Rating: 
Summary: Compulsively Readable
Review: Escapist fantasy at its best! "Elvenbane" is a wonderful ride, well-written and absorbing. You're swept up at once in the world of the story, and carried along relentlessly to its end. This is a page-turner in the best sense -- you always want to know what happens next!As others have said, the real fun of this book is the way it turns our expectations on their head. It takes a fairly standard fantasy set-up -- a prophesy foretells that one of the despised and hunted half-bloods will become the savior of humankind -- and quickly subverts it. Nothing is as it seems. As soon as we think we're safe in a standard fantasy cliche (such as the wise and kindly dragons who take in the orphaned child, or the half-blooded wizards in their hidden fortress in the forest who will become the heart of the fight against the elves) -- boom! It evolves (or perhaps I should say devolves) into something else entirely. There are no pure and good-hearted heros in this book. These characters are real people -- grumpy, bad-tempered, and petty, as well as kind-hearted and brave. Even Shana, the main character, has a sharp temper and a tendacy towards self-centeredness (in my opinion, anyway). These flaws make the characters more realistic; I cared about Shana and her foster-brother Keman, and I wanted them to win. As for the reason why I gave this book four stars instead of five? Norton and Lackey spend so much time establishing their world and characters, that by the time the action picks up, they've run out of room! The ending felt greatly rushed to me. It's true that the end brought no real surprises, but the fun is in seeing the story play out, and I felt a little cheated by all the scenes I felt were missing. Valyn's sacrifice in particular lacked the emotional impact I felt it should have -- simply because he hadn't been around long enough for me to care that much about him! I realize that, at 560 pages, this book is already quite long, but if as much attention had been paid to fleshing out the ending as was paid to the beginning and middle, it would have been perfect. But, even so, I greatly enjoyed this novel and I recommend it to anyone. It gives you what all fantasy readers want -- a story you can lose yourself in.
Rating: 
Summary: Splendid!
Review: Entrancing! A work of art! Written brilliantly!
I was spellbound by a world of wonder that only Mercedes Lackey and Andre Norton could create. I highly recommend it to anyone!
Rating: 
Summary: Typical fantasy, but not that bad.
Review: While this story is nothing new [the dragons-are-good-elves-are-evil take isn't as unique as some might think], and the characters aren't anyway near worthy of a 5-star, it is entertaining in the best tradition of what I like to call Bad Fantasy [basically, anything that takes place in a magical fantasy world with nothing to set it far apart from other fantasy]. Shana has red hair, unusually strong magical powers, and is destined to save the world. Good grief, can we get a little more conformist? How about some brown-haired, brown-eyed heroines who have no magic [a la Keladry, who would be wonderful had she a bit more personality. But then, I still need to read Squire] and no prophecies, and no magical sidekicks? Yeesh. When I say I don't like the characterization . . . well, this just doesn't do much for me. "The Sparrow" is more to my taste in that regard. Shana's just sort of there, as are all the rest; the most we get are shallow skimmings of conciousness. The dragons just get on my nerves after a while. And I'm not sure why so much of the book was devoted to Serina--she could have just as easily been left out, or detailed in a previous book, or whatever. Well, maybe she enriched the story for some people. On the positive side . . . this story is fairly etertaining, and I managed to read it over a period of two or three days [interrupted by school and such] without becoming bored. Conclusion: typical, hackneyed, trite, but you won't fall asleep.
Rating:
Summary: Great Hamenleai- the Ability to Change the World
Review: This is the excellent book to challenge complacency and sloth as Lashana Daeth, daughter of the forbidden union of human concubine Serina Daeth and elven tyrant Lord Dyran escapes slavery and death. Brought up by complacent, irresponsible dragons, captured by slaving parties, and rescued by fellow halfbloods, Shana must constantly prove herself as more than simply an intelligent animal. Together with Keman (her draconic ally and foster-brother), Mero (another halfblood with a past to haunt him and a mind no master can beat), and Valyn (Dyran's full-elven heir), Shana must force the halfbloods who rescued her that with great power comes great responsibility. NOT your average Sci-Fi book.
