Rating: 
Summary: Dreamy
Review: Why this book is being compared to Tolkien is completely beyond me. This book is of an entirely different niche of fantasy, close to the lush prose and perpetual descriptions of beauty of Patricia McKillip. "Mute" is not what is often called "an easy read," meaning that it is not the kind of book where you can predict all twists and turns. The story itself is fairly straightforward, but feels more complex than it is. It is also not really an "epic" fantasy, in that while the events of it are important and widespread, the focus feels more on the heroine.The nameless amnesiac stumbles through a forest and into a bunch of poisonous plants, whose leaves eat into the mute's face. The mute is then rescued by a crabby old woman who nurses him to health -- but he still is voiceless, without memory, and his face is so deformed that he has to go about his duties with a baglike cover over his head. He is mocked and maltreated, with a few nuggets of kindness from the people living there. But unseelie wights (evil creatures) are growing in number and encroaching on the places of good people - and a sinister lord sends the youth running for his life. He takes the opportunity to find a wise-woman named Maeve One-Eye, who may be able to restore his mangled face. But after falling in with and escaping from pirates, the youth discovers a shocking fact - HE is in fact a SHE, a lie told to the girl to keep her from being treated even worse. She is also given the name Imrhien from an adventurer named Sianadh, who helps accompany her on her quest through the world of Erith for her memory, her name, and her true face. Then Imrhien encounters strange creatures both good and bad, and a kind Dainnan warrior named Thorn... It's impossible to talk about this book without mentioning the imagination of this author. Great winged horses called Eotaurs, a magical metal that enables things to float and creates airships, legends and fairies reminiscent of British myth. All of this is seamlessly woven together without the air of "wow, look what I'm doing with this!" that too many authors inject into their work. If you love mythology and legends, you will probably smile a lot while reading this. Some of the content may be disturbing for children, but it ought to be fine for adults and teens. In addition, the flowery prose may throw off readers with short attention spans and a longing for action, swords, sorcery and gore. If you don't consider LOTR a classic, and can't handle "Ombria in Shadow," then you will not like this book. Though it is an exaggeration to claim that intricate detail is taken with everything, the descriptions are quite long -- when a wedding is taking place, two pages are devoted to the clothing of the bride, groom, and some of the guests. These should have been edited a little more, but these instances of excessive description are quite rare. The flowery prose does not, however, become too aware of its own lyricism. The characters tend to talk like real people, and there are characters as undignified and bizarre as those in real life. The community of kitchen staff in a castle in a magical land reminded me a little of "Book of Atrix Wolfe": very real, both the good and the bad, especially the scene where they huddle around and tell stories. I would also like to respond to a few of the criticisms levelled at this book: I did not find the scientific names to be distracting -- there's enough mix of reality and fantasy in this that it didn't bother me. And as for complaints about the lack of a quest - this is part one of a trilogy, centering on an amnesiac, and the quest appears to be one that will spill over into the following books. And the threat is nothing so crude as a Dark Lord in silly black armor, rather a feeling that creeps in with the unseelie creatures as their presence slowly becomes known and relevent. I look forward to the next two books of the Bitterbynde trilogy, and any other books by Dart-Thornton. A unique story, beautifully told. (And no, I won't tell you what a bitterbynde is. You have to read and see for yourself)
Rating:
Summary: This is a teriffic book
Review: In Isse Tower on Erith, the cretin's visage is so disfigured from poisonous plants that none of the lowest will have anything to do with it. With no memory beyond its' recent arrival and unable to speak, the creature becomes a drone doing whatever tasks are required, but quickly learns about windships and magic. However, drudgery seems pleasant when Mortier the Master Swordsman makes the urchin his servant. Needing to escape from Mortier's abuse, the mute serendipitously hitches a ride on a windship, but is caught stowing away. The youth escapes and is rescued by the treasure seeking Sianadh. He provides her with the name Imrhien and teaches her how to communicate using sign language. Her adventures are just beginning (in this book and hopefully in future novels). THE ILL-MADE MUTE is an entertaining fantasy work that has tons of action but at times feel more like a string of vignettes. The story line never slows down and the weird world of Erith seems genuine even with flying horses and the non-human wights. Imrhien is a strong individual who will garner much empathy yet remain an enigma as Cecilia Dart-Thornton never explains why much of the realm want her dead nor how she became mute and amnesiac (probably a future sequel). Still, this is a solid fantasy epic and genre fans will want to join Imrhien's trek across her planet. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic, absolutely fantastic
