Journal Entry 1 by appaloosatb from Rochester, Minnesota USA on Wednesday, July 02, 2003

Anna has had a hard life. Working as a teacher and small-time opera singer in Ames, Iowa, she struggles to deal with the recent death of her oldest daughter while also worrying about other family problems and a stressful work environment. She wishes she could be anywhere else.

Be careful what you wish for... Anna finds herself transported to a whole new world, where her musical talent makes her the most powerful sorceress on the planet. Suddenly, Anna must deal with learning magic spells, dealing with the local hot-shot sorceror, and finding herself being used as a weapon of war.

At first, I wasn't sure this was going to be that great. I liked the writing, but nothing was really explained too well. I felt like the details were just thrown at me, and I might be missing some crucial things in the story. Moreover, the point of view shifted from past to present between some of the chapters, which broke up the flow.

But it did get better. I started to understand more of what was going on. The twists in the plot and the political intrigues may not have been up to George R. R. Martin's standards, but I was still quite impressed (and they were definately better than I could have done!). I loved all of the musical details, and the author did a great job working with a whole new culture. By the end of the book I wanted nothing more than to find the second volume in the series so that I could revisit Erde.

This is available as a bookray! 

Journal Entry 2 by appaloosatb from Rochester, Minnesota USA on Wednesday, July 02, 2003

Bookray members:
caligula03 (California USA)*
ResQgeek (Virginia USA)
shaunesay (Kansas USA)
nutmeg71 (New York USA)
MueckeGuen (Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg Germany)
katayoun (Tehran, Iran)
Arcana (Zaragoza, Aragon Spain)
Scrawler (Warsaw, Poland)
vicki9170 (Florida USA) <--- it's here *STALLED*
drommie1810 (moving to Virginia, USA)*
Obsessivereader (Virginia USA)
Sidney1220 (Maryland USA)
Hengameh (Tehran-Iran)
Zarylia (Poland in winter, MN USA in summer)
billhookbabe (Derbyshire, UK)
CdnBlueRose (Colorado, USA)*
rooshill (California, USA)*

*denotes a preference not to ship internationally
<--- shows who has it

Did you like this book? I have a ray open for the sequel now too! Check out The Spellsong War.

How Does a Bookray work?

A book passes from BCer to BCer based on the list of members who've signed up.

To join this bookray please send a PM (private message) to appaloosatb and I will add you to the list. New members will be added to the end of the list in the order in which I receive the messages. Please be aware that this is an international bookray and you may have to ship overseas. If you have a hard time shipping overseas, you can let me know and I will try to place you accordingly on the list, but I can't guarantee you won't have to ship internationally. The list of members will be listed here at the book's home page.

As a member, you will receive the book from the person listed before you. When you receive the book please make a journal entry stating that you’ve received it. Please read it as soon as you can (don't rush, just be reasonable about the length of time). After you read the book, please journal again with your comments. You will then need to PM (private message) the next person on the list for their mailing address. Mailing the book by media mail is the least expensive way (or surface mail if it's sent overseas).

If you are unable to reach the person after you on the list in a reasonable amount of time, then PM the next person on the list. If any questions come up, please send me a PM. Thank you all for participating in this bookray.

~ Happy Reading ~ 

Journal Entry 3 by appaloosatb from Rochester, Minnesota USA on Saturday, December 06, 2003

off to caligula! 

Journal Entry 4 by caligula03 from Hayward, California USA on Tuesday, December 16, 2003

The book has arrived. I will read it as soon as I can! 

Journal Entry 5 by caligula03 from Hayward, California USA on Friday, February 06, 2004

The Soprano Sorceress is one of the most densely detailed books I've read in a while. The book took a lot out of me to read and yet held my attention for the most part throughout. I think there are times when the book goes to far into the minutia of what Anna eats and how much she eats and when she eats. I realize that food and water are two central themes to book to show both the devestation of the drought and the high metabolisms that sorcerers have but honestly, the repetition drags the book.

2/7/04: I liked this book enough that I purchased a copy for myself to reread. My husband also plans to read the copy I got. 

Journal Entry 6 by caligula03 at A Fellow Reader in Alexandria, Virginia USA on Friday, February 06, 2004

Release planned for Saturday, February 14, 2004 at A Fellow Reader in Alexandria, Virginia USA.

Mailing off to ResQgeek next week. 