Rating:
Summary: if you like fantasy, this book is well worth it
Review: ever since about february 2001, i've been on a fantasy kick, which is a pretty big jump for me, seeing as how my favorite books before this were mystery/suspense. anyways, my boyfriend gave me "the elvenbane" and "elvenblood" for christmas this year. i read both of them over the christmas break and fell in love. shana is one of the most powerful female fantasy characters i've ever read, which is really refreshing. plus, it's nice to read a book where dragons aren't exactly bad guys (like smaug in "the hobbit"). granted, some of them are lazy and selfish, but then again, so are some people. keman (shana's dragon foster brother) has to be my favorite character in the whole series, next to shana.
i'd give you a run-down of the plot, but you already see it in nearly every other one of these reviews, so i'll just stick with my opinion. the writing is very smooth and tight; never once did i find myself unexpectedly jarred out of the story because something didn't ring true. the conflict between the races in the book is totally realistic, and you can practically feel shana's frustration at the stubbornness of some of the people.
normally, i would give this five stars, but i read the "sword of truth" series by terry goodkind before i read these books and, well, "wizard's first rule" has to be the best fantasy book i've ever read, no contest. but these books definitely deserve their place as a close second in my favorite fantasy list. i can't wait to read "elvenborn."
Rating:
Summary: Yaaaay!!! ^_^
Review: To keep this simple... I simply love the concept of this novel! It's a great spin on the elves (i'd never have imagined them to be so... evil.) and I have fallen in love with the neato dragons. A captivating storyline with lotsa action complete with neato characters makes you just wanna read and read... until you can't read no more! Yay for Andre Norton and Mercades Lackey!! Weeeeeeeee!!!
Rating:
Summary: Good Reading for Everyone!
Review: Andre Norton and Mercedes Lackey make a good team as writers. Each in their own right are great but together they are excellent. This book caught my attention immediately. This book kept my attention throughout. This book had me begging for more long after I finished reading it. I recommend this for all ages. A must read for sure!
Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful Fantasy Adventure
Review: In The Elven Bane, Shana (Lashana) is born to a human of an elf lord in a time when people are considered slaves and elves rule all. Shana's mother dies out on the desert and a wandering dragon who is about to have a baby finds her and helps her give birth in the guise of a nurse woman near a place of refuge. Alara (the dragon who helps to birth Shana) takes the newborn human child and raises her with her own son Keman. Shana is Keman's "pet" but instead of being treated as an animal a marvelous relation forms between them. A great book for me and others I would highly recomend The Elven Bane to all readers whither they like fantasy or not (its a great opening book to those who don't know what to read next).
Rating:
Summary: Great story
Review: The story moves along without being overly predictable with interesting characters and a fascinating background world. The writing enables the reader to clearly understand the political climate in all the races: dragon, elven, human, and half-blood. I was very impressed by how quickly I was able to comprehend this new world, which I believe is due to the great story-telling abilities of the authors. My only complaint is that I NEVER in all my LIFE had to READ as many ITALICIZED words per PAGE as in this book. I felt that it distracted from what was a wonderful story with the overly dramatic intrusions of way too many emphasized words. Please don't let that stop you from reading this book though!
Rating:
Summary: A true fantasy
Review: Most foster children have foster parents of the same species, but in this fantasy a young girl, Shana, half human half elf, is brought up by the fabled creatures, dragons. She is brought up with beliefs of dragon kin and dragon ways. Shana is exiled from the saftey and comfort of her own home and from her loving foster brother Keman. Because of a power she could not control, she is forced from her way of life. Shana meets humans for the first time. She is awkwardly placed in an Elven city and knows not the customs of human or elf. Shana is forced to forget everything she has learned since birth and realizes the real world. This story shows how one person can overcome any obstacle with the faith of friends, or in this case, dreaded dragons. In Elvenbane, it is mostly towards science fictional and fantasy readers.
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