Review: The Ill-made mute, Bitterbynde part I, is a book of absolutely unchallengeable wordcraft and an abundant supply of stunning images. It outrivals pretty much anything in fantasy literature, and I feel sorry for all who miss it. It aims for the bull's eye, and it hits. Cecilia Dart-Thornton just LOVES descriptions, that's clear from the start. But what would be boring from a lesser writer is a joyous experience in this case. Her detailled picturing of seemingle feeble items bring a world to life that threatens to to out-real reality. I know my life got richer by reading this book. (Sadly, over the course of the trilogy, detail fades a bit, and the ending of the third and final book, "The Battle of Evernight", drags on a bit too long after the climax and stops at an unclear point that required the author to offer an explanatory afterword to the paperback edition. Anyway, even including these small setbacks, the whole trilogy remains one of the top 5 fantasy works of all time)
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting but frequently irritating
Review: I bought The Ill-Made Mute because I couldn't put it down in the bookstore after starting to read it. I was pulled into the story right away and curious about what would be discovered about this poor, mute orphan. The plot delivers a satisfying story in a unique world. So, why only 3 stars? Two main reasons: 1) the author's desciptive over-kill and 2)the main character's lack of good judgement. Too much description, I found, was a theme throughout the book. When describing the hiding place of the mute in a stable, the author listed 12 items hanging on the wall behind. And don't get me started on the decriptions of clothing! The second irritating quality of the novel crept up on me slowly. The title character embarks on tons of adventures - and at every turn chooses to go against better judgement and follow along with whatever the companion of the moment bungles into. Now, I know that being mute and orphaned can't be easy, but shouldn't a strong character learn a thing or two along the way? The fact that idiots who steered them both unfailingly into danger are still considered friends at the end of it all, made want to shake the ill-made mute! But, with that said, I still bought the sequel :)
Rating:
Summary: A book for intelligent readers.
Review: It is so refreshing to read a story that does not hammer along at a fast Gameboy-style pace on the premise that the reader's attention span is too short to be otherwise held. This story moves along in a manner suited to the historical feel of the setting. I also enjoyed the use of words outside the usual vocabulary we get on TV and in popular literature. At last, a fantasy author who treats readers like intelligent people! The inclusion of British folklore is another refreshing change. Instead of the usual (now boring) weapons, slayings, etc. we are shown a myriad other, more subtle ways to deal with supernatural forces. Never does the author fall for the trap of many fantasy authors, which is to make mention of Fate or Prophecy as the reason why events occur. I felt confident that there were good reasons behind every character's behaviour. Whether those reasons are made clear in this book or in the follow-up Book 2, remains to be seen. I liked the ending because it did not tell us whether the heroine's face was beautiful or not. It hinted at beauty, but while reading this book I learned that the author often has a "twist" up her sleeve, so readers should not necessarily take hints as facts. I recommend this book to anyone who would like to read something that is far removed from the usual "modern action adventure in medieval costume" style. The language is beautiful, the imagery is extraordinary, the characters are real, and (thank the gods) the story is not the same old Good versus Evil. It is original, amazing and totally addictive.
Rating: 
Summary: The best of the series
Review: Cecilia Dart Thornton obviously loves the English language. Her prose tends to wax more poetic when she gets her juices flowing. The Bitterbynde trilogy, loosely based on the Celtic faery tale of Midir and Etain, also demonstrates her love for the faery lore of the British Isles, notably Scotland and Ireland. In this first installment, we are introduced to a nameless, amnesiac mute, horribly defaced, and the world in which "he" lives. It's a primal world of incredible beauty and danger, where humankind is safe only within their walled cities and towns, with the rest of the world belonging to capricious nature spirits. These faeries fall into one of two categories: Seelie, or benign to humankind, and Unseelie, or malign. Interestingly, there seems to be a lot of shifting and overlap, and the brownie that is your friend one day can easily be your persecutor the next. These nature and household spirits pale in comparison to the great Faerun, based on the Sidhe of Ireland, who vacated the world a millennium earlier for unknown reasons. Dart Thornton does have a gift for weaving imagery, and, while most times enjoyable, other reviewers are correct that she occasionally falls foul of attempting to overwhelm the reader with detail. However, her command of the English language is superb, and the imagery evocative. Presumably, she is a new author, and will improve her technique with time. What's not to like? Dart Thornton has obviously read her faery tales, and I suspect was an avid RPG player at one time in her life. Her character has a tendency to have everything thrown at "his" feet, warded against every dangerous situation, and it is therefore hard to really get too concerned about any crisis "he" faces, since "his" benefactors will inevitably rescue "him". Also, faery tales are comedic, with the protagonist only getting his just reward (or punishment) at the end of the journey from hardship. Dart Thornton's protagonist is constantly showered with unique windfalls of the monetary and esoteric variety throughout. It's hard to sympathize with any protagonist who finds such good fortune, particularly in the very first of a three part series.
