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Destiny : Child of the Sky

Destiny : Child of the Sky

List Price: $7.99
Your Price: $7.99
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The mere thought of romantic writing makes me gag, BUT...
Review: I really dislike romantic writing because I find it dull and sappy, and some of the overtures of 'pleasurable' rape depicted in many of these novels is disturbing.
On the other hand, I do love fantasy fiction, worlds abounding with magic and antiquity.
The utterly romantic outlook of this book from start to finish is refreshing in a genre that is often rather emotion-less and Haydon's writing is superb in bringing out the emotions of the reader (I think reading this has brought me to the closest I've been to tearing up in many years).
The plot is superbly crafted and it will keep you guessing (partly because you really don't meet the antagonist so have no way of laying the blame on them), the character development is also well-done though I thought Grunthor did not recieve as much attention as Rhapsody and Achmed. Achmed's character in particular was excellent, as he too seems to have prescient abilities that are hinted at from the start and loosely confirmed at the end.

This comes with my highest recommendations, and is a superb read while awaiting the fantasy epics.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: A disappointing finale
Review: Despite the quality and ingenuity of the two novels that preceded this one, Destiny: Child of Sky definitely did not fulfill the promise of the trilogy. Too often, the progress of this book was impeded by irrelevant and unnecessary attention to the romance between Ashe and Rhapsody to the point where the reader was left wondering if in fact he had picked up a romance novel and not a book of the fantasy genre. In addition, the writer seems to go out of her way to create a mythic figure of Rhapsody, rhapsodizing (no pun intended) on and on about her multitude of virtues. For her to be the most beautiful creature in the world, the crowned queen of the Lirin and the Lady Cymrian seems to be pushing even the limits of fantasy. In my opinion, it would have helped if she had been written as a more realistic character. I agree that Miss Haydon does have much promise but this novel definitely does not evidence it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Finally the Secrets will be answered...
Review: Fo all those that have been loyal to the Destiny Trilogy, finally you will have the answers to; who is the F'dor, Llauron's plot, and who Meridion is... you have a good book in front of you. But in the end, one question will remain unanswered... read the book to find out!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Set aside time for this one!
Review: Characters, plot, and conclusion are all great. If you like epic fantasy, read this series! It's nice to read a great series that is done after three books. Hopefully we'll see more from Ms. Haydon in the future!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: An Excellent Ending to an Excellent Trilogy
Review: This book was amazing. If you have read any of the beginning book, this will only want to make you lock Elizabeth Haydon to a keyboard to make her keep going. Although I must say I was a bit confused with how the ending went. And how I thought Rhapsody shoud somehow end up with Achmed, or have Achmed tell his feelings for Rhapsody in the coming books. But without my own personal thoughts. This is aa MUST read !!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Thank you, Ms Haydon!
Review: I waited for two years for this book, and it was well worth the wait. This is a remarkable series with fascinating depth, great characters who grow and change as they experience events, and a story that twists and turns and is never predictable. Great battle scenes that don't drag on forever, poignant moments juxtaposed with baldly funny ones. What more could you wask than that? Thank you, Ms. Haydon, for a wonderful read and a memorable trilogy.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves fantasy, and anyone who has never read it before. It is accessible and interesting.

Finally I'd like to say that coronate is certainly a VERB, from the Latin coronatus, past participle of coronare, meaning to crown, from "corona." Ms. Haydon's use of language is far more intelligent and certainly more correct than that of pompous amateur reviewers who seem to enjoy putting books down even as they praise them.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Pleasantly Surprised
Review: Not being one of the masses who have been completely thrilled with this series from the onset, I picked up _Destiny_ (at the library) with some trepidation. Well, I must say I was pleasantly surprised. I actually would give it another half star, if such a thing were available.

