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This atmospheric fantasy is, “from the gripping first line, a fast-paced, thought-provoking, and stirring story of sacrifice” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review).
Liyana has trained her entire life to be the vessel of a goddess. The goddess will inhabit Liyana’s body and use magic to bring rain to the desert. But Liyana’s goddess never comes. Abandoned by her angry tribe, Liyana expects to die in the desert. Until a boy walks out of the dust in search of her.
Korbyn is a god inside his vessel, and a trickster god at that. He tells Liyana that five other gods are missing, and they set off across the desert in search of the other vessels. For the desert tribes cannot survive without the magic of their gods. But the journey is dangerous, even with a god’s help. And not everyone is willing to believe the trickster god’s tale.
The closer she grows to Korbyn, the less Liyana wants to disappear to make way for her goddess. But she has no choice: She must die for her tribe to live. Unless a trickster god can help her to trick fate—or a human girl can muster some magic of her own.
Anonymous
Posted January 24, 2013
This book draws you in. Not only are the characters amazing but they're unique and diffrent in their own ways. I completley love this book! If you like romance and fantasy I highly recomend this book
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Kimberly-Lynn
Posted February 19, 2013
This book actually intrigued me from the very start. It was one of very few books that I purchased online and had shipped to me.
This book presents a world of magic and intrigue, a world where gods exist in another reality apart from their human counter parts only to return every hundred years, or so to revitalize the desert they live in. These humans are called Vessel’s, after which the book is aptly named.
The story chronicles the life of a Vessel named Liyana, who after performing the summoning ceremony for her god, finds herself alive and well without any sight of her god. Normally her soul would have been displaced effectively killing her, but she is left godless and deserted by her clan. Liyana is found by another Vessel currently inhabited by the trickster god Korbyn. She goes on a journey to discover the fate of the missing gods.
My review: I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Even now after having just finished it there is a feeling in my stomach, almost a sadness that it has ended. While reading this book I, honestly laughed out loud more times than with most other books I have read. I smiled, I frowned, and I cried. I can truly say that this book has enchanted me to the point where I could not put it down. Even when sleep overtook me I was left with dreams filled with desert sands and the seductive promise of magic.
As always I made guesses at the beginning of this journey with this book, and surprisingly I was proven wrong. I did not expect this ending. I felt the main character, Liyana, was a strong and courageous woman in her journeys when most girls are portrayed as week and needing others to help her. She commands situations and because of the circumstances of her, as it was stated “Dreamwalk”, she has a wisdom that far exceeds her years in this world.
This book I cannot say held me on the edge of my seat with it’s fight scenes nor did it make me terrified of the future of the characters. I believe it’s true beauty is in how realistically this world was portrayed. The myths and the stories (folklore enthusiast please forgive me) were beautiful. I do not know if they stem from actual stories or if Sarah Beth Durst created them herself, but I can say that they captivated my inner child. The stories of the animals, of the gods and their alternate forms, captured my attention. Everything about this story was beautifully woven together into a world very close to our own but yet also somehow different. It is this difference that seduced me. In this world magic is possible, though with it’s own limitations. Small miracles are conducted and friendships are formed between unlikely allies. I became attached to the characters and hoped, wished for their eternal well-being.
Did I have any particular dislikes? I had very few, there were occasional grammatical mistakes and the word “his” was used when it should have been “he”. POSSIBLE SPOILER: My biggest problem was a basis of personal preference of love interest, but this can barely be considered something that could detract from the book. /END POSSIBLE SPOILER
I do not know if this is considered for a series or not, but I can say that I wish I could hear more stories. This book was beautiful and if this was any indication of the quality of the author’s other books I believe them well worth looking into.
A moment of silence for all future attempts at fantasy desert novels, for I think they may have just been viciously crushed in a sandstorm.
There is no secret that I am a fantasy fan. If you do not like fantasy, you will probably not like this book. If you do like fantasy, you will probably spend several days drooling over the near perfection of it.
Vessel has so many things that are done right that it's hard for me to put it in a review that isn't going to be the size of a book report. I could go into so many details about why the characters were great and how I loved the characters arcs and this sacrifice and that realization and wait, when did I start loving Pia and oh gosh, Liyana, you are so much better than I am, and-
well, you get the idea. I can go into a fangasm over it all.
So I'll try to stay mildly cohesive and point out just a few things.
The world Vessel is set in is deadly and dangerous and gorgeous, but most interesting to me is the fact that Sarah Beth Durst has never played the game Journey. I'm pretty certain that Journey is what the Dreaming looks like.
The characters, as you can tell from my flailing above, are just amazingly well-crafted. The humans are so very human, and the gods are so very frail, and I just - please, just read it.
The only thing - ONLY THING - I had a problem with was the love plot. There were hints of a relationship with her and Korbyn, but it never really happened, and that was okay. But something is thrust on for Liyana at the end of the book, and I can't help but feel the book would have been just as special and amazing if Liyana had remained romance-free.
However, the perfection of the rest of the book far outshines that one ignorable problem, and this is definitely something I'll be rereading soon.
Anonymous
Posted December 1, 2012
The imagery hooks you and draws you in. The pace of the book is perfect for what transpires in Liyanas journey and the characters carry themselves with a sense of believability. I couldn't put it down until I finished it. It was like habing an anime play in my head. Highly recommend.
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Overview
This atmospheric fantasy is, “from the gripping first line, a fast-paced, thought-provoking, and stirring story of sacrifice” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review).
Liyana has trained her entire life to be the vessel of a goddess. The goddess will inhabit Liyana’s body and use magic to bring rain to the desert. But Liyana’s goddess never comes. Abandoned by her angry tribe, Liyana expects to die in the desert. Until a boy walks out of the dust in ...