Journal Entry 7 by ResQgeek from Alexandria, Virginia USA on Monday, February 23, 2004

Arrived in the mail today. I'm currently reading another bookray book, but this is next in my TBR pile. 

Journal Entry 8 by ResQgeek from Alexandria, Virginia USA on Friday, March 26, 2004

Journal Entry 9 by ResQgeek from Alexandria, Virginia USA on Friday, March 26, 2004

This book is going to the Post Office today, to continue its journey. Enjoy! 

Journal Entry 10 by shaunesay from Olathe, Kansas USA on Tuesday, March 30, 2004

Just received! will journal again when I'm finished and pass it on!

5/17/04 update: I'm about halfway through, and have PM'd nutmeg71 for an address. Hoping to have finished to mail out this coming weekend. 

Journal Entry 11 by shaunesay from Olathe, Kansas USA on Friday, May 21, 2004

So many elements to discuss! This is the first book by Modesitt that I've read, so I can't compare it to others, but after this one, I intend to read more! Being from a somewhat music interested background (Grandmother and Father both music hobbyists, and myself having played in band in school and just liking music a lot in general!) the idea of magic paired with music is very appealing to me. One thing I wondered was why the music wasn't more intricate, as Anna herself wondered, there seemed so many more possibilities if they would use more of the elements common in music. I suppose that is addressed in Anna's own musings on why there were not more sorcerers/esses, because it was just too dangerous to play with unless you knew exactly what you were doing. I loved Farinelli, and how Anna kept comparing Lord Jecks to either Robert Mitchum or Sean Connery. Even though she had been spelled to be young and beautiful, you still got the total mature woman feeling from her. Being an accountant, I also found it amusing when she was trying to teach Menares, and the others about keeping accounts, and classifying expenses for budgeting, I've seen the same reactions many times from others at work who are not in the finance department!

Thanks for sharing this one appaloosatb, I will look for the others in the series! On the way to Germany 5/22/04 to MueckeGuen, nutmeg71 has asked to be skipped. 

Journal Entry 12 by MueckeGuen from Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg Germany on Tuesday, June 01, 2004

Just got it! I'm looking forward to read it. It will be the next book on my TBR pile. 

Journal Entry 13 by MueckeGuen from Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg Germany on Tuesday, July 20, 2004

I've finished the book today and I just PM'd katayoun for her address.

Does someone have the second book? ;-)
I got the third book on a fleamarket. I will make a bookring out of it as soon as I have read all of them. 

Journal Entry 14 by katayoun from Tehran, Tehran Iran on Wednesday, August 04, 2004

it's here!! i'll probably will take it with me on vacation and then mail it when i'm back, so it'll probably will be here a month if it's ok with everyone. 

Journal Entry 15 by katayoun from Tehran, Tehran Iran on Wednesday, August 04, 2004

tried to get in touch with "Arcana" just on the offchance that i'd be able to read and mail before the trip and i think (my spanish being nonexistant)that "Arcana" is also on vacation, so this book is definitely going to be here for the next month. 

Journal Entry 16 by katayoun from Tehran, Tehran Iran on Thursday, August 12, 2004

update:
heard from "Arcana" yesterday and she wants to be skipped, so am going to ask "Scrawler" for address and will mail it as soon as i get back. 

Journal Entry 17 by katayoun from Tehran, Tehran Iran on Tuesday, September 14, 2004

mailed to Scrawler today, thanks alot for the ring 

Journal Entry 18 by Scrawler on Saturday, October 09, 2004

I'm very, very far behind....but the book is in Poland! Unfortunately, it came at a really bad time. I'm ridiculously busy right now and I don't think I'll be able to even start reading this for a while. It's first on my list though, when I do get some time to read! 

Journal Entry 19 by Scrawler on Tuesday, November 16, 2004

I'm really very sorry, and I'm kicking myself right now for writing this, but I think I'm going to have to send this book off without finishing it! This is partly because I have tons of other bookrings arriving very shortly and no time to read them all in, but its also because, as much as I hate to say it, I'm just not getting into the book. It sounds like a fascinating story, and for that reason I tried to keep reading, but the characters were kind of bland and the sentence structure was awkward and I just wasn't getting swept away by it. I'm really sorry, I did try, I guess it's just not my kind of book.
Will send on as soon as I get vicki9170's address. Thanks for organizing the ring, apaloosatb! 

Journal Entry 20 by vicki9170 from Saint Petersburg, Florida USA on Sunday, February 06, 2005

received today :)