[.ca] Threshold (ISBN 0312876874)

enjoyable read:
I had an extreme liking to this book, for it's beautiful details on life and surrounding landscape and buildings, and also the strong female lead. Some people might think that at some places in the book, Tirzah's not strong enough, but hey considering what she went through, she is far stronger than most could ever be, at least not too much self-pitying to tire the readers. About the complains for Boaz being torturing... well, in the setting he as the slave master, it would seem fake enough if he wasn't. Besides, his transformation/transition was well portrayed enough in the story. The grim aspects of slavery was detailed, but never overly done. Other characters such as Zahbre and Isphet are also well developed. Although the plot does dragged at some places, the story kept at a pleasant pace that keeps the pages turning. All the loose ends were well-tied in the conclusion and all questions well answered. I guess the only complain I could have was that this book read more as a romance in fantasy setting instead of a fantasy in which a romance took place... but that depends too. the world-building was convinsing and quite a few suprising twists.

This is a great read:
This is a great read- it is enjoyable and quite diverting. The characters were well drawn out and the plot interesting and an interesting twist on several classic fantasy themes... Ms. Douglass writes clearly and has a way of drawing the reader into the story so much so that it keeps one turning the pages to find out what happens next. I highly reccomend it.

Just read this:
THIS BOOK WAS AWESOME!!! Sara Douglass catches your attention on the first page and holds it through the entire book until the very last page. The characters are so well written I began crying when something bad would happen to any of them I got so attached. Its wonderful how she never lets you know Tirzah's real name until the very end. It keeps you reading just so you will find out her name!!

I absolutely love this!:
This is one of those books which I re-read; something I don't do that often. Though most of the plot was rather predictable, Ms. Douglass writes with a certain measure that kept me totally hooked. When Boaz left to destroy Nzame, I cried (literally). If you don't like romance, then don't read this. Emotions are played upon vastly throughout the entire book. I hope the author can come up with more like this, or I will!

Comfort food with major flaws:
"Threshold" is a freestanding work by the Australian novelist, Sara Douglass, author of the popular "Wayfarer Redemption and "Troy Game" series. It takes place in an imaginary version of the Biblical kingdom of Ashdod, with elements of Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia thrown in. Its main character, Tirzah, a talented glass worker is sold into slavery and forced to work on a monstrous project-Threshold, a pyramid whose mathematically-based magic will (they think) propel its builders into Infinity. But Tirzah, no mere glass worker, can communicate with the glass, and she senses something profoundly evil in the project. The first half of the story concerns her and her friends' attempts to disrupt the construction and her growing but uneasy relationship with her master, the great Magus Boaz. The second half follows the groups' attempts to fight the evil unleashed by Threshold and the love story between Tirzah and a changed Boaz. For me, "Threshold" is one of those books that I both love and hate-I couldn't stop reading it even though parts of it just didn't work and at times felt downright hokey. The idea of a mystical pyramid, for example, seemed a bit much to me, although the author uses it as an allegory about the dangers of knowledge without wisdom and the need for humility in approaching the unknown. Many of the characters were well drawn-Tirzah and Isphet particularly. Others were less so-Yaqob, for instance, was supposed to be Tirzah's first love, but he didn't seem particularly lovable or even much more than a cardboard character. The Soulenai, the supernatural beings guiding the group seemed more like spiritual big brothers than powerful beings worthy of worship. As for Boaz, his rapid transformation from hateful Magus to loving hero was just too rapid, and Tirzah's immediate forgiveness of his abuses makes no pyschological sense. He destroys her womb so she won't conceive and later has her thrown into a cell to die without food or water. And she still loves him? Yeah, right. Douglass may have drawn a strong female character here, but she undermines Tirzah's strength by placing her into the standard "love your abuser 'cause it's not really his fault" position. Nonethless, after alI was said and done, I enjoyed reading "Threshold." Unrealistic though it was, I found the romance between Tirzah and Boaz to be one of the best things about the book. Many of the plot twists were interesting, as were many of Douglass's descriptions. For me "Threshold" belongs on that shelf where I keep other guilty reading pleasures-books that I know aren't particularly well-written but are easy to read and easy to enjoy-the literary version of comfort food.