Rating: 
Summary: Excellent in all areas, a wonderful work that kept me hooked
Review: Fionna Patton has done an excellent job once again. After reading "The Stone Prince", I could not wait to find more works by her. I was easily pulled into the world of the characters, and found myself reading for hours. The book is filled with all the components that make for an excellent story that anyone can enjoy, whether you like fantasy or not.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent in all areas, a wonderful work that kept me hooked
Review: Fionna Patton has done an excellent job once again. After reading "The Stone Prince", I could not wait to find more works by her. I was easily pulled into the world of the characters, and found myself reading for hours. The book is filled with all the components that make for an excellent story that anyone can enjoy, whether you like fantasy or not.
Rating: 
Summary: A review
Review: I enjoyed this book a great deal, it was more dense tha I had anticipated but very entertaining, with three-dimensional characters.My one problem was that, in all honesty, I didn't particularly see why I, as a reader, should be more in favor of Gwyneth over Branion, when Rhys didn't seem like a much more favorable choice than his father. The theocratic aspects were very interesting, but on a personal level, I thought that the main characters had something lacking. Ms. Patton's minor characters and adversaries were far more compelling. I found myself hoping for Drusus and Calliston to be victorious instead. Even so, I enjoyed the overall tone and feel of the book and look forward to reading more of her work.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent in all areas, a wonderful work that kept me hooked
Review: I highly recomand the book to any fantasy reader and anyone else. This book is even better than the Stone Prince with complex characters and great storyline. The events are fast paced and ever fascinating. This book is about religious conflicts between the Essusian and the Triach which is the Living Flame housed in each of Aristok of Branion. The storyline begins at a time when of Essusian kings who, for the past 150 years, has denied the Living Flame inside them which gives them the right and power to rule Branion. The present monarch, Marsellus DeMarian is another DeMarian Aristok who has denied the Flame. So now, Llewellynne ap Rowena, the fighting Prince and a Seer in the neighboring kingdom of Gwyneth was given a vision by the Flame which instructs her bearing the first child of the Aristok, a child who is willing vassel of the Living Flame and who can lead the Triarctic forces back to victory in Branion. Thus, Llewllynne succeeds in her mission and gives birth to a son named Rhys, who grew up, together with his brother Llewen (Llewllynne's son with her husband) to wrestle back the power of the land.
Rating:
Summary: entertaining
Review: I highly recomand the book to any fantasy reader and anyone else. This book is even better than the Stone Prince with complex characters and great storyline. The events are fast paced and ever fascinating. This book is about religious conflicts between the Essusian and the Triach which is the Living Flame housed in each of Aristok of Branion. The storyline begins at a time when of Essusian kings who, for the past 150 years, has denied the Living Flame inside them which gives them the right and power to rule Branion. The present monarch, Marsellus DeMarian is another DeMarian Aristok who has denied the Flame. So now, Llewellynne ap Rowena, the fighting Prince and a Seer in the neighboring kingdom of Gwyneth was given a vision by the Flame which instructs her bearing the first child of the Aristok, a child who is willing vassel of the Living Flame and who can lead the Triarctic forces back to victory in Branion. Thus, Llewllynne succeeds in her mission and gives birth to a son named Rhys, who grew up, together with his brother Llewen (Llewllynne's son with her husband) to wrestle back the power of the land.
Rating: 
Summary: Pages and pages of titles.
Review: I was very excited to see another novel by Ms. Patton. I enjoyed the first two novels very much, especially appreciating the convincing gender blind society. But in my opinion, The Granite Shield isn't as intriguing as the first two. For one thing, in several scenes, it seems to take an entire page just to describe who is in the scene, as each character has three names and four titles. After a while, I starting skipping over these, instead thinking First Name yada yada yada yada yada yada yada. The most interesting parts of the novel have to do with Rhys and Llewen's adventures, but they are few and far between for the first half of the novel. I'm enjoying the last half of the book, as there are always great battles scenes, etc. I do very much appreciate the complexity of the story, and even understand why there should be so many characters, but I'm tired of Brenda ap Gwynne ap Rhona ap ap ap, Lord High Whatnot of the Order of the 2nd Sword, Grand Senior Poohbah of Whatsit, Heirarchbishop of The Flame or the Wind or the Trees or the Stones or the Whatever. It was a much smoother read in Painter Knight and Stone Prince.
