World Famous Comics: The Borderkind (The Veil, Book 2)
The Borderkind (The Veil, Book 2)
By: Christopher Golden Publisher: Spectra Average Rating: Binding: Mass Market Paperback Label: Spectra Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 464 Publication Date: January 29, 2008 Release Date: January 29, 2008
Product Description: For centuries they lived amongst us. The frightful and wondrous, the angelic and bloodthirsty. Living in a reality just beyond the Veil, humanity’s myths and legends are caught in a struggle for their very survival—against hunters far more powerful than they are.
Into this struggle has stepped a New England lawyer who once wanted to be an actor—a man who both longs for the mortal woman he was to marry and is desperate to rescue the sister who’s been taken hostage. Neither hero nor warrior, Oliver Bascombe now finds himself brandishing a magical sword, walking in the company of a woman who sometimes appears as a fox and a man made of pure ice, and dueling with albino giants and winged killers. For in the world of the Borderkind—and the realms that exist beyond it—Oliver is discovering just how vulnerable are humankind’s myths, the dire consequences of their extinction, and the reason he was chosen to save them.…
Step Across the Border The night before his wedding, a posed, intelligent lawyer discovers a world both unlike and like his own outside of his door - just beyond the Veil. Oliver finds himself in a place populated with mythological characters. In this strange new world, his strength, smarts, and loyalty are tested, and he must forge alliances in order to survive.
As readers of trilogies are well aware, it is crucial that the second book in the series be strong, connecting the start of the story to its conclusion, keeping readers interested and engaged. The Borderkind certainly does all of that, and more. As Oliver straddles the fine line between the world he knows and the land beyond the Veil, the disappearance and murder investigations continue in his hometown, and the Sandman uses his sister's capture to his advantage.
Golden has a flair for urban fantasy, weaving various sections of the story together in an intricate pattern, making both contemporary characters and classic legends come to life. He's unafraid to put his characters in jeopardy, and not all of them survive.
The Borderkind is the second in The Veil trilogy by Christopher Golden. I highly recommend reading all three books, so make sure that you read them in order! The story begins with The Myth Hunters and wraps up in The Lost Ones.
Middle Trilogy Syndrome Strikes Again...3.5 Stars The initial entry in this series was an absorbing, mind-boggling story that rivaled Neil Gaiman's "American Gods" in terms of its subject matter, quality, and level of wonder. This entry falls far short of that level, though it does have its strong points.
Borderkind takes 400 pages to move the story along and get the central characters ready for the final installment. There are far too many fight scenes between The Borderkind and the Hunters that only seem to differ in their locales, and in which of the less-important characters we've just met die. There are also far too many pages detailing the feelings that threaten to 'overtake' whichever character we're reading about.
The chapters featuring series hero Oliver Bascombe are excellent, and help make up for the overly long stretches where we must travel with lesser characters.
I will read the third book, and hope it swings back toward the high level of quality the original entry had.
Good 2nd book...could be more focused My big concern with book 3 is that Mr. Golden is spending too much time focusing on characters I simply don't care about - without giving away spoilers, I skip over all the sections involving the detective's daughter, and just don't care all that much about our Oliver's fiancee. What I want to read more of is Oliver, Kit and "the winter man", who is a great character. I hope more emphasis is placed on them, and would love Oliver and Kit to end up together :) Overall, I love the ideas Mr. Golden has put in place, the creativity with bringing these mythological characters to the forefront, and the politics and battles that ensuet...similar to his other book, Strangewood, but with a bigger scope. Eagerly awaiting Book 3 and hope it's an epic battle that is more tightly focused on the more interesting characters.
My rating is for the whole "trilogy" so far. This is well done fantasy with enough orginality to keep it from becoming a total yawn. The only problem is that so far its substance is really too thin to pass for a true "trilogy." And I'm getting weary of publishers insisting on the extra bucks that can be generated from three separate trade paperbacks instead of issuing a story of this nature as one coherent volume.
Further, in order to make it a "trilogy" far too much padding was used and it gets a little tedious at time.
Read "Silverlock" if you want a notion as to how this story could have been packaged but of course "Silverlock" came out before the "trilogy" fever seized the publishing world.
Maybe the last "volume" of this "trilogy" will change my mind. I will be checking it out from my public library. If it does change my mind, I will buy the "trilogy" for my sister's Christmas present.
Ah, that Old Middle Book Syndrome I greatly enjoyed the "Myth Hunters" much to my surprise, and this is a fairly decent follow up. But it sort of left me with that middle of trilogy feeling. Will be looking forward to the final book, but didn't like it as much as the first one. Am also looking forward the author's "Baltimore".
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