2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25
The Facets of Obsidian is a fantasy novel for women by Russian writer Natalia Kolesova. The author has published more than thirty books, most of them are related to the magical worlds, various magical creatures and their possible interaction with people. The same is told in the Facets of Obsidian. The novel was released in 2013 and was included in the Witch Worlds series published by the Eksmo publishing house.
What does the title mean
What is behind the name? This is not about volcanic glass, Obsidian in the novel is called a magical river that separates the world of people and supernatural creatures, "Beasts". The river itself also hides some magical power.
World and history of the novel
As the novel progresses, the author reveals the details of the life of creatures on both banks, metaphorically highlighting the various facets of the existence of ordinary people and supernatural creatures. The old world, the world of the Beasts, like themselves, pose a threat to mere mortals, and Obsidian acts as a natural barrier separating the two races. The worlds do not touch thanks to a speci althe magical protection provided by the Guides, werewolves that live on the shores of people. Sometime during the division of the land along the course of the river, called the Exodus, they crossed the Obsidian and settled among the people. Such a neighborhood is mutually beneficial: werewolves, as the only carriers of magic, can protect people from the invasion of Beasts from the other side. Human women, in turn, by marrying werewolves, help them continue their lineage. Natalya Kolesova writes about difficult relationships of different types and, of course, love.
Structure and brief description of "Obsidian Facets"
The novel is divided into 3 books (called facets by the author), each of which is conditionally interconnected with the previous one. The first tells the story of the difficult relationship between the human girl Inta and the Werewolf Lord Fairlyn. The second book focuses on Fairlin's brother, Barin, who had to face the mysterious girl Lissa, illegally crossing Obsidian for her own survival and saving her brother. The third story tells that not all people have come to terms with housing in the neighborhood with wolves: in it, the sister of the Were-Lord, Naina, is captured by a hunter who wants death for all her kind. All books have a small time gap between events, the narration is in the first person. However, the author easily jumps from narrator to narrator: sometimes the reader begins to perceive what is happening through the eyes of another character right in the middle of the chapter.
Characters of the series
The main characters of each book (facets) change, but all stories revolve around the same family. Inta is a human girl who came to the castle of the Werewolf Lord after her sister. She is a brave enough, stubborn heroine who follows her desires. Fairlyn is the main male character of the first facet, a stern wolf protector, on whose shoulders lies the concern for the well-being of both werewolves and people. Barin is Fairlyn's younger brother, behind whose light disposition lies a strong personality, true to his principles. Naina is the sister of the werewolves, the cold queen of the local lands, who always achieves what she wants. Lissa is the main female character of the second facet, a dodgy and stubborn girl who loves her brother very much and will do everything for his safety. The book also focuses on the secondary characters. So, many liked the cook Bertha, who brings an element of home comfort and life to the novel. Berta is a rather kind and caring woman, ready to feed and shelter anyone who deserves it: even a person, even an Animal.
Reader Reviews
Obsidian Edges is generally well received. The average rating of the book on "LitMir" is 9 points (based on the opinions of 865 people). The novel attracted the attention of a female audience, with the most positive reviews regarding the first and second stories. Not everyone has read Edges of Obsidian in its entirety: 55 readers of the same site never made it to the end.
Users of the LiveLib library liked the novel less: mediumEdges of Obsidian scores 3.7 out of a maximum of 5. Many readers noted in their reviews the lack of intrigue, the predictability of the plot and the banality of love lines. Of the positive aspects, the surroundings of the classic winter fantasy and an interesting magical world were highlighted. Unpleasant comments were caused by the presence of fairly frequent references to scenes of a sexual nature with an age limit of 12+. Readers have also commented that the third story feels unfinished and stretched compared to the previous ones.
Reviews from "LitRes" and MyBook readers
Users of the portal "LitRes" loved the novel more, rating it 4.5 stars out of 5 possible. Many have called The Edges of Obsidian a "quiet evening book", denoting the lightness of the story, which reads fairly quickly. Some readers liked the lively language of Natalia Kolesova. The novel was rated approximately the same on MyBook, but the reviews of The Edge of Obsidian were not so flattering: users complained about cardboard characters, the author's plot self-repetition, and poor disclosure of the magical world itself. Readers who highly appreciated the book fell in love with it for its love lines and entourage of werewolves.
What other novels can I read
The list of books similar to Edges of Obsidian is quite large. From the novels of the same Natalia Kolesova, one can single out the series “Tales of the Wolf Peninsula”. One of the tales is dedicated to the difficult relationship between a street artist and a tramp who leads a very difficult life.
The entourage of magic and the Middle Ages usesin her works another writer from Russia, Elena Kovalevskaya. In her fantasy worlds, the story of the recently popular "falls" from the modern world to other universes and eras is revealed. So, her book “Notes of a Medieval Housewife” gained popularity.
MyBook readers liked Daria Snezhnaya's novel "At the dark-dark forest", dedicated to all the same magic, love and teaching witchcraft abilities. The theme of werewolves is touched upon in her novel by Tatyana Abyssin. In her book Dragonmint, the main characters' ancestors could once upon a time turn into dragons. Several worlds clashed in Vadim Panov's book "The Chair of Wanderers": in the novel, representatives of different races are fighting for the magical throne of Poseidon. Although this novel may be more to the taste of fans of martial magic, it is worth adding to your reading list for all fantasy lovers.
Instead of afterword
In general, "Edges of Obsidian" can be attributed to the classic fantasy, published in print in a fairly large volume. The book found both its fans and those whom the story left indifferent. The novel will appeal to lovers of fairy tales, love stories and the world of "sword and magic". Based on the reviews that Edges of Obsidian received, the book did not bring anything new to the fantasy genre, but was well received by its fans. However, most readers treated the book as a good story for one evening. The peculiarity of the novel is that it consists of three stories that can be read in any order, or you can read withouteverything, as some readers did, focusing only on their favorite story and characters. Natalya Kolesova also releases a related series related to magic and werewolf. Many fans of "Frontiers" paid attention to her when they felt they wanted to extend their acquaintance with the work of the author.
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