Rating: 
Summary: Unbelievably bad.
Review: The first 39 pages of this book are utterly dire. I simply do not understand all the glowing reviews. The level of the writing is about what you'd expect from extremely pretentious internet fan fiction written by a dungeons and dragons player who wished to show off her vocabulary. Totally unnecessary metaphors and descriptions detracted from any interest or merit the story might have. Whether it improved after the first 39 pages I can't say as I just couldn't force myself to continue with it. I only regret that I didn't give up after the first page.
Rating:
Summary: Original, imaginative but a little bit irritating
Review: I must say I liked this series. Cecilia has a great imagination and lots (and I mean lots) of new ideas. I really liked that she had a completely new idea for her fantasy world and new magic ideas I've never seen before. She also had a way of presenting them for the reader in a way that didn't scream "look what I've come up with!" as some writers can do, but let the reader find things out in her/his own pace. The world felt very real and I liked that you learned some words through reading them and understanding the context, instead of having the explanation as a foot note. (I found the vocabulary in the end of the book... in the end of the book, but I thought that was good because I never needed it.) Her characters feel pretty real, not completely, but you like them and want to know what happens to them. The only person really deep is the main character, and she has so much depth that it feels okey that the other characters don't have as much. The other characters haven't big depths but they still are 3-dimensional and you like them (well, most of them). Cecilia has a kind of sad atmosphere in her books but I found that I liked that. The books are more than just fantasy, they include some sadness and deep thoughts as well. How would you feel if you looked like her? What would you do in the same situation. So what wasn't good about it? Cecilia has a way of describing EVERYTHING, and I mean everything. The characters can't sit down and eat without the auther describing the plates, the forks, the spoons, the clothes everyone wears, the tapestries on the wall, the chairs... At first it's only a bit irritating and you soon learn to skip big paragraphs. But after a while it becomes really irritating. When she used a WHOLE page to describe everything a big party was about to eat "300 cows, 400 chickens, 200 rabbits..." I screamed and put down the book for at least an hour. Come on... That's so uninteresting and boring! Write "there were lots of food" and be done with it. At least when she describes places it gives the reader something. But every little piece of every dress, and every fork and spoon and piece of food, that's not interesting, just irritating. I think that if she had skipped all these very uninteresting descriptions of food, clothes, walls and things, this series would have been just 2 books instead of three, and I'm not kidding! And if she had done that, I would have given this book 4 or 5 stars. So to sum it up, a very good series, but it could have been so much better and less irritating if the editor had cut away some pages...
Rating:
Summary: verbose, slow
Review: After reading the reviews in the inside cover, I started this book with high hopes. However this book appears to be more of an attempt to show how clever and broad the author's vocabulary is rather than tell a good story. For the first hundred pages or so I read out words to my wife to see if she knew them (she didn't), but finally got tired of the author trying to make me feel stupid. Since my wife and I both have university degrees and read continously, I can only wonder what a struggle this book must be for many. I've read Hemmingway, Fitzgerald, Tolkien, but no author has made me reach for the dictionary like Ms Dart-Thornton. In the end it distracted from the story too much - intricate detail about nothing is how I'd describe the book. No tension, no character development, little plot.... but LOTS of poetic description. Colin.
Rating:
Summary: Good Story, But ...
Review: An intriguing story almost collapses under the weight of an incredibly pretentious use of language. I may or may not continue with the series.
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