Books like Hidden Warrior

\ \ Um...Ms. Flewelling...may I call you Lynn...okay, Ms. Flewelling...if you ever see this review, I want you to know that this rating/review is a reflection of MY FAILURE and not yours. I don’t think this is a bad book and I don’t think there are serious flaws in its execution. I think the lack of happy units I gained from this read is because sometimes I suck as a reader and pick up the wrong book at the wrong time. What I am trying to say is that it's me....not you. \ \ Let me explain. For me (and maybe for a lot of us) my enjoyment (and subsequent rating) of a book can be significantly affected by external matters completely outside of the novel itself. By this I mean situations where our mood or environment makes us more or less disposed to one kind of book over another. Now there are some books *cough* Twilight *cough* Dead and Alive*cough* All-Star Batman & Robin the Boy Wonder, Volume 1 *cough* that I would hate even if I was reading them while getting the Deluxe Treatment at “Happy Endings” Message Parlor. By the same token, there are books I would love even if I was reading them in the middle of colonoscopy (e.g., The Lies of Locke Lamora, The Blade Itself). Then there are books that can just hit you at the right or wrong time and make an impact on you for good or for bad. For example, the first time I ever read The Dying Earth by Jack Vance I thought it was just okay, but not great. Why? Because I read it too fast. I had just finished a rather “brain draining” read and thought I was picking up something light and breezy that I could fly through. WRONG again!! Anyone who has read Vance knows that his books are not light and his prose can convey more info in a short paragraph than lesser writers could do in a whole chapter. Luckily, I eventually stopped reading it like a tool and allowed myself to be pulled into the story. The result: a massive man-crush on Jack Vance and The Dying Earth is now one of my all time favorite books. So, it happens. Simalarly, if you have seen my review of The Old Man and the Sea, you know that the circumstances under which I read it were as perfect as they could be and I absolutely fell in love with the story. Now, it is true that everything I loved about Papa’s fish tale is really there in the text, but if I had not been receptive to it, my experience might have been much different. So what I am saying rambling about is that a lot of things can influence the way we feel about a book. Mood (good or bad), setting (cozy and quite vs loud and uncomfortable), Energy (tired and groggy vs rested and alert), life situations (just got a promotion vs just lost your job), Distraction level (hungry or worried about project you need to finish vs satiated and relaxed because you just finished that big project). Maybe we’re sad and so that beautifully written but deeply depressing historical fiction novel just leaves us cold. Maybe we are pissed at the world and so the latest Discworld novel doesn’t generate the number of giggles it otherwise might. Maybe were drunk and so that pulpy SF story just goes down smooth. Maybe we’ve read too many stories lately with similar plots or characters and so the one we are reading now, despite being well written, feels too much like “same old, same old.” And maybe...there are times when you just need to take a break from a genre even if it happens to be one of your favorites. I think this may be where I am heading with traditional epic fantasy. I can think of no other explanation for my lack of interest in this book.Hidden Warrior is very well-written (Lynn...I mean Ms. Flewelling writes excellent prose). The characters are well-drawn, three-dimensional and the author genuinely breathes life into them. The plot takes on some very important and interesting issues regarding gender and sexual identity as it revolves around a main character who was born a girl but was “magically” transformed into a boy in order to protect her/him. In addition, there is a complex, detailed history, healthy amounts of political intrigue and a well defined and interesting magic system.Yet, for all of that...I COULDN’T EVEN BEGIN TO CARE ABOUT THE PLOT…...not even a little bit...50 pages into the story and I was screaming at myself for not reading something else. Plus, I am one of those morons who once I begin a book, I will finish it (no matter how much I might desperately want to). I also don't skim which only adds to my pain sometimes. So I struggled through this which was both a disservice to me and to your book Ly..uh...Ms Flewelling. Both you and your book deserved a better effort from me. Still, I have to be honest and say that I didn’t really like the story. Thus, I am forced to slap a two star rating on it as the best I can do at this time. I just wanted to explain my rationale because I think this MAY BE a much better story than my rating would suggest and is certainly superior to the other 2 star books on my shelves. I am going to put this on me list of “to re-read” and hope to come back to this story at some time in the future when I might be more receptive to the story. For now, 2.0 stars and one more heart-felt apology to you, Ms. Flewelling...\ \