Rating: 
Summary: An intriguing start to a promising trilogy!
Review: This novel brings you back into the world of the Hunter Duology but this time focusing on the Empire & Dominion. Evayne & Kallandras are as involved as ever. This glimpse into the world of the Dominion where men rule over all & women hold their own measure of power was a unique thing in the world of fantasy. It is wonderful to see how the Dominion & Empire contrast. Theresa & Diora prove to be fascinating characters & the small glimpse we had of Valedan & Kiriel left me wanting more. Definitely worth a read!
Rating: 
Summary: a stand-out book in the fantasy crowd
Review: This was the first book I've read by Ms. West, and I was pretty impressed. Sometimes it's difficult to find fantasy books that are written in true literary form--that is, ones which take the time to carefully develop characters as well as creating an intricate plot--as opposed to merely dashing off a story about dragons and calling it Book Number One in a series of Eight. West's writing really stood out to me because she chooses her words very deliberately and obviously takes great care to *think* about each individual character's reactions. One of my pet peeves with so many fantasy writers is that they barely flesh out any of the characters, and the ones that *are* developed are usually somewhat stereotypical. It's clear that each of West's creations have different motivations and different personalities, making them unique individuals. I wasn't overwhelmed by the sheer number of the characters, but I did consult the list in the beginning of the book to help refresh my memory.The other thing I liked so much was the depth of the world West has created. As with her characters, West took a lot of time to create a sense of the long history of her fictional universe. Very few authors do this well, in my opinion. The amount of history and the casual, yet understandable, delivery of these allusions is reminiscent of Tolkien. I've read other reviews saying the history that's mentioned The Broken Crown is in her previous two books, so I'll probably pick them up to read out of curiousity, but I don't think it's necessary to have read those before you read this one. All in all, this was a very good book. I will admit that it took a while to really immerse myself in this new world, but I didn't find it to hamper my enjoyment of the novel. West's prose style is definitely not for everyone--the plot moves *very* slowly, and there is more time spent on character development than on physical action. The last couple hundred pages picked up somewhat as far as the action goes, but if you don't have the patience to wait through lots of suspense-building, I wouldn't recommend this book. Someone else said this was a novel for older readers, and I agree. It's not that there's any "objectional material" in it, but rather the style of writing may not hold the attention of some readers. My only complaint (and why I gave four stars) is the prologue. I didn't understand it at all, and grew frustrated enough that I almost gave up on the book (fortunately I didn't!). My only advice is to wade through it and wait for better things to come--I actually went back and re-read parts of it about mid-way through the novel, and found it much easier to swallow the second time around. Final grade: an excellent read. I'm looking forward to reading book Two!
Rating: 
Summary: Slow and boring.
Review: This was the first Michelle West novel I have read and it will probably be the last. The settings could have been interesting, but it all ended up being very boring and slow. There are a lot of setting changes which make it difficult to understand what is going on, and if in fact one should care anything for any character around. I just could not care, and it was a chore to finish this novel. Other reviews compare this to authors I do like a lot, but for me this just fell flat. To be as fair as possible, it is NOT an awful book, I can see why other people should think it interesting, but it was below what I would consider an average novel, so my verdict is 2 stars.
| 
