Rating: 
Summary: Forget it
Review: that it ended so poorly. I hope that Cecilia learns how to end books better for her next series as I really really liked the first two book. Ironic that I bought the third in hard-cover to find it the weakest in terms of plot and character development. I certainly recommend the first two, then make up a conclusion in your own mind.
Rating: 
Summary: The series started so well, too bad....
Review: that it ended so poorly. I hope that Cecilia learns how to end books better for her next series as I really really liked the first two book. Ironic that I bought the third in hard-cover to find it the weakest in terms of plot and character development. I certainly recommend the first two, then make up a conclusion in your own mind.
Rating:
Summary: Good story badly told
Review: The bones of the story told in the trilogy are good. However, the telling of it deteriorates from the first book - to an extent that makes the third, one of the most poorly written I have ever read.
Archaic words and construction vie indigestibly with modern ("nonce", "whence" -"cortex", "epiphytic"). Misuse of words ("arid" bark?? a "vortex" of rope?!?) and syntax ("from whence") scream from the page. These things reveal that the vocabulary is not truly her own, and is no more than indiscriminate overuse of a dictionary.
In places, the narrative is powerful, and it is precisely that that makes the pages and pages of undisciplined, verbose fluff, infuriating in the extreme. Adding an adjective to every noun does not always improve the tale! You do not need to offer three adjectives in a sentence that say one and the same thing ("chained, fettered ,gyved")- unless of course you are more interested in showing off than in telling a good story. I feel Ms Dart-Thornton's publishers let her down, as well as her readers, by letting her ramble on unedited and unrestrained in the final book.
At times the story is marred by an obvious influence of Tolkien. Also, the gauntlet of setbacks that the travellers encounter through Khazathdur and Cinnarine becomes predictable and irritating. The wights are too convenient a narrative device because they make anything possible any time.
I won't be buying another Dart-Thornton effort - I don't like to be so teased and hooked by a narrative only to be cast adrift so badly at the end. If you haven't started, I recommend you don't!
Rating: 
Summary: Beautiful end to a beautiful trilogy
Review: The book continues on from the somewhat suspenseful ending of the previous book. Finally Ashalind's past has been revealed to us...and the danger she has been courting becomes a reality. The book is a superb ending to an unusual and beautfull written trilogy comprising of 'The Ill-made Mute' which took character communication to a new level and the wonderful 'Lady of the Sorrows' with it's descriptions of court life and dangerous treks to find answers among the blackest forests of the land. I found this book a gripping read, satisfying, romantic, suspenseful, and with prose like no other writer. Alot of people have been somewhat uncertain of the ending, I would advise you to check out Dart-Thornton's website for reassurance, where she has placed an author's note that satisfies all questions.
Rating:
Summary: Over-written, under-done
Review: The first book in the "Bitterbynde" series, THE ILL-MADE MUTE, was quite good. In the second and third volumes, Cecilia Dart-Thornton seems to progressively lose the thread of her story until it altogether unravels at the end. The first half of this third volume is mere fluff, as the heroine (whose name keeps changing throughout the books) and her two friends wander around the landscape of "Erith". They encounter strange people and strange places, but nothing happens that has any significance to the plot. For example, what is the point of the prolonged stay in the town of Appleton Thorn, and the exhaustive description of the peculiar festivals and customs of the inhabitants? One can only suppose that Ms. Dart-Thornton hates to throw away research notes, and feels that she must use every item in her notebook. As the story languishes, the idiosyncracies of the author's style become more grating. Ms. Dart-Thornton is given to relentless over-writing. She indulges in florid similes and metaphors without stint--and often without listening to what she is writing. At one point, she likens a sunset to a bouquet of wax roses that have been dipped in gilt and then partially melted. Please. The story does become interesting in the second half of the book, and revelations are made that drastically re-cast our perceptions of what happened in the second volume. Unfortunately, the ending is an absolute disaster. I can well accept an author's decision that things do not Work Out and that the amorous couple does not live happily ever after. But if we are to have a sad ending, then it should be...well..._sad_. As it is, the denouement is puzzling more than moving. Suddenly it turns out that everything was for nought, and our poor heroine is prettier than she was at the beginning of the trilogy, but no wiser. Say what? On her web-site, Ms. Dart-Thornton announces that a new work is in progress. It will be a trilogy, but she doesn't know why, except that perhaps this is due to the influence of Tolkien. Bingo. Ms. Dart-Thornton should think about this statement. Why was Bytterbynde a trilogy? Might it have been better as a tightly written single novel or--at most--a duology?
