Book Review: Geist by Philippa Ballantine
With Geist
Geist opens with a riot. Who doesn’t love a good riot? This is the first time the reader is introduced to Deacon Sorcha, the infamous, red-headed, cigar smoking, Active. We learn that she is tasked with keeping Geists from the Otherside from intruding into the normal world. We learn that Actives using magical rune covered gauntlets work with Sensitives who wear rune covered Strops to utilize their powers to the greatest extent. It seems like a quite a bit to lean in the first chapter, but the almost-frantic pace in which the book starts with turns into a well-run 400 meter dash. During the riot, Sorcha’s Sensitive partner (and estranged husband) Kolya shows up, tipping Sorcha off that this is no mundane riot. It turns out that a Geist has possessed members of the crowd causing a dilemma for Sorcha and Kolya as they are not authorized to use their powers on the living. The situation goes downhill quickly and Kolya is gravely injured and Sorcha is forced to resort to using powers that are reserved for the direst of situations. Sorcha manages to subdue the Geist and get aid for her husband. So ends the first chapter…
As the book continues we are introduced to an Arch Abbot, a Cursed Pretender King and a Hotshot Novice Sensitive with a secret past, to name a few. Ballantine does a wonderful job of bringing the world she has created into focus for the reader. Rather than front loading the reader with a boring history of the world she jumps right in feet first and brings the reader up to speed as the story progresses. Some people don’t like this style but I think that Ms. Ballantine has found the “sweet spot” on this one. The overall pacing of the novel was fast, fast but steady not quite a sprint, but close to it.
I mentioned that this book was a great reminder of why I love books written by Fe-lion authors and here is why: I read quite a bit and I have noticed that most of the Fe-lion authors that I read tend to do an excellent job of developing their characters and conveying those characters’ emotions. There are male authors who convey characters emotions well but the aforementioned Fe-lion authors seem to have it down to a science. I appreciated how the author handled the “love” scene; there was enough description to keep me interested without the book degrading into cheap porn. Ms. Ballantine has written some erotica and, surprisingly, I appreciate her restraint on this one.
The biggest complaints I have about this book are some of the fight scenes. While action packed, a few of the fights seemed a bit disjointed and didn’t have a tactical flow to them. I fully understand the “fog” of war and I know from firsthand knowledge that no plan survives the initial contact but the battles could have had a cleaner flow. I feel a clean flow would have made the battles more epic and easier to follow. The only other minor complaint I had was the steampunk aspect of the novel. It only really came into play once during the novel but it played out in a big way. A little conflict between ship and sea captains and the normal argument between magic and technology would have been nice — not necessary, but nice. The good news is that this book didn’t sell itself to me as a steampunk novel, so I didn’t feel let down.
On a five star rating I give this book a solid four stars and a solid endorsement (for whatever that is worth) if you are only interested in sword swinging and bloodshed this book is not for you. It is an exciting, fast paced novel, full of intrigue, filled with well developed characters. It is a fresh approach to the often played out fantasy genre. To you Ms. Ballantine I respectfully say “well played!” and I look forward to more. For more information on the author visit her site www.pjballantine.com.
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