Rating: 
Summary: Average
Review: I read this book a while back and it was good but then I read some of Norton's witch world books and I find this weak in comparaison. The plot is interesting but it's the characters I find weak, especially Ashen, she is supposed to be the main character but you hardly know what she thinks or how she feels sbout things. The little you know of her shows to me that she is kind of weak minded and willed. I was impressed with her when she gets away from the giant luper and the bog people, although fleeing may not seem courageouss it's smart and she acted fast. The only character developped enough for me to like was queen Ysa, even if she is the antagonist. She is smart and thinks for herself and you see what she thinks. If the characters had been better I would probably have thouroughly enjoyed this. The plot is good and exciting although a bit slow moving, but that only adds to the suspense, but to much of a slow pace is anoying. You know that everything that is happening will come together somewhere but at the end of the book you are still waiting. Some of it has come together but not everything. Despite the cliff hanger ending I feel no compulsion to read the sequel, another sign of a bad book for me. usually if i enjoy something i am eager and impatient to read the sequel. If Andre Norton had created characters as good as in her witch world books (even the ones in the short stories are good) I would probably give this book five stars. If you are an avid Norton fan then I think you might be disappointed by this.
Rating:
Summary: Bittersweet Relief
Review: I read/skimmed some of the other reviews and had to agree with what i read. The book is too sketchy and not enough focus on the main character, Ashen. But, what is most agonizing is not that it takes forever for the main characters to meet, but at the time frames of the story. In one section you are in one scene and time and the next you are back in time a few hours, even days ago. there doesn't seem to be an understandable reason for how the sections are split. there is no build up of anticipation over wanting to know what'll happen next. you know what will happen next.
this is a good start though. i was relieved knowing that this was a series. the authors of this book didn't do enough editing for the book to stand on its own.
i was intrigued by the other characters. Ysa was shown not to be a complete villian, but an actual human being. Zazar does seem interesting and i hope she'll show up again with a looser tongue. Ashen did disappoint a little. at the beginning her character seemed tougher, and toward the end she just seemed lost and weak.
I did expect more of Andre Norton having read her Elven Blood books co-written with Mercedes Lackey. I'll cut Ms. Miller some slack assuming that she has just started.
I hope the series proves to be more exciting and enchanting.
Rating: 
Summary: It's an Adventure Story Not James Joyce for Goodness' Sake
Review: I was so disappointed in this book. Ms Norton is the person who started me reading that "trashy science fiction" as my grandmother called it. And it is largely due to writers like her that science fiction and fantasy have a reputation for dealing with not just the nuts and bolts of science, but also the workings of the human heart. Her stories, whether written for young adult readers or older adult readers were clear, nicely plotted and could usually be read on two levels, one a simpler level of adventure, the other a deeper level for those who wanted more. That being said, WHAT HAPPENED HERE? I read the book first, then the reveiws. I went back and re-examined the points in the book that I felt were unclear. Then I had to admit-- the faults were in the book, not my reading. The role of the author is to communicate. If there is a failure in basic communication, in story telling, to the point where numerous literate individuals, many of whom have loved Ms Norton's other work, are wondering "What is going on here?" then it isn't the reader's fault. There's a failure on the part of the authors. As I said in the title to this review, this is an adventure story, it's not Ulysses so it should be accessible and pleasurable to read not a chore. The book is derivitive of Ms Norton's other work, but lacks its virtues. There is no strong sense of place or plot. The characters are cliched and one dimensional. In other books by Ms Norton the hero or heroine is very often out of place or time, must overcome some perceived physical or mental obstacle to find his or her place. In this book Ashen seems to be just going through the motions. There's no real sense of urgency about her situation, even when the villagers turn against her. Compare this for instance to the situations that Tritha and her Falconer find themselves coping with in Ware Hawk or Kaththea in Sorceress of the Witch World and you can see how weak this book is compared to even minor efforts written by Ms Norton alone. Please don't form any opinion of Ms Norton based on this work. Try The Zero Stone or Witch World instead of this one.
Rating:
Summary: It's an Adventure Story Not James Joyce for Goodness' Sake
Review: I was so disappointed in this book. Ms Norton is the person who started me reading that "trashy science fiction" as my grandmother called it. And it is largely due to writers like her that science fiction and fantasy have a reputation for dealing with not just the nuts and bolts of science, but also the workings of the human heart. Her stories, whether written for young adult readers or older adult readers were clear, nicely plotted and could usually be read on two levels, one a simpler level of adventure, the other a deeper level for those who wanted more. That being said, WHAT HAPPENED HERE? I read the book first, then the reveiws. I went back and re-examined the points in the book that I felt were unclear. Then I had to admit-- the faults were in the book, not my reading. The role of the author is to communicate. If there is a failure in basic communication, in story telling, to the point where numerous literate individuals, many of whom have loved Ms Norton's other work, are wondering "What is going on here?" then it isn't the reader's fault. There's a failure on the part of the authors. As I said in the title to this review, this is an adventure story, it's not Ulysses so it should be accessible and pleasