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Summary: Another Ugly Review
Review: This is my first review here on Amazon and I'm here because I feel compelled to prevent others from wasting their time with this flabby, long-winded stack of paper. This book is all over the place, it goes from shabby romance, to stale sword-n-sorcery passages through just plain baffling passages such as the endless tromping through the underworld for who knows what reason. And you wouldn't believe the stuff that passes for dialogue. Ridiculous. Go elsewhere for your reading pleasure. Or you can have my copy, it's clogging the toilet at the St Louis airport.
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Summary: A delightful, thought-provoking book
Review: I really like this book. The characters, main and supporting, are well realized, and the mythology of their world is tremendously well thought out by the author. Although many of the situations in the book are outside of the experience of anybody in our world, Elizabeth Haydon uses amazingly vivid language to draw readers into her world. I agree with another reviewer that there could have been more action on Rhapsody's part and less harping on her beauty, but those are minor details compared to the richness of the rest of the book. I recommend this book to anybody who likes an intelligent story.
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Summary: Well crafted, intelligent and unique tale
Review: I came on to Amazon to state my enthusiasm for this wonderful book which I just finished a few moments ago. The characters are the best I've found in the fantasy genre, and the writing ranks up with George Martin's, who I consider to be the leading light of fantasy at the moment. The landscapes are beautifully rendered, and the story plays like a musical piece, slow and methodical in some places, swift and stirring in others.I was shocked to see a few really ugly reviews, and even more shocked to see that they are by the same person. I don't know what Ms. Haydon has done to merit the ire of that particular reviewer, but I urge you to ignore the bile and treat yourself to one of the better books to have come along in a decade.
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Summary: some flaws, but still worth it
Review: Rhapsody is a lttle different than some of the other fantasy novels out there, in that it contains a few different scenes(If you have read any other reviews you will know what I am talking about) and that it takes a few things to the extreme. While reading this you forgive the author for some few errors that make the reader sometimes recoil from the pages and smack the book against a table then return instantly to reading it and regretting their previous violence. A book that will most certainly take you away from everyday life and will certainly have you wanting to read it while you can not but is at times a trifle frustrating because of the ignorance of some characters or the impossibly extreme descriptions. But all in all most definately worth it for the paperback.
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Summary: Saturday Morning Cartoon Heroes
Review: Childish dialogue and plot like a comic book. Writing isn't bad, though. I am very happy that I got this from the library and didn't buy it. Other critical reviewers have covered the flaws well, be sure to read them before wasting your cash.
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Summary: For Grown Ups Only
Review: This is a great book. It should not be read by children under the age of 12, not just because of a few scenes of explicit sexual content, but because of the creep factor. There are several very well drawn scenes of depravity, not over the top gore like the standard fantasy fare, but deeply disturbing stuff. In addition, the content requires someone with a little imagination and the ability to understand allegory and dolklore, as well as the examination of power without a juvenile reaction. It drives me insane to read the occasional review complaining about the extremity of Rhapsody's beauty or Achmed's power. These people are missing the point! The whole crux of the story involves dealing with events and powers that are beyond the scope of the characters to understand, and watching as they learn to recognize them and cope with them. This is a great, well-rounded story, with terrific character development and a plot that is gripping and different than the usual one. If you have an open mind and a taste for something other than the typical stuff, this book is for you.
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Summary: Wonderful drama, little past
Review: I really enjoyed reading this book. I'm not sure why thought. It must be Haydon's style of writing that really draws one in, as well as her ability to develop mystery. There was, however, at times too much mystery which caused a lack of evelopment in some areas, such as world building and character background. Some people have said she lacks character development but this is untrue. The characters are complex and 3 dimensional but there is very little known about their pasts, hopefully Haydon will reveal their histories in furute books.
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Summary: Haydon's tower in the swamp.
Review: This book is imaginative, it's alluring, it's fantastical, but it isn't very good. Why NOT? It's like this. Fantasy is another form of fiction, a story told by an author. At the heart of it all is the plot and the characters. With fantasy, the plot and the characters are doubly important as they are the only believable things. A creative setting is great, but one cannot build a story on top of a setting, but must rather build the setting around the story. What Haydon has created is a masterful piece of ingenuity that shows no skill and sagacity. For all its colorful characters and interesting locales, its vitals are not very good. Despite what some might think, it takes more than a good imagination to write fantasy. Imagination is easy, writing is hard. I get the feeling Haydon tries to hard to be creative and not hard enough to be constructive. It shows in this book. Great setting, colorful characters, but abysmal plot, and simplistic childlike dialogue. It might be interesting to read about the characters and their world but it'll get boring if there is no story to drive it forward. Only an average book at best. For truly superb fantasy, read George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series. It starts with A Game of Thrones.
