Book Cover
Title Sword of Fire and Sea
Author Erin Hoffman
Cover Art Dehong He
Publisher Pyr - 2011
First Printing Pyr - 2011
Book Cover
Title Lance of Earth and Sky
Author Erin Hoffman
Cover Art Dehong He
Publisher Pyr - 2012
First Printing Pyr - 2012
Book Cover
Title Shield of Sea and Space
Author Erin Hoffman
Cover Art Dehong He
Publisher Pyr - 2013
First Printing Pyr - 2013
Category Fantasy
Warnings None
Main Characters Captain Vidarian Rulorat, Priestess Ariadel Windhammer, Thalnarra, Altair, Queen Roana (Ruby), Rai, Isri, Iridan
Main Elements Goddesses, gryphons, wizards
Website ---




Click to read the summarySword of Fire and Sea

Click to read the summaryLance of Earth and Sky

Click to read the summaryShield of Sea and Space




Magic, goddesses, and most importantly gryphons, an impressivly powerful creature that so rarely graces the pages of modern novels, the dragon so often hoarding that space for himself.

Hoffman creates a fascinating world, with a complex magical system and fascinating creatures, unfortunately she doesn't use them to their fullest. For example, when Vidarian first sees a gryphon, within the first few chapters of the book, he faints. Now gryphons were meant to be legendary, mythical, and well, they aren't supposed to exist. So it was a reasonable response for a character in that world when faced with a creature of dreams. However, the reader, knowing this was a fantasy novel, was unimpressed. *We* didn't know that this was such a major thing, and so Vidarian seemed ridiculous passed out on the ground. There was simply no build up to that climax, and as such, it wasn't a climax at all.

And again, when Vidarian was with the gryphons, we get this line -

"He listened avidly to their adventures and lair life, sometimes understanding little about the details but gaining volumes of new regard for gryphon culture."
That was nice for him, but I would have liked to learn something about gryphon culture too! While pages and pages of exposition would have been boring, that teasing line was just frustrating, we should learn with the character.

As I was reading it, I was trying to place the writing style. I found the dialog a little stiff, and the writing almost overfully full of adjectives and adverbs. Events would happen at a lightning pace with no pause between them. And then I read the Author's Note and it clicked. I'd RP'ed a bit in various forums and the feel of her novel is a lot like that. Not the effect you get when two or more authors are involved, it was just the style of writing one uses.

Now this review probably comes off sounding not all that great. But underneath the faults lies a great potential, a very interesting world. The action may be a bit too rapid fire but you don't get bored waiting for things to unfold. And there are gryphons, and they are major characters, and though you might not learn as much about them as you might like, you do pick up interesting tidbits as you go along. By the end, I truly wanted to know more about what was going to happen to Vidarian (I kind of liked him though I felt absolutely nothing for just about everyone else).

...And I just have to ask..."Correctamundo"? Great and powerful goddess, and given the dialog throughout was somewhat stiff and formal, and we get lines like "See you later alligator" coming out of her mouth? Why is she using modern North American slang?? It was so disconcerting!

So it was with a little trepidation that I started the second book. I wanted to find out what was to happen to Vidarian, but didn't want to slog through the choppy writing. But I was pleasantly surprised! This book was much improved. The action flowed more smoothly from one scene to the next without sacrificing the non-stop action. The dialog was less stiff. We're really starting to learn more about the world itself, it's history, it's culture and how magic works. And the gryphons continued to be front and center, with new and interesting creatures appearing (shapeshifters, automatons, and more). A few things still required me to suspend my disbelief, mainly how quickly everyone adapted to to increase in magic (can an entire skyship armada be put together in a matter of weeks or even months when nobody had flown a ship in centuries? How did they know how? Also Vidarian learns to do things some say are impossible in a matter of minutes...) There were a few new characters added but sorely underused so wasn't sure why they were there in the first place (e.g. Calphille). But at this point not only would I not be reluctant to try the third book, I would in fact be looking forward to it. Hopefully the same artist will provide the cover art because it's simply amazing.



January 2024

It took me a while, 12 years worth, before getting a copy of the third book in the trilogy. Of course that meant first thing I had to do was re-read the first two books, not remembering much (though the "Correctamundo" thing stuck which I'm not sure is a good thing). Basically, my original review stands. The first book needed some really thorough editing, because in the second you can already see the improvements. I was ready to give away the first book there were so many typos and difficult sentences, but the second book you notice none of that it improved so much. I must admit the first book gave me one of my favorite typos...pirates about to board the ship and they "foraged forth" onto the deck...presumably to gather mushrooms and berries? They'd have been a little more intimidating if they had "forged" instead.

Anyway, after a decade long wait, time to see how it all ends...

Well, the series did improve from that first book. I guess the only complaint is maybe it was too vast for such a small page count, we keep meeting new and fascinating races and get hints of even more but we don't get to spend as much time with them as one would like. But as the author finished up she mentioned that there is room for more and she intended it that way. I don't know if it will happen, it's been ten years, but I did like the ending, maybe I could have seen it coming but I had other thoughts on what would happen so it was a nice twist and very bittersweet (grabs kleenex). And I liked the hints that maybe there's a closer connection to our world than one expects in a high fantasy trilogy, maybe even a twinge of science fiction underlying the magics.

Fortunately, I will be able to hunt down two short stories that take place in this world in the Beneath Ceaseless Skies eZine, I'll add the links once I do.




Posted: May 2012

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