Rating: 
Summary: "Her Time Has Come"
Review: The opening line of Deborah Hale's book says it all. If you're a Deb Hale fan (and she has many), you'll love this book. Her stories aren't always for everyone, and she has some that I love more than others, but The Wizard's Ward is jam-packed with all the little details that make a world come to life. Maura and Rath are two likeable characters. Maura is feisty and brave, and she's been raised to serve others. What more could you ask for in a future queen? Rath, too, is a marvelous hero. Reluctant at first, his innate goodness overrides a difficult history to bring him to Maura's aid when she needs him most. I love the story details that show how people live in these difficult times of oppression. The ending happens a little fast for me, but that just makes me impatient for the next book in the series. What happens to Umbria? How do two very unroyally-raised people unite a kingdom? Will these characters find their "Happily Ever After"? With this fantasy debut, Hale's time has definitely come.
Rating: 
Summary: Light fantasy.
Review: This book is what I call an "easy read"--one that does not require a lot of concentration, because it lacks depth of plot or characters. Even the "Waiting King" business was obvious early on. I cannot see myself reading it again; therefore it is not a "keeper."
Rating:
Summary: Promising, but has problems
Review: This is another pleasant addition to the new fanstasy line from Luna. Maura Woodbury has lived a quiet, domestic life of learning magic with her guardian, the wizard Langbard. Then all is turned upsidedown by Langbards's revelation that she is the Destined Queen of the downtrodden land of Umbria, who must awaken the Waiting King who will ultimately save the country from its evil oppressors - the Han. At the same time, she inexplicably helps save the outlaw Rath who literally comes crashing into her life. She dislikes everything about him.
The scene is set for a 'quest' tale, with the Maura and Rath struggling alone to fulfill her task. They are pursued by the evil magicians of the Han throughout.
The pair of course are irresistibly attracted to each other, but are firmly kept apart by Maura's strong devotion to her Waiting King.
This was an enjoyable read, the story easily kept the reader's interest. However the plot itself suffered from being continually bogged down by the 'saving' of hero and heroine by each other. Maura get captured by thieves. Rath is captured by the Han. It clogged the pace.
Both Rath and Maura were believable and the chemistry between them was well done. This contributed to the feeling that the love story was much more to the fore than the fantasy elements. The background of Umbria was very lightly sketched in indeed, and in places became mere wallpaper. There are really no secondary characters at all, Langbard is ruthlessly eliminated very early in the tale. This made the hero and heroine carry a far too heavy burden, as almost every other character was merely a name and a few cardboard virtues or vices.
Still, I would like to know what happens next, as there is very obviously more in this saga
Rating: 
Summary: It's an ok book I guess
Review: This type of plot has been used before, as some of the other reviewers have pointed out. The villains had no personality traits other than being cruel. The book wasn't that well written in my opinion especially near the end. The sex scene at the end of the book seemed really out of place. The author says that Maura will face some sort of doom when she looks at the "Waiting King" at a certain time. But no doom happens to her really. Plus, Maura is supposed to free her people from the bad guys - there's only ONE rebellion in the entire book that she causes. I really doubt that one rebellion would free everyone in the whole country. Anyway, read this book if you have lots of time on your hands and are really really bored. Otherwise, avoid it.
Rating:
Summary: Lots of action and romance
Review: Wow. This is the most transparent plot, worst character development and most insipid prose I've read in a long, long time. My god. The text starts on page 9...... (...) ... and on page 19 she finds out she's the long lost queen of prophecy. I kid you not, on learning this news she actually protests "It cannot be... I'm nobody special." On page 30 she saves the hard-boiled (but extremely good looking) outlaw from a bunch of bad guys. Of course, they dislike each other intensely. And it's not until her ward/protector dies a few pages later that she discovers how crucial he is to her impending queen-hood. I won't "spoil" the rest, though I imagine from my brief "plot" summary you can probably figure it out. Listen folks, if you're looking for imagination or a different take on the usual rags-to-riches fantasy cum fairy tale, you're looking in the wrong place. So why three stars? Honestly, I enjoyed it despite myself - though please, don't spread that around. I have a reputation to protect. It really was dreadfully done on every level, but the fact is that this is an almost universal theme because it is well, a universal theme. Certain themes - like discovering that you're actually an important person after all, or that passionate dislike can easily turn to passionate like - are enticing. Sure it's badly written. Sure the characters are poorly developed. Sure the bad guys are pure evil with no signs of humanity. Sure the theology is half baked. But it's still fun. Summary: an extremely light weight read that retreads all the old fantasy cliches. But mildy entertaining anyway. If maudlin isn't your thing, I'd say skip it.
Rating:
Summary: Wow that was bad.... in an okay way
Review: Wow. This is the most transparent plot, worst character development and most insipid prose I've read in a long, long time. My god. The text starts on page 9...... (...) ... and on page 19 she finds out she's the long lost queen of prophecy. I kid you not, on learning this news she actually protests "It cannot be... I'm nobody special." On page 30 she saves the hard-boiled (but extremely good looking) outlaw from a bunch of bad guys. Of course, they dislike each other intensely. And it's not until her ward/protector dies a few pages later that she discovers how crucial he is to her impending queen-hood. I won't "spoil" the rest, though I imagine from my brief "plot" summary you can probably figure it out. Listen folks, if you're looking for imagination or a different take on the usual rags-to-riches fantasy cum fairy tale, you're looking in the wrong place. So why three stars? Honestly, I enjoyed it despite myself - though please, don't spread that around. I have a reputation to protect. It really was dreadfully done on every level, but the fact is that this is an almost universal theme because it is well, a universal theme. Certain themes - like discovering that you're actually an important person after all, or that passionate dislike can easily turn to passionate like - are enticing. Sure it's badly written. Sure the characters are poorly developed. Sure the bad guys are pure evil with no signs of humanity. Sure the theology is half baked. But it's still fun. Summary: an extremely light weight read that retreads all the old fantasy cliches. But mildy entertaining anyway. If maudlin isn't your thing, I'd say skip it.
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