The Compass Rose

The Compass Rose (2005) Gail Dayton

In response to a desperate plea to the Gods to save her city from ransacking, naitan Kallista Varyl becomes one of the Godstruck–suddenly possessing more power than anyone in Adaran has for centuries.

This is another book published by Luna. I picked up several that all looked VERY good, bought two, and read this one first. It’s an interesting book. A good book, but I think it could have been honed a little more. I knew there was going to be romance, but I would happily have traded much of that detail in for more detail elsewhere. For instance, I felt Aisse’s changes were rather sudden. For someone who had suffered as much abuse as she had, I would have appreciated if a little more time had been dedicated to her healing. As it was, it felt rather perfunctory, unfortunately.

I also wanted more detail about the dynamics of a matriarchy were marriages typically occur in groups rather than between two individuals. I think that the dynamics of the relationships could have been explored more fully. And although pairings didn’t seem to be common anywhere on the world, I really wanted to see the issue of jealousy addressed. Especially when mixing together people of different cultures.

I would also have preferred that Kallista’s relationship with her ghostly advisor receive the same level of attention throughout the book as it did at the start. Belandra is an interesting character who completely disappears except for the casual mention of how she passed along information.

On the plsu side, I did like the relationship between Kallista and Torchay and how it changed as their situation changed. I quite liked Torchay, although I have to admit, I wondered at times what the hell he saw in Kallista.

I also like the way that issues I expected to be problems were relatively easily solved, while issues that I ignored or dismissed turned out to be major problems. It’s nice to be surprised, and to not have a book go where you expect it to go.

And I loved the cover. In fact, I’ve been impressed by all the Luna covers I’ve seen.

Although the story was resolved, there were issues and points left open, so I assume she plans a sequel or two. I think I’d read a sequel, but my preference would be less smoochies and more detail to the relationship between the group members. Especially Obed. He was very interesting yet we hardly learned anything about him at all.

It was an interesting book, and although not a great book, I will probably read it again. So I recommend it, although with some small reservations.
Rating: 6/10

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