Elvenborn

Rating:
Summary: Oh please...........
Review: After reading this book I decided to shut the lid on this series. Both Andre Norton *and* Mercedes Lackey can write better than this, both alone and with other authors. In the beginning, I was thinking: " I forgot how good these books were" and at the end I was thinking:"God, why did I pick this up?" The truth is, it's not terrible, it was kinda good, but the authors were trying too hard. For instance, that whole system of how to keep people alive in a gladiatoral ceremony, that was just ridiculous.Also, they waited too long to have Lorryn and Shana fall madly in love. That could have happened very easily in Elvenblood. And if there was so much detail(well, not a lot, but still quite a bit) on the Iron People preparing for war, why didn't they ride into battle at the end? They could have just wrapped this series up in this book, but no, they are just going to amble on about the discovery of where the elves came from blah blah blah. Kyrtian was a likeable character, but they can't be introducing new characters at this point in the series. They need to have the halfbloods rebel and have everything end like a regular fantasy series.
Also, since so many of the elvenlords are perfectly nice, it's quite hard to believe that they are evil. If so many grin at Kyrtian's clever fighting strategies, then why should he switch sides? If only some elvenlords are bad, then why should the halfbloods rebel in the first place? It just doesn't make sense.
Okay, you've got the point, so if you want good Norton and good Lackey, try Owlflight(Lackey) and Wind in the Stone, and the Hands of Lyr(Norton). This series does have a kind of interesting concept, but no big promise.

Rating:
Summary: Mundane
Review: Although this book does in fact revisit likeable characters, there is very little character development. The budding romance between shana and lorryn is of no surprise and caillach gwain is, as always, a menace. This book spends entirely too much time expounding upon the nuances of elven politics and explicating the intricacies of magical spells. The main character, Kyrtian, may be a military genius but that doesn't prevent him from being as dull to the reader as he is to the other elves. All in all, there is very little action involved and a dissapointing lack of plot. One gets the feeling that authors were trying to make a few bucks by fluffing up the series rather than releasing a well- thought-out install ment to the series. I expected more. Three stars.

Rating:
Summary: Wow!!! I was so impressed by this surprise third book
Review: Applause to Norton and Lackey!!! Hurrah!!! i fell in love with the elevenbane back in the summer of '95, and have been stuck ever since, and when i learned of this third installment i couldn't wait to read it, to see what shana, lorryn, and company were up to. a huge credit to the authors for trying a new angle and introducing a whole new set of characters to the sage of the halfbloods. while it did start alittle slow, only really the first two or three chapters, i jumped right in and was quickly sucked deeper into the mysterious world of the elvenlords and the secrets they wanted to stayed hidden. i won't tell the ending, but i will say that the dynamics used on the characters were quite a change, but very welcomed, to breathe new life into them, to really see the dimensions of the characters and the world in which they lived in. kudos!!!

Rating:
Summary: A step down--
Review: Having read all three books in the series thus far-- Elvenbane, Elvenblood, and now Elvenborn, I do have to say that this is the least interesting.

I was saddened to see that characters who were front and center in the first two novels of the series are how shunted to the side, and new characters such as Kyrtian come to the fore.

I must agree with another reviewer that Kyrtian is really not very interesting or successful as a character. The palace intrigues and political maneuverings of the elves take up much of the first half of the novel. One keeps being more and more impatient wanting something-- anything-- to happen.

There's a real lack of originality and surprising imagination that has always been the forte of these novelists.

I will say this-- the last 100 pages of the book, which take place as characters search for the "gate between worlds" in subterranean caves, is gripping and a masterful accomplishment of suspense and -- yes -- even terror. But it comes on too late to really save the novel.

My comments up to this point may also suggest another flaw-- a great unevenness. A few episodes in the book are up to the standards we came to expect in this series. But alas, they are just a few oasises in a desert of flatness and mundane fiction.

Sorry-- the first two books in the series were better. A number of years have passed between the second and third books of this series. Maybe the writers put the project on the shelf too long, and just couldn't recapture the magic.

There are better books by these authors. Spend your book budget on those.