Rating:
Summary: wimpy
Review: The first book was wonderful. The second was good; not great, but good. The third was just so much wimpy mush. The main character, Ash, was great in the first book because she was strong and smart. She saw the flaws in others and was very perceptive. She was kind and gentle without being a fainting doormat. In the second book she is still pursuing her goal in a non "oh, my goodness" manner and the history of why she is the way she is, is great and takes up a 1/3 of the book. She is naive and innocent, but still an interesting character. In the third book where she gets her memories back, it seems like she looses her spine and her smarts. She seems to relie way too much on a man saving her. Granted, it is a middle-ages setting, but still, after all she has been through, she should be tougher, not weaker. The prithees and thous do bug after awhile, the author could have done less or not at all. Over all the book is worth skimming over to see how the trilogy is tied up but not worth buying.
Rating: 
Summary: Not like part I, but great nonetheless
Review: The Ill-made mute, Bitterbynde part I, is a book of absolutely unchallengeable wordcraft and an abundant supply of stunning images. It outrivals pretty much anything in fantasy literature, and I feel sorry for all who miss it. It aims for the bull's eye, and it hits. Bitterbynde part II went on with the breathtaking ride of the multi-named hero while life swept the character way up only to exchange topmost joy with deepest grief and sorrow in the next instant. Finally remembrance comes, and it is exactly the heart-wrenching, unsettling tale one hopes for. Part III followed the tradition, even if it had more points of the plot that seemed a little bit ... how shall I put it ... elongated. Anyway, it was fantastic until the climax came, but then, there was some kind of void for a short time, pages where not much happened to pass the time in waiting for the ending. Everybody who was still alive was happy for a time, and time dragged on a little without the joy of the masterful descriptions that ruled the book before that. Finally the party set in motion again and the book reclaimed its high standard, followed by a sudden, gripping sub-climax. But then the ending is something between unclear and unsettling - it keeps one guessing. Without the clarification in the afterword of the paperback edition I would have left wondering what had happened, and quite unsatisfied. Still, that the ending needs clarification in an afterword is somewhat disappointing considering the EXTRAORDINARY Quality of the great majority of the work. That's the reason I give only 4 stars for part III instead of the 6 that the whole trilogy would deserve. Anyway: The trilogy is a true masterpiece. I urge you all - read it! (Especially part I)
Rating:
Summary: A horrible ending
Review: There was promise in the first book, but I have to say not as much as is claimed by some here. The second dragged, and this one was terrible. And the ending was absolutely offensive. I would recommend Charles de Lint, Juliet Marillier or Elizabeth Haydon if you are looking for a lovely touch of Celtic writing, and skip this trilogy all together.
Rating:
Summary: The Ill Made Mute
Review: This book is quite fragmented and confusing when you begin. It does however prove itself worth the effort of perseverance. The story is told from the main characters point of view, not from different character groups. Because of the anonimity of the main characters' identity, it is hard to feel warm about the character and so it takes quite a while to feel concerned enough to find out what happens to it?!. I enjoyed this book immensely, after a very slow start, and have now started on part two - The Lady of the Sorrows. Stick with it, it really is worth it in the end.
Rating:
Summary: Skipped most of it
Review: This lady has a writing knack, no doubt about it. She can create a world really well. Some of her ideas are quirky, unique and downright fascinating. And the way she has taken the old fairy tales of the UK and transformed them into a story reveals considerable research. Yet the characters failed to engage me. There was so much distance between me and the characters that I found it impossible to have any loyalties towards any of them. Far too many prithees and dost thous for my liking. There were also far too many instances where the story would just stop and CDT would describe a flower or a tree or some other such thing, as though these sidetracks added to the story. If you deleted all the unnecessary descriptions, you might reduce the size of the trilogy by 10-20%. And the ending was infuriating, as though CDT had run out of puff and ideas. Not worth the purchase price.
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