Rating: 
Summary: A Magical First Novel
Review: Alissa doesn't believe in magic, she hasn't since her father left her as a child. Now, 19-years-old and living the life of a hill person with only her mother, her mother announces that she must go to the Hold to start her training as a Keeper. Alissa is shocked, Keepers are creatures that only existed in her father's stories. Keepers don't exist. But since she has little choice on the matter she sets off for this mysterious hold with nothing but her bird companion. On the way there she runs into Strell, a minstrel who has just received the most painful news of his life, his family has perished. Alissa is annoyed with this young plainsman, especially with his prejudices against hill people. But Strell has one thing that she lacks, one thing that will help her find the Hold, a map. So the two set off to find the Hold, not knowing what to expect. Everything changes when they receive contact from someone trapped in the Hold's walls who's message is very blunt, stay away from the Hold because there's danger there than neither of them could ever dream of.I picked up this book with good feelings. Not only did it get great reviews ... but on the review page is said something to the extent of "a good read for Tamora Pierce fans" and being a big Tammy fan I was all too eager to read it. And I was not disappointed it. The small and simple cast of this book combined with the enchanting setting, creates a new and interesting fantasy novel. I agree with who ever said the only really bad part of the book is having to wait for the sequel (the ending is quite a cliff hanger so be warned!). I recommend this book to fans of Tamora Pierce, Sherwood Smith, and Mercedes Lackey.
Rating:
Summary: Fantasy at its finest!
Review: Before Alissa's father disappeared he would tell her stories about a legendary fortress called the Hold. It was a type of university where human Keepers learned magic from the Masters. They were just stories before bed. She never believed any of it was real. When her mother realized that Alissa had inherited her father's magical abilities, she sent Alissa away from their farm to search for the Hold and begin her training. Her small bird, Talon, went with her. On the way, they met a wandering musician from the plains named Strell. Even though the farmers and the plainsmen did not get along well, they traveled together hoping to locate the Hold before the snows began. Bailic was the only Keeper left in the Hold. The power hungry man had sent all the Masters, except one, away on a wild goose chase and then killed the other Keepers. The only Master left was trapped in a hidden dungeon. Bailic searched for a book filled with spells and power called First Truth. When two travelers appeared at the gate, he could sense that one was a latent Keeper, but could not tell which. Regardless, he would use them. Once no longer needed, they would die! ***** Here is an AWESOME new author and I expect her to become very well known fast! Dawn Cook has created a magical world with amazing characters. I quickly found myself engrossed in the the story line and was irritated every time I had to stop reading. I wanted nothing more than to dive back into this book filled with magic, dragons, and danger. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
Rating: 
Summary: I TRIED A NEW AUTHOR AND WON
Review: FIRST TRUTH is a good read. It felt slow in the beginning, but really picked up about half way through.
Talon is definitely NOT a normal bird and I am waiting to see what Ms. Cook is planning for him.
By the end of the book I am dying to know if Strell and Alissa can actually pull the hoax on Bailic.
Who(?)was the raku they saw that night in the ravine? I must read further. . . 'bye.
Rating:
Summary: I TRIED A NEW AUTHOR AND WON
Review: FIRST TRUTH is a good read. It felt slow in the beginning, but really picked up about half way through.
Talon is definitely NOT a normal bird and I am waiting to see what Ms. Cook is planning for him.
By the end of the book I am dying to know if Strell and Alissa can actually pull the hoax on Bailic.
Who(?)was the raku they saw that night in the ravine? I must read further. . . 'bye.
Rating:
Summary: Good start!
Review: FIRST TRUTH is a wonderful build-up to its sequel, HIDDEN TRUTH.
I would actually give it 4.5 stars, if possible, only because I will be giving HIDDEN TRUTH 5 stars and needed to leave some space for improvement. You will love Alissa, Strell, and Useless; and you will hate Bailic. I recommend this book and its sequel even more.
Rating:
Summary: enchanting story
Review: Great read, but be forewarned--you will want to read every book in the series back to back in as quickly as possible. I know I did.
The story is about a young woman, Alissa, who was sent out of her home by her mother (only surviving relative) and told to go on a journey that she would inately know where to go. Well, of course, Alissa is devestated, confused, and even a bit angry about this whole thing. I mean, what?, is her mom off the rocker or what? Without much choice she heads out on the same journey her father took and never came back from almost 10 years previously.
Our second main character is Strell, coming home from a long journey that his family sent him on several years previously. He and Alissa cross without seeing each other heading in opposite directions. Strell comes across Alissa's mom and discovers that his entire family is wiped out in a horrible accident. He is the lone survivor. Distraught, he takes to the road to run away from his sorrow. Only to run into Alissa, stuck at the bottom of a small cliff and very irate over her predictament. From here on begins the real adventure. These two characters are hilarious together (between Alissa's bumbling and smart remarks to Strells witty and boyishly sweet good humor) you will never get enough.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who appreciates a light, yet wonderfully witty penned book.
