Rating: 
Summary: An excellent sequel and bridge book in the series
Review: Prophecy picks up where Rhapsody left off, with Rhapsody, Achmed and Grunthor in their newly established kingdom at Ylorc, but with many tunnels remaining to be explored and quests yet to be undertaken.
The series involves three people who escape various pursuers in their homeland by climbing along the root of the great tree that passes the "axis mundi" of their world. They come out on the other side and discover that they have traveled several thousand years into the future, their homeland has been destroyed and the refugees have dispersed in the new land.
There are many fascinating premises here and I like the way Haydon fills her world with interesting races borne of elements. The natural world is a powerful presence here and strongly affects the magic used by those who possess it, but in different ways according to their elemental background. For example, Achmed is strongly attuned to the wind and can sense the vibrations of someone's heartbeat from miles away. Rhapsody can affect fire. Grunthor can pass through earth. Ashe can move in water.
This is a very character driven book and series. By keeping the number of central characters to a minimum, we get to know them better and learn their desires, fears and goals. Rhapsody may be a little too perfect at times in the seemingly effortless way she picks up music, swordsmanship and magic, but she is also a flawed character trying to learn and improve herself.
The central plot also works as an effective mystery. The group must find a demon (the F'dor) and the Rakshas (kind of an elemental possession creature) in its employ. There are also a variety of political and religious forces at work and a broad an interesting group of sub-characters whose motives remain unclear.
My criticisms...
First, the typesetter or editors could have done a better job cleaning up the numerous errors in the book.
Rhapsody can get a bit irritating with her naivete, and the love scenes were a bit long. There was one scene where Ashe asks her to sing him a song before continuing a conversation and I almost threw the book at a wall. Quit stalling!There were also a number of point of view shifts within scenes. One moment we're in one person's head and paragraphs ping pong back and forth into someone else's head.
My biggest knock is having scenes with unseen villains. This is a cheap writer's device and totally cheats the reader. You have two people talking but we can't see them. What's up with that? Or one person identified and the other a mystery, even though the other can see them. Put the reader in the scene or leave it out.
I am looking forward to the final book in the series, because I want to see how the story ends and what happens to the characters. What will happen at Tristan's wedding? Will Rhapsody remember...
Rating:
Summary: Again, excellent
Review: I wrote a huge review on rhapsody so I won't repeat myself here. To recap, I like to read negative reviews if I liked a book because it points out potential flaws I may have missed. I loved this book, and the trilogy. I actually don't remember there being a ton of sex but realized it was because I skimmed iwthout being aware because I had peeked ahead and realized that it would be pretty soon when Ashe and Rhapsody came to their realization of who they were. I didn't find the romance as irritating as a lot of people, but then again, I've been known to read the occassional fluff novel. This book was also well-written and Rhapsody's character flaws are on their way to being resolved although it's hard to see until you finish the book. She also starts to realize that she can't single-handedly "save" everyone from themselves which is a huge step for her (from Jo).
Rating: 
Summary: Rhapsody Fans Rejoice!
Review: This book continues where Rhapsody left off, add in more romance, and more familiarity. I almost gave it 4 stars, but then thought, "Why?", it was extremly good! So another 5 stars in the series! Good Job Liz!
Rating:
Summary: Great to watch a skilled writer at work
Review: I fell in love with the first book of the Rhapsody trilogy upon reading the first few paragraphs. It was not the story or the characters that hooked me, though that eventually happened--it was the fluid way in which Elizabeth Haydon writes. There is something so interesting in watching a master at work that I can't help but read just for the beauty of the prose, something that is rarely if ever seen in the fantasy genre. For some reason, perhaps this intelligent is offensive to some readers. For instance, in the review that immediately precedes mine, the reviewer says nothing to indicate he or she has actually read this book, and mentions something that never happened [the comment about why Rhapsody sold herself]. There seem to be quite of few of these reviewa. While I don't object to people having differing opinions of content, it makes me wonder what drives people to dun books they haven't read. If you enjoy clear, crisp prose and a sense of epic scale with a sense of accuracy and historic detail, I recommend you give this series a read.
Rating: 
Summary: It's all down hill from here
Review: This book was the worst in the lot. I didn't even want to finish it. It was stuffed with so much mindless minute detail I felt like screaming. I was like get to the point what ever it was. You spent so much time not caring what happned next you forgot. Nobody seeme to be challanged. What ever they set out to do in next page bam! they did it. I loved the first book so I'm not sure how this one came out so bad. Even the last one is better than this. Raphsody really is just a blond bimbo and an insult to women everwhere. When she said that she had no choice but to sell herself becuase men wouldn't leave her alone other wise I almost shut the book for good. I wish I had.
