Rating: 
Summary: I love the books
Review: # Michelle has sold three books to Luna under the Michelle Sagara name
* Cast in Shadow (already written and due to be published in Aug 2005)
* Cast in Courtlight (already written and likely to be published a year later)
* Unnamed
These books are quite different in tone from her Michelle West books, which is why she is publishing them under a different name.
# Michelle is currently at work on House War (about 1/2 way through as of October), which covers the events involving Jewel and the succession to House Terafin. The story will also provide more information about the beginnings of the Den. This will be a two book series (honest!).
# BenBella books is reprinting the Sundered series! More information as it becomes available.
# Meisha Merlin is publishing a collection of Michelle's short stories.
Rating:
Summary: A Stunning Conclusion to an Excellent Series
Review: A lot of people complained about the fact that Jewel's story wasn't finished. After all, Jewel has played a major part in the battle for the Dominion. However, not to worry. I read in her home page that Michelle West was writing a stand-alone novel called House War that is about Jewel, the house war, and the den.That aside, I would like to concentrate on the book. This is the conclusion to the series about the Southern war, and it was beautifully written. I thought that the character development with Diora and Kiriel was well done and believable. What truly touched me, however, was the new revelation about Auralis and Anya. By the end of the book, we see some changes in Auralis that are, I believe, for the better. What I liked about these books was the fact that the author doesn't put in a bunch of shabby sex scenes between characters that detract from the story. Instead of romantic relationships, we see more of parent-child relationships. Such relationships include Teresa-Diora, Isladar-Kiriel, Sendari-Diora, Alina-Valedan, and even, to a lesser extent, Isladar-Anya. I also enjoyed reading the first meeting between Valedan and Diora, and continuing to watch their slowly growing relationship. Some reviewers claimed that the final duel between Alesso di'Marente and Valedan kai di'Leonne was an anti-climax. I do not believe that this is entirely accurate, because it seemed to me that the real climax of the story was when Kiriel was battling the Great Beast on the battlefield, not when Alesso and Valedan dueled. I can also appreciate the fact that the author makes all of her characters seem real. Even the so-called bad guys made me want to cheer them on. Each character is not completely evil, not completely good. On both sides of the opposition, you see characters who are on a particular side for their own goals and values. No one character is black or white, but shades of gray instead. In the conclusion, no loose ends in the SOUTHERN WAR were left dangling. They were satisfactorily resolved. Jewel's story wasn't meant to be resolved in this book because her role in the southern war was finished. And I will repeat: Michelle West is writing another book for Jewel called House War. Just hang in there people!
Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: But now I have to wait to find out the rest of the story. The only bad thing about this book is that this was supposed to be the conclusion, but it is not.
Rating:
Summary: A spellbinding sword and sorcery saga
Review: For almost two decades, the clans of the South and the kingdom of the North have been at peace but once again war is imminent. The armies of the North must join the battle or see their kingdom destroyed if the evil forces in the South win for they will surely want to rule the entire world. The forces of General Aflesio di Marente are aided in his lust for conquest by the minions of the Lord of the Night who wants his allies to win so he can have the same powers in the Kingdom that he does in his own dimension. Once a hostage in the North, Valedan Kai di'Leonne is the leader in charge of the armies who fight the forces of evil. He is able to rally ancient enemies like the Clans of Averdo and Lamberto to his banner. He also has powerful allies that have magic and might be able to counter that of The Lord of the Night. These allies include the evil one's daughter and Valedan's wife who found the powerful magical sword and put it in his hands. THE SUN SWORD is a spellbinding sword and sorcery saga that has plenty of action but doesn't stint on character development. The forces of good and evil are clearly delineated but some of the warriors on both sides behave in a manner that makes the reader think they may change allegiances. There are many champions in Michelle West's epic fantasy series but it is Valedan who is neither Northern or Southern but a combination of both that is able to rally the most unlikely allies into one stalwart army. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: It is because of books like this that I read fantasy..
Review: For those of you who have read any book in this series then you may rest easy knowing that this conclusion is everything you hoped for. This is the ending given to us by a writer in full flight; a writer who through six volumes has stayed true to each and every character she has created. Not that I like every character, but I do love reading every character. There are two things for me as a fantasy reader that give an indication of how great this series truly is: 1. I've already bought a second set of the series because I know regardless of how much care I take reading and rereading and rereading the books, they will get damaged, the spines slightly creased and the pages slightly dirty and so I need a pristine set on my bookcase. and 2. Because a part of me envies those who've never read this series. Those people still have the magic of a 'first' read to go through with these books and I honestly believe that if anyone reading this understands what that means then this series is one you will love. -thunderchild
Rating:
Summary: It is because of books like this that I read fantasy..
