Rating: 
Summary: so-so
Review: its an all-right book, but not as good as the first. Doesnt stand out paticularly.
Rating:
Summary: OK, higher hopes for the next one
Review: OK, OK, i've read better (rarely), but it could have been worse. the plot twists were intriguing, and there was wonderful charachter development and description, but it wasn't quite what i expected it to be. i can't wait for "The Chalice" to come out, and i keep hoping that king Tobeszijian will be able to get back to the first world (hint, hint). although he is rarley mentioned here.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent!
Review: Okay, fantasy fans, what are we going to do? The Robert Jordan series is absolutely creaking. Goodkind hasn't had a surprise in the last 3,000 pages. G. R. R. Martin takes a long time between books. Weis and Hickman are in rewrite, although still good. We've all read "Rhapsody" three times. This series is an excellent option for solving our problems. The battle scenes are superb, there are twists and surprises, and lots of conflict. Aside from the fact that every character seems to "flush red in the face" (or words to that effect) on every page, I thought this one was as great as "The Sword," which is unusual for the middle book of a trilogy. Recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting
Review: The first novel in this trilogy was pretty good; the second pretty good as well. Ms. Chester isn't the best at creating imaginative worlds but her story is fairly solid. I enjoyed this "Classic" approach to the standard fantasy quest type plot. The characters can be interesting and you can get caught up in the moment. Dain and Alexeika are likeable but in some ways disappointing. I had hope the two would fall for each other. Still there is growth. Alexeika is maturing and learning to control her temper. Dain is growing up and may yet be the King that we saw in the first novel.
Rating:
Summary: Good but not as good as i had expected it to be
Review: The first novel in this trilogy, The Sword was excellent. Ms. Chester developed her characters extremely well and in the introduction set the stage for the rest of novel. You got caught up in Dain's life and always cheered when he managed to overcome a particularly difficult situation. Alexeika also had the makings of a heroine. I had hoped that the relationship between the two would have been developed in The Ring. I ws disappointed, Instead Dain fell in love with another girl, Pheresa, whom i did not in the least sympathize with. A second disappointment was the fact that the sword Truthseeker was barely evn mentioned in this novel. After such an awesome display of power when Dain handled it in the first novel, i wanted to see its use again. And I also wished that Dain would have started his journey back to Nether in the hopes of recovering the chalice for some other reason, not the one the author supplied. However oddly enough i believe that Ms. Chester did all this on purpose and in her third novel she would resolve all the loose ends and bring it to a spectacular finish. She did a good job with everything else in this novel particularly the characters and the situations they found themselves in. Alexeika is maturing and learning to reign in her temper, Dain is growing up to have the character of the King that we saw in the first novel and Prince Gavril is more evil than ever. I am looking forward to the release of the third novel with interest.
Rating:
Summary: Good fantasy series
Review: The Ring, the second book of Deborah Chester's The Sword, the Ring and the Chalice trilogy is an excelent book, expecially considering that is a middle book. The development of (Fal)Dain as he grows is excelent, and you really care about what happens to him. Gavril and the cardinal Noncire make excellent villains. The girls in the story however are not as fully drawn as the boys. Alexeika is still a sketch of a character, although a very cool one, and Princess Pheresa comes across as a spoiled, power hungry brat, except for the scene with her mother. You aren't sure whether you should like her or not, with me leaning toward not, especially after her ambitions are so clearly outlined in book one. Still, she doesn't deserve Prince Gavril. King Varence is another of those either or characters. Obviously, he has done a miserable job with his son, and I just can't like someone who lets their child get away with murder. Especailly when said child will one day be king. The two protaganists, Dain and Alexeika, lead pretty miserable lives in their various places, and you want to cheer them on, even when they make poor decisions. - Dain makes more than his fair share. - By the end of book one, you really care about these two, and by the end of this book, you want them to finally meet, and why does it have to take so long? Alexeika is a much more likable character than Pheresa. Unfortunately, Dain hasn't met her yet, and he had the misfortune to fall in lust at first sight with Pheresa, which you know will cause yet more problems in book three. I recomend this book, but read book one (The Sword) first.
Rating:
Summary: Good fantasy series
Review: The Ring, the second book of Deborah Chester's The Sword, the Ring and the Chalice trilogy is an excelent book, expecially considering that is a middle book. The development of (Fal)Dain as he grows is excelent, and you really care about what happens to him. Gavril and the cardinal Noncire make excellent villains. The girls in the story however are not as fully drawn as the boys. Alexeika is still a sketch of a character, although a very cool one, and Princess Pheresa comes across as a spoiled, power hungry brat, except for the scene with her mother. You aren't sure whether you should like her or not, with me leaning toward not, especially after her ambitions are so clearly outlined in book one. Still, she doesn't deserve Prince Gavril. King Varence is another of those either or characters. Obviously, he has done a miserable job with his son, and I just can't like someone who lets their child get away with murder. Especailly when said child will one day be king. The two protaganists, Dain and Alexeika, lead pretty miserable lives in their various places, and you want to cheer them on, even when they make poor decisions. - Dain makes more than his fair share. - By the end of book one, you really care about these two, and by the end of this book, you want them to finally meet, and why does it have to take so long? Alexeika is a much more likable character than Pheresa. Unfortunately, Dain hasn't met her yet, and he had the misfortune to fall in lust at first sight with Pheresa, which you know will cause yet more problems in book three. I recomend this book, but read book one (The Sword) first.
Rating:
Summary: Part two in an entertaining series that is 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 second. Book 2 continues the storyline the day it ends in the first 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: Enjoyable.
Review: This book seems to fill the gap between 'the sword'and 'the chalice'(both of which are super.) I would give it only four stars except for all the unexpected twists in the plot. Gavril's change of heart towards the church, Dain's decision and most of all the end. it was slightly anoying to watch Dain fall in love with Pheresa since she is a character I do not admire that much. It was a bit strange to watch Dain turn into the person he is at the end, although not that strange unless it is not through his point of view that we see the happenings. When it is, we still see the same old Dain, (though slightly more self confident) but through Pheresa's eyes (and in the next book Alexeika's) he is very different indeed. This book is thouroughly enjoyable, although it lacks bit of suspense, and I recomend you read it, if not for it's contents then to know what happens in between the two other books in the trilogy.
Rating:
Summary: Nearly as good as the first.
Review: This is the second book in Deborah Chester's trilogy: The Sword, The Ring, and The Chalice (following THE SWORD). Again, just as in the first book, she is brilliant in developing her characters and making the reader care for the protagonists. Not only are her characters vivid and interesting, but their reactions to their surroundings and the situations they find themselves in are realistic. What makes things truly enjoyable are the characters' interactions with one another. Their emotions are rendered beautifully and the dialogue is a joy to read. On top of this, the storytelling is quite intelligent. The reader never knows what's going to happen next because Chester doesn't have her protagonists overcoming every obstacle with ease. They are truly challenged at every turn, thus providing the reader with a sense of suspense and urgency. In some fantasy, the choices that the characters make are obvious and the reader can immediately discern what will occur because of them. Not so in this case. The reader has a general idea of where the author is taking them, but can never really predict the path the characters will take along the way. This makes for some very engaging reading. Once the reader has come to care for the characters, they cannot help but keep reading to find out what happens to them. What seems unjust to me is that Chester is not as widely recognized (yet) as such authors as Raymond E. Feist or Robin Hobb, despite the fact that her writing is as good as, if not better than, theirs. She's not quite up to the level of Jordan, Brooks, or Martin, but her books are still fascinating reads. If you haven't read anything by her yet, I highly recommend this series (I can't wait to get to the third book, THE CHALICE).
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