Rating: 
Summary: A page turner, but not the class of the genre
Review: The "Rhapsody" trilogy has been well received, and it begins with a lot of promise in the first volume (4 stars). "Prophecy" picks up right where the first book ends. Though the F'dor hunting Achmed turned out to exist no longer, with only his minion the Shing still in pursuit, the three heroes discover that another F'dor has survived, and plans to bring the world to an end in a conflagration of fire. Meanwhile, Rhapsody and Ashe remain unaware of the other's previous identity and the fact that they were each others' first love. The strengths of the second volume are the same as those of the first: "Prophecy" is suspenseful, with four sharply realized, memorable characters, brought to life by vivid and imaginative descriptions. Haydon is a talented writer, there is no question. The weaknesses are also the same as the first volume, but unfortunately much more prominent. First, there are far too many lengthy monologues relating past events, in which you, the reader, feel like you're being talked at. Second, Haydon, who borrows freely from a myriad of influences (including Norse mythology and Mozart's "Magic Flute"), seems all-too-often to be making things up as she goes along. There is no problem to which Haydon can't invent some kind of new, not-previously-conceived-of solution. The magic doesn't appear to function according to any rules; there is no internal narrative consistency. Finally, the book is so burdened by soggy romantic melodrama that it sometimes resembles a Harlequin novel. The conversations in these sections follow the following pattern: One character will say something, the other character will experience a half dozen extreme reactions described over the course of several paragraphs, and then respond, at which point the first character will experience a half dozen extreme reactions, etc. Okay, I'm exaggerating...slightly. Romance in fantasy is a good and necessary thing, but Haydon goes way overboard. Because of Haydon's gifted characterizations and descriptions, you'll find yourself gobbling up page after page. You may abstractly note some unfortunate storytelling choices, or even experience brief irritation, but you'll keep reading, and you'll look forward to the concluding volume. With its lengthy expository content and plot set-ups, "Prophecy" is probably little more than a bridge between the first book and the third book, which should be better.
Rating:
Summary: awesome story
Review: i've read all three of this trilogy and loved it. it keeps you on your toes and wanting more. i couldn't keep the books down. i'm anxious to read the next trilogy that continues from these.
Rating:
Summary: A good start
Review: Prophecy was an excellent book which rivaled the likes of Anne McCaffrey, Terry Pratchett and Alan Dean Foster. I was enraptured by the unique way in which Elizabeth Haydon writes and captures the spirits of her characters. The suspence of finding out about Ashe and Rhapsody meant that I could not put the book down and had to go to college with sleepy eyes but a happy smile. It was a book which could take your imagination anywhere, from the depths of the sea to the song in the sky. I can't wait to read the next book and find out about what happens to the Firbolg, Dragons, Cymrians and other fantastic creatures in this epic fantasy. I recomend that you read C.M. Whitlock's The price of Immortality, it is a new twist on fantasy that I really enjoyed
Rating:
Summary: Potential... lost
Review: I enjoyed Rhapsody-- gave it 4 stars-- and did my best to enjoy Prophecy. In fact, I did like it; hence a 3 star effort. However, I was unable to get over a couple of issues I had with the first book that were not addressed in the second; or that were not quite as good in the second. For example, if you loved Grunthor in the first book; be prepared to be disappointed. He's just not *present*. Second, if you liked Gwyddion (or Ashe), be prepared to say, at the end of the book, "what" ? Suffice it to say, that I nearly tossed the book out following the "pearl of no memory" scene. Rubbish. Not the discussions (or the implicit outcome), but the explicit outcome? No memory? What is this, the Bobby "all of last season was a dream" Ewing from Dallas those many years ago redux?
And even Achmed, who I admittedly loathe, was reduced in plot scope, and into an obvious bowl of silent, lurking, but emotionally quivering jelly for Rhapsody. I mean, if there's anything that Achmed is, it's the antithesis of Rhapsody. As selfless as she is, he is selfish. But no, I'm wagering that instead expanding the character scope to bring Achmed someone himself... the author will keep the scope limited. Finally, and most startlingly, I never felt the characters-- outside of the ancillary ones like Ashe and Jo-- were in danger. It was like 3 super(wo)men with no Kryptonite in the universe. Hence, while the book was a good read, it didn't really thrive on any front: it annoyed me that the intro that so enthralled me in book 1 is *still*, to a degree, left ludicrously open; it annoyed me that the characters who I loathed, but enjoyed reading, in book one were unloathable in book 2 (and that's a bad thing); it annoyed me that the romance, perhaps explicit, lead to nothing; it annoyed me that a book that could've been one for the ages just didn't quite hit the notes for which it was trying. Bottom line: if you liked booked one, get book 2. If you were so-so on book 1, don't. As for me, will I read book three? I own it, so someday. Perhaps when the pearl of "no memory" is returned to me.
Rating:
Summary: Elizabeth shows that women have imagination too
Review: I love the story that Elizabeth has laid out for you explore. You get so wound up in Rhapsody's life that you get frustrated with what happens to her. I promise that you won't be able to put the book down.
|
