Rating: 
Summary: Ch ch ch changes
Review: Kate Elliott's style is shifting with every book and right now seems to be mid-transition. She's moving away from the deep and vivid descriptive style of her early "Crown of Stars" books to a more general and flowing descriptive manner of writing. She's trading her personal style to make a faster read, or so it seems. Some of her hardcore fans won't like that, I'm undecided and leaning toward displeasure. But, I'm betting that if she keeps going in that direction she'll appeal to a broader fan base. I guess that's good, because I've always been surprised and disappointed that she didn't have a drastically larger readership. I just don't see this move toward the center of the pack as worthy of her talent.
Rating:
Summary: The end is coming
Review: Book 4 was a disappointment, but this book redeemed the series. Looking forward to reading the final story.
Rating: 
Summary: OK, but not good
Review: I am a scientist and usually very good at decoding complex texts, but this series is beyond my abilities. I just can't keep up with who all these many, many characters are and how they interact with whom. As a result, I have found the best way to read these books-just pick a story line (I picked Stronghand and the Eika) and skip everything except text pertaining to that storyline. Otherwise, the plot (if there is a central one, which I doubt)just sprawls and spreads, much like a coffee stain on a paper towel. In fact, I would have given this book (and the series) one star if it weren't for the originality of the Eika. Ms. Elliott deserves two stars for that.
Rating: 
Summary: happy go joyful
Review: I am savoring the book slowly, reading a little every day, and I'm delighted with the action, the twists, the parallelism ... it's this delight that keeps me from rushing to the end, because there's been a paucity of this fine of fare in my fantasy book life for some time ... I'm willing to wait patentiently for the next (and hopefully last, no R. Jordanian dribble torture). I hope she can pull it off!! :) Ellen
Rating:
Summary: I can't believe...
Review: I can't believe I was silly enough to read this book so fast. I finished it in 3 days and now I have to wait until she finishes book 6 to find out what happens! I love this series and all the characters in it - even the twisted evil ones like Hugh. You can't help but get swept away by the tension and mystery and adventure in which they all find themselves ensnared. The real fun of this series is trying to figure out who is really good and who is just pretending. Each little piece of information, no matter how tricial it may seem, could turn out to be another piece of evidence which is why it is so important to pay attention when reading this series. The Gathering Storm was amazing on its own - I just couldn't put it down. So much happens and it feels like it goes by so fast that you don't realize the book is 900 pages long. One thing to keep in mind, though, is that it will make no sense at all if you don't read the first 4 books before you start The Gathering Storm. It may take a while, but they are all worth it.
Rating:
Summary: Enjoyed it!!
Review: I think this book was well worth the wait. The story moved along the way all well-told stories should. Ms. Elliott did not disappoint me. Even with 900 pages, I did not want it to end. I look forward to the sixth and final book.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful, with a few exceptions...
Review: I waited a long time for this book (as we all did) and was not disappointed. I was slightly frustrated after reading the same thing over and over in many parts of the book (the italicized musings were a little overdone). Also, how much pain and humiliation can these people go through? It seems that the "good" characters are all subjected to unspeakable horrors and each is somehow worse than the last. Poor Alain should be dead, by all rights. I don't understand the purpose in putting him in situation after situation that drops the poor guy lower than rock bottom. Still, these were really only minor annoyances, as the entire book (all 900+ pages) held me captive until the end. I adore every one of the characters, even the bad guys. Kate Elliot's talent is firmly rooted in her ability to create people that seem incredibly real and very appealing. Liath is absolutely wonderful. She's one of the greatest examples I've ever seen of someone growing in grace and power after suffering through terrible trials. I just hope the same thing happens to Alain (my other favorite).
Rating: 
Summary: An ambitious undertaking
Review: I'm not a big fan of the long, drawn-out multi-multi-volume fantasy epic, but the first two novels in this series drew me in enough that I'm slugging through each subsequent novel. Time for the story to be wrapped up, though. Elliott has created an interesting world, although her parallel story lines told from the point of views of multiple different chracters can get distracting at times and has a tendency to interrupt the flow of the novel (granted the technique was used successfully by Tolkien but here she's juggling nine or ten different, albeit intertwined, storylines). The series seems to be losing its passion, too, as it continues to unfold. The italicized shared consciousness/dream sequences are used a little too liberally for my taste--they feel too artificial. Although decent, this was not my favorite volume of the series. Alain's story has become the most interesting of the lot; Liath and Sanglant's relationship seems more perfunctory than anything now and makes less sense to me as the story progresses (although I'm still hoping they live happily ever after...); and I feel like the villains in this volume have become caricatures of evil. I will likely stick with the series until the bitter end, although I'm really hoping for resolution in the next volume, and soon (and hopefully in less than 900 pp.!)
Rating:
Summary: The weave is nice, but could have been tighter
Review: I've followed the Crown of Stars series from the beginning, and have enjoyed the world Elliott draws and most of the characters tremendously. And so, it was a pleasure to immerse myself in the world of the Crown of Stars once again. From that perspective, I appreciated the length of the book. More critically speaking, the book could either have been much shorter - though I understand the need to weave the various plot strands together - or the series could have finally been put to rest with this volume (however sad I'd be that it's over). Truly, can't imagine what happens in the final volume, other than a denouement for the climactic events of this one. I've never - and still don't - seen the relevance of some of the characters that the author lavishes attention on, such as Ivar, his friends, and the 'heresy' they espouse. Hanna (though I like her much better than the heretics) is something of a red herring too. Perhaps it will at last come clear in the final volume. On the other hand - and I disagree with those who compare her to Margaret Weis, Melanie Rawn, et al - Elliott does some characters wonderfully well. Her evil ones are among some of the best I've come across, if for no other reason that they feel so justified in their actions you sometimes wonder whether they are evil at all (of course results speak for themselves). Hugh and Antonia are great in this sense. And Alain has to be one of the most attractive, 'saintly' characters (without being a prig), I've come across in a long time. Gotta love Liath & Sanglant too. 'Nuff said. Hope the next volume comes out SOON, and that it's the LAST.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing
Review: In a time where too many writers cannot continue the momentum of a well-started series, Kate Elliott continues to write excellently. She creates a fantastic world that draws from many different medieval legends-it is only too obvious the tremendous amount of research that went into this novel. The conclusion to the novel is stunning as well, tying together many loose ends in the series. As other reviewers have written, though, it is difficult to keep track of the different characters in the book. I would highly recommend reading the other books in the series before picking this one up. My only complaint is that I need to wait two years before the final novel comes out!
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