A good story, all things considered

books:

	• The Quartered Sea Tanya Huff DAW Books, 1999 - 416 pages average customer review:based on 14 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

enthralling and thrilling

This is the first book I have ever read by Ms Huff and I willingly admit I was truly charmed.

Her writing is good enough (despite some minor plot inconsistencies and typos: what are the editors at daw books paid for, I wonder?) and the story is interesting if not particularly original.

In this book Ms Huff shows off with two main skills:
the first is the ability of building up a breathtaking tension such as it will not allow you to put the book down until you have finished it;
the second is her characterization: Benedict, the main character, is a frustrating, self indulgent, self pitying, annoying, bothering, immature brat you soon care for. He made me scream with vexation because of his weaknesses: Ms huff brings to life a man you simply want to give a good smack first and go to bed with after.
The other characters are well rounded, finely depicted with special mention for the main villain, a woman I simply wanted to throttle painfully and slowly to death.

Two flaws:
the ending is too succint and brutal: after building so much tension in the heart of your reader you MUST allow him/her to untie these knots with a satisfying, extended ending. this does not happen and i found myself staring at the last page hungering for some release.
Ms Huff, as nearly all of her she-fellow-writers is bold enough to write about same sex relationships and she does it with pleasant and commendable open mindedness.
Still she seems to be convinced that a gay character (and Benedict IS gay, after all) can feel at least sexual attraction not just for one but for every woman. Surely enough these are fantasy worlds, so the author is entitled to write what she likes about sexual habits, but in my experience most gay men are unable to feel physically for a woman (let alone ANY woman) whereas they MAY feel attracted to her mind.
True bisexuality is in my experience very seldom to be found.

This notwithstanding the liaison between Benedict and Bannon (a lovely character) is moving and touching and Benedict's proneness for physical contact with kigh (the elementals bards command) is teasing.

Because of the shocking brutality of many pages I strongly recommend no youngster be allowed to read this book

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You just can't like him

The hero of this story, and I use that term lightly, is not a likeable character. He's whiney, selfish, arrogant and absorbed by his own sexual needs. This does little to distract from an interesting story about a powerful singer of water and the manner in which the other bards band together to repair their fractured community. It is fine continuation of the four quarters series and most readers should enjoy it. Just don't expect to like or identify with the main character much.

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A good story, all things considered

The main character works as an anti-hero. I didn't like his evident homosexuality--my own views in that regard are not liberal ones. But the story is interesting, the dialog natural, the characterization (usually) somewhat appealing, and the plot flows along smoothly, if slowly here and there. A far better book in this same general style is L.E. Modesitt Jr.'s "The Magic of Recluse." But The Quartered Sea is worth reading, say, when the electricity goes off in your house and you have nothing better to do.

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Best of the "Quarters" series

I think this is the best of her "Quarters" series. Benedikt is a bard who has an inferiority complex because he can only sing one quarter, water - never mind that he is the best who sings water that ever lived. He goes on an expedition to discover new lands, and disaster strikes in the form of a storm. He is stranded in a strange country, and soon finds himself embroiled in a political battle and in danger of his life. Tanya Huff is as good as ever. She puts you in the middle of the story and in the heart of the characters, and you feel and suffer along with the hero.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3

Queen Jalena of Shkoder has decided to start her reign by commissioning a ship to undertake the exploration of uncharted waters and see if it is possible to circumnavigate the world. When disaster strikes, the sole survivor is the bard Benedikt who Sings only One Quarter, that of Water. Found by the people of a Mayan-like civilization, he becomes a pawn between the brother and sister who are the most powerful people in their culture.

Praise for Tanya Huff:

"Ms. Huff is a marvelous talent whose vibrant characterizations and intelligent plotting make each new book a very special reading experience. Bring on the next verse!" --Romantic Times

"I love the way Huff writes. She creates rich, complex fantasy worlds, populates them with likable characters, includes lots of humor and action, bright, lively dialogue....Unputdownable." --VOYA

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Witches, Vampires, and Magick
Quarter Series by Tanya Huff
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The Sea of Monsters (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 2)
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