Wheel of the Infinite

by Martha Wells

With chaos in the wind, a woman with a shadowy past has returned to Duvalpore. A murderer and traitor--an exile disgraced, hated, and feared, and haunted by her own guilty conscience--Maskelle has been summoned back to help put the world right. Once she was the most enigmatic of the Voices, until cursed by her own actions. Now, in the company of Rian--a skilled and dangerously alluring swordsman--she must confront dread enemies old and new, and a cold, stalking malevolence unlike any she has ever encountered.

For if Maskelle cannot unearth the cause of the Wheel's accelerating disintegration--if she cannot free herself from the ghosts of the past and focus on the catastrophe to come--the world will plunge headlong into the terrifying abyss toward which it is recklessly hurtling. And all that is, ever was, and will be will end.

• ISBN10: 0380973359
• ISBN13: 9780380973354
• Publish Date: 30 July 2000
• Publish Status: Out of Stock
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Avon Books
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 355
• Language: English

Reviews

[Quirky Cat]

Book Summary:

The Celestial Empire is full of peace, harmony, and joy, but only if they observe certain rules. One such rule is ensuring that the Wheel of the Infinite is successfully remade in time for the ritual.

That hasn’t really been a problem before, but something is desperately working to corrupt it, and they’re running out of time. So, Maskelle, a somewhat disgraced Voice, has been summoned in a last-ditch effort to save things.

My Review:

I just want to start my review by saying that I love that many of Martha Wells’ older novels are being uplifted and republished. Wheel of the Infinite is the latest novel to receive this treatment, and I am here for it.

Wheel of the Infinite is a high fantasy story with a complex political and magical system. I was drawn in right off the bat, as it’s clear that while Maskelle knows much about the world, she shut herself away from it all.

The story unfolded slowly initially, giving readers time to get a feel for the world and characters. With time, however, everything began to kick off. Enemies started popping up everywhere, and the scale grew larger by the second.

In short, I loved how Martha Wells gave us time to become invested before hucking us out into the deep end. Likewise, she did a pretty decent job of answering all my magical and political questions (though me being me, I still have some).

The characters, friendships, and romantic subplots enhanced the story even further. There’s even a touch of humor—or at least I felt it was humorous. Some details in the world just tickled me.

I could be wrong, but I think Wheel of the Infinite is a standalone novel. Either way, I’m looking forward to seeing more of Martha Wells’ older books come back around. It’s been an excellent motivator for me to sit down and read through her back catalog!

Highlights:
High Fantasy
Female Lead
Romantic Subplot
Gods & Deities

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[Metaphorosis Reviews]

3.5 stars - Metaphorosis Reviews

Maskelle was once the Voice of the Adversary - the only Ancestor that never took human form. Now, she's returning from exile at the command of the Celestial One to help remake the Wheel of the Infinite - and deal with a problem that risks the existence of the entire world.

I give Martha Wells credit for developing a very different world here. This is not your standard medieval fantasy, nor quite your less-standard Eastern one. It's a mix of existing elements, but it works very well as a fairly unique setting centered around world that must be remade every year through complex rituals. It's never clear whether this is mostly tradition or the world is actually remade (and how the rituals were learned), but clearly the rituals have important effect.

Maskelle, the exiled ex-Voice of the Adversary, is a powerful mage, but also a genuine, human character with needs and emotions. She travels with a group of actors and a mysterious swordsman, and Wells shows us the relationships unfolding in a way that's both subtle and credible. She's not concerned with building up a lot of interplay and romance, and the story works well that way.

The settings and descriptions could have used some clarity, and the descriptions are sometimes overly terse, but we generally get enough for the story to work. What's nice about the story is that not just the relationships, but also the grand, world-shaking actions are presented in a pragmatic, low-key way - the antithesis of the usual over-the-top adventure. These are practical people dealing with problems that just happen to include saving the world. With a touch of humor.

So, what holds this story back? The prose is good, but is generally as low-key as the story itself. It's one area where the book could have benefited from more grace and beauty, to move the language from workmanlike to elegant. The overall plot is good, intriguing, and not quite what we'd expect, but there are also a fair number of loose ends. The core concept is good, but I really wish Wells had done more with the material she introduced. The end fells less like a wrapup than a convenient place to stop, or a good idea that simply isn't fleshed out well enough to satisfy.

All in all, an unusual and interesting world that doesn't reach as far as it should. Recommended despite some flaws.