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Prophecy: Child of Earth

Prophecy: Child of Earth

List Price: $7.99
Your Price: $7.19
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Better than prequel and that was great
Review: Rhapsody the singer, the assassin Achmed the Snake, and deadly weapons expert Grunthor the gentle giant survive their incredible odyssey through time and geography. Now Achmed and Grunthor are establishing an independent homeland for their people, the Firbolg with the former serving as the King. Meanwhile Rhapsody spends much of her time in fascination with her admirer Ashe, who keeps secrets from her.

While the trio goes about their business in a world far distant from that they originally came from, through the tree of life, the darkness begins to descend. Rhapsody begins to dream of the upcoming destruction caused by the deadly elusive F'Dor. Many people believe in the PROPHECY that states that the "Child of Blood, Child of Earth, Child of Sky" remain the only hope to stop the darkness. However, is the PROPHECY referring to Rhapsody, Achmed, and Grunthor who seem too occupied with their current tasks to care about a life-threatening quest?

PROPHECY, the sequel to the fantastic fantasy tale, RHAPSODY proves that Elizabeth Haydon is a superstar and not a one hit wonder. The story line is intelligent, filled with action, but does not neglect the characters. The prime cast retains its witty banter that was a trademark of the first novel. Ms. Haydon's world is so real the audience will feel that we too have been transported in time and space to a wondrous vision that makes it easy to for readers to rhapsodize that the author is becoming one of the top wizards of the genre.

Harriet Klausner

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: I loved the whole series!
Review: The entire Symphony of Ages series is just great! Prophecy is the secod novel in the series after Rhapsody and before Destiny and Requium of the Sun. There are some more novels and a short story coming for this series as well.

I love the characters of Rhapsody, Achmed, Grunther and Ashe. Jo sometimes gets on my nerves, but the book is just great! It continues the story of The Three as they further their knowledge in the fight against evil. We see them grow closer and change and I just loved the book and the history that Haydon sets here. She has created a whole world and I haven't found any flaws yet (which seems a big accomplishment with novels lately). BUT you have to read Rhapsody first!!!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One of the Best Fantasy Books I've Ever Read!!!
Review: Rhapsody was a good book. Prophesy is an absolutely fantastic book. The first book needed a lot of time to set up the basic story, and there was a lot of stuff that was confusing. Elizabeth Hayden took all of those loose ends in Prophesy and spun the most magnificent story from it.

I just simply couldn't put the book down.

Everything about the story was excellent. All of the charachters, especially Achmed are terrific, and the book has all the qualities needed to make a great book: Good action sequences, intense emotional situations, comic relief, a bit of eroticism, and charachters and plots that you can truly believe in. I especially liked the scene when Ashe and Rhapsody realized who they truly were (i.e. Sam & Emily) - it really was one of the best chapters in a book I've ever read!!!

I'm now reading Destiny and then Requium of the Sun, and am confident that I'll enjoy them as much as I've enjoyed the first two books.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Difficult to say - though Achmed should have gotten more
Review: I, all in all, liked the book. It's about the Three, who supposedly are going to be able to heal the rift opening in the world. Personally, the characters were the main focus point for me.
But anyway, Rhapsody was just too perfect for me to completely like her. I agree with the author that she has great goals, though she is also just a little too selfless. A real, believable character would act like anyone else, unfortunately that includes selfishness. The big thing, is that she is just too beautiful. A fine character should have imperfections, as does everyone. Being that beautiful irked me to no end. Bottom line: Too Perfect.
Grunthor, supplied most of the readily apparent humor. It simply stood out on the page, and I confess, it made me laugh. His cockney accent was comical and clever, though I also admit it sometimes annoyed me. He seems the type to train an army, a good play on Haydon's part. He is scary, yet not frightening. An excellent mix. Bottom Line: Funny, though shoudl have more intelligence.
Now here is my ABSOLUTE favorite character: Achmed (the snake). He is dark and mysterious for the most part, and is past is shrouded in fog. One thing I especially like is that Haydon let you in on his secret in bits and pieces; a little at a time. Some points I felt sorry for him, others he made me almost angry. I know I am being a hopeless romantic here, but I believe Rhapsody should fall in love with him, or if Rhapsody dies, he should have someone else. But of course, in this type of story, the beautiful fall in love with the handsome. Achmed is anything but handsome. He is hideous and unsightly with his eyes off-center and not even the same shape, his mouth uneven and crooked, and veins riddle his face producing a nightmarish/freakish effect. (His hideousness is the reason for the veil.) Personally, I think his personality makes up for it. He is clever and witty, not to mention practical and overall brilliant. He brings life to the story when Rhapsody at some parts kills it. He is sarcastic and knows pain, unlike Rhapsody. If I were Rhapsody, I would ditch that dolt Ashe and marry Achmed instead. I mean who wouldn't want a guy like Achmed; I believe you were given eyes to see the outside, but a heart to see the inside. Bottom Line: Finest Character And With Time I Could Learn To Love His Appearence As Well.
Ahhhhh, Ashe; the complete idiot whiner who never shuts up. I want this character, who is half dragon by the way, to die a horrible, miserable death. He throws temper tantrums, has no character development, and is only around to become Rhapsody's lover. He doesn't do anything important, and is just too perfect as well. Actually, scratch that, he is completely imperfect. he should get a life, and fast. e is one-dimensional, and what I don't understand, is how anyone could like him. Haydon messed up very badly in creating this character, so my remedy to the problem is have him die, and have the memory of him become erased from Rhapsody's head. Ashe is very dense and slow, so does not readily grasp the situation on hand, he is a liability, and one that should be exterminated. Bottom Line: Achmed Deserves Happiness With Rhapsody, Not This Sniveling Baby.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: There's some great stuff in there, but...
Review: There's one major problem; the romance. I might be somewhat oversensitive to this but there were two plotelements that threw me off this book immensely:

