Rating: 
Summary: Great book for a great read. =)
Review: Although personally, this wasn't the best book in the series, i think that it is a fab book and hard to put down. It is richly satifying for those science-fiction and the characters are easy to empathise with. The plot is good, with the proper amounts of twists and mystery. I fully recommend all of Sara Douglass's books, and she is a great author.
Rating: 
Summary: Dull and ordinary rerun of standard issue fantasy
Review: Anyone who feels the need to award more than 3 stars to this novel really needs to get out more. This is some of the most boring stuff I've read in many a year, and to pump it as if it has some literary merit is silly. It can help pass the time if you are in an airport or a doctor's office, but it does not have the ability to grab you and hang on tight like better written fantasy does and should. I can see why Tor put this book out. There are six or seven of them, and it is good not to have to wait for the authors that take so long writing original material, like Robert Jordan and Terry Goodkind. The adage "Good things come to those who wait" comes to mind, and proves true here. One that does not is "You get what you pay for." I paid top dollar for this, and what I got was something worthy of paperback prices, but certainly not hardcover ones. Sara Douglass, and her friends and fans, will keep flooding sites like this with glowing praise for this book, and I guess they are entitled to do so. But I hope more people will follow the lead of Australia's publishing program and buy them in paperback.
Rating: 
Summary: A Refeshing Change in the Fantasy Genre
Review: Talk about gripping... I called in sick for work just so I can finish this book in the two days I read it. Every character has an importance to the story from the major characters of Axis and Faraday, to the minor characters of the Lady of Tare, Embeth and Gilbert. You just could not predict what was going to happen. The story moves at a great pace yet Sara Douglass still has time to throw every detail about the characters, the lands, and the main plot. How long must we Americans wait for the other five books to this series. Praise to Sara for now becoming one of my top three in fantasy. This is a MUST read.
Rating:
Summary: Good read
Review: In my opinion I really liked this book, in fact I liked it so much I bought the rest of the series from Australia as well as any other Sara Douglass book I could find. I thought this book was fast paced it didnt drag like some books. The characters are interesting and you can kinda get attached to them. Some parts I loved the two "brothers" and their white donkeys, while other parts were very serious. Im not gonna say to go out and buy this book because some of you might not like it all I can say is try it out its gonna come out in paperback soon and anyway you can always return it if you dont like it but I dont think you all want to :)
Rating: 
Summary: Fantasy soap opera
Review: Just finished reading the canadian edition of Battle Axe and found it just like a soap opera. Character development follows the same type of twist and turns as a TV soap opera. Little consistency and forced surprises. The fantasy elements are there so it qualifies as fantasy fiction. I must say I'm enjoying the second book a lot more, even though the soap opera quality still lingers. I'll read all the six books so it must say that I like soap operas. I don't believe this series will be remembered after a few years. I do hope that the author developes her themes for a more sofisticated audience in the future.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting Connections
Review: Each character has their own unique personalities, and every verbal or physical action is impossible to predict. The true colors of the Acharite and "Forbidden" civilizations were so well covered in the beggining of the book. There are constant ties between chapters, and the overall depth of the book is increadible.
Rating:
Summary: Don't expect Tolkien - better!
Review: Sara Douglass is the best fantasy author that has arrived in years! These books are not for the light, faint-hearted fantasy reader. Don't expect predictable actions on the part of the heroes and don't expect rosy, happy endings. She creates characters and worlds that have depth and credibility as well as the ability to evoke deep feelings in the reader. The histories and cultures Douglass builds in these books are refreshing, believable and orderly in presentation. The right amount of information at the right time with each book getting better. The characters don't always make the right decisions or behave the way we have come to expect fantasy heroes to behave. It's more life-like with mistakes being made and the consequences having a domino effect that impact more than one or two lives. These characters are not the shallow, glossed-over individuals that most fantasy writers would have us try to believe in. You will have love/hate relationships with many different characters. Having read everything she has written to date, I am eagerly awaiting the next worlds she creates. Tor has a winner here! Strongly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Waiting for the rest
Review: A fast-paced and well written book, I am looking forward to the remainder. I've read the negative reviews with some confusion, as I found nothing shallow or trite about this book. Characters are well developed and book 1 lays an interesting frame-work which can build the remainder of the series. I like to think of directions I would take the series and see how close I am to the author. Can't wait for the rest!
Rating:
Summary: A world of fantastic possibilities
Review: I started this book enthralled and hooked by the first pages, a writer who allows herself to disconnect from this world and show us dreams of another. Where writers usually inflect their own biases Sara Douglass has stepped outside belief, gender, and any other mortal coils and has written a world. The characters come alive and their emotions are shared to the reader through brilliant writing. The prophecy, which binds the story and gives the reader some forshadowing, allows the reader a riddle to unravel as they read the pages, and as the characters themselves unravel the prophecy. No complaints would stand to the beatiful images and detail, from the battles, the travels, to the wonder of Tencendor all readers will be taken to this wonderful dream. I save one complaint being that it is book one and there is no imminent sign of its companion's release dates.
Rating: 
Summary: Drivel
Review: Okay, so the plot wasn't bad, but the writer needs a new editor, someone to point out that too many "sweet childs" and "dear ones" can ruin a book. The style is very awkward. Friedman here.) But not bad enough not to finish the first one. (Or maybe it is just morbid curiosity...)Reads like a very young person's first attempt at a book with a really incompetent editor...can't believe Tor published this...and it is an insult to compare the writer to Terry Goodkind or David Eddings (back cover blurb), as both are excellent writers... Nice cover art, but a big disappointment!
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