Reviews: Geist (2)

The lovely covers on this series were what initially made me pick it up, but the interesting magic system, unique enemy and the characters kept me gripped until the end.

Geist's are the term given to the magical and malevolent forces from the Otherside that come in many types with varying strengths. What was interesting was the fact that Geist's are more a type of 'force', felt but not seen except for those with the Sight - mostly the Deacons.

The Deacons are a religious order (think paladin-warrior-monk-jedi, except they can drink, smoke, and marry) dedicated to seeking out Geist's and the Unliving and banishing them back to the Otherside. They come in two varieties. The first are the Actives, who wield gauntlets covered in runes and get bad-ass abilities like throwing fire, creating shields, 'force push', and can even open a tear in reality to the Otherside itself. The second type are the Sensitives, who wear Strops around their heads which have their own unique runes and abilities. They always travel in teams of two, an Active and a Sensitive, and they are connected through a Bond which allows them to share strength, support, Sight, and often uncomfortably for our heroes, emotions.

I really liked the Active/Sensitive dynamic; Sorcha is the strongest Active in the Order, and her Sensitive partner Merrick, whilst only an initiate, has an immensely advanced ability of his own - yet they still need to rely on each other. To be separated from your partner is a very dangerous situation indeed; the Sensitives are the only ones who can name (identify) the Geists, but the Actives are the only ones with the power to use that information to banish them.

The main characters were very fleshed out and I cared about what happened to them; when they succeeded I was relieved, and when tragedy struck I wanted to throw my book at the wall. That said, there were a few characters who seemed to be important at the start - most notably, Sorcha's husband Kolya - but then appear to be left in the corner of the room and not revisited. I expect that that particular storyline will play a larger role in book two, and I wasn't overly bothered that it was not resolved in this book, but it still felt a bit strange given events that happen towards the end.

The plot was probably the weakest aspect, but it was fast paced and interesting enough to keep it hard to put down. The only thing I'd really warn interested readers about is that you do get thrown in at the deepish end for the first few chapters, with a lot of words and concepts thrown at you - e.g. Geist, Active, Sensitive, Otherworld, the many types of Runes - which are not really explained (straight away). In addition, there is no index you can check these terms against. Stick it out though - it is worth the effort.

I was looking forward to getting my copy and was not disappointed, it took a week to read and I ordered book 2 Spectyr so I could carry on the story.
A bit difficult to describe but you have an Active and Sensitive teamed together to get rid of Geists {old ghosts} and when her husband is injured our heroine Active is assigned a new Sensitive to help find the cause of an influx of activity.
I am sorry, I don't want to spoil it for you, just grab a copy and whilst you are at it the other 2 as these are fab bites to eat between Abercrombie and Butcher books.