Rating: 
Summary: Great Read!
Review: I enjoyed the entire series. I also appreciate the fact that this was a trilogy, not some endless series that loses steam and gets boring after a while. This last one wrapped up all the other loose ends from the prior books. I wish that the last chapter had been longer...did not want the story to end so abruptly. Highly recommend.
Rating:
Summary: Masterful
Review: I finished reading this a week ago and still can't get it out of my head. I love Deborah Chester's lack of dramatism in death. It makes the long death scenes in other books so unrealistic and immature by comparison. It's a refreshing viewpoint, and I'm glad she wrote it! The plot was magnificient, finally, the two main characters MEET each other! Alexeika is a dynamic character--I wouldn't have guessed of her *betrayal*, but it added so much depth to her character and made her so much more human than Dain, who did seem a little too *royal* for a common eld-boy. Regardless, a well written book, and I hope she writes some more about Nether!
Rating:
Summary: Masterful
Review: I finished reading this a week ago and still can't get it out of my head. I love Deborah Chester's lack of dramatism in death. It makes the long death scenes in other books so unrealistic and immature by comparison. It's a refreshing viewpoint, and I'm glad she wrote it! The plot was magnificient, finally, the two main characters MEET each other! Alexeika is a dynamic character--I wouldn't have guessed of her *betrayal*, but it added so much depth to her character and made her so much more human than Dain, who did seem a little too *royal* for a common eld-boy. Regardless, a well written book, and I hope she writes some more about Nether!
Rating:
Summary: Most Excellent!!!!!!!
Review: I have read all three of the books in The Sword, The Ring, and The Chalice. They are just breath taking. The only regret that I have is the ending seems to soon, not unless Ms. Chester is going to continue the story in another book or series? I hope that she will consitter continueing the story about Dain and Alexieka, I would love to see if they rebuild Nether.
Rating:
Summary: worth reading
Review: I read her three books of this series and they were pretty good I enjoy them. Lot of imagination it kept you going. I read more of her books
Rating: 
Summary: An Unfinished Trilogy
Review: I recently reread this excellent trilogy. I didn't expect to enjoy it the second time, since the plot had so many twists to it. However, the second time through I realized how excellent the characterizations were.In brief, the story revolves around Dain, an Eld/human who discovers he is actually the missing King of Nether. The interesting thing about the plot is that he feels little motivation to claim his crown, but circumstances keep pushing him to do so. During the book, he has to develop from a near-feral boy to a man who can deal with rebuilding a kingdom. This character progression is deftly and believably handled. The trilogy has some unusual characteristics. First, it is not really a trilogy, but one book divided into three separate parts. The titles are very misleading, especially the first book, entitled "The Sword". Since the first book has two important swords, I didn't really find out which the title referred to until Volume 3. Second, the book ends suddenly, without resolving some key issues. The evil kingdom which wishes to overthrow Nether is undefeated, and Dain's relationship with his mother's people is unresolved. Third, the first hundred pages, which describe how Dain's father lost his kingdom and his life, are a bit slow going. However, the second time through, I was much more open to this long introduction; I felt that it showed the similarities between father and son - that they were both very human individuals whose ideals and responsibilities threatened to outstrip their abilities. Last, the romance was peculiar, in that there was no description of any romantic feelings, at least from Dain's point of view. The unorthodox handling of the trilogy format may throw some people off, but I would highly recommend these books. It is a trilogy which screams for a follow-up volume, which hopefully will be written!
