Rating: 
Summary: The book I found boring at first but thrilling in the end
Review: The Ill-Made Mute was for me quite boring at first. I didn't want to finish it because it hadn't drawn me in at all. But when I got to the end I couldn't put it down. The second book in the series was even better and this is a must read series! Thank you for reading my review!
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Rating: 
Summary: Excellent
Review: Found it hard going to begin with, but well worth the effort.
Rating: 
Summary: Do not read the book jacket... or the book.
Review: First, a warning to all those who would read this book. Do NOT read the inside of the book jacket. It will give away a few plot points. Why anyone thought spoilers would be a good idea on the jacket is far beyond my comprehension.Second, as another reviewer stated, Dart-Thornton loves lists. This book is mainly a collection of lists of things in various places throughout her world of Erith. You will quickly come to expect that upon entering any new environment, a list (all in one sentence) of the items contained therein will be presented to you in short order. Third, I've never seen an author strive so hard to come up with so many different ways to describe the sky. Actually, Dart-Thornton has an absolute love affair with the simile all through this text. There is nothing in this book that is unlike anything else - all things are provided comparisons. And the last irk... 'Cephalothorax'. Early in the text, Dart-Thornton actually refers to this bit of spider anatomy by its very formal name. The use of 'cephalothorax' immediately took me out of the story and struck me as odd that an author writing a pure fantasy tale would use such a modern term to describe an object in her created world. This actually happens a few times throughout the book, especially as she makes sure to refer to all cloud formations by their formal names. Overall, this was a nice first attempt, but I couldn't help feeling that Dart-Thornton spent most of her time in her thesaurus trying to make everything sound slightly different, though she was describing the same sights again and again. In the end, however, I truly understood the essence of the Bitterbynde. The bynde is that you have to read it because you paid for the book, but by the time you reach the end, you feel quite bitter about the whole experience (and about having put down cash on this first book of a trilogy). I will certainly not be purchasing the next two books in the series based on the contents of the Bitterbynde Book I. The silly sods who compared this to Tolkien should be forced to read Tolkien again... immediately.
Rating:
Summary: A Classic in the Making
Review: A refreshingly original fantasy, with twists that you never see coming! The only thing I can liken it to is "The Lord of the Rings" yet where LotR could get long and tiresome, this book kept me reading with it's surprises and originality. So even if you don't like Papa Tolkein, read it anyway. It encorporates celtic folktales in a brand new world and provides an insight into every aspect of that world. Most definitely a classic in the making so keep those first editions!
Rating:
Summary: Soooo excellent!
Review: I don't know what to say about The Ill-made Mute, because it's sooo delicious to read, i just can't put into words what it's like.
The imagery is rich and real, and this novel delves that little bit further in it's romance, so that you don't have to depend on reading between the lines.
Being a reader who's usually sceptical and hard to please, this book came as a breath of freash air, and is up among books like The Lord of the Rings.
The story line, is deep and well-paced, and the ending is successfully satisfying, while still maintaining an air of mystery which caused me months of anxious waiting for the second part of this trilogy.
5 stars!
Rating:
Summary: Magical Words to Weave a Spell
Review: I was intriqued by Cecilia Dart-Thornton, discovered on the internet, received a fantastic advance and printed hard cover first release. It must be good I thought. So I bought and read. As a writer myself I can only be green with envy, the metaphors, the descriptions and elegantly twisted words that described the sky, the forest, wights all blended together to take one a journey. Dart-Thornton is erudite; her vocabulary wide ranging and her research exquisite. The tale that begins with Ill-Made Mute is tantalising and leaves you wanting more. My only critique is to say that there could be less description and more story. However, that only displays my eagerness for more. The sequel, Lady of Sorrows does not disappoint on that score and again one must wait again for a least a year for the thirst to be quenched. If you like to escape to a magical place, and have magical words weave their spell around you then this is the book for you. A debut novel, with no rough ends but polished throughout. Written by a talent that is only beginning but that is already shining. Read and wonder at the story, the words and the talent.
Rating:
Summary: Ill-Made Mute, Not so Ill-written!
Review: For my 13th Birthday my dad bought me The Ill-Made Mute, I am pleased to say I finished it in a short time, because I couldn't put it down. I'm really into sci-fi and fantasy so I truly loved this book, but two reasons I like this book is, that is written with so many elements like mystery, adventure, and even a dash of romance. The other reason is that there is so much suspense in the first (and second) book because Imhrien aquires her voice in the first book she only says 3 words and the book is over! This great sense of hanging in mid air is also found in the 2nd book, she remembers vital memories and we are not told what she will do with the information she has, so we will be left guessing for another year!
Rating: 
Summary: Intriguing, but pointless
Review: Cecilia Dart-Thornton has created a rich intriguing world of fantasy and populated it with intriguing, facinating characters that the reader can get interested in. Unfortunately, she only gives us a tour of this world. Upon entry into a new place, she is as likely to provide a shopping list of items that populate the space as create a magical sense of transposing the reader into a wonderful, mystical site, but I digress.
The Ill-made Mute is the protagonist that wanders through this world, shorn of memory, unsure where his place is, and that is all the plot there is. Unlike Tolkien, who gave us a hobbit who went on an adventure with an objective and who grew as a character, or T.H. White, who gave us Wort, who grew up and after proper schooling by Merlin, became a king, Thornton gives us a mute who simply wanders. The character does not grow. There is no quest, no threat, no goal.
If you want a plot, this is not the novel for you. However, if you wish to read about a mystical world, richly drawn and appointed, wonderfully conceived and populated, this is a book you will love.
Personally, I think Thornton could become a writer well worth reading, once she discover plot.
Rating:
Summary: A facinating world to loose yourself in
Review: If you liked Lord of the Rings when you were 15, and read all of Anne McGaffreys Dragon books and Julian May's wonderful "Saga of the Exiles", then this book is definitly one for you.
Refreshingly a new world to place the story within makes it a really interesting read. I can't wait for books 2 and 3 to continue this great story!
Rating:
Summary: thumbs up
Review: congratulations to a fellow Australian on a job well done. What I liked was that it based a lot of the things in the book on celtic folklore.
What can I except read it, I rushed out bought the second book in the series The Lady of the sorrows, which I will start to read now. The one thing that I don't like is that we have to wait so long for the third book
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