The interplay between the characters is well presented - their depth, conflict, uncertainty, confidence, even arrogance is very nearly priceless.

I suspect that it's mostly due to the necessary set-up of an opening book in a new world and something on an unconvincing opening romance (though I really like the direction this appears to be going by the end of the book).īut, once the set-up is complete, the pace really gets going. I can't fully explain why this was, but it was a bit of a hindrance to me fully engaging with the story and its characters. While I won't say I was disinterested, I didn't care as much as I should have for the first third of the book or so. However, for all the beautiful economy of the language, I found it a bit challenging to become fully engaged in the book and its characters at first. The near-poetic style of writing helps to set the tone of the setting and culture, completing the otherworldly feel that the best of fantasy can achieve. And the language flows almost poetically, harkening back to an earlier time in epic fantasy and the likes of Le Guin and McKillip. It's simply that no word, no sentence, no paragraph is wasted.

It's not that the book is without depth, or that the characters are lacking development, or that the world is not built well enough. It's an epic fantasy, the opening of the Eternal Sky trilogy, and it's only 334 pages long. The economy with which Bear writes Range of Ghostsstands out as one of the biggest triumphs of the book. Range of Ghosts shows Bear executing at her best - the economy and ease with which she unveils the story shows a mastery of her craft. Of course there's magic, an interesting set of very real gods that literally change the sky above, and a quest. Range of Ghosts by Elizabeth Bear follows this new trend with inspiration from the Asian steppes, Mongol hordes, mountain Buddhists and desert caliphates.

Range of ghosts by elizabeth bear