Rating: 
Summary: A wonderful novel...I can't wait for another one!
Review: I loved this book! I picked it up of the new books rack on my way out of the library, and haven't been bale to put it down since then!This book tells the story of Sulien ap Gwein, a woman whose only goal is to serve her king the best she can. She is a wonderful character, I love how she can fight equally with other men and is almost everyone's friend. The story is twisted with epic adeventure, betrayals, and war. The only parts I did not like about this book were when Walton went into great detail on where the enemy was positioned and such. I think that if you does this she should at least have teh decency to give us a drawn out map!All in all, this book was wonderful!
Rating: 
Summary: Impressive
Review: I picked this up at the library, I confess, because the cover caught my eye- mainly becuase I've never seen a female character on the front of a fantasy novel clad in armour which looked like it might withstand battle. I wanted to know who the woman in the picture was. I was not disappointed.This book, I suspect, will become one of my all time favourites, so I am doing something which I do very rarely, which is to buy my own copy. Also I will pre-order anything new that Jo Walton writes about Sulien, or her world. I do this for only one other author- Lois McMaster Bujold. Are the styles similar? Sulien is a real person, with strenghts and flaws, who will, I hope go on to develop as Miles has in Bujold's books. Jo Walton has created a strong female character, with depth, whose interactions with the people around her, and response to situations she finds herself in, are engrossing. Her male characters seem equally believable, and Jo Walton has no need to stereotype them or make them shallow or weak. I was most interested to see the polarised reviews here- I'm surprised that there are people who would review a book without finishing it. Imagine what I would have missed if I had reviewed Lord of the Rings after my first, very laboured, attempt to read it (well, I was rather young). I look forward to the next book eagerly, I'll track down a copy for myself ASAP.
Rating: 
Summary: Narration was stilted....Not My cup of tea.
Review: I TRIED to read the "King's Peace. But I just can't abide poorly written first person narratives. (I'm not a big fan of First Person narratives to begin with), but poorly written ones are worse. Also, there is a large Dedication which takes up prime 'real estate' at the front of the book, followed by another narration about he main character 'looking back on her life.' For me, I just hate, hate, hate, knowing what will happen in advance. And this writing nearly ruined it for me. As I progressed through the book, I found the dialog to be stilted and unrealistic, especially the internal dialog. This book was just NOT my cup of tea.
Rating:
Summary: Narration was stilted....Not My cup of tea.
Review: I TRIED to read the "King's Peace. But I just can't abide poorly written first person narratives. (I'm not a big fan of First Person narratives to begin with), but poorly written ones are worse. Also, there is a large Dedication which takes up prime 'real estate' at the front of the book, followed by another narration about he main character 'looking back on her life.' For me, I just hate, hate, hate, knowing what will happen in advance. And this writing nearly ruined it for me. As I progressed through the book, I found the dialog to be stilted and unrealistic, especially the internal dialog. This book was just NOT my cup of tea.
Rating: 
Summary: What a slog.
Review: I'm not qualified to write this review because, try as I might, I just couldn't finish this dreary, aimless, meticulously written chronicle of events about which I couldn't care less. I read about 60% of it and, when my brain begain to ossify, I had to stop. I love fantasy, including Tolkien, Watt-Evans, Donaldson, etc. This lacked any of their charms, being instead a kind of diary kept by a soldier who allies herself for no apparent reason not to a cause, but to a king. She reveres him to the utmost, yet her independent character makes this unlikely in general, and unexplained in particular. She's a kickass combatant and successful leader, so I guess a certain audience (yes, them) will go for it. I wouldn't call it a feminist book or even a "woman's" book (whatever that might be), per se, though there is the occasional whiff of horse-worship rising from its pages. My problem with it is, as detailed and solidly plotted as it is, there's nothing at all to interest a reader here. Haldeman's "Forever War" captured the grinding monotony and pervasive emptiness that war can inflict on the warriors. This book only inflict those things on the reader, with battles against enemies we have no real reason to dislike, descriptions of antique martial systems we have no way to understand, and political intrigues we have no cause to find intriguing. It's as though it's all about someone else's war, not mine. The protagonist starts off credibly, but I sensed that a certain message, delivered in the way she deals with the life-long consequences of early events, was a bit too dear to the author. It left me thinking that this character was living someone else's ideals, but not her own, while her entire persona seemed based on the principle of self-determination. She ends up being a puppet, when nothing could be less like her. And, there's that bizarre devotion to the king, totally unexplained (in the first 60%, anyway), but rammed into your consciousness every few pages. Again, it just doesn't make sense. I won't go into the extensive local vocabulary used except to say I didn't understand much of it (what's a "sequifer?"). A glossary would have been a fine idea. I've seen it noted elsewhere that this book seems to have suffered from poor editing. I don't know who to blame, editors or someone else, but there were more missing periods and unclosed quotations in this book than I've seen since getting back my high-school typing assignments. I once read a book called, "Of Gods and Fighting Men," which was a compendium of Irish mythology. It had no story either, but recited the deeds and battles of a long line of fantastic beings. If you can find it, read that instead; it has the advantage of being a real mythology, if that's not a self-contradiction, while this book is just a made-up bore.
Rating:
Summary: A stirring story
Review: I've read many re-workings of the authorian legends in fantasy or historical fiction; some were excellent, many more were disapointing. I am happy to say, since I swore never to read another as I threw the most recent (awful) example across the room, that this does not really qualify as one. The story, like the world, is often similar to, but is fundamentally different from our own. Ms. Walton has gifted us with us with a door to a rich and absorbing universe, with characters I came to care for, involved in a struggle to create a nation.
