Rating: Summary: Downhill slide Review: The Ill-Made Mute is one of those books that is so beautifully written you find yourself admiring the author's style as much as her story-telling. The characters were well-fleshed out, the storyline, intruiging, and you can clearly see the effort that went into making it a book that gives you sticky fingers. At the risk of criticising a series that has received such praise and devotion from both critics and readers, I have to say that the second book left me cold. The writing style that made the first book so enjoyable completely overwhelmed the second book, a trait that spills over into the third. The author's efforts to insert Old English/ French phrases detracts from the storyline of the second book, and her foray into phonetic spelling to render a Scottish accent prompts you to skip entire pages of the third book. I did a lot of page skipping in both books, actually. The plot of The Lady of Sorrows was tucked to the back of the closet to make room for all of Rohain's clothes. Most of The Mute's character was lost along with her ugly face, and her appearance as Rohain in the second book was as a much less interesting person. I finished the second book not caring what happened to her in future and relieved that my battle through the jungle of prose was over.
Rating: Summary: Fit for Tolkien Review: The lady of sorrows was a breathtaking book, I read shortly after I finished the Hobbit, and I am forever under the enchantment of fantasy authors of such. As soon as I had finished the first book 'The ill made-mute' I begged my mother to buy me the next in the series, and she did. I read it non-stop for 4 days (excluding school), before finishing. The book reflected the actions of someone I wish I was. I could say that I envied Irmhien-Rohian, though I loved her too much. I would stay up late at night, and wake early in the morning to read it, worrying if I would ever be able to eat within its absence. Being only 13, Irmhien was a kind of role figure in a way...I felt as if I was she, but I also felt as if I was the seelie Wight beside her, wishing anyway...
Rating: Summary: fascinating Review: The Lady of the Sorrows starts slow, and meanders amiably through its protagonist's sojourn at court. There is a surprise about halfway through the book, after which events speed up considerably and the book becomes an utterly riveting page-turner. It took me several weeks to read the first novel in this trilogy, but I sped through LOTS in about eight hours. Although a summary is provided for the first novel in Dart-Thornton's trilogy, The Ill-Made Mute, it is probably preferable that interested parties read that book first.
As in The Ill-Made Mute, Dart-Thornton gives her archaic thesaurus full reign, creating unusually rich descriptions of the characters' surroundings with unusually obscure words. This might be a problem for some readers. I kept a pen and notepad with the book to note down unfamiliar words, but not everyone wants to be tutored during a compelling read, and might find the novel's broad vocabulary distracting.
I am writing this review in support of a book I enjoyed.
Rating: Summary: Beautiful Again Review: The second in the series is just as beautifully written as the first, in fact, the author out does herself in her gorgeous descriptions of the world the story is set in. However, I didn't enjoy it quite as much as The Ill Made Mute as although the imagery was perfect, I thought the plot was much slower. This won't stop me from getting the new one the instant it is available!
Rating: Summary: Meh... Review: The wordy style grates at my nerves after a while. It's like she's trying to emulate Tolkien but not doing it quite right. Nice vocabulary, but I need more than that in my stories.
Rating: Summary: The Lady of the Sorrows Review: This book was as great as the first one in the trilogy. A fantasy that just kept you wanting to read on and on. I can hardly wait for the third and final installment to see how it all pans out for the leading character with all that she has found out about herself.
Rating: Summary: AMAZING Review: THIS IS AN AMAZING BOOK. THE DETAILED DESCRIPTIONS ARE STUNNING WITH A COMPLEX VOCABULARY. IT IS ONE OF THE BEST FANTASY SERIES I HAVE READ, THIRD ONLY TO NARNIA AND THE LORD OF THE RINGS. THE DEPTH OF IMAGINATION AND THOUGHT IS ASTOUNDING. THE PLOT IS BEAUTIFULLY CRAFTED AND ALWAYS SURPRISING. iT FORMS A NEW STANDARD IN HIGH FANTASY, AND I AM HOPING THAT OTHER WRITERS TAKE AFTER CECELIA'S EXAMPLE.
Rating: Summary: Can't wait for the 3rd book Review: This is one of the best fantasy books i've read, along with the 1st book. A completly new world has been created. Characters are original and the story draws you in right from the beginning. I'll be one of the first ones in line when the 3rd book is out.
Rating: Summary: Great Book Review: This is the best book you or anyone could ever read. I loved it! It leaves everyone wanting to find out what will happen just like the first. This books was worth the wait. I recommand this book to anyone wanting to read something good.
Rating: Summary: Lady of Sorrows Review: This part of the trilogy builds in very unexpected ways the Quest For Knowledge of the heroine. We have been so far exposed to many stories of Faerie and Wight in the obsessively detailed description of human/Faerie interaction of the first book and now we get the payoff. The revelations of the history of the Talith is extraordinary in detail and richness of imagination and invention. We needed the same sense of relationship to the unseen other world that populated life and motive in the human population of Erith to understand the experience of the Seeker, and we have had it through the stories of legend. Old relationships are renewed and new heroic ones are forged in this novel of discovery, treachery, love and seeking and the ultimate conclusion is foreshadowed.
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