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Skybowl (Dragon Star, Book 3)

Skybowl (Dragon Star, Book 3)

List Price: $7.99
Your Price: $7.19
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Cool Premise but....
Review: I polished off this series of six books a few years back, but I'd still like to make two points. One is that the "magic" in this book (what fantasy series doesn't have it?) is certainly different. Top marks to Rawn for a creative form of sunlight "vision", where characters (those with the talent) can connect themselves with sunlight and travel it's paths to see other places in the world. The story, well, it entertained, but some of the characters seemed a little heavy-handed at times in their righteousness. Also, the bad guys in the final three novels (you know, the infamous, barbaric, evil, ignorant, filthy bad guys) were a little to "hatable" for me. I like to LIKE the shady characters in fantasy novels, at least just a little. Overall, a good conclusion to an enjoyable series if you have nothing to do on the bus or the subway.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good but not Great
Review: I really like Melanie Rawn as an author. She has an interseting style of telling a story although sometimes i find it hard to keep track of who is who the son or daughter of who, ect.
The only problem I find is that she kills off my favorite characters.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Not a credit to an otherwise excellent writer
Review: I started reading Melanie Rawn`s second Dragon trilogy with great expectations, and the first book certainly lived up to it. However, the story somehow deteriorated every chapter, and by this book, it is certainly not something that will keep you wanting to read on and on. I suspect that the sheer number of characters has made it hard even for the writer to keep track of who`s doing what, so she had to keep the whys very simple. True, it is still a book miles above a lot of fantasy that gets printed, but it is not up to Melanie Rawn`s own exceptional standards. I especially disliked the all-too-easy conclusion where the two characters that can be in the main hero`s way die. Not to mention why the hero doesn`t just kill his main adversary, instead of sacrificing thousands of his own men and his best friends (probably needs a lesson in priority setting!). The reasons given for the invasion are also very basic, with little imagination. The dragons are still fascinating though!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A really great series!!
Review: I thought that all of the books in these two series were excellant. I was all too sad when Rohan and Sioned died. I wish Melanie Rawn would write another follow-up series for the characters that were left, like what happened with Pol and Sionell and Sethric and Jeni? I want to know! Overall I thought it was a really great series.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: My opinion on the whole Dragon-series of M. Rawn
Review: I was not overly enthusiastic when I started reading the books. They seemed to me like a concoction of the Weyr-stories by A. McCaffrey, some of the books by M. Zimmer-Bradley and a few others. Nothing new under the fantasy sun, I thought. But soon the plot developed a life of its own and got a hold of me very quickly. I could not put the books aside and I hated the author for "killing" most of my favorite characters in the three Dragon Star novels! I found the political maneuvres a bit complicated to follow and even boring at times, but maybe that is due to the fact that I am no native English speaker. (The German translations of the books are terrible to read, by the way.) Unfortunately, the ending of the last book seemed to fall apart somewhat. I had the impression that Rawn had enough of her world and wanted to be done with it. But all in all I loved the books (especially the fairytale about how the dragons got their colors!) and highly recommend them to all fans of intelligent romance fantasy - and dragons... although I wished there had been more dragons instead of politics.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Great Ending to A Great Series
Review: Rawn ends them as great as she begins them. This book ties up everything that was left behind in Dragon Token. The conflict between Pol and Anrdy comes to a final. The question being can Anrdy and Pol get along to finally drive the enemy from their home. This is a must read book.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Characters are the key to these fantastic stories
Review: Rawn has created an entire world of people, politics, innovative magic and the amazing plotline that transcends generations of characters and effortlessly draws the reader into it. Somehow, you feel as old as Chay and Sioned by the end of the last book, yet you somehow can't believe it's all over. I have read many books where the characters had no life, no reality to them but these do...they have flaws as well as virtue...there is no "perfect" character in these books and that's one of the things I like most about it....even though it's fantasy the characters are as real as any I've ever read.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Outstanding, insightful series
