Crown of Shadows (The Coldfire Trilogy, Book 3)

Rating:
Summary: AMAZING!
Review: I read all three books of this Coldfire Trilogy and this last book is absolutely the best. The 1st and 2nd book was good but this last one is indescribable. This book kept me up all night! You have to read it to understand how amazing it is.

Rating:
Summary: it was ok...
Review: argh, i was so dissapointed in this book. i mean it was good, but the ending was so...weird. i thought it was a sloppy way to tie everything up. All through the book i felt as if the author was just tryin to get it over with. I think When True Night Falls and Black Sun Rising were so much better.

Rating:
Summary: Hurrrrr.
Review: Undoubtedly, this book has shocked me with an ending that I have yet to see anywhere else. I liked #1, and at #2 I started to get kind of bored, but #3 tied it up into a great saga. Absolutely one of the best series I have ever read, and the BEST ending in any series I have ever read.

Rating:
Summary: A magnificent conclusion
Review: I loved "Black Sun Rising", and so was ecstatic when the second book, "When True Night Falls", came out. I was slightly disappointed in it. But to C.S. Friedman's credit, she had made me care so much about the characters that I had to buy the third book so I could find out what happened to them. Thank goodness I did! Although this book is more confusing than the other two (I had to read it twice before I really figured out what was going on), it is worth working your way through the plot twists in order to get to the stunning ending. The character development is just fantastic, the way that Damien and Tarrant twine around each other's souls, coming out of the relationship changed beyond belief, and ultimately are led to redemption, each in their own way. I'd give it 5 stars, except for the confusing plot - I shouldn't have had to read it twice to understand it. But it was more than worth the effort. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: One of the best endings to a fantasy trilogy
Review: This was a gret tale from start to finish. Once you start reading it becoms hard to put this book down. The character's have changed so much from the first book. Minor characters from the first two books now play a big role. The last three chapters leave the reader guessing at the ending. This was an enjoyable read and i hope to see a sequal or anything else dealing with Erna and its inhabitants.

Rating:
Summary: awesome series
Review: Unlike a lot of people, I guess, I didn't like "Black Sun Rising" as much as the other two books, probably because my favorite character, Tarrant, wasn't portrayed as well in the first book. At first all you see is a cold-blooded killer, but by the end of the third book you can clearly see the struggles he goes through to make the difficult choices he faces. Whatever he choses, he knows it will destroy him in the end but he goes on to help Damien and Erna. The changing relationship between the hunter and Damien was also interesting to watch. The ending to "Crown of Shadows" was a bit weird, but i'm glad Tarrant made it. I hope there's a sequel coming out soon.

Rating:
Summary: Maybe I missed something...
Review: My overall impression of this novel is that Ms. Friedman starting doing heavy drugs while she was writing it. "Black Sun Rising," the first volume of the Coldfire Trilogy, is in my opinion one of the best sci-fi novels ever written. But the rest of the trilogy left me cold. The second book, "When True Night Falls," started out fairly promising, then started getting stranger and stranger as the book went on--a descent I feel was completed in this novel. "Crown of Shadows" was, quite honestly, just weird. The plot made little sense, and the plot resolution was strange, frustrating, and even silly. The conclusion of this series did not even approach doing justice to the promise of the first book. Read it if you HAVE to know what happens; if not, save yourself a great deal of time and disappointment, and skip this one

Rating:
Summary: a masterful tale of battle between good and evil
Review: This book is profound. It has a lot of philosophical meanings, foremost is the war between good and evil. In the end, good triumphs. Gerald Tarrant's immortality has its limits, because in a way he has never really left his humanity. His thirst for knowledge strengthened his will to live, and his sense of honor was his undoing--and his triumph. The Coldfire Trilogy is a book to be well-remembered. A sequel would be highly anticipated.

Rating:
Summary: The most indepth irony and complex development ever.
Review: I've fallen in love with the characters, environment, and plot of this book. The utter irony of the depicted events makes me say "WOW" every time I read the series. Complex line of thought is certainly for those interested in more than a nickel-and-dime paperback. I wish they sold the cover art work as posters!

Rating:
Summary: A superb tale of what lies within the souls of men
Review: From the first book I had a clear cut picture of what was good and what was evil. By the last book that line was no longer as clear. A beautifully orchestrated tale that teaches what is evil is not necassarily out to hurt you and what is good is not necassarily out to help you. I hated for this series to end.