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Summary: Dart-Thornton's Literary Offenses
Review: (with apologies to Mark Twain)There are nineteen rules governing literary art in domain of romantic fiction -- some say twenty-two. In both "Bitterbynde" novels Dart-Thornton violated eighteen of them. These eighteen require:
1. That a tale shall accomplish something and arrive somewhere. But both the "Bitterbynde" tales accomplish nothing and arrive in air.
2. They require that the episodes in a tale shall be necessary parts of the tale, and shall help to develop it. But as the "Bitterbynde" tales are not tales, and accomplish nothing and arrive nowhere, the episodes have no rightful place in the work, since there was nothing for them to develop.
3. They require that the personages in a tale shall be alive, except in the case of corpses, and that always the reader shall be able to tell the corpses from the others. But this detail has often been overlooked in the "Bitterbynde" tale.
4. They require that the personages in a tale, both dead and alive, shall exhibit a sufficient excuse for being there. But this detail also has been overlooked in the "Bitterbynde" tale.
5. The require that when the personages of a tale deal in conversation, the talk shall sound like human talk, and be talk such as human beings would be likely to talk in the given circumstances, and have a discoverable meaning, also a discoverable purpose, and a show of relevancy, and remain in the neighborhood of the subject at hand, and be interesting to the reader, and help out the tale, and stop when the people cannot think of anything more to say. But this requirement has been ignored from the beginning of the "Bitterbynde" tale to the end of it.
6. They require that when the author describes the character of a personage in the tale, the conduct and conversation of that personage shall justify said description. But this law gets little or no attention in the "Bitterbynde" tale, as Imrihen's case will amply prove.
7. They require that when a personage talks like an illustrated, gilt-edged, tree-calf, hand-tooled, seven- dollar Friendship's Offering in the beginning of a paragraph, he shall not talk like a negro minstrel in the end of it. But this rule is flung down and danced upon in the "Bitterbynde" tale.
8. They require that crass stupidities shall not be played upon the reader as "the craft of the woodsman, the delicate art of the forest," by either the author or the people in the tale. But this rule is persistently violated in the "Bitterbynde" tale.
9. They require that the personages of a tale shall confine themselves to possibilities and let miracles alone; or, if they venture a miracle, the author must so plausibly set it forth as to make it look possible and reasonable. But these rules are not respected in the "Bitterbynde" tale.
10. They require that the author shall make the reader feel a deep interest in the personages of his tale and in their fate; and that he shall make the reader love the good people in the tale and hate the bad ones. But the reader of the "Bitterbynde" tale dislikes the good people in it, is indifferent to the others, and wishes they would all get drowned together.
11. They require that the characters in a tale shall be so clearly defined that the reader can tell beforehand what each will do in a given emergency. But in the "Bitterbynde" tale, this rule is vacated.
In addition to these large rules, there are some little ones. These require that the author shall:
12. Say what he is proposing to say, not merely come near it.
13. Use the right word, not its second cousin.
14. Eschew surplusage.
15. Not omit necessary details.
16. Avoid slovenliness of form.
17. Use good grammar.
18. Employ a simple and straightforward style.
Even these seven are coldly and persistently violated in the "Bitterbynde" tales. In short, these books are so chokingly bad that my own craft is insufficient to indict them; only the words of a master would do, and thus I give you the immortal Mark Twain, who, though he suffered greatly in the reading of Cooper's "Deerslayer," surely passed through agonies far gentler than my own in reading Dart-Thornton's "Bitterbynde."
Rating: 
Summary: Buried in Mucky Prose
Review: To start off, I know people are going to disagree with my review. It's my opinion, and I hope readers like me will find it useful. That said, this is not a terrible book, but from my point of view, it is one with many flaws. Cecilia Dart-Thornton has created a nonstandard fantasy novel in every sense of the word. The plot doesn't follow any easily determinable path, meandering its way around the countryside at the pace of a snail and picking up a tapestry of details from its surroundings. It's an amazing tapestry, to be sure, with a unique and engrossing mythology and bestiary, but it's also a fairly uninteresting tapestry, with very little going on. Most of the actual events in the book are glossed over; characters and plot take a second seat to the realm's lore and legends. From that, you can probably understand why I don't like this book. While I despise fantasy of a purely formulaic nature, I do politely request that there be some elements of formula in a book's construction, and here there were practically none, especially in terms of plot. The author could have just written a reference book on this land's lore and skipped the story element and I would barely have known the difference. Of course, the lack of strong plot is only part of my unenthusiastic response. The other part is the book's prose. Yes, poetic language is all good and fine, but when it starts to sidetrack other elements, I get annoyed. Here that distraction took the form of lists of descriptive words. List after list after list... It got to the point where I was banging my head on the table, trying to figure out why the author couldn't phrase things more concisely. At times she seemed to be groping through a thesaurus, unable to find that one word to fit the situation and putting five other words down instead. These lists derailed action sequences and dialogue and left me with a vague feeling, especially when I was able to skip whole paragraphs and not feel like I was missing something. Many people out there seem to have enjoyed this book a great deal, which is fine. This book will appeal to many readers with its richness and depth. It just really wasn't the right book for me. My suggestion: read a few chapters before you buy it. Notice how very little seems to happen in the first chapters, and understand that it doesn't change the further on you read. If you enjoy that style of writing, by all means, continue! I think vision of this kind deserves some reward. If you don't enjoy it, move on and find another book. You won't be missing much.