Review: The 3 books each in the Dragon Prince and Dragon Star series are some of the best written, most vididly imagined and deeply reflective of human nature that I have ever encountered by fiction authors. Melanie Rawn is a master at interweaving stories, personalities and elicting emotional responses from the reader. The saga begins with Rohan and Sioned, his Sunrunner Princess, as they face overcoming an evil High Prince Roelstra and his nest of scheming daughters plotting to capture the world with the aid of an enemy, the Merida, a group of assassins with the prize of the desert promised them for their help. They are assisted by various corrupt petty princes whose goals are increasing their wealth and holdings. Rohan, the brilliant intellectual prince of the desert is hereditary protector of the dragons who live there and return their love and interest. Rohan is beneficiary to the secret, unlimited wealth of dragon gold which is unknown to, but coveted by, the other petty princes. Rohan succeeds in overcoming Roelstra's evil rule, establishes fair trade and writes the law codes for the land when he becomes High Prince, and peace ensues for years. Throughout the stories the author uses delicious humor and repartee between principles in a most engaging way. The Dragon Star series continues the saga with Rohan and Sioned now in the background and the focus is upon their son Pol's ascendancy toward his eventual position as High Prince. Pol faces many inner conflicts as he struggles to become a prince like his father, and a husband to a fragile, helpless, cowardly and weak wife. He has married Meiglan, instead of Sionell, his soulmate and childhood friend whom he later realizes was the woman best suited to him. On top of his personal wars he is thrust into a world war by invading barbarians who are both superstitious, and religiously fanatical. The Vellant'im sole purpose is to destroy all inhabitants, especially the High Prince and the Sunrunners to pay back evil done to them by an unknown group of evil sorcerers hundreds of years in the past. The struggle for survival is bittersweet and poignant. The sub theme of religious beliefs vs sorcery and magic, and the conflict between Pol and his cousin Andry, the Lord of Goddess Keep whose goal is to dictate beliefs and what constitutes sin and to set himself up as judge and jury keep emotions high. Andry's parents, brother and kin and Andry's own children must chose between him or Pol while trying to work together to save themselves from facing annhilation by the enemy. The many subplots of individuals forced to face their own personal and power struggles while facing the Vellant'im is fascinating and makes these stories rich and textured. The dragons aiding humans in peril present a compelling picture of those special protective, loving bonds between man and animal. The author has captured the indomitable spirit of mankind and their non human friends in a battle to survive being conquered by overwhelming forces in an inspiring, engaging and unforgettable way.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: I read it just to finish all six.
Review: The first three Dragon Prince books were good (I won't say great), so I expected at least an enjoyable read out of the last three. What I got instead was an extremely drawn-out story about a pointless war with a cause that's never explained, insanely long dragging passages of dialogue that have nothing to do with anything, a soap-opera of a plot among the main characters, and the most unrealistic portrayals of men and women I've ever read in ANY series. (And that's including Robert Jordan.) There are dozens if not hundreds of characters that no one, apparently not even the author, can keep straight. Even Melanie R must have gotten sick of them by the end, judging from the enormous number that are killed off. Although by this point, I doubt anyone cares. The whole 'system' of magic was new and original, which is one of the main things I enjoyed. If there had been some real tension, and characters that seemed like more than cardboard cutouts, it could have been an excellent series.

I just found myself wishing that the author would learn how men and women actually relate to each other.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A riveting series
Review: The person who gave me this series is a pestilential brat who is responsible for the neglect of my family and job. These books should come with a warning label. Once you have begun to read them, you will be physically unable to put them down. It is easy to write likeable characters. It is incredibly difficult to make those characters as complex as living people. These characters don't simply demand to be liked - they demand irritation, admiration, and thought. This is no generic sword-and-dragons series. It is intelligent, wildly engaging, and has a great deal to say about the uses of power.


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