Rating: 
Summary: Fantastic, Fascinating, High Fantasy At It's Best
Review: I picked up Elizabeth Haydon's 'Rhapsody' after reviewing a few of the stellar reviews by famous fantasy authors and critics. I sat down and began reading this novel and was instantly pulled into the world Haydon has created. She has built a world rich in lore around a set of interesting and captivating characters. She has also invented an original and equally interesting system of magic. It is at it's roots a story of redemption and self discovery, about a group of unlikely allies striving for the greater good. Elizabeth Haydon makes each character in her novel come vividly alive. You can not help but care for her characters. I will tell you now that you will find yourself immersed in the world she has created. You will be chanting Grunthor's marching songs and reciting the lyrics of Rhapsody's daily devotions. You will smile at the sardonic humor of Achmed the assassin and develop an inner compassion for each of these characters. The novel moves at a break neck pace with the adventure and intrigue never letting up. Haydon is definitly a writer to watch. She will be the next big fantasy writer and will quickly join the ranks of Terry Goodkind, Robert Jordan, Anne Mc Caffrey, Elizabeth Moon and Marion Zimer Bradley. I haven't been so thrilled and fascinated by a book since reading Goodkind's 'Wizard's First Rule'. Fans of Fantasy as well as anyone who just enjoys a solid, thrilling, magical adventure should not walk but run to the nearest book store and pick it up. You will have to clear your agendas because you will not be able to put this book down. Congradulations Ms. Haydon I anxiously look forward to your next book in this beloved series.
Rating: 
Summary: Decent series start--but sloooooow moving
Review: Acceptable first effort by the author with potentially interesting characters; however, they are a bit too cartoonlike and one-dimensional to be believed (the good guys are completely good, the bad guys are thoroughly awful). Well plotted story line, but it takes far too many repetitious sequences to get the action advanced.
Rating:
Summary: Brava, Elizabeth!!!!!!
Review: This book earns everyone one of those five stars, and more! The very beginning may be a bit rough for those of us that don't favor and are not used to any sort of major time jumping, but that's no fault to the book. I am one that has only recently been exposed to time jumping in various books, either by magickal means or scientific means, and both methods make my head hurt a bit. Any confusion was quickly forgotten as I was pulled in, rather swiftly. From all the great reviews I had heard of this book, I was certainly expecting a good story. I was not prepaired for such an incredibly weaving of a tale. Ms. Haydon's writing style is wonderful. Her characters are fabulously developed. We have Rhapsody, a Singer aspiring to be a Namer, a lovely lady with a very sharp, very barbed tongue. We have Achmed the Snake ~ don't be put off by this man's name! I almost was (Achmed? In a Fantasy book???) but you learn early on just how he comes by that name, and trust me. It's fitting. And we meet Grunthor. If you do not fall in love with this Bolg there is somethind definately wrong with you! :o) All three have shady backgrounds, some more than others, and the adventure the embark upon (albeit somewhat unwilling in some cases) flies by, leaving you at the end wondering how you turned all those pages without realizing it! I didn't experience any of that 'new book, new author' awkwardness you often feel ~ getting used to a new style and a new world, with new cultures and new rules. You fall in to it seamlessly and without trouble, so quickly that you can smell the farmlands where you first land ~ the breeze of the night. Later one, the dank, dark... well, never mind that. :o) I know, I know. Trying a new author with a hardcover can be a gamble, but you won't regret it!!! If you're a fan of J.V. Jones or Robin Hobb, I definately urge you to check this book out!! It's right up there with 'A Cavern of Black Ice' (though not nearly as cold and snowy!) :o)
Rating:
Summary: I never read fantasy but this book makes me want to!
Review: I'm not even done reading Haydon's RHAPSODY and already I hope there's more in the series. And there will be, I gather. This book is amazing. I haven't been able to put it down. The characters are well rounded, the plot is exciting, and there is always a mystery to be solved. Like, what happened to Gwydion?! I can't wait to read more of Haydon's books! And I'm sure that upon finishing Rhapsody I'll wish I had another 100 pages to read as with all good books, they end too quickly.
