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Rating: 
Summary: How she isn't Best Seller, is beyond me
Review: Her books are absolutely wonderful. She simply gets better and better. I have reread all 6 books of hers multiple times and find new nuances each time. Be sure to read her Hunters duology also.
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Summary: Finally, a fantasy writer worthy of praise!!
Review: I had given up on finding any new good fantasy writers. The genre seems bent on churning out masses of barely decent volumes. Then I picked up The Uncrowned King by West about 2 year ago and I was HOOKED. The only bad part about this series is the wait between each successive novel. The history and complexity of the series is comparable to Jordan's The Wheel of Time. Unlike Jordan, however, West can WRITE. One gets the feeling this series is so long (this 4th book doesn't seem to be even close to the end), only because the scope and depth of this carefully developed world and its multiple nuances and lavishly rich history cannot be bound by a mere 3 volumes. But it is definitely going somewhere, unlike the aimless wanderings of Jordan's series. (The Wheel of Time? You get the feeling even Jordan's forgotten exactly what his point was). West's style is incredible. Her ability to capture emotions is comparable to another favorite author or mine, Guy Gavriel Kay. If anyone knows how I can get a hold of her to find out when te 5th book is making an appearance, please let me know.
Rating:
Summary: Finally, a fantasy writer worthy of praise!!
Review: I had given up on finding any new good fantasy writers. The genre seems bent on churning out masses of barely decent volumes. Then I picked up The Uncrowned King by West about 2 year ago and I was HOOKED. The only bad part about this series is the wait between each successive novel. The history and complexity of the series is comparable to Jordan's The Wheel of Time. Unlike Jordan, however, West can WRITE. One gets the feeling this series is so long (this 4th book doesn't seem to be even close to the end), only because the scope and depth of this carefully developed world and its multiple nuances and lavishly rich history cannot be bound by a mere 3 volumes. But it is definitely going somewhere, unlike the aimless wanderings of Jordan's series. (The Wheel of Time? You get the feeling even Jordan's forgotten exactly what his point was). West's style is incredible. Her ability to capture emotions is comparable to another favorite author or mine, Guy Gavriel Kay. If anyone knows how I can get a hold of her to find out when te 5th book is making an appearance, please let me know.
Rating:
Summary: Sea of Sorrows--The Reader's Joy
Review: I have become disgusted with the science fiction "series". The tales are endless retellings of the same actions and stories. I am lucky in that I picked up the first book of this series by mistake. These books are wonderfully written with detailed and fully developed characters. However, a warning to the "West" uninitiated, these books are not easily read without starting the entire series. Numerous characters are involved--too many with strange names, and it takes a bit to just begin to remember all the what's, where's and who's described. But, the remarkable tapestry of detailed characters is what makes this series a joy. While this particular book in the series is poorly edited ( A previous review hits the glaring errors. ), such errors do not detract from the story. However, going back to my initial disgust with series books, Ms. West only provides a series installment with each book. The initial problems for the characters first described in the book are no better off than when the book ends. While I normally would end scratch a writer off of my list and never finish the series, I find that I simply await the pleasure of the author in this instance.
Rating: 
Summary: sorrowful?
Review: I LOVED this book, and all the ones before it! I couldn't put it down until it was done. I just want to know when will it all end. I keep picking up whatever book has just come out to wonder if she will start to wrap up the series. I've had time to read every book at LEAST twice, and I want to read the next one! I would suggest that anyone who wants to start this series wait until she is done with it! I would be so much better to read it all the way through without having to wait for the next book to come out.
Rating:
Summary: West presents another beautiful and entrancing masterpiece
Review: I tend to agree with most reviews stating that it's difficult to find a good contemporary fantasy writer. When a wonderful one surfaces, their books are nothing short of cherished gems. I absorbed all 830 pages of this book in less then a week for a mixture of reasons- first off, West's unique, descriptive and elegant writing style has captivated me. Each sentence is a pleasure to my eyes and my imagination.
Second, as her cast continues on its course of development, she falters not one bit in the focus of the novel. There's always something new, exciting, and building. Her level of suspense is something that you have to understand, with how she works at her novels to build and build for a good three to five hundred pages (which aren't, in the least sense, a nag to read... even what many people might consider "slow" sections of this novel are impressive alone by her writing) before the hard action occurs, and usually by that point, as it was in particular with this book, I found myself incapable of putting down the novel until its completion.
