well rounded and very likeable! This has definately been the most real seeming fantasy series I have come across. Many books in the genre are two dimensional, with things explaned as "by magic" or "just because". These books don't leave anything unexplored, and I found myself utterly caught up in the lives of the characters. I can definately reccomend it for a truely engrossing read.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great fun, highly recommended., 13 Nov 2000
This is the third book in the five book Einarinn series. I have enjoyed this series from the beginning, and am greatly looking forward to the sequel. Juliet McKenna has a vivid imagination, and a knack for storytelling; each book in the series has been better than its predecessor as she has developed as a writer. Gambler's Fortune has some subtleties to the plot which are best appreciated by first reading Thief's Gamble and Swordsmans Oath. The underlying themes of the series are that of cultural change and also of conflict between cultures, and these appear in many ways. There are changes in agriculture displacing peasants who move on or become highway robbers. There are 'settlers' moving in to the mountains where hunting and trapping are the traditional way of life, and the supposedly 'unowned' land is no such thing. Above all there are the Ice Islanders who have very poor land, historic grudges and are busily, but quietly, moving in on the varied nations of the mainland. Gambler's Fortune follows Livak, who is trying to discover more about aetheric magic, which is used by the Ice Islanders. It is known that it once was the main form of magic, and Livak is hoping that by visiting two of the least 'modern' nations she can find old songs which hold useful spells. Juliet McKenna has created a real and fascinating world in which people are busily getting on with their lives, rather than stopping in awe because a quest is passing through. The main characters are all very human people and are not the porcelain Princesses of high fantasy, but instead are travelling thieves, swordsmen, gamblers, singers and one Mage who is a bit startled by the realities of life outside his ivory tower. Great fun, highly recommended.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another winner!, 19 Sep 2000
By A Customer
One of the delights of Juliet McKenna's books is that she avoids so may of the standard pitfalls of fantasy writing. Characters develop, narrator perspectives change, and although the beautifully-depicted (and entirely believable) fantasy world remains, its currents and politics are constantly in flux. This is fantasy for grown-ups;original characters, great dialogue, convincing battles. Juliet McKenna is one of the rare fantasy writers who have not succumbed either to Tolkien Frenzy or Trilogy Fever;each book stands on its own merits (although I defy anybody, having read one, to resist buying the rest). "Gambler's Fortune" is another great read from a very talented and imaginative young author; I eagerly await the next volume of what, I hope, will be a long and satisfying series.
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by Juliet E. McKenna
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