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Wit'ch Gate: Immortal Magic - Infinite
Vengence (The Banned And The Banished Book 4) by James Clemens check out website: www.OrbitBooks.co.uk and www.TimesWarnerBooks.co.uk
As head of a resistance to the Dark Lord, her discussions with the combined nations are struggling to gain ground and Elena finally realises that it is action that will win the fight not idle talk. She and the companions that have followed her on her journey thus far have to follow different paths.
They cannot rely on Elena in every fight that they become involved in, for she has her own destiny to fulfil and none of the adventurers will ever be the same after their journeys to the Weirgates. I haven't had a good relationship with the James Clemens saga of 'The Banned And The Banished', the second and third volumes were terrible. I did come at this book a little closed-minded, but I have to admit that in this one the writing has begun to get far better. This one is far shorter than the other books in the series. The style is tighter and explained with more clarity. None of this over-detailing of events that had been such a bane. The fast-paced style really works well. The characters also seem to have formed better individuality. They now don't seem to have fuzzy edges that merge into one another. Their motivations are more defined which serves the reader well. This I think is due to the cleaner cut edit that has happened and the divergence of the quests into smaller groups. What surprised me most about this volume was the fact that Clemens seems to have found his funny bone, taking it from over-serious writing to warm emergences of humour in times of trouble. This makes for better dialogue between the characters, adding wit and irony to their weapons of sword and magic. The story sadly still has its undeniable foibles. Again, Clemens has put in twists and turns which are quite clever there is no denying. However, the twists are so quickly explained that they only serve as tasty morsels that pass down your throat too quick to savour. The touches of good fantasy writing are there, but they are unavoidably overshadowed by a style that bends towards cliché rather than originality. There is still that element of cheesiness. One of the points that have always put me off with Clemens' writing is the introductions to his books. He uses characters telling of people/students going mad from reading the scrolls of the Wit'ch. The problem with this idea is that it puts an awful lot of pressure on the author to deliver the goods. He is weighting his own writing against him. If those tacky little introductions were removed, these books would take on a new light for many readers. This is down to the point I made earlier about humour in the book, because it takes itself too seriously in this way you immediately start laughing at the absurdity of it all. All in all, a better book than the previous but Clemens still fails to envelop the reader in his storytelling and thus fails to provide a good read. Let's hope the final instalment fulfils where this one has dared to tread. Donna Jones
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OTHER REVIEWS - April 2004
Other reviews: April 2004 Lucifer's Dragon by Jon Courtenay Grimwood The Companions by Sherri S. Tepper Beyond Infinity by Gregory Benford Sunshine Patriots by Bill Campbell The Skies Of Pern by Anne McCaffrey Eight Keys to Eden by Mark Clifton The Adam Strange Archives Volume 1 Wit'ch Gate: Immortal Magic - Infinite Vengence by James Clemens Dime Store Magic by Kelley Armstrong Deep Space Nine: Rising Son by SD Perry Absolution Gap (The Inhibitors series book 3) by Alastair Reynolds Alchymist (The Well Of Echoes book 3) by Ian Irvine Hal Spacejock: Second Course by Simon Haynes Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris The Dancers At The End Of Time by Michael Moorcock The Crow: The Story Behind The Film by Bridget Baiss British Summertime by Paul Cornell The Year Of Our War by Steph Swainson April 2004: Hardback to Paperbacks The Chesley Awards: A Retrospective by John Grant and Elizabeth Humphrey with Pamela D. Scoville
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Elena
has come of age sooner than expected. The forging of the powers
that the wit'ch has to her advantage and the bonding of the Blood
Diary have made Elena older than her years.
The
four Weirgates must be destroyed to not only cause a rift in the
Dark Lord's source of power but also to release the dark elemental
power of Chi. The Blood Diary has enlightened Elena to Chi's continued
torture within the Weir and Cho has entrusted the wit'ch to the
task. This the fourth book in 'The Banned And The Banished' series
and sees the characters leading their own paths destined for individual
goals. 
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