Review: For those of you who have read any book in this series then you may rest easy knowing that this conclusion is everything you hoped for. This is the ending given to us by a writer in full flight; a writer who through six volumes has stayed true to each and every character she has created. Not that I like every character, but I do love reading every character. There are two things for me as a fantasy reader that give an indication of how great this series truly is: 1. I've already bought a second set of the series because I know regardless of how much care I take reading and rereading and rereading the books, they will get damaged, the spines slightly creased and the pages slightly dirty and so I need a pristine set on my bookcase. and 2. Because a part of me envies those who've never read this series. Those people still have the magic of a 'first' read to go through with these books and I honestly believe that if anyone reading this understands what that means then this series is one you will love. -thunderchild
Rating: 
Summary: well written, but hardly a good conclusion
Review: I really enjoyed the first two books of this series, but after that they get a little inconsistent. I thought there were too many pointless subplots and things that didn't really relate to the main stories. But this book is much better than two that came before it, and I was enjoying it a lot. Until I reached the epilogue and realized how many aspects of the story weren't concluded, or even mentioned for most of the book. If Michelle West didn't intend to finish these storylines in the conclusion of this series, then they shouldn't have been included in the first place. It shows a lack of planning that's really disappointing. There are subplots in some of the earlier books that could have easily been cut out in order to make room for the important aspects of these stories. But by insisting on putting in all those side stories and characters, she cheated her readers of the conclusions to some of the more central stories. Even subplots that were created in this book aren't completed, so I'm not sure why they were added. The first part of the book is all about Jewel's den and the power struggle in House Terafin. Which has been a large part of all of the books so far. But the Terefin struggle reaches a climax, and Jewel heads back to the North, and there she and her entire plot pass out of the book and remain unresolved. I'm assuming that there will be a later book concluding their story, but it's inexcusable to call this book a conclusion to the series while leaving that huge plot unresolved. That was just the most glaring example, but there are plenty of other issues that go ignored. The rest of the book is about the war in the South. It was mostly well done, but I wasn't exactly happy with the conclusion of the battle. The fight for rulership of the Dominion was well done, but the ending of the main part of the war was just disappointing. There was so much buildup throughout the series to this one battle, and its ending seemed hurried and so I felt a little let down. This book and the entire series are named for the Sun Sword, and yet in the real climax of exactly the type of battle that legendary weapon was created for, it's just not that important. Which is strange. With this series, it seems West has taken on more than she could handle. I love the ideas and the characters, but both she and her editors showed poor restraint early on and let the series become so overly complex that even the final book couldn't complete it. Which isn't such a bad thing, if it means we get more stories of these characters. But I hope that she'll start structuring her novels better in the future so her readers avoid the disappointment of getting to what we think is the end of a story only to be left with the nasty surprise of so many things unresolved.
Rating:
Summary: While not without flaws, a satisfying conclusion
Review: This book is a satisfying conclusion to the Sun Sword series as it has been developed so far. Okay, there are some indications of fatigue on the author's part--West's prose style, while it can be dramatic and moving (check out the last scene with Diora at the end of Broken Crown) is often torturous and convoluted, and it wears a little thin by this point in the series. Also, some have complained that the battle between the forces of the North and the South seemed strangely anti-climactic, and I can see their point. *However.* The author's *strengths* in this part of the series are completely on display as well. I believe I've mentioned in other reviews of her work that Michelle West has a real gift for characterization. This is *certainly* the case here. Her characters are so well developed that they feel almost *four*-dimensional. Her themes of childhood and parenthood continue to be present in the work; in particular I was rocked by the line about Kiriel, something like: "Ashaf was the mother of her heart. But she had always had two." Without giving away spoilers I'll just say that for me, this line made a moment that could have come across as completely contrived and out of nowhere, not only suddenly make sense, but also carry significant emotional weight. Some have complained also because they feel the story was not finished, in particular that of Jewel and Avandar. I actually found that to be a *strength* of the series, as strange as it may sound. Perhaps it's because I came in not having read Hunter's Oath and Hunter's Death, so I wasn't getting the whole of Jewel's story to begin with, but it seemed to me that this ability to "let plot threads go" actually contributed to the feel of the series as a whole. I mean, heck, it was always clear that the main story of these books was that of Diora, Sendari, Teresa and Valedan; Jewel may have had a part to play, but this wasn't her story, and now that she's finished with that, having gone "south if south calls," it's time for her to go back to the cares of the rest of her life. Just like in the real world, there are no endings, because nothing ever really ends. The interplay of the two different cultures, South and North, both fully developed and contrasted with each other, is on display here as well, and Valedan's ability to draw on the strengths of both is fully realized. The meeting of Diora and Valedan and their slowly developing relationship is portrayed as only West could have done it, and Anya and Kiriel, Kiriel and Isladar, Kiriel and Ashaf's village, Elena and Telakar--wow. The only thing I can think of that would have made it better would have been if she had found a way to work the cradle song into the conclusion. While that is the only song in the series, in my opinion it represents the best use of poetry in a fantasy series since Tolkien, in that it encapsulates what I see as one of the primary themes of the entire series. Having begun more or less with the cradle song in the first hundred or so pages of the Broken Crown (and thus set the tone), I would have liked to see it show up at the conclusion as well to sort of "close the circle." But that's only a minor flaw. Particularly when so many fantasy authors seem to be writing "the series that does not end," West is able, all things considered, to pull off her final book superbly. All in all, I found this to be an excellent conclusion to an excellent series. If she writes a future series dealing with Jewel and her den (as some have commented she plans to do) I will certainly buy it and read it as well. Well done, Ms. West. Well done.
