The Problem with the "Tales of Starlight" Series and a Discovery of a Wonderful New Author

There was something bothering me the entire time I was reading Bryan Davis' most recent series.  I couldn't pin-point what it was, but something was wrong.  I finally found out what had been bothering em after reading a fabulous fantasy novel by Kristin Cashore.  After comparing the two stories I realized that while Cashore had been careful to avoid any words that are associated with our culture Davis had put in tons of ideas and words that make me think of my everyday life.

The biggest thing that made me think of our world was the Cattle Camps that are spoken of often in Davis' books.  It makes sense to call a camp filled with half-starved children a Cattle Camp here in our world (and that's just part of the story, I'm not that morbid) but are there any cattle in that world?  That world already has dragons and felsh-eating, talking bears, but do they keep cattle?  And if they do keep cattle, are the animals kept in appalling conditions like they are here or are they just kept on farms?  I agree that the rem cattle camp gives me a strong image, but at the same time it ruins the thought that the story takes place in another world.  it would have been better to name is something else or at least mention that the camps reminded a character of the places cattle were kept.  Anything to make it sound like it really belonged.

Of course, most people wouldn't have realized that something was wrong unless they: 1. read a lot of fantasy novels; 2, pick everything they read apart; or 3, have read an excellent fantasy novel before.  I happened to have noticed something was off because I read lots of fantasy novels and like to pick stories apart but I never would have known exactly what was wrong if it hadn't been for Kristen Cashore.  I initially picked up her book because it looked interesting and it was on sale.  Needless to say I was VERY pleased with my purchase.  As for exactly what I though of her books, I'll leave that for my next post but I would highly recommend her books to anyone who likes fantasy novels.