Many of the flaws present in the first two volumes have been remedied (or grown past) here. The writing is actually pretty good and far less bombastic. There were one or two glitches where characters who had been speaking pretty much like normal human beings suddenly slipped into fantasy-speak, and I cringe at the use of the word "coronate," which my dictionary defines as an adjective, not a verb, when speaking of crowning royalty -- it's one of those places where Haydon just seems to like to use big and impressive words without regard to sense. But the overall work didn't make me just want to put it down as the others did.

Both the previous two volumes contained long, long passages of irrelevant material. I'm glad to say that this is not the case with _Destiny_. Haydon seems to have learned to self edit a bit. She also seems to have learned to be more concise; the story moves right along without dragging its feet as the two previous volumes did.

The characters seem to have matured as well. Haydon's strength before has been in the supporting characters and this is true here, too; some of the people whom we have seen before are nearly ignored, but some who have not been so prevalent are dealt with very well indeed. The main characters -- especially Achmed-- are also given more scope. Rhapsody is far less annoying and throws far fewer temper tantrums, although she does spend a lot of time feeling very sorry for herself. Several of the things that she gets so upset about are things that she either brought on herself or agreed to in previous volumes and then blames on others, notably Ashe. I still couldn't help but wonder why every character was so enamoured of her, but it did seem somewhat less of a suspension of disbelief than it had.

There are several GLARING continuity errors -- e.g., Rhapsody wishing she could tell Achmed and Grunthor about something that she told them about two chapters previously. So if that kind of thing bothers you, prepare to be bothered.

I thought that the "plot-line" with Meridion was unnecessary and did not add anything to the story but confusion. It seemed to me that it was handled weakly, as if Haydon couldn't decide whether the point of the story was that the past was being changed or just the story. Or somehow the fact that the past was being changed was important to her, but she had trouble getting her point across. The story could stand without painting this gloss of time travel and paradox onto it. Also, the implication that Meridion had been conceived a subjective twenty years before his birth (not counting the time in the Root), without any supporting explanation, was too much of a challenge to my suspension of disbelief.

The big wedding ending was anticlimactic. It did, however, hint at possibilities for further books. I think we'll be seeing these characters again.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One of the Best
Review: I had a very difficult time acquiring this volume during the first few weeks of it's release, but it was sure worth the effort. There are very few books out there that has gotten me to a state of restlesness where, I actually had to re-read other books in my 'library' twice over just to keep from going crazy with impatience, but this volume was definitely one of them.

Nothing was boring about the telling. From start to finish, it was absolutely perfect. The story of the 'Three's' struggle to find the F'dor's host and themselves in the process, has proved to the world that there is a new author out there deserving of a place alongside Robert Jordan, Terry Goodkind, and many others like them.

I think my brain's a little befuddled right now with the details, due mostly to the fact that I just finished reading the first two books in the Wayfarer's Redemption series one after the other. I do recall this one little detail with vivid clarity though, this third volume and the previous two are among the best the fantasy genre has to offer. I know that if you miss out on this series, you might as well forswear fantasy altogether. It's THAT GOOD!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Disappointing
Review: Confusing beginning with far too much backstory and too many characters without distinguishing characteristics. It got a little better past page 100, (maybe I learned to skip those parts). The structure of the conclusion was good, and the pace kept your attention, but it got a little too simperingly sweet at times. Rhapsody timewarped back to being a 1950's housewifely heroine and had recurring self esteem problems that were simplistic and boring. It's worth reading because the ending fits well with the rest of the story, but I'm disappointed that the characters didn't develop the more complex depth that seemed to be promised in the other two volumes.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Instant Classic!
Review: In this, the final installment of the Rhapsody Trilogy, Elizabeth Haydon illustrates her mastery of the fantasy genre. The characters grow ever more real, and the plot ever more intriguing. The end of the book will have you rethinking the entire trilogy. This will be a classic series, one that will be read for many years to come!

Also recommended: David Coe's "Lon-Tobyn Chronicles"; Cecilia Dart-Thornton's "Ill-Made Mute"; Earthsea Series by Urusula K. Leguin; The Wars of Light and Shadow Series by Janny Wurts.


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