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Summary: Rhapsody
Review: My biggest problem with this tale is that I simply couldn't figure out the book's intended target audience. The story is too unsophisticated for adults and is too full of sexual references for children. It might have made a fine "young adult" novel if not for the frequent sexual content. The first chapter reads like some sappy "true confession" romance magazine and involves a sex scene between a 13 year old girl and a 14 year old boy, which occurs not long after they first meet. There seemed to be no reason for the children to have had sex. Why not have them share a first kiss instead? Or, if the sex serves some purpose, why not make them older? The heroine of the story, Rhapsody, is just too good to be true. She begins the book as the most beautiful woman living, but a few chapters later, she transforms herself into a goddess-like being who is the most beautiful woman who has ever graced the planet. She is good and kind to all she meets, talented at everything she attempts, and humble too. Every single man she meets, from the youthful to the elderly priest, from friend to enemy, is filled with lust at the sight of her. A child might have accepted this description and been able to view Rhapsody with admiration, but an adult reader is quickly going to be grinding teeth over Rhapsody's perfection. It is nearly impossible to identify with her, or to want her to succeed. The story is full of holes and leaps of logic that, again, will leave an adult frowning. For instance, during her transformation into the goddess-like being, Rhapsody also regains her virginity. How this is done is never fully explained, but let's look at it logically. Rhapsody and her lovers apparently still have their sexual memories, so if she knows that she's had sex, how can she possibly be a virgin? And as any doctor will tell you, there is no physical proof of virginity. Prior to the start of the novel, Rhapsody worked as a prostitute. Her previous occupation seems to make no sense, given what else we learn about the character. Since the author makes Rhapsody talented at virtually every skill there is, why would she choose such a profession? Rhapsody is miserable throughout the entire story because she's been dragged forward in time and desperately misses her family, especially her mother. Yet Rhapsody admits that she ran away from home as a young girl. She was apparently gone from home for years, but she made no effort to write to her family or to travel to see them. During a brief stay, Rhapsody "adopts" some children that she meets and during the rest of story, she worries about them, she writes to them, and she stops to buy them gifts. If Rhapsody is such a caring person, why didn't she show the same concern for those she claims she loved most of all? Rhapsody's major talent in the book is her ability at music and singing. She is apparently able to change the very nature of reality with the power of her voice, as is shown when she sees an abusive father and his son and is able to completely change their relationship. If she is this talented, why doesn't Rhapsody use this incredible power to to fix, for example, the murder/war situation that occurs with Achmed's people? And finally, if she is so lonesome for home, why doesn't she sing her way back in time?
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Summary: Death Metal Fantasy!! (not really, but...)
Review: This book is great. its a fantasy with some pretty nice new ideas about things, like new ideas about magic and the super-humans (well, not humans, super-firbolg dracians, and humans and so on...) of the world. i really enjoyed it and am craving the sequel, which it'll probably be months before i get it! anyway it wasn't the same old boring ... to me, and it was realistic in some aspects, like Rhapsody not being the sole super-duper hero, and being a character with room for personal growth etc. Haydon made sure to leave lots of room for development all over, so the book can get its "roots" into you now, the reason for the title: well, Achmed (i wonder why she picked that. sometimes people mispronounce my name like that. and it was supposed to sound ridiculously fearful in the book or something. ...!) has a death metal voice. i always think of children of bodom with him, cause he's sort of like the reaper. and their song "touch like angel of death" really suits him too! there are other things that remind me alot of Opeth's concept album STill life (cloaks of mist, prophet of the lost, haunting people's dreams, etc.) but these two albums are older i wonder if Elizabeth Haydon likes death metal at all? anyway, that's besides the point, though i hope it gets through to someone. it is a great book by a great author. yes, there are some shortcomings here and there, where it tries to be too realistic one part and then contradicts it with something kind of silly, but it's allowed, and if you have an open mind you'll enjoy it! otherwis ... and don't read it!
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