Rating:
Summary: terrific blend of past and present, a rich new sci-fi thrill
Review: A wonderfull story with plenty of intrigue and action, with a beautiful cast of characters which you fall in love with almost against your will at times
Rating:
Summary: A remarkable feat of storytelling
Review: Elizabeth Haydon's RHAPSODY holds its own with George R R Martin's A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE. This is very high praise coming from me. Haydon does not condescend to her readers, but trusts that they are able to handle her avoidance of standard fantasy cliches. Along the way she creates a marvelously literary work, something that can hold the attention even of non-fantasy fans. It moves so fast that you miss some of the many shades of detail. I loved rereading it for the opportunity to discover it all the over again.
Rating:
Summary: A warm and wonderful read
Review: It's been a long time since I sat down with a book and got lost in it totally to the exclusion of everything around me. RHAPSODY did this for me. Others have praised its plot, its language use, and its lack of fantasy cliches. I will say that what I most enjoyed about it was its lack of pretension. Haydon is willing to show warts where they would not be in current fantasy characters, to see good in those that have little of it. A previous reviewer missed the point by a mile--an anti-hero, like Achmed or even Grunthor, has a bad side, may, in fact, be BAD. It's not cut and dried; the one-dimensional fantasy characters that people the popular offerings of today are seen as "deep" when they have a bad temper. Please. Haydon is not a replacement for or an innovator over Robin Hobb or any of the women who came before her. What she may be is a bridge to new acceptance, new equality for female fantasists. She's written an amazing book, and with any luck, the attention its getting will balance the scales a little for all the talented women out there. Someone has to do it eventually. It's to be expected that she would attract some jealousy. Hopefully it won't backfire and cause fantasy pubblishers to return to promoting women like the second-class citizens of the fantasy world that they have been for a long time.
Rating: 
Summary: Good not great book, nothing out of the ordinary
Review: First thing about this book is that while being a good book, it is not all that. There are many fine solid women fantasy writers who can stand up to this book and its a huge disservice to them to put it up on a higher pedestal since it does not deserve it. Robin Hobb, In Legend Born, Pool of Two Moons all hold their own with this book. That needed to be said now how about this book? It is an interesting read but filled with contradictions. 2 out of the 3 main characters are literally killing machines and in many ways not sympatheic. The fact that one of them is a 'cuddly monster' and nice to the title character doesnt negate the fact that it is best at killing things. The other thing that started to nag at me was the fact that Rhapsody is suppose to be truthful its a prerequiste to be a good Namer. She seems to be very aware of things at so many levels except she cant even discern how she appears to other people. Throughout over half the book people are crashing ox carts, starting wars, and slobbering all over her beauty and apprently she is totally unaware of it. It was just too stupid to carry that facet of the book on and on and on. In summary the book has strengths and weaknesses and it is not at all above the other new female fantasy writers emerging but somewhere in the middle. Don't be fooled by a big ad campign making the book more then it is.
Rating:
Summary: This book will knock your socks off!
Review: This is by far the best fantasy novel I have read this decade. A fascinating read for both men and women, it rises above the current mind candy that is passing for the genre and harks back to the days of Tolkein, when a writer understood all the elements that need to be present in a good story. My girlfriend heard about this book a year or more ago and has been driving me muts to get it ever since and read it so that she wouldn't "waste her time" on something she wouldn't like. When it finally came out I bought the first copy I could find. "I'll just read the first page" she said, and disappeared with it. I finally had to get another one because prying it out of her hands proved impossible. I HIGHLY recommend this book and this author. This is going to be the next big name in fantasy, I predict. Hank Tservas
Rating:
Summary: A great beginning
Review: I was pleasantly surprised by Haydon's book. It's a great beginning to what should be a tremendous career. Intriguing and original characters drive the story, which also seems to be a minor flaw - the plotting is a little choppy at times. You'll notice it, but it won't get in the way of enjoying the story. Im looking forward to the next book!
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