Rating: 
Summary: Better than I expected
Review: My advice to you is read the book. It has a really slow start. For the first 50-100 pages I kept asking myself why am I reading this. After that I really got into the book wondering what will happen next. Bishop built up a real good tension for her climax. Stick with it and don't give up.
Rating:
Summary: Very good...
Review: Okay, so not *riveting*, but very good. 5 stars means my kids can Magic Marker the walls as long as they leave me alone so I can read, so this one got a 4 IMO. I did read the Black Jewels trilogy first, and would give it a 4.5. I would not say the Black Jewels is much *better*, just a different style & story that I liked a little more. My biggest complaint with this series was trying to figure out which in this series was first! (It's Pillars of the World, #2 is Shadows and Light.) Definitely recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Enchanting, Romantic and Captivating
Review: Pillars of the World is a wonderful blend of magic, sex, love, and evil. It is the story of a young witch, Ari, caught between the powerful Fae Lords desperately seeking to preserve their idyllic way of life and the Master Inquisitor bent on destroying all magic by killing the witches. Inject into this is her need to choose between the hotly passionate, but loveless lust of a Fae Lord and the all to human love of a "normal" man and you have a wonderful, fast paced tale well worthy of the time spent with it.
Rating: 
Summary: I really liked this book, but...
Review: That could be my refrain for all the books by Anne Bishop. On one hand she writes very well, with solid characterization and world building, and on the other hand there has been something that drove me batty in every single one of her books. While the specific things that drove me batty varied, they were all variations on a theme - she takes elements from history or mythology and then almost uses them. In the Jewels books I spent the entire time thinking "Is she trying to be subtle? Trying to refer to the achetype that goes with this name? Making some other point?." In this book, I instead kept flashing back to a paper I wrote years ago on the historical persecution of witches. So much of the content of this book was straight out of that research that I spent the entire book thinking "Am I going to be the only person who recognizes all of the historical references?" and "What little factoid is she going to use next?" I'll keep reading her books, because I really like the character interaction, but I'll also continue to hope, which each new book, for one which I can enjoy without distractions. One which completely fails to make me want to smack someone upside the head.
Rating: 
Summary: Once Again!!
Review: The Queen of The Darkness has done it again! And with a new/old world.
Drawing on the ancient legends of Fae and mortal interaction, she has created a simple tale of loss and gain. Throw in a healthy helping of greed, brutality, lust, intolerance and fear, and season with courage, fidelity and true love and you have a delectable dish to satisfy the most discriminating.
The characters are well developed. (Some "minor" beings, eg. Ahern, the horses, and the pups, are capable of starring in their own tales.)
This story, like all of Anne Bishop's works, can be read and re-read, and enjoyed on several levels; whether you see it as fantasy, philosophy, history or, God protect! prophecy. It is well worth the time.
Now Miss Bishop, when may we have your next story?
Rating:
Summary: So Very Bishop...
Review: The story is detailed and intense, in true Bishop fashion, and I am itching to lay hands on the next two books. As usual, she presents the reader with a varied cast of characters, each with their own set of flaws and quirks, and makes you feel for each one. The Fae in the story are as arrogant as most tales paint them, although not all of them fit the stereotype. The Witches (wiccanfae) and their secrets are well thought out and very believable. Then there's the villain, of course. What story with witches can be without the Witch's Hammer and his Inquisitors? I enjoyed how the author gave her lead villain a very detailed background, with plenty of fuel for his vendettas, so that he is very realistic. A part of me *almost* wanted to sympathize with him, and wondered if he might find redemption at some point. I have quite fallen for Morag, Death's Mistress, so I wonder if I should worry about my favorite character having such a dour outlook? Perhaps I just like finding the heroine of a story isn't the obvious choice... Around here, Bishop's books aren't in any of the libraries, which is sad. This series is an excellent addition to her bibliography, with a lighter feel than her Dark Jewels books. I'd rate this book for 10 stars out of 5 if I could.
Rating: 
Summary: Painfully Bad
Review: This book came reccommended to me, so I was extremely disappointed when I read it. It's a VERY thin ficionalization of a romanticized version of the witch hunts that you can pull up on half-a-dozen poorly-researched websites. She uses preexisting mythologies - principally Celtic, Greek, and Christian - but mixes and matches them in shudder-inducing ways.It was SO predictable that it was barely worth reading past the first chapter (and yet I, dear reader, forced myself to slog because I'm one of those who hate not finishing what I start). The plot is predictable (and there are too many of them, initially, among which she jumps), the pacing is deadly slow, and the characters are little more than puppets on sticks. She never once steps out of the predictability, and the world is not nearly good enough to make this acceptable. In fact, the world is so God-awful that it was rough to get through a chapter at a time. The writing is competent and mechanically acceptable. But that doesn't help at all when the characters are interesting and the world is entirely unbelievable. Honestly, I wanted to fling the book across the room. It was a waste of my reading time and of some poor tree. Find a 14-year-old's emotional website about the witchhunts and read that: it's about the same effect, except the website will probably be more entertaining.
Rating:
Summary: Machiavellian
Review: This book has great characterization, a Machiavellian Prince as the bad guy, and shape-shifting elves! How can you not love it? Less dark and brooding than her previous works, the Black Jewels Trilogy, but with the same style and strong heroines, 'Pillars of the World' takes us to the world of the Fae. The Fae are fairies, but not the silly gossamer winged critters many of us have always thought of. These are sexy, earthy fairies, each of whom rules a specific talent or area. There are the Bard, the Muse, the Huntress, and many others. The Fae's worlds are disappearing, and no one can figure out why. The Huntress, Lightbringer, Bard, and Muse begin to search- but it is the Gatherer who finds the key... but will the 'key' help them? Fans of Bishop will be delighted with this latest offering, and fans of fantasy in general should pick up this wonderful read. You'll find yourself impatiently waiting for October 8th- when the 2nd book will be out! I found the world well-defined- very medieval in tone. The characters were detailed, motivations easy to see and understand, and sympathetic. I was a little disappointed in the Huntress' turn towards the end, and that's why I gave the book 4 of 5 stars.
Rating:
Summary: Pillars
Review: This book was great. Anne Bishop quickly became one of my favorite authors with her Black Jewels Trilogy and The Invisible Ring. I enjoyed this book very much, but I thought that the characters could have had more depth and witch power could have been explored more. I guess she's leaving that up to the next two in this series. Over all I perfered the Black Jewels story line.
Rating:
Summary: Too Easy
Review: This book was very good. Too bad for me I made the mistake of thinking the beginning set-up. So I was rather attatched to Lucian and Dianna. The people you adore from the start, with the exception of Neall and Ari, you despise at the end. I had never thought of the Fae(or elf like creatures) in a bad way before. But these people really change your mind rather quickly. I reccomend it, and the one that comes after it, but I warn that the one that comes next has very little to do with Neall and Ari :o( But it does offer other stories that are almost as touching :o)
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