Rating: 
Summary: Best of the Series
Review: I absolutely loved any part with Vilmos and Emel. The battles are AWESOME! I like Adrina, but I'm a bit frustrated with her. And I am intrigued by Xith, the Watcher. He is so fascinating but in truth, I'm not sure whether to like him or not. He is definitely clever and manipulative. A master of intrigue. But the character I'm cheering for is Myrial. I want to read more about her story.
Rating:
Summary: The true sequel to Keeper Martin's Tale
Review: I hadn't read any reviews of this book before I picked it up at Costco. It just looked like the kind of book I'd read. It is a combination of Robert Jordan's "The Wheel of Time" series, Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" and Terry Goodkind's Shannara. It is masterfully written and really gets the reader involved right from the start. Unlike the previous book in the series, Kingdom Alliance dives right in to the action and really comes into its own from the start. The characters continue to grow beyond their stereotypical rolls and new ideas begin to establish a world separate and unique. As before the story has a very real and appreciable sense of distance, travel, and learning. And you have only to read about places like the Mouth of the World and the Dragon Tower to see how Mr. Stanek revels in teaching about his characters and his world. The language, descriptions, and plot are so well thought out I didn't find any of it extraneous. I eagerly await the next volume. This book makes Robert Stanek is the author to watch in the future!
Rating:
Summary: The true sequel to Keeper Martin's Tale
Review: I hadn't read any reviews of this book before I picked it up at Costco. It just looked like the kind of book I'd read. It is a combination of Robert Jordan's "The Wheel of Time" series, Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" and Terry Goodkind's Shannara. It is masterfully written and really gets the reader involved right from the start. Unlike the previous book in the series, Kingdom Alliance dives right in to the action and really comes into its own from the start. The characters continue to grow beyond their stereotypical rolls and new ideas begin to establish a world separate and unique. As before the story has a very real and appreciable sense of distance, travel, and learning. And you have only to read about places like the Mouth of the World and the Dragon Tower to see how Mr. Stanek revels in teaching about his characters and his world. The language, descriptions, and plot are so well thought out I didn't find any of it extraneous. I eagerly await the next volume. This book makes Robert Stanek is the author to watch in the future!
Rating:
Summary: Great Book/Great Series
Review: I really enjoyed this book. Stanek's characters are engaging, and the story moves along at a good pace. The imaginative setting is brought to life with careful detail. By far the best 3 books Ive read so far! R. Stanek frequently changes viewpoints in the story. It lets the reader see things from different viewpoints, resulting in a better understanding of everything. Just the right amount of detail, characters and subplots. The flow of the writing and storytelling is truly amazing!
Rating: 
Summary: A great addition to the fantasy genre!
Review: If you arent a Robert Stanek fan you should be. It's so rare to find a book that just grabs hold of you and won't let go, but this is one. Plus the book (and the entire series) is anything but formulaic and cliche and this coming from a die-hard read of Terry Brooks, David Eddings, and Raymond Feist.
First a warning! Kingdom Alliance is the sequel to Keeper Martin's Tale. Elf Queen;s Quest is a detour that offers another look at the story. Original?? Hell YES!! Everything about Robert Stanek's book is original. As it says on the MP3 on the authors site (robertstanek.com), the world of Ruin Mist has three distinct realms: over earth, middle earth, under earth. In Keeper Martin's Tale the story mostly takes place in middle earth and under earth. In Kingdom Alliance, I believe (and it's my opinion) we get glimpses of the over earth.
Robert Stanek is the master of the cliffhanger and the pacing is fantastic! The scenes move quick, the plot advances fast, and there's a lot that happens. The entire series is consistent and entertaing. I highly recommend this book and the others in the series.
Rating:
Summary: Kingdom Alliance
Review: In "Kingdom Alliance," Stanek brings back the characters of Vilmos, Xith, Emel, Seth, Adrina and others as they continue their varied journeys. In the last book, the characters celebrated their victories but knew that things were only starting to heat up. Now we see the consequences and learn what fate has in store. I read the first 100 pages in one gulp, hardly moving. You will find yourself reading continuously so that you can find out what happens next to the different parties. I am looking forward to the next book to find out what's next. Since this is a part of a series, you have the ending which hints of even grander things to come. I can't wait. On par with GRRM but without all the excessive detail.
Rating:
Summary: Stanek does it again!
Review: In this third installment of what has turned out to be a truly great fantasy work, Stanek continues the captivating tale of Elves and Men and the Kingdoms they live in. The alliance is shattered. The Battle of Quashan' was only the beginning. Now the kingdom folk must pick up the pieces and rebuild their lives. This was easily the best book of this series. He continues to paint a vivid picture of an ailing kingdom and we begin to realize that something far more sinister is afoot than war. A great darkness is coming, the "eluded" at fourth wind and the one called Sathar who surived the dark journey and much more. It seems to me almost like the earlier strugles and battles were only preludes. Perhaps a window into a world that is about to shatter into a million pieces, even if the peoples of Ruin Mist don't realize it yet. Stanek's characters are believable. Each one is complicated and different from the others. They all have different feelings, and ambitions, and make different choices. There are many main characters, but there doesn't seem to be or need to be a single main charactre. The story is bigger than any one character. I will be honest in saying it was hard to believe in the beginning that something less than 500 pages could be as fascinating especially after being a person who looked for the next thick thick book because thick seemd to mean great. But quantity never meant quality and if I am honest with myself I've often been one to skip ahead in the thick books to get to the action. Not so in Stanek's books. The pacing is fastd and something is always happening in every chapter. Stanek exceeded all my expectations in creating his saga. There are unexpected plot twists to make you surprised. There is intense narrative to make you hold your breath. Suspense builds and builds. Strange things happen. Wonderous events unfold. Vivid scenery comes to life. I found my mouth agape often. The book offers some great action and battle scenes, and if these were ever filmed it would surely rival those of the Lord of the Rings especially scenes like those when Vilmos mets Edward and they play King's Mate, when Vilmos and Xith enter the Mouth of the World, when Adrina gets swept away into the dark land, when Vilmos meets the king, when Adrina captures the dragon, when Valam and Seth sparred in the trios and on and on. It is indeed an awesome book and if you haven't read the series, you are missing out on the best fantasy series in a long time. I have rarely read a series so addictive, so incredible and so unpredictable. I have no doubt Stanek has created a worthy modern fantasy. This is not you average fantasy. It is way above average. I'm dying for the next books, "Fields of Honor" and "Mark of the Dragon" both of which may be out next year. I doubt they'll both come out but one can hope.
Rating:
Summary: The best of the best of fantasy
Review: Kingom Alliance is the true sequel to Keeper Martin's Tale. Keeper Martin's Tale and Kingdom Alliance are the best books you will ever read! They are written very well, with very good descriptions that lead your imagination. The story is interesting from the first and once you pick up the series, you won't be able to set them down. Forget about lunch! In these books you can BE the characters, or share their hunger or delight by walking along side them. While reading them, you will begin to love and cheer for some characters and hate others. There are humor in them that even children will laugh over. I love these books, and everyone that I know does too. They are a must read and deffinately beat Harry Potter! Beware, because once you read them, you will be hooked to them for life. They quit being books and become part of you. Great books for children and adults alike. Robert Stanek wrote a set of books that can never be mastered by anyone else. They are a master series.
Rating:
Summary: The most original fantasy I've read
Review: Lord of the Rings. Memory, Sorrow and Thorn. Pern. Ruin Mist Chronicles. What these books have in common is that they are among the fantasy stories that have had the biggest impact on me. And I can say with definitiy that Stanek's Ruin Mist Chronicles is at the top of my list. I borrowed Keeper Martin's Tale from a friend. I read it 4 times before she made me give it back to her and buy my own copy. I then read it at least 6 more times. It is the reason I am a Ruin Mist fan. It was that good. When Kingdom Alliance cam out, I bougt it immediately. I had high hopes for this book. I was not disappointed. Kingdom Alliance surpasses Keeper Martin's Tale in every way. The story's depth is incredible, the character development is amazing, the action is mind-blowing, the plot twists awesome. It will answer questions about Keeper Martin's Tale you have not even thought of and goes deeper than ever could have imagined. Through it all, there are subtle hints that something bigger is going on. It is the same sense of mystert that made Keeper Martin's Tale so good. Kingdom Alliance was satisfying in the same way Keeper Martin's Tale was. As I turned the last page, the only thing I could say was Wow! It is not just the best of the three Ruin Mist books, but it is among the best fantasy I have ever read. I've read truckloads so that says a lot. After I finish this review, I'm going to go back and read it again. It's just that good.
Rating:
Summary: Another great addition to the Ruin Mist Chronicles series
Review: Once again Stanek has a way of putting the reader through every emotion on the spectrum. I must admit that I hated it at points, but not in a bad way. I hated to see Vilmos go through all he had to here. He has to lose so much and deal with so much but somehow he survives and knows what he has to do. I guess that which doesn't kill him will make him stronger is a great lesson to take away from this book.
Overall this is probably the darkest of the books. The characters have to deal with some of the worst ordeals for anyone to have to deal with and Kingdom Alliance goes into great detail on a lot of things that were devloped over the first book. This is a must read to find out a lot of connections, lots of things you have been wondering and just for a very well written story.
In the this installment, the elves have to figure out how to get aid for the reaches, Emel comes into a new power, Adrina finds her strength, Vilmos conitnues learning the way of the human magus. This is a must read. I won't give the whole book away here, this is something you must read for yourselves. It has great character development and so much information that you may want to reread some parts to see if you actualy picked it all up. While I don't totaly agree with the very dark feel it has at points, I do agree this is a great series for people of all ages and I can't stop reading it. So keep them coming as I for one can't reccomend it enough.
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