Rating: 
Summary: Disappointment
Review: There was an article about this book in the local paper and I became intrigued by the underlying religious tones and focus. I soon put this book on hold at the library. While I waited for this book, I read another one of Anne Perry's novels, which was actually entertaining and worth reading. However, when I finally began to read "Tathea", I soon found disappointment, no matter how hard I tried to like the novel (I did really want to like the novel). I must admit, I was unable to complete the novel. The beginning jumps around way too much and the author seems to be in some sort of hurry. She lost me.
Rating: 
Summary: Perfect balance of exciting adventure & religious philosophy
Review: Tathea reminds me strongly of C.S. Lewis's religious allegory That Hideous Strength, in that it deals with good vs. evil. Tathea, the protagonist, loses her family, her position, her government, her country, her possessions, everything except her name. She is left to wonder who she is, why she began and retains existence, and, if she can find a purpose for her life, what her destiny will be. This book balances exciting adventure and religious philosophy that drives its central character. Ms. Perry kept religion both necessary to the character growth and yet not didactic. She also kept the religious philosophy logical, a facet that especially appealed to me. For me the overpowering aspect of this book is love: love of and from God, love for people, love of self, love of country, love of truth. I think the power of love will reach out to readers and make many love this book as I did.
Rating:
Summary: On-Par With Tolkien & Lewis
Review: This book is really on-par with the great fantasies, adventures, spiritual journeys done by Tolkien and Lewis. The religion is a little more overt than Tolkien, more in line with Lewis, but the epic reaches more towards Tolkien. The characterization is very good. I felt the pain and joy along with Tathea and felt the fear invoked by the evil in the book and the joy of the goodness. It is very much worth the time and money. A magnificent journey and transformation of a human life to a better being, more sublime. The politics, the religions, the ideas that shape a world, most enlightening. It is a book I will read again and again. I highly recommend it!
Rating: 
Summary: Thinly veiled Christian apologetic
Review: A rather tedious book that effectively takes traditional (1900's) Christianity to another "world". Only vaguely readable, and not really worth the money. I would not even classify this as fantasy per se; it should have been characterized as christian fiction. Unfortunately, this genre is rather predictable, and the resulting story line is rather dull.
Rating:
Summary: An incredible journey of spirit and adventure
Review: This book is not actually a fantasy novel in my eyes but one of adventure with an added spiritual journey. It is one of the most beautiful books I have ever read. It takes you on a journey or quest to aid in making a person the best that they can be in all ways. If your a spiritual person (not necessarily religious) but believe in a higher power than yourself this book will touch your heart and soul. It is more than a book about good vs evil but a tool in how you can best lead your life and serve mankind. Anne Perry's insightfullness into human psychology is incredible and she relays to us the joy, sorrow, pain, suffering, love, hate etc. all our emotions, while giving us an insight as how better to handle them.
Rating: 
Summary: A remarkable, clever and poignant book.
Review: A rare foray into fantasy for a writer whose works are essentially crime fiction. This book brings the skills of a seasoned storyteller to a world unique in its similarity to our own. Tathea bears little resemblance to to classic fantasy, the fans of Eddings, Jordan and Feist would recognise and yet it is as gripping and intelligent as the best of the genre. In short a remarkable, clever and poignant book that defies the norms of modern fantasy and demands to be read.
Rating:
Summary: Another for my Short List
Review: Ta-thea, Empress of Shinabar, is awakened one night to find herself in the middle of a palace coup and everyone around her dead. With the help of a faithful servant, she manages to escape to the Lost Lands, where she seeks out a sage, demanding that he tell her the purpose of her life, the universe, and everything. He sends her off on a quest with a mysterious boatsman who appears from nowhere. The object of this quest is to learn the mind of God.According to the book jacket reviews, _Tathea_ is "riveting from the first page," "crafted with depth of thought," and "filled with symbolism." I can't help but wonder if the reviewers who wrote those blurbs actually read the book, or only some promotional material from the publisher. I found this book immensely dull, trite and self-conscious, a work that constantly drew attention to its own supposed profundity while actually sermonizing on pretty simplistic and not-very-original themes. After a hundred pages of monotonous situations, depthless characters and heavy-handed allegory, I couldn't take any more. This isn't a fantasy novel; it's a Fundamentalist tract. Reading it made me feel like I was being hit over the head with a dull axe. I've never read anything else by the author and I don't intend to. Ace did a disservice to all readers of fantasy by publishing this.