Rating:
Summary: While not without flaws, a satisfying conclusion
Review: This book is a satisfying conclusion to the Sun Sword series as it has been developed so far. Okay, there are some indications of fatigue on the author's part--West's prose style, while it can be dramatic and moving (check out the last scene with Diora at the end of Broken Crown) is often torturous and convoluted, and it wears a little thin by this point in the series. Also, some have complained that the battle between the forces of the North and the South seemed strangely anti-climactic, and I can see their point. *However.* The author's *strengths* in this part of the series are completely on display as well. I believe I've mentioned in other reviews of her work that Michelle West has a real gift for characterization. This is *certainly* the case here. Her characters are so well developed that they feel almost *four*-dimensional. Her themes of childhood and parenthood continue to be present in the work; in particular I was rocked by the line about Kiriel, something like: "Ashaf was the mother of her heart. But she had always had two." Without giving away spoilers I'll just say that for me, this line made a moment that could have come across as completely contrived and out of nowhere, not only suddenly make sense, but also carry significant emotional weight. Some have complained also because they feel the story was not finished, in particular that of Jewel and Avandar. I actually found that to be a *strength* of the series, as strange as it may sound. Perhaps it's because I came in not having read Hunter's Oath and Hunter's Death, so I wasn't getting the whole of Jewel's story to begin with, but it seemed to me that this ability to "let plot threads go" actually contributed to the feel of the series as a whole. I mean, heck, it was always clear that the main story of these books was that of Diora, Sendari, Teresa and Valedan; Jewel may have had a part to play, but this wasn't her story, and now that she's finished with that, having gone "south if south calls," it's time for her to go back to the cares of the rest of her life. Just like in the real world, there are no endings, because nothing ever really ends. The interplay of the two different cultures, South and North, both fully developed and contrasted with each other, is on display here as well, and Valedan's ability to draw on the strengths of both is fully realized. The meeting of Diora and Valedan and their slowly developing relationship is portrayed as only West could have done it, and Anya and Kiriel, Kiriel and Isladar, Kiriel and Ashaf's village, Elena and Telakar--wow. The only thing I can think of that would have made it better would have been if she had found a way to work the cradle song into the conclusion. While that is the only song in the series, in my opinion it represents the best use of poetry in a fantasy series since Tolkien, in that it encapsulates what I see as one of the primary themes of the entire series. Having begun more or less with the cradle song in the first hundred or so pages of the Broken Crown (and thus set the tone), I would have liked to see it show up at the conclusion as well to sort of "close the circle." But that's only a minor flaw. Particularly when so many fantasy authors seem to be writing "the series that does not end," West is able, all things considered, to pull off her final book superbly. All in all, I found this to be an excellent conclusion to an excellent series. If she writes a future series dealing with Jewel and her den (as some have commented she plans to do) I will certainly buy it and read it as well. Well done, Ms. West. Well done.
Rating:
Summary: A Stunning Conclusion to an Excellent Series
Review: This book is great. It does bring some closure to some of the storylines. However, there is still alot left undone and I would have been very frustrated were Michelle West to abandon this world for something completely different. However, I just read on sf.net that Michelle is working on her next book called House War. If you've read this series, you know exactly what that book will be about. If you are deciding on whether or not to read this book, do it. It's great. Just know that there is another book coming to bring us the satisfying end to some of the story.
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