Rand Miller

** spoiler alert ** Not as strong, in my opinion, as Myst The Book of Ti'ana but stronger than the first book, The Book of Atrus. Too many unanswered questions about "the prophecies", too many missing links.

The entire last section of the book--the disease, the revolt, the war, the resoution--felt very rushed compared to the build-up. Why did Uta idolize Ymur--how did that turn-about happen? Why not describe their final confrontation and the resulting disappearance of Ymur's army? How did they resolve the issue of the men & women all being sterile? Who stayed behind when the world was sealed, and did any of the D'Ni stay in the underground world of D'Ni?

I would not recommend any of the Myst books unless the potential reader already had an interest because of the games. But, as fantasy books separate from the games, the second book was best.… (more)

[b:Myst The Book of Ti'ana|61152|Myst The Book of Ti'ana (Book 2)|Rand Miller|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170823325s/61152.jpg|59477] by [a:Rand Miller|34408|Rand Miller|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg] is a definite improvement over [b:The Book of Atrus|159764|The Book of Atrus (Myst, Book 1)|Rand Miller|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172280228s/159764.jpg|154201].

Internally, the events in this book happen before the events in [b:The Book of Atrus|159764|The Book of Atrus (Myst, Book 1)|Rand Miller|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172280228s/159764.jpg|154201]. If that book provides of taste of Myst, this book is more of a meal.

This book reads like a novel. I know that may be an odd thing to say, but the first book didn't. The characters are more developed, with strengths, weaknesses, and inner conflicts.

The origins of the D'Ni are still a mystery, as is the source of their power and knowledge. But this book is less about how the D'Ni came to occupy the inside of Earth and more about their "first contact" with a surface dweller of Earth. It also fills in the backdrop of the first book.… (more)

I bought this book because I enjoyed the Myst computer game and thought it might be fun to read more about the world. Unfortunately, several years passed between playing the game and reading the book, so the connections are a bit fuzzy.

I enjoyed the book enough to want to play the game again, and to want to read the other books in the Myst series.

However, as a fantasy book on its own, there are too many unanswered questions and too many gaps in the story for it to really succeed.

I found Anna and Atrus to be interesting characters, although the reader gets to know Atrus more fully than Anna. Gehn is intriguing but, again, not fleshed out as completely as I would have liked. And Katran/Catherine is so mysterious... Like the story as a whole, the characters captured my interest but did not satisfy my curiosity (except Atrus). Too much missing information.

I love the concept of "writing" an Age (a world) into existence, and the authors do a credible job of describing both the intricacies and the pitfalls of the process.

This book is a quick read. I hope the other books in the series are better, but for now, I'd have to say that the Millers (Rand & Robyn) are better game developers than novelists.… (more)