BREATH AND BONE by Carol Berg
Roc, Jan. 2008, 449 pgs., ISBN: 978-0-451-46186-5, Trade Paperback, $15.00

Genre: Fantasy

It’s often difficult to write reviews for books I really like, because I’m so busy fan-girling over them that I can’t gather my thoughts together well enough to form any well-crafted paragraphs. When I sit down and prepare to write, all I can manage to do is visualize what I liked, the scenes I enjoyed, and the characters that enthralled me rather than just write about them. Sarah Monette’s The Virtu and Ellen Kushner’s The Privilege of the Sword are two good examples of this and, if you’ll recall, it took me months to complete those reviews despite all of my best efforts and my love for the stories.

Carol Berg has been the exception to this rule, though I do admit to writing only one review despite reading five of her books prior to this. Transformation was my first of her works as well as my fan-girl dream of 2003, but, rather than get stuck on that review, it came forth with all the expediency I could wish for and with more clarity than I would have dreamed.

I can’t hold such expectations for Breath and Bone simply because my mind hasn’t been working with the same gears as it was when I read Transformation but I can hope to come close. As my first completed novel of 2008, it was incredibly satisfying and I fear that I may have been spoiled for whatever else I may read this year.

I regret that I did not review Flesh and Spirit when I completed it back in August, but that won’t hinder me from reviewing this one just as eagerly as I would the opening volume. I shall attempt to keep spoilers to a minimum, as always, but I must warn those who may potentially read Breath and Bone that, if you’re capable of putting together the pieces based on mere references or phrases, then you may wish to tread carefully. I’d be very displeased to know that I’d ruined any of this book’s revelations for someone.

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