Rating:
Summary: A Very Important Book That Tells The Truth For A Change
Review: Tathea is one of the greatest books ever written.
From the first shattering, and compelling sentence, one is hurled into the eye of a prophetic storm for the entire world that could just as well be taking place today. I was almost instantly reminded of the passion and courage of Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights; a novel, like Tathea, that stripped the veneer (along with the cultural, spiritual, legal, metaphysical, philosophical, and theolgoical lies beneath it) to reveal the light and truth about all of us beings...we call human. Are we? What does it really mean to be human? Or humane? That depends if one is seeking good, evil, or nothing at all. They are choices, and they are the truth for times past and our time most especially. No matter how many roads we may travel in a lifetime, the choice between good versus evil will meet us at each and every crossroad.
The profound plight of Tathea, (one of the most complex, brilliant, brave, and resolute characters in all of literature), embodies this truth itself. For no matter how evil attacks what-she-loves-most in the world and beyond it, she refuses to foresake the truth; the good; and the light which illumines the hope of all humankind to survive itself.
For readers who have been to hell-and-back, so to speak, and understand the crucible that life too often embodies, this book will be that huge horizon-of-light you have been seeking in book after book -- hoping to find some answers regardless of one's faith or no faith at all. Oh, certainly, there are books out there that will not challenge you in this way. They have their rightful place. But this book admirably stands apart, and among the rarest for refusing to do so. Bravo Anne Perry!
Rating:
Summary: multiplying melodramatic metaphors
Review: I enjoyed Craig's cover art, so I tried Ta-thea. I found the writing stilted and heavily melodramatic. (I also feel this novel does not fall within the fantasy genre.) A boating expedition represents the inward journey toward religious truth for Ta-thea's soul; she learns a new, unquestionable, higher truth every 18 pages; she discerns each new person's inmost nature by staring intently into their pupils. Gak! For a much better examination of good warring with evil within an individual, I recommend Friedman's Black Sun Rising.
Rating:
Summary: Keep an Open Mind!
Review: I've read Tathea four times now. While it isn't my favorite book (that title goes to the Fountainhead, by Ayn Rand), it is on my list of the best books I've ever read.
I will concede to the other reviewers that the book is definitely written from a Christian's point of view. But even if you aren't Christian I think you have much to gain from the book. There are so many lessons learned that tap into the surface of human love, pain, and perserverance--these lessons transcend religious boundaries. Besides, I've read books written from an athiest's point of view, and I've gotten just as much out of them as any Christian literature. While Christianity plays a major part in the book, I don't think that is the novel's only feature.
One of the things I like about Perry's writing is that she uses a plethora of figurative language. Some of her descriptions read almost like poetry, and she uses plenty of imagery to get her point across. I could definitely feel what the characters felt and I saw what they saw. That is what I felt added the most to the story.
The story takes a little while to really get into, but once you get sunk into the story there is no going back--you have to finish it. I especially recommend reading the conversation between God and Satan (called Asmodeus in the book)at the end- it will be well worth your time. It helped me explore my own beliefs about mankind, pain, and free will.
The plot takes Tathea all over the place on an allegorical journey of the spirit. She meets various people and goes through a variety of trials. I still couldn't tell you half of the minor characters' names, but the spiritual change in Tathea is what is memorable. I carry the book in my heart with me each day and with each problem I conquer.
Some say this book doesn't belong in the fiction category. Where, then, does it belong? It is not an average work of fiction, and it is not science fiction. It's not a romance or a mystery. Fantasy is the rightful place for Tathea.
The truth is, I am only seventeen, so I probably don't have the literary repertoire of some of the other reviewers on this site. But I can tell you that I consider myself fairly well-read for my age, and I can honestly say that Perry is one of the best writers I have ever encountered. I've started reading one of her mysteries, and she is absolutely enthralling--once you get into the guts of the book, you can't stop until you finish it. I feel the same about Tathea. It's a long book, and you'll be exhausted once you finish it. But the overwhelming feelings you'll experience while reading make it worth anyone's time.
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