Pat Callahan

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining, light, not challenging
Review: I always enjoy the books Mercedes Lackey produces, in combination with many authors. This particular series entertains especially by novel twists on the traditional fantasy elements and races, but does not evoke any particularly lasting emotional connection to the series. Frankly, sometimes I like that as a break from "heavier" reading material, but one wishes that some of the possibilities of this plot had been explored in more detail. The climactic scene, for instance, holds the possibility of much interesting storytelling and a much more wrenching end to the story, but instead the scene is over quite quickly and with little depth of plot. One wishes the evildoers did not all die deservedly, and that things did not always go so particularly well for the protagonists. One thing that can be counted on in this series: even if the plot seems to put the main characters in peril, not to worry! Things will turn out just fine very shortly. In all, a plot that surprises by its predictability. I agree that the authors can produce a much better novel. I also can't wait for the next one! Like compulsively eating candy, I read it because it's fun-while wishing it were a bit more challenging.

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining, light, not challenging
Review: I always enjoy the books Mercedes Lackey produces, in combination with many authors. This particular series entertains especially by novel twists on the traditional fantasy elements and races, but does not evoke any particularly lasting emotional connection to the series. Frankly, sometimes I like that as a break from "heavier" reading material, but one wishes that some of the possibilities of this plot had been explored in more detail. The climactic scene, for instance, holds the possibility of much interesting storytelling and a much more wrenching end to the story, but instead the scene is over quite quickly and with little depth of plot. One wishes the evildoers did not all die deservedly, and that things did not always go so particularly well for the protagonists. One thing that can be counted on in this series: even if the plot seems to put the main characters in peril, not to worry! Things will turn out just fine very shortly. In all, a plot that surprises by its predictability. I agree that the authors can produce a much better novel. I also can't wait for the next one! Like compulsively eating candy, I read it because it's fun-while wishing it were a bit more challenging.

Rating:
Summary: Great story
Review: I bumped into this series a few years back, and found the first two books extremely enjoyable. This new book continues a great tradition and really read well. The first half of the book provided some pleasant character development and switches to the familiar characters mid-way through the book. Overall the story is good, but you will appreciate the story much better if you read the books in sequence. The only drawback was that the ending of the book appears a bit rushed and open ended for a sequel.

Rating:
Summary: Well worth the wait
Review: I have been a fan of the Elvenbane books for a long time. It was with much joy that I read the second book when it came out, and it was with even more joy that I finally read the third installment.
It has been a long wait, and I savored every page, forcing myself to read it as slowly as I could to make it last, just a little bit longer.
The book is a fantastic addition to the previous two novels. There is little character development with the characters that the fans already know and love. But they introduction of a few new ones is well handled.
Norton and Lackey have done a wonderful job of showing seven degrees of seperation works very well in the Elvenbane world. Twisting together charcters that have connections, even though they may not know it yet. Dropping hints that only those who are very familiar with the books would recognize.
I was frustrated at first because the characters I loved were not introduced in the book for several chapters, but the new characters are interesting enough to make it worth it.
And while it is not as thick as many of he epic novel series, it is just as entertaining. And a must read for any Elvenbane fan.

Rating:
Summary: Why do sequels rarely fulfil the promise of the first book?
Review: I loved Elvenbane. Elvenblood was pretty good too, but not as good as Elvenbane. Elvenborn is not even as good as Elvenblood. Elvenbane had plenty of character development for the main characters, as well as interesting plot. In Elvenborn, none of the characters "grow". They are almost one-dimensional and predictable. ... If you possibly can, wait for the paperback, or just stop reading at Elvenbane, making up the rest of the story in your own imagination. It's still an okay way to pass the time, but not worth having in hardcover.

Rating:
Summary: exciting fantasy novel
Review: In Evelon, a civil war amongst the Elves led to the losing side escaping through the Gate into another world where they promptly conquered the land and enslaved the native humans. Each Elvenlord has his own estate with human slaves bound to him by a magical collar and spell. However, the world is in a state of chaos because the Elvenbane, a female wizard was able to get the half bloods to revolt. The Young Lords, the second and third sons of the Great Lords, are in open revolt of their sires, wanting power of their own.

Kyrtian, an elven lord who lives on a backwater estate, is different than his depraved brethren. He cares about the humans on his estate and treats them like servants. Their slave collars are only decoration and their loyalty to him makes them an army to be reckoned with. His military knowledge gets him the position of the commander of the army, his mission to put down the rebellion. On the alert for betrayal, Kyrtian also searches for the Gate in hopes of learning what happened to his missing father who sought the Great Portal.

When Andre Norton and Mercedes Lackey, two of the premier fantasy writers in existence, collaborate on a work, the readers can expect an excellent tale. ELVENBORN is an exciting fantasy novel filled with action and adventure, a stand-alone work even though it is part of the half blood chronicles. Elven society and culture is so intricately detailed that one would think that the authors visited the place.

Harriet Klausner