Rating: Summary: Grim and unentertaining. Review: Elaine Cunningham does not live up to previous works with Thornhold. The lead character is unsympathetic, I found myself hoping for the bad guys to prevail on several occassions. Her portrayals of several common characters from the Forgotten Realms were inaccurate,and her apparent dislike of authority figures and those of religious path was distrubing. Definately not her best work.
Rating: Summary: Moving the Realms foward... Review: Elaine Cunningham has crafted an interesting novel that leaves you with more questions than it provides answers. I was left with the sensation of wanting to turn just one more page, and to have one more paragraph. This leaves one with a sense of anticipation for what is to happen to the Harpers and the Forgotten Realms in general much like was achieved with the Avatar Trilogy. So..now what? I'm assuming that there will be a follow up to begin to answer some of the questions left about the fate of our heroes.
Rating: Summary: She does it again! Review: Elaine Cunningham has mixed her characters and her plot so well that they are so inseperatable. Unlike some authors who make characters then stick them in a setting, she blends them and their problems to their settings.
Rating: Summary: Great Book, but not typicall! Best for that! Review: First of all, I have to say I enjoy reading this book very much. At first, when I finally finished it, it shocked to me a bit. But when I think over it, I realize that this was the perfect end for the book, leaving open doors for more books with these characters, and giving you enought to want more. I have to say that if you want a book where all is black or white, you are or good or evil, and you want a perfect-pleasure end for the characters, search another one. Here are sown some facts of the good and evil that most men tend to forget. All is not good or evil. Mrs Cunningham shows us here these things, with a great plot. Bronwyn is a great character and it shows us how she is trough the book. It is not the typicall hero, the incarnation of Good and a perfect Knight. She is a thieve (or so) but with a strict code of Honor, wich don't mean that she is good. The plot is great, and Mrs. Cunningham, playing with the personality of Bronwyn and the marks left in her by her past, keep it great and at the end, you wouldn't say it will finish this way. I have to disagree with some of other readers review. Some one sais the end isn't fair, that is not good (I can't tell you what, without revealing the Best part of the book). In my opinion, this book is not for those who always want a perfect and pleasent end. I strongly recommend this boks, becouse it is not the same as always (with other novels) when there is a quest, and the Hero, through some difficulties, get at it, and he lives happy for ever. In here, you can see, that for doing some good, maybe you must do some evil too, but the goos is much than the evil, and youhave to make the choice your heart tells you, and is not so easy, as Paladins see, becouse it is not good white, or evil black. Is grey, both good and evil.
Rating: Summary: Not Her Best Work Review: I am a huge Elaine Cunningham fan, but this book just didnt cut it. It seems like it was over edited because it gets very choppy when you jump from seen to seen in just a few pages. I like reading more about Khelban, but the rest of the characters were either dense or coldhearted. I recomend any of her dark elf books over this one.
Rating: Summary: Characters with no honour at all bring this down Review: I bought this book with some enthusiasm. I expected that it would be pretty intresting with a "Thief" type character. At first I did like Bronwyn, but midway through and especially in the latter half, she just struck me as totally selfish and having no sense of honour. I'm not sure if the treatment of the Paladin, Algorind, was meant to be funny or not, but I thought the way the protagonists regarded him to be atrocious. The only characters who I felt any sympathy for were Algorind and Dag Zoreth, who I found intriguing. This book could have been good overall if Bronwyn had not grated me the wrong way so much, and if in fact she is represenative of current Harpers then the fact then this being the last book is indeed a good thing.
Rating: Summary: A disappointing ending to the Harpers series Review: I don't know if you will agree with me but the secret of the powerful weapon was rather disappointing, lacking credibility. The characters were done well, the good guys ain't so good and the bad guys aint' so bad - Elaine did a good job introducing their background and why they are like that. The treatment of the paladins sucks, they were like, cardboards. And a high ranking official among the paladins who can masquarade without being detected, unbelievable. Worse was the reasoning why Khelben fell out with the other & quot;good & quot; forces, and why the Harpers would be under suspicion. The tale just doesn't warrant that kind of split.
Rating: Summary: Not bad, but left me unhappy, not good conclusion to Harpers Review: I enjoyed this book until the end. Cunningham did not exhibit the "Invincible Hero(oine) Syndrome" displayed often with Arilyn Moonblade. There are many interesting characters and an interesting plot (not on the level of Elfsong or Elfshadow, though). What made me unhappy was the treatment of the paladin and of Khelben Arunsun. The apparent dislike of authority mentioned by an above reviewer was ugly. This book was the end to a franchise and what it disastrously left out was a sense that the ideals fought for by the Harpers will live on in the Realms, even though the book series has ended.
Rating: Summary: A disappointing end to the Harpers series Review: I found this book to be uneven and ultimately unsatisfying -- not up to Cunnigham's usual standards. I liked the two leads, Bronwyn, an Indiana Jones type of character, and Ebenezer, the typical grumpy dwarf with the heart of gold. The young knight Algorind, dealing with real life situations while trying to keep true to his convictions, was also well done. The whole magical artifact plotline was very cliched though. ...There was a clumsy attempt to set up for a sequel that seems unlikely to be written. The ending has a rift erupt in the Harpers organization that doesn't make much sense. ...
Rating: Summary: Very interesting Review: I guess it doesn't portray paladins well enough. Who cares? It's not like AD&D's annoying rules must apply in all the related fiction, or as if they were set in stone. Rules are meant to be broken after all }:). Overall, it's highly entertaining, Bronwyn is yet another non-clichéd female character and the cameo of Elaith (at least we can assume it was him, hehe) was brilliant. And Danilo's there too, what more can you ask? ^^ I like the mystery part too, stories don't always have to finish with "conclusive" endings.
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