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.
Rating: 
Summary: Part Three of an entertaining series that's often too simple
Review: The trilogy makes for a nice week of reading and is quite well written. Unfortunately, it does have a couple flaws, which are neglectable if one seeks only entertainment (see below). Chester's Sword/Ring/Chalice-Series is one story told in three books, this is the third. Book 3 continues the storyline the day it ends in the second book, so, this is not a "20 years later our hero goes off to a new adventure"&"I want to write a sequel and make more money"-story. You'll have to buy/read all three books if you want to know the end (comparable to Tolkien's three books, even if on a different level). Conclusion:
I usually turn off my brain and simply enjoy a story when reading fantasy. For me, a story needs to be gripping, seem real and make me want to not put the book down. Chester delivers those things for sure. The main characters are well developed, the side characters neglected and killed quickly. Sometimes, unimportant things are described in great detail just to never surface again. A love story between the two main characters is somewhat crammed into the last pages: The heroine's affections for the good guy are mentioned and well developed throughout the series, but he's going for some other girl all the time. His sudden decision to dump the other girl and take the heroine instead is unprepared, unexplained, seems unlikely and leaves a sour aftertaste which spoils the closing chapter. It's not exactly an unforgettable series; one can read the books again in a couple of years and pretend it was the first time. I enjoyed the series and - within the frame of the restrictions mentioned before - I do recommend it. The flaws:
Flaw No. 1: The first 100 pages of the first book drag on and do not really have relevance, it's just an extended prelude about how the father of our hero screws up big time. The triology is actually more thrilling (I'd imagine) if one simply skips the beginning and reads this "prelude" afterwards.
Flaw No. 2: The author obviously does not know or not care about the historically correct meaning and status of aristocratic titels. There's a bunch a princes running around who are neither heir to the throne nor related to any king. That bugged me a little, as it is somewhat confusing.
Flaw No. 3: Our hero rises to high status in various steps. Each step he makes by saving the life of his respective superior: A huntsman to begin with, then a lord, then a prince, then the king. When there's no one else to save, cause there's no one above the king, it turns out our hero's of royal blood himself (which the reader assumed all along but that's a different story). It's somewhat too simple cause one quickly figures out that soon the next situation in which he'll save a life will come up in order to push the story along. Most of these live-saving-situations are quite unlikely, so if one prefers stuff that is thought through, logically sound and "thick" story-telling (like Tolkien), this is not your series. It's comparable to Goodkind's books: Extremely grave danger and a way too simple solution.
Rating:
Summary: Not the greatest, but a good read.
Review: Though I would not consider "The Sword, the Ring, and the Chalice" a top-shelf series as far as fantasy trilogies go, I would place it no lower than the second tier. It was placed in a world that is well-drawn and believable, as fantasy worlds go. It had characters you could get close to - heroes you liked and villains that you liked to dislike. My major complaint with the series is that Prince Gavril didn't get nearly what he deserved. It had a romantic interest, though not overly sappy. It didn't make it as an epic in my book because, even though it was an enjoyable read, it was too easy. Even though there were points of conflict and everything did not go 100% smoothly 100% of the time, you never felt that at any point the story was going to stray too far from the predictable ending. Other than Pheresa's desire to be a queen at all cost, there were no real moral dilemma's raised or philosophical questions to ponder. A little more meat on the bones would have made this a more memorable series, but even given that, it was fun to read and a series I would recommend to most any fan of fantasy, particularly those just becoming familiar with the genre.
Rating:
Summary: Not the greatest, but a good read.
Review: Though I would not consider "The Sword, the Ring, and the Chalice" a top-shelf series as far as fantasy trilogies go, I would place it no lower than the second tier. It was placed in a world that is well-drawn and believable, as fantasy worlds go. It had characters you could get close to - heroes you liked and villains that you liked to dislike. My major complaint with the series is that Prince Gavril didn't get nearly what he deserved. It had a romantic interest, though not overly sappy. It didn't make it as an epic in my book because, even though it was an enjoyable read, it was too easy. Even though there were points of conflict and everything did not go 100% smoothly 100% of the time, you never felt that at any point the story was going to stray too far from the predictable ending. Other than Pheresa's desire to be a queen at all cost, there were no real moral dilemma's raised or philosophical questions to ponder. A little more meat on the bones would have made this a more memorable series, but even given that, it was fun to read and a series I would recommend to most any fan of fantasy, particularly those just becoming familiar with the genre.
Rating: 
Summary: The whole series is a wonderful read.
Review: Trust me, all three books in this series are hard to put down once you start reading them. Although, I am a little sad that there will be no more books in this series after the book 'The Chalise.' I was looking forward to reading more about the characters I've come to love. Buy the book, you won't regret it.
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