- Rhapsody's larger than life flawless character: I'm a big fan of the underdog. Rhapsody is Altruism made flesh to an extend that is really stretching the boundries of suspending disbelief. It got so bad at a few points I had to put the book down for a few days to restore my will to read any further.

- The Romance: I'll not spoil what romance, but it's dragged out far too long. It's really as if the author lost herself, and wanted to be Rhapsody so bad she started writing more of her bedroom fantasy instead of a story. These scenes frankly disgusted me at some points. Not because of their graphicness, I must say she did a fairly good job at that, but at their unrealistic sweetness.

Well, if you have a strong stomach when it comes to sappyness, you'll love this book. The plot is rather strong, the prose is phenomenal, though overly grandiose at points. The characters, with the exception of Rhapsody, are rather realistic and pleasant to read about.

All in all, I'd pick it up if I had nothing better to do.. Definately not worth a rush to the bookstore though.

Recommendations: CS Friedman's Coldfire Trilogy.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Haydon keeps going strong
Review: In her second book Prophecy Rhapsody learns about her true enemy the F'dor who are demons from her old home. Haydon introduces new characters who have many ties with Rhapsody. Overall her writing is very good and the flow of the book will make you keep on reading.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: TMI
Review: Sorry but it seem like Haydon tries to cram way to much info into just one book. At times reading her books are a bit like taking history class. It's like she's trying to tell everything that ever happned to Rhapsody right now. Tell us the whole entire history of (what's the name of Rhapsody's world,planet,universe? again) we don't need all the facts. Also Rhapsody could stand to be a little flawed. She almost a saint (despite her naughty lady of the night background)The bit with the Dragon was really annoying. C'mon even dragons have the hots for her? Stop calling her "Pretty". This story moved a bit to slow to be enjoyable the plot at times was some what deadpan. Something about this just didn't mesh well. Were they actully trying to get stuff done? Everyone seem to be following the standard fanstay sterotype. And does Ashe really have a point? Oh boo hoo you lost your lover. I'm going to read Elizabeth haydon's story till the end despite how much they bore me to tears, she does after all have some neat I ideals, beside I want to see how it ends :)

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Prophecy
Review: Elizabeth Haydon has out done herself with this series of books. The characters draw you into the story and keep you turning the pages at all times. Very hard to put down. If you like Goodkind, Rawn, and McCafferty you'll love this series.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The new standard
Review: Modern fantasy has been evolving since Tolkein took Norse and Celtic mythos and made it into popular literature. It goes in cycles. After Tolkein came the Tolkein rip-offs, like Terry Brooks. Then for a while we had nothing but the D&D-esque gamer reads like Dragonlance. Finally came Robert Jordan, who managed to tell a brutal, if endless, tale with a mythic style that, while not up to Tolkein, at least was better than what came between Tolkein and him.

Now comes a new era. Like it or not, Elizabeth Haydon has taken a solid scholarship in folklore and myth and developed a completely new and different magic system, and introduced a higher level of plotting, characterization and language into modern epic fantasy without dripping purple prose like Jacqueline Carey. I find her style fresh and unapologetic. She doesn't really care if you like her characters or not; she is going to write them the way they need to be written. She is not afraid to write explicit violence, sex, or romance, all of which is part of any epic tale throughout time, but she doesn't do any of it egregiously. In short, she is the new standard in this genre. If it's too intelligent, or has too many big words or too much sex or too much gore for you, well, go back to whatever era in fantasy you are more comfortable with.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Even my 12 year old daughter didn't like it
Review: I gave this book to my 12 year old daughter, and she didn't like it either. Too many long prosaic passages with no reference to the direction or plot of the book. Too many discovered problems. Good ideas, but not much execution. The author needs to read some real mythology. Too much idle banter. Too many events that don't connect to other events. Too much like an aimless diary. Too much.....


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