Rating:
Summary: Pages and pages of titles.
Review: I was very excited to see another novel by Ms. Patton. I enjoyed the first two novels very much, especially appreciating the convincing gender blind society. But in my opinion, The Granite Shield isn't as intriguing as the first two. For one thing, in several scenes, it seems to take an entire page just to describe who is in the scene, as each character has three names and four titles. After a while, I starting skipping over these, instead thinking First Name yada yada yada yada yada yada yada. The most interesting parts of the novel have to do with Rhys and Llewen's adventures, but they are few and far between for the first half of the novel. I'm enjoying the last half of the book, as there are always great battles scenes, etc. I do very much appreciate the complexity of the story, and even understand why there should be so many characters, but I'm tired of Brenda ap Gwynne ap Rhona ap ap ap, Lord High Whatnot of the Order of the 2nd Sword, Grand Senior Poohbah of Whatsit, Heirarchbishop of The Flame or the Wind or the Trees or the Stones or the Whatever. It was a much smoother read in Painter Knight and Stone Prince.
Rating:
Summary: Ah, the Branion series. :)
Review: If you've read other books in the Branion series and enjoyed them, then you're most likely going to enjoy this one, too (surprise!). You've got the Living Flame, Essus, the infamous "gender-free" society, hotheaded red-heads ... what more couldja want? :) The development of relationships in this book - and all Fiona Patton's Branion books - is appealing. In The Granite Shield, I'd say the most interesting (and most focused upon) is the relationship between the two main characters, a pair of (half-)brothers with intertwined destinies. Another fascinating feature in the series is the conflict/relationship between Essus and the Living Flame. In this particular book, you get an interesting vantage point into that relationship through the eyes of a powerful seer. As one reader noted, you probably won't see any great reason to choose one "side" over another ... and I think that's part of what Fiona Patton does very, very well. She doesn't give you a "good guys triumphing over the bad guys" plot - instead, you get what I'd call a more realistic view of conflict.
Rating:
Summary: Ah, the Branion series. :)
Review: If you've read other books in the Branion series and enjoyed them, then you're most likely going to enjoy this one, too (surprise!). You've got the Living Flame, Essus, the infamous "gender-free" society, hotheaded red-heads ... what more couldja want? :) The development of relationships in this book - and all Fiona Patton's Branion books - is appealing. In The Granite Shield, I'd say the most interesting (and most focused upon) is the relationship between the two main characters, a pair of (half-)brothers with intertwined destinies. Another fascinating feature in the series is the conflict/relationship between Essus and the Living Flame. In this particular book, you get an interesting vantage point into that relationship through the eyes of a powerful seer. As one reader noted, you probably won't see any great reason to choose one "side" over another ... and I think that's part of what Fiona Patton does very, very well. She doesn't give you a "good guys triumphing over the bad guys" plot - instead, you get what I'd call a more realistic view of conflict.
Rating:
Summary: Ah, the Branion series. :)
Review: If you've read other books in the Branion series and enjoyed them, then you're most likely going to enjoy this one, too (surprise!). You've got the Living Flame, Essus, the infamous "gender-free" society, hotheaded red-heads ... what more couldja want? :) The development of relationships in this book - and all Fiona Patton's Branion books - is appealing. In The Granite Shield, I'd say the most interesting (and most focused upon) is the relationship between the two main characters, a pair of (half-)brothers with intertwined destinies. Another fascinating feature in the series is the conflict/relationship between Essus and the Living Flame. In this particular book, you get an interesting vantage point into that relationship through the eyes of a powerful seer. As one reader noted, you probably won't see any great reason to choose one "side" over another ... and I think that's part of what Fiona Patton does very, very well. She doesn't give you a "good guys triumphing over the bad guys" plot - instead, you get what I'd call a more realistic view of conflict.
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