Rating:
Summary: Good first novel
Review: Jo Walton brings fantasy to a retelling of the King Arthur legend. In her version, the gods are very real and present. The White God (the counterpart to the God of the Christians) claims to rule over all, but the other gods resist. Jarnish raiders (counterpart to the Saxons and Angles who invaded post-Roman Britain) continue to attack AlTanagiri (Britain) and catch 17-year old Sulien ap Gwien and rape her. She vows revenge, then joins with Urdo (Arthur) and his horsemen (and women). Urdo is trying to carve out a true peace where the Jarns can live in peace with the traditional inhabitants, subject to a common set of laws and with respect to all the gods. He is, of course, opposed by both Jarns and many of his own people who see his acceptance of the invaders as betrayal. Jo Walton chooses to present this story as a retrospective from an aging Sulien--a technique that cannot help but distance the reader. Too, she occasionally slips into a fairly ponderous version of English, possibly to represent the mythical nature of her story. Walton's story, with its mythical power and its appeal to very real emotions, overcomes these devices to speak to the reader. This is a highly credible first novel. I look forward to future works by Walton.
Rating:
Summary: Ghost writer wanted
Review: Now I know why people who try to write their autobiographies are better off getting a ghost writer. Jo Walton should have gotten a ghost writer for her main character, Sulien ap Gwien. This story had such a good start and the potential for a great book was there, but Ms. Walton obviously chose to write it from the point of view of an aged, unimaginative, female, retired soldier. Sulien is raped by invaders and after watching her would-be rescuer, her older brother Darien, get killed, she also is left for dead. She is sent by her father to plead for help from the king. On her way, she comes upon a skirmish between the invaders and soldiers of her country. With her anger at the invaders so fresh, she proves herself a more than worthy opponent and fighter. Lo and behold, King Urdo himself is the leader of this band of soldiers! He is so impressed by Sulien's fighting capabilities that he makes her a part of his personal pennon. The king goes back with her to her father and pledges to give aide. That is as exciting as the story gets! You never get to explore any character's personality. The story drones on and on about where Sulien goes and about her battles. But even the battle scenes are dull and glossed over. I am not one to put a book down even if it is dull, but this is one of the 4 books I could not finish in my life and that life has not been short! I'm sorry Ms. Walton, but I do not agree with Robin Hobb and Poul Anderson who gave you great reviews.
Rating:
Summary: Not the ordinary Arthurian retelling
Review: People who are looking for a retelling of the Arthurian legends are going to be sadly disappointed by this book. While it has an inspiration stemming from the aftermath of the Roman withdrawal from Britain, it is "Arthurian" only in the sense that Guy Gavriel Kay's "Sailing to Sarantium" is Byzantine. It's not a retelling of either history or legend. Rather, it is the creation of a different society (as in the dramatically different status of women from that of the historical European early Middle Ages), a different religion (the religion of the White God has many parallels to Christianity, but they are not exact), and a different set of developments, with only loose parallels to the original. From my personal perspective, the most refreshing aspect was the absence of a Merlin-figure and the author's heroic restraint from turning the queen, Elenn, into Guinevere. Overall, there is refreshingly little romanticism. The voice of the writer, that of Sulien, is that of an elderly (very elderly, age 93) woman looking backwards. The style is an excellent approximation of late Latin chronicles. There is violence, there is heroism, and there is also, praises be, a high valuation placed on common sense and practicality. The ending leaves open the possibility of a sequel. I hope it comes soon.
Rating:
Summary: first book in what looks like a great epic series
Review: The "King's Peace" by Jo Walton has all the makings of a wonderful epic series that should definitely stand the test of time. Very loosely based on the Arthurian legend, this novel nonetheless does deal with similar issues: honour; courage; compromising with one's erstwhile enemies in order to realise the greater dream of a kingdom united and peace; living with the personal choices that one makes, and not allowing these choices to cripple you. Jo Walton's style of writing is a little dry and matter of fact, and lacks a little the lyricism that made Mary Stewart's Merlin series so memorable. However, her style of writing closely mirrors her heroine's speech patterns and manner, so that this restrained and plain narrative style really works and adds to the ambiance of the novel. And this brings me what I consider as Jo Walton's greatest contribution to the science ficiton world: her heroine, Sulien ap Gwien. I don't think I've come across quite so strong and courageous and likable a heroine in ever so long, and I'm ecstatic. There have been strong female warrior characters before, but none quite like Sulien. I also liked the manner in which Sulien's growth as a person, mirrors that of the kind of compromises that King Urdo makes in order to realise his dream of uniting his feuding and much besieged kingdom -- Sulien grows from a woman who wants to avenge herself on all Jarnish for the wrongs done to her and her family, to realising that not all Jarnish are evil and that some kind of compromise will have to be worked out with the Jarnish so that her world will have peace. And (I'm probably alone in this) I also liked that Jo Walton has abstained from providing Sulien with any kind of romantic interlude, and that indications are that she won't. Quite often science fantasy writers provide their heroines with a romance subplot, and this doesn't always work, and often detracts from the story at hand. I'm not sure if a romance subplot would detract or not, it depends on how Jo Walton handles it, but I really liked that there were no such distraction in the "King's Peace." This is a really great work of fiction, and I'm eagerly awaiting the next Sulien ap Gwien novel.
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