Rating:
Summary: A shaky but exciting beginning
Review: The story and world behind this book is incredible and very realistic. The reader wants to dive right into the vivid pictures and sympathize with the passions and frustrations of the main character, called Imrhien, a deformed mute suffering from amnesia. However, it's very easy to get lost and distracted from this amazing story by the excessive description. As vivd and scintillating as they are, often times they are too long and annoying and they hinder the reader's ability to continue. I felt the description just dragged the story when it didn't need to be. Flowery details can be a great tool so long as they don't detract from the flow of the book. It's a great beginning to an exciting series and Ms. Dart-Thornton is obviously a very talented author; however i have no doubt her books could be ten times more powerful if she picked and chose the pace of her books more carefully rather than yanking them taut and exhausted. I will say that the next book, The Lady of the Sorrows, is much more refined, and definately worth reading this book to get to for its tension, romance, brilliantly crafted plot, and realistic emotion.
Rating: 
Summary: One of the best
Review: ****** Brilliant, a treasure, one of the best fantasy books I have ever read. Full of enchantment and magic. Beautifully written. As good as Tolkien or better. I do not have enough words to praise this author and the tale she weaves. .
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Summary: Courageous heroine, dream-like prose
Review: Cecilia Dart-Thornton's Bitterbynde series reminds me of "The Worm Oroborous" by ER Eddison or "The King of Elfland's Daughter" by Lord Dunsany, in its power to describe a new and dream-like world. Reading "The Ill-Made Mute" was like looking through a series of Aubrey Beardsley drawings---the detail was minute, intense and unforgettable. There was so much description, it almost overwhelmed the plot. In fact, there isn't much plot. This is a story of a mute, facially-scarred amnesiac who sets out on a journey to find someone with the right kind of magic to heal her. The plot is the journey, or the journey is the plot. Along the way, the ill-made mute interacts with flying horses, flying galleons, an Irishman straight out of a Mike and Pat joke, a treasure cave, unstorms, pirates, King's rangers, and eldritch wights. There is plenty of drama, and wondrous sights to see along the way. Read slowly and savor the rich text. Journey's end is only partially satisfying, but a wonderful sequel has already been published--"The Lady of the Sorrows"---I've already read it and it's even better than "The Ill-Made Mute." The third book of the trilogy, "The Battle of Evernight," is promised for April, 2003. It's going to be a long wait. Now that I've read the first two books of the Bitterbynde trilogy, it will be very hard to go back to the generic, Robert Jordan, ya da-da, ya da-da, 'the hero slays the dragon, saves the maiden, and finds the ring of eternal spin-offs' type fantasy.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Start
Review: The Ill-Made Mute is one of the more enchanting fantasy novels I've read recently, with interesting characters, suspense, and a quest that will keep you guessing. It has the makings of a great triology and I can't wait to see the conclusion to this wonderful novel.
Rating: 
Summary: Beatiful scenery
Review: 'The Ill-Made Mute' is a beautiful first novel that never quite seems to take off. Notice that I did give it four stars though, because although the narration drags, meanders and wanders slowly around in circles, the WAY in which the story is told sparkles with interest. The world building is fantastique, the use of Irish and Scottish stories, myth and faery is woven tightly into the overall story. The first chapter especially uses stories told by characters within the book to illustrate the perils that await our hero(ine) once she finds a way out of the tower. Imrhein (so named about 150 pages into the book) starts the book without memory or voice, and with her face destroyed. She doesn't even know if she is male or female, and comes to the conclusion on what she is by the clothes she is given to wear. After stowing away on a windship, (sailing the air, not the sea) the ship is taken by pirates, but fortuitosely, one of the "pirates" helps her to escape her imminant rape by going over the gunwale, and the two of them are dropped into the very forrest that she has been taught to fear. It is at this point that Imrhein starts her adventures, as she finds her way to civilization with her companion Sianadh, and starts her quest to try and cure her memory, voice, and face. This is a touching story and the writing is delightful, even if it does take a long time to get anywhere. If you are willing to invest time and concentration into your fantasy reading, this book is definately worth it. The descriptions are lush, and the world is completely believable. I highly recomend it, and look forward to reading number two of the bitterbyne trilogy.
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Summary: purple prose alert
Review: I expected to love this book. The cover art was lovely, the blurb on the back interesting and compelling, the reviews mostly glowing. I reread parts of it in the hope I'd suddenly see what so many others see in it...but that failed. So, with apologies, because I don't like to put down Australian fantasy authors, I have to say that this book contains some of the purplest prose I can remember reading. And one sentence actually made me laugh aloud - not a good thing in a passage which is intended to be anything but humorous. I'll quote it here. If you like it, read the book. If you laugh, don't.
"Caught between the mortar of daily drudgery and the pestle of pain, life went grinding on."
It even uses alliteration, as if the metaphor wasn't strained enough.
On the other hand, it's always good to smile, right?
Rating:
Summary: Ill Made Mute and Lady of the Sorrows
Review: I've been an avid fantasy reader for over 7 years now and have read many great books, and I have to say that the whole bitterbynde series has, so far, been one of the best I've read in a while. It's original and vibrant. The characters have depth and Imhrein/Rohain/Tahquil/Ashalind has a unique courage. The whole series has a feel of fairie to it and fairie tales are interwoven all throughout the tale especially in the second book. As I am a lover of everything fairie I could not help but love this series. However if there had never been a single fairie tale in the entire series it would still have caught at my imagination. So in short Loved IT and cannot wait for the third book!
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Summary: Two great reads!!
Review: After picking up the first book and having a nice read, I picked up the second to see if the story is going the way I thought it would. That was it!!!! ...These books have all the suspense, surprises and just the right amount of romance to keep you turning each page as soon as possible!! A must read for all fantasy fans... get a copy of this trilogy and loose your self !!!!
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