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining Fantasy Story
Review: I initially picked it up because of the gorgeous cover, but I wasn't sure I would like it, since I haven't been in the mood for fantasy lately. But I opened it and started to read, and I'm glad I did. I found this story to be greatly entertaining. The heroine, Alissa, is refreshingly realistic -- magically gifted, yes, perhaps even extraordinarily so, but still recognizably a nineteen-year-old girl, and subject to the impetuousness of youth. She makes mistakes, and she has a fierce temper, but she is ultimately an extremely likeable and sympathetic character. As far as world-building goes -- well, we don't see a whole lot of the world, just a small section of it: the plains and the foothills. (And this makes sense, for our viewpoint character, Alissa, grew up in the foothills and has never been far from home before. This area is the only one she knows.) However, that small section is richly detailed, and the prejudice and mistrust between the two groups vividly drawn. My only complaint about this book is that it ended far too quickly; the story wasn't finished yet! The resolution of the plot is delayed until the next book in the series comes out -- so if you're the type who can't stand an unfinished story, you might want to wait to read this until then. However, for everyone else, this was a delightful read that kept me turning the pages. I recommend it for every fantasy-lover who just wants to read a good story!
Rating:
Summary: imaginative and fun to read
Review: I loved this book! The magic was pretty original and the characters are well-developed. I loved Alissa and Strell and the truth about Useless suprised me. This book is really fun to read, not overly descriptive but with just the right amount of details. I love the relationship between strell and alissa and can't wait to read more in Hidden truth
Rating: 
Summary: World was excellant, characters undermined it
Review: I picked up First Truth because I was bored, and the cover art was pretty. Yes, shallow perhaps, but I've read most of the known 'greats' in the fantasy/sci-fi genre, and even the greats can sound pretty horrible if you just read the blurb on the back. And anyway, I like discovering relatively new authors. First Truth had potential; the writing itself was average (not great, but no glaring mistakes either) from a technical standpoint, the world and magic system was interesting and different, and I like stories of self-discovery. However, the characterization really really undermined it for me. The dialogue is pretty bad...very predictable, and there were spots where I'd be distracted from the story and start laughing at it. The characters showed their main traits early at the start of the book, and by the end, they were just as shallow as they started (and, since I have read the rest of the series, it's the same with all except 1 character, whom I like, but who may be just as shallow and I don't see it since I like him.). I get the 'buddy buddy' feel...you know, when you feel as if all the characters are already well known to each other and destined to be friends, and the spats are shallow and contrieved and you know it'll be all better eventually, and the character's feelings aren't really written about in depth. This is kind of sad, especially when the cast of characters is limited (and indeed is limited for the rest of the series too) because with a limited cast you especially need character depth, otherwise it's really uninteresting. I basically read on to learn more about the world and magic system, not for the characters. The main character is one of those rebel-girl characters that feels of pseudo-feminist but really is a part of the rebel-girl subgroup of characters, not really something new. If that makes sense. It's sort of like in real life you run into this Goth GIrl who thinks she's being so different by wearing black and sitting in graveyards, but in fact she's just another Goth kid, like all the other 14-year-old goth kids. The main character feels like she's supposed to be different, because she has a temper, but it's just another flavor of the same. So, anyway, First Truth was better than many other fairly new straight-to-paperback books I've read, but not by much, and while and the ideas of magic and in the world showed some thought and creativity, the characters just ruined it. If she had spent more time in developing the characters, this book would have *flown*. But she didn't, and it sorta dropped from the plane, glided, and thudded into something random.
Rating:
Summary: World was excellant, characters undermined it
Review: I picked up First Truth because I was bored, and the cover art was pretty. Yes, shallow perhaps, but I've read most of the known 'greats' in the fantasy/sci-fi genre, and even the greats can sound pretty horrible if you just read the blurb on the back. And anyway, I like discovering relatively new authors. First Truth had potential; the writing itself was average (not great, but no glaring mistakes either) from a technical standpoint, the world and magic system was interesting and different, and I like stories of self-discovery. However, the characterization really really undermined it for me. The dialogue is pretty bad...very predictable, and there were spots where I'd be distracted from the story and start laughing at it. The characters showed their main traits early at the start of the book, and by the end, they were just as shallow as they started (and, since I have read the rest of the series, it's the same with all except 1 character, whom I like, but who may be just as shallow and I don't see it since I like him.). I get the 'buddy buddy' feel...you know, when you feel as if all the characters are already well known to each other and destined to be friends, and the spats are shallow and contrieved and you know it'll be all better eventually, and the character's feelings aren't really written about in depth. This is kind of sad, especially when the cast of characters is limited (and indeed is limited for the rest of the series too) because with a limited cast you especially need character depth, otherwise it's really uninteresting. I basically read on to learn more about the world and magic system, not for the characters. The main character is one of those rebel-girl characters that feels of pseudo-feminist but really is a part of the rebel-girl subgroup of characters, not really something new. If that makes sense. It's sort of like in real life you run into this Goth GIrl who thinks she's being so different by wearing black and sitting in graveyards, but in fact she's just another Goth kid, like all the other 14-year-old goth kids. The main character feels like she's supposed to be different, because she has a temper, but it's just another flavor of the same. So, anyway, First Truth was better than many other fairly new straight-to-paperback books I've read, but not by much, and while and the ideas of magic and in the world showed some thought and creativity, the characters just ruined it. If she had spent more time in developing the characters, this book would have *flown*. But she didn't, and it sorta dropped from the plane, glided, and thudded into something random.
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