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Post by Kim Wilkins on Jan 3, 2006 17:32:51 GMT 10
Hi all
If you've read Giants of the Frost and liked it, and you've got a spare ten minutes, perhaps you'd like to drop a review of it on amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0446617288/qid=1136273056/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/102-6607824-1061761?s=books&v=glance&n=283155) as it's just come out in the US. Positive customer reviews do make a difference.
However, do remember that the US edition has the "new" ending!
It's already had some great reviews in the press there, and "Romantic Times" gave it 4 stars!
Kim
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Post by Paul on Jan 4, 2006 6:14:23 GMT 10
Hi Kim! I was lucky enough to have gotten an ARC of Giants of the Frost and wrote up a review of it for a website called FantasyBookSpot. Here's the link: www.fantasybookspot.com/?q=node/view/376Also, I wrote the review without even knowing the book had a new ending. I liked it happy, but now I'm curious as to how sad it used to be. And lastly, I gave you 4 stars on Books A Million. Thanks and keep writing! |
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Post by Kim Wilkins on Jan 4, 2006 8:29:19 GMT 10
Hi Paul
Thanks so much for this lovely review, and for letting me know (I collect them and some day when i can get Dreamweaver working again, I'll put excerpts up on my website).
I thought you might be interested to know some inside info. You wrote: "The love story between Victoria and Vidar is one of the most compelling and engaging experiences I’ve come to read. Wilkins herself must be a romantic because it can be felt in the affection Vidar has for Victoria." I wrote Giants just after my first child was born, and every time I needed to describe how love felt, I didn't have very far to go to access those amazing feelings!
Kim
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Post by Faye on Jan 4, 2006 19:47:25 GMT 10
Do you need reviews on Amazon UK?
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Leeloo
Neophyte
Heaven holds a sense of wonder
Posts: 4
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Post by Leeloo on Jan 5, 2006 16:34:38 GMT 10
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Post by Dollanganger on Jan 10, 2006 23:35:46 GMT 10
This is a review I wrote of 'The Autumn Castle' when I first came across your work, Kim. It is posted on a popular consumer website, so I hope plenty of people will have been encouraged by it to seek out your work. It's a bit gushy, but heck, who doesn't like a bit of gushing? Hope you like it...
'The Autumn Castle’
When science fiction/fantasy review rag Starburst declared that this novel was ‘horribly compelling’, it was the understatement of the century. I read this 463 page book in one sitting. No joke.
I’m sure it’s clear, then, that this book is a fantastic read that you will have trouble leaving behind. It tells the tragic story of Christine Starlight, a young woman troubled by crippling pain and deep insecurities after the death of her parents in a car crash that she alone survived. Living in an artists’ colony with her long term partner Jude, she begins to feel unsettled, both by memories of a strange friend from her past as well as the niggling thought that Jude does not love her to the great extent that she loves him. Just to complicate her life for the worse, this friend from the past turns up on her doorstep, beautiful, impetuous and morally loose…and a faery queen. What follows is a fantastic read about the problems Christine faces as a result of the arrival of Mayfridh.
‘The Autumn Castle’ is, for sure, the best fantasy novel I have stumbled across for some time. Like my favourite fantasy author Sheri Tepper, Wilkins combines the modern day world with the fantasy realm in a delicious mix that creates the much needed sense of disparity and juxtaposition. Writing from the perspectives of several characters also helps in this aspect, as well as giving a nice, balanced storyline that is refreshingly free of the bias you sometimes encounter in fantasy novels (you know what I mean…the story is all told in a 3rd person narrative, concentrating solely on the thoughts of the protagonist. It usually becomes a bit narcissistic for me!).
The first aspect of Wilkin’s writing I would like to commend is her characterisation. Forget your usual ridiculously perfect hero with immense powers, courage, blah, blah, blah…Christine Starlight and her cohorts are wonderfully flawed, making for a far more realistic and interesting read. Christine herself is very self-pitying and insecure, which sure enough creates an element of sympathy, but at the same time you find yourself frustrated with her, as you are rightly supposed to be. Mayfridh, too, is quite a deliciously nasty piece of work. Not one for good intentions, she is concerned only with her own needs and causes Christine no amount of bother. It’s fantastic to read these characters like this, purely because it draws you in far greater than you normally would be. I found myself at many points rooting so hard for Christine to stand up for herself or merely come out of her shell, whilst at others I wanted to throttle the character of Mayfridh. I was indeed very involved in this novel! The flaws of these characters and the misguided actions of several others also presents a very interesting moral take on life on the behalf of Wilkins. I found the ending of the novel extremely satisfying, unusual and interesting in that she doesn’t do the ‘and everyone lived happily ever after’ scenario. That’s not to mean you will be depressed. You just get a nice look at what some people would call karma.
Wilkin’s narrative flits intelligently and skilfully between the worlds she is describing, managing to portray a busy German city with fantastic realism and a fantasy realm with the perfect amount of escapism and beautiful prose. The contrast is palpable, which works well with the story, of which a great part is devoted to questioning which is the best place to live.
The story itself is, as I have already said quite explicitly, very compelling. Wilkins doesn’t shy from the shock element, there are several twists and turns that take you quite unexpectedly, and she clearly isn’t a fan of the ‘barely escaped by the skin of your teeth’ scenario. Characters do not escape without consequences or injury, which once again makes this a realistic read, and sets the novel apart from a lot of fantasy authors who stick to the same formula of dramatic safe escapes and happy endings.
At the end of this novel I was left in no doubt that Wilkins is a gifted fantasy writer, and a quite unique one at that. She deviates from the status quo in many ways, which makes this novel a refreshing read for fantasy fans. It’s a hefty read (I don’t know how I managed it one day…I must be damn gifted), but there is no sense that the narrative is convoluted or bogged down by unnecessary information. When reading each passage, I could see the relevance and enjoyed every page.
I am looking forward to reading more by Kim Wilkins in the future, but for any out there looking for her novels, start with ‘The Autumn Castle’, because it really is fantastic!
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Post by spyndleshanks on Jan 12, 2006 10:16:02 GMT 10
I need to re-read Giants before posting a review, it's a little fuzzy in my brain and I don't want to write anything without it being totally clear.
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Post by hellion on Jan 12, 2006 11:05:43 GMT 10
I've not read it yet (it's on "da list"), but before I do, is the alternate ending included in all new editions or exclusive to the American version? Reading the blurb for it at the back of The Autumn Castle, I was reminded of two of my favourite stories in other media. The idea of an isloated research station in the middle of a very wintry nowhere is reminiscent of the 1976 Doctor Who epic "The Seeds Of Doom" and John Carpenter's 1982 masterpiece "The Thing". From memory, neither of those had much to do with Norse gods though . |
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Post by Dana on Jan 19, 2006 22:16:19 GMT 10
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