Lastly, despite how accustomed I am to her style and the manner in which she portrays her characters and handles them, she still can get me running through a box of tissues at the end, with his novel of know exception. Some people think it's foolish to cry at the end of a fantasy novel, but I believe that the only reason West's novels evoke such emotions out of me is becuase she has the talent to create a cast and a world so indepth and real that you cannot help but feel their triumphs and sorrows as if they were your own. As of this date (August 2004), I have yet to finish the Sun Sword series, but "Sea of Sorrows" is currently my favorite Sun Sword book as of yet. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading because, as always, there are aspects about it that everyone can enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: great!
Review: Michelle West delivers another outstanding novel in the Sun Sword series. This story concentrates on Jewel and Margaret but there are some interesting cameos from especially Islader and Valedan. This is book 4 in the series and nicely sets events up for the next couple of books in the series. I say books because with the level of detail and diverse characters with their own agendas, West cannot do justice to her story without writing two to three more books. Overall this is a good read by an author who has not received the marketing support she deserves.
Rating:
Summary: Another good one.
Review: Michelle West mentions in the beginning of my copy of this book that she was at fault for the delay of this book. I would guess, reading it, that it is because she had some trouble writing it. Certainly the scene where Kiriel and Isladar face off is one that I think she had trouble writing. It comes across as labored; it goes on far too long, for one thing and has several too many interruptions. However, there is some good character work being done there--the revelation about Isladar and Ashaf, while it had been dealt with to some extent before, is very emotionally powerful and well-done. Furthermore the friendship between Diora and Margret is well-detailed and convincing. She continues to evince a great deal of interest in the parent-child relationship (Diora-Sendari, Diora-Teresa, functioning as a surrogate mother; Kiriel-Isladar; Kiriel-Ashaf, Isladar-Anya--her behavior was very child-like in nature; Margret-Evallen, etc. etc.), which is one of the things I find original about her series; it is practically de rigeur for a fantasy series to concentrate on romantic (usually heterosexual) relationships, and parent-child relationships are almost never explored. Jordan, for example, obviously gives male-female relationships center stage and what few parent-child relationships there are (i.e. Faile and her parents) are extremely minor and almost non-existence. Elayne is now pregnant with Rand's child, but I seriously doubt that her motherhood will be explored in great detail (and Rand's fatherhood not at all). Speaking of Robert Jordan, several people have compared the two authors. In my opinion there is no comparison. First of all, her writing style is far better, if at times too ornate. Second of all, her characters are much more well-developed than Jordan's characters, who somehow never come across as anything more than 2-D cutouts despite the copious amount of time he has had to develop them. Her female characters in particular are much, much *much* better written than Jordan's, and portrayed with a great deal more respect; I have the feeling that Jordan thinks he portrays female characters very well, but in my opinion he does not. She treats her characters as characters, not as pieces on a playing board as Jordan often seems to. Third of all, her narrative still feels vibrant and alive. Jordan's is dead; it died somewhere around book six (Lord of Chaos), killed, in my opinion, by world-building that was so restrictive it choked the life out of his storyline. Keep up the good work, Michelle West--I can't wait for Riven Shield.
Rating: 
Summary: Good book but would have been better if it was shorter
Review: My first impression of this book was that everyone has a story to tell but not everyone has a story I want to hear. Although the title of the book refers to the Voyani, the first third of the book has large sections about a butler, er domicis, and Jewel Terafin's 'den'. It bothered me that MW has succumbed to Robert Jordan sequelitis and keeps introducing new characters and new storylines without actually ending the existing stories. As such, I was pretty disappointed. The beginning and middle really dragged on and on. But the last third of this book is fantastic. There are large flashback sections that explain the history of Arkosa and the story is GOOD. Very creative. Well told. For the last 200 pages, I could not stop reading. :) Due to the excellent ending, I will read the next book and I have a positive overall impression. However this book would have been much better if it had just told the Voyani tale from beginning to end.
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Summary: This book is not for the unintelligent
Review: Today I found myself reading the Sea of Sorrows for the third time, and I am consisently amazed at how I discover different nuances each time I read the book. I think a review is helpful only if it can be compared to other authors. West's books however seem so different than many, however, it definitely has the mystery and intrigue of George R. Martin, and definitely the detail found in Raymond Feist's books the book moves like Melanie Rawn's book which is to say, you can't fall through the pages quickly (you'll miss something), but you refuse to put it down, until you can stop with a least a little of the intrigue solved or understood. I think many of you will particulary enjoy the subplots/stories surrounding the Kialli. They are by far now my favorite characters, followed a closely by the Warlord and the Arianni. She has me aching for a series based soley on their creation. It goes without saying that this series deserves at least two to three more books, the question is how long will we have to wait.
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