Rating: Summary: Tathea Review: This book was amazing, it grabbed ahold of me from the moment I picked it up. I was not able to put it down until I finished reading it late that same night. I have never before read anything by Anne Perry, and was just killing time at the Library when I saw it, and started reading. The characters have a depth and vitality that is unusual in fantasy books nowday. They also face a variety of challenges to become better people and improve their character through challenges which are at once both familiar and terrifying. The classic battle of good versus evil comes alive in a new and unknown way as one person berfit in the face of personal tragedy seeks meaning to life and understanding of what lies beyond. The sequal Come Armageddon is even better and having now read them I plan to buy both as soon as possible.
Rating: Summary: Very misleading Review: I am a big fan of Anne Perry and have read all of her mystery books. All of her books have been well researched and show Victorian England in gritty reality. For that reason I expected something of the same to be true of this book and was very badly disappointed. Readers were mislead for the beginning in being told that this is a fantasy book. This isn't fantasy, it's a spititual journey espousing one religion's teachings. If I had been told that this entire 500+ page book was a metaphor for the Morman religious teachings I would have saved my money. Even without the religious theme the story is boring and the characters are two demensional. Books today are too expensive to waste money on and readers should be given a true idea of what they are getting.
Rating: Summary: Please--Back To Victorian England Review: Ms. Perry should stick with her novels set in Victorian England. I have read all of them, so when I saw a new book by Anne Perry, I immediately purchased it. What a disappointment! Boring. The characters were so unlifelike. I love fantasy, but this was too far out for me.
Rating: Summary: Tricked!!! Review: I read mostly fantasy novels and so am usually drawn to anything new that claims to be a fantasy. I picked up Tathea after reading the cover, and started to wonder (very early on) whether the book was really a novel or just boring religious propaganda packaged within a weak plot. I guess I couldn't quite believe that the cover had been so deceptive, hoped that the religious story-line was just a small subplot, and kept reading. At about the middle of the book. I started to really feel like I'd been tricked. In the end, I read the whole long and drawn out piece of garbage because I almost always read something to the end, even if I hate it. I always feel like I should give the author the opportunity to redeem their work (and maybe that doesn't happen until the end) but this book was right up there with a school textbook. I agree with most of the other reviewers in that there were too many characters, all of which were flat. I also was annoyed by the same phrases and ideas being presented again and again.I didn't know that Anne Perry was a Mormon nor do I really know a lot about Mormon beliefs but if her intention really was to write a book about Mormon idealogy and then trick people into reading it, I am truly offended. The omissions in the cover summary are too blaring to be an oversight or mistake. I feel like it was intentional and I would have appreciated the opportunity to pass on this monstrosity.
Rating: Summary: Disapointing Review: Normally, if I get a book I don't like, I don't bother to write a review on it. However, I truely regret shelling out $ for the book and I want to make sure no one else makes the same mistake. It wasn't in the slight bit intresting. It had potential, the idea behind the story is good. However, the whole book seems very rushed. I'm not quite sure how to put it to words... it went too fast, in the bad way. Tathea, as a charrecter, is flat, and the supporting charrecters never stay long enough for you to get to know them. I would not spend any amount of money on this book.
Rating: Summary: Tathea by Anne Perry Review: I'm normally not motivated to write book reviews, but this book was so bad I decided to say something. Like other naive buyers, I was seduced by the glowing reviews on the cover and the fact that I like Anne Perry's mysteries. Believe me, this book was nothing at all like her mysteries. The book is so much quasi-spiritual pap written in flowery language. There is no story. There is no plot to speak of. There are flat inhuman characters. There is, however, a great deal of lofty sermonizing. If you have converted to Mormonism like Anne Perry, you might like this book. Otherwise steer clear of it and spend your money on something else.
Rating: Summary: I started, I gave up Review: I had hopes after reading the first few pages and then got stuck in the quagmire of religious tripe. I kept hoping that it would get better but salvation never came. Character development is nonexistant. A warning on the cover "Boredom to all who enter here" would have been appropriate. When I saw the cover, I was hoping that it would have been a book in similar vein to Philip Pullman's trilogy (Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, The Amber Spyglass). I couldn't have been more disappointed. This was my first and last Anne Perry book.
Rating: Summary: Too religious Review: Tathea was not what I expected from a book billed as a fantasy novel. I bought it thinking that it would be a nice escape from reality not realizing that it is fact not a fantasy book so much as it a religious novel. For those of you who enjoy religious works, you may very well enjoy this book. However, if you do not, I strongly suggest finding another book. I have read one-half of the book and do not plan on completing it. I am disappointed that the back of the book was not more forthcoming on the nature of the work.
Rating: Summary: Deep Ideas Review: I tend to agree with the second review at the top that I times I felt Tathea got too preachy, but all in all, I do not feel the book was a waste of my time. I didn't like how Tathea extoled virtue and then was too touchy with Alexius, Eleni's husband. Regardless, the book is full of deep ideas that I feel that the religious world should confront. As I was reading this, I enjoyed it. It is both an exciting spiritual quest and a missionary journey set in a fantasy setting. The book kept me glued through both the plot and the ideas conveyed within. It is a religious allegory, yet it's worth reading into. Despite some of its flaws, I'm going to give it 5 out of 5 stars because I thourougly enjoyed it. If anything, pick it up from the library and be sure this is the type of book you want on your shelf. I hope that Perry can improve some of her flaws in the second installment, "Come Armageddon."
Rating: Summary: I liked it Review: I thought Tathea was quite an interesting book. It was different from the Historical Fiction I usually love to read, but I liked it. I had a harder time near the beginning through Tathea's spiritual journey because the settings were changing so fast, but I really enjoyed the second half. Through the story line and characters there were many good points made symbolically about good vs.evil, and about growth through experience and knowlege. I also could relate to her little glimpses of her spiritual journey she couldn't quite remember. I'm sure it's a book I'll reflect back on often.
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