Rating:
Summary: An Unfinished Trilogy
Review: I recently reread this excellent trilogy. I didn't expect to enjoy it the second time, since the plot had so many twists to it. However, the second time through I realized how excellent the characterizations were. In brief, the story revolves around Dain, an Eld/human who discovers he is actually the missing King of Nether. The interesting thing about the plot is that he feels little motivation to claim his crown, but circumstances keep pushing him to do so. During the book, he has to develop from a near-feral boy to a man who can deal with rebuilding a kingdom. This character progression is deftly and believably handled. The trilogy has some unusual characteristics. First, it is not really a trilogy, but one book divided into three separate parts. The titles are very misleading, especially the first book, entitled "The Sword". Since the first book has two important swords, I didn't really find out which the title referred to until Volume 3. Second, the book ends suddenly, without resolving some key issues. The evil kingdom which wishes to overthrow Nether is undefeated, and Dain's relationship with his mother's people is unresolved. Third, the first hundred pages, which describe how Dain's father lost his kingdom and his life, are a bit slow going. However, the second time through, I was much more open to this long introduction; I felt that it showed the similarities between father and son - that they were both very human individuals whose ideals and responsibilities threatened to outstrip their abilities. Last, the romance was peculiar, in that there was no description of any romantic feelings, at least from Dain's point of view. The unorthodox handling of the trilogy format may throw some people off, but I would highly recommend these books. It is a trilogy which screams for a follow-up volume, which hopefully will be written!
Rating:
Summary: Fine Conclusion to a Fine Trilogy
Review: Jordan who? Deborah Chester has succeeded in demonstrating that a gripping, enjoyable fantasy story does not require ten volumes and ten thousand pages. Throughout The Sword, The Ring, and The Chalice, Chester brings a whole world to life with settings and people that seem sometimes all too real, and with a pacing that never slacked. Reading Chester has finally turned me off from Robert Jordan; I no longer see the point of investing three weeks in the next Wheel of Time book when I can have much more enjoyable fantasy at less than a third of the time cost. As for The Chalice itself, the conclusion to the series was not as pat as I had feared, although complaints that it was too pat are not without merit. While some of the other criticisms are also understandable, one of the most frustrating aspects of The Chalice is arguably one of its strengths - it is impossible to completely like either of the two main characters because they each keep engaging in self-destructive behavior. When Dain and Alexeika were each young and new to their situations (i.e., in the first two books), it was easier to forgive their faults. By The Chalice, one simply wanted to slap each of them a half dozen times, which speaks highly of Chester's ability to get the reader involved. No flat, one-dimensional "hero is always good" here. One could also complain about the sometimes too-clever prose, and a mildly annoying attempt to create a medieval-type dialogue (I hate it when characters say "nay" as if they were horses), but the complaints are minor in comparison with a story that keeps the reader turning pages, and often has the heart racing. This is a series that is well worth the read, and one that is worth revisiting from time to time.
Rating: 
Summary: disappointment
Review: The book starts with Faladin, (his true identity is not a secret any more), searching with his hated one dimensional enemy, the prince for a cure to his heart desire. The story picks off at the point where the second volume ended. The problem of the book is that it is much too short. In one volume Faladin must: Find a cure, Get the Sword the Ring and the Chalice back, Search for the Eldin folk, go on a sub plot to Gant, Build an army, win the trust of his people, conquer Nether, win a war against the evil believers, and fall in love. As a result we get a thin patch of many ideas woven together into a mishmash of events. The plot seems to "just hang there" with no connecting threads. Faladin builds his army in two pages finds the chalice in one and still able to win the war in the following page. The final meeting between him and the prince is a real anti climax and there are few threads at the end of the book left open. I think that perhaps this fine story deserved to be spread over few more books. As a whole I think this book is a miss and it's a shame after the promising previous books.
Rating:
Summary: plotting by the numbers with a horrible conclusion.
Review: The Sword was okay, not good, not bad, passable enough. The Ring was pretty good, I enjoyed it. Not top flight fantasy like Martin or Keyes, but still pretty well done. I had high hopes then for the Chalice. Sadly, those hopes were dashed by page 50. Just not a good book that wrapped up 700 pages of prologue in literally 15 pages. The ending was way too rushed, and just not good. The one redeeming quality of this book is Prince Gavril, who despite being one of the biggest jerks around, is far more interesting than Faldain. Without spoiling the end of this book, if you have read more than 2 fantasy series, you can already guess the conclusion. In fact, you can probably tell exactly what will happen 100 pages into the book. This put such a bad taste into my mouth that I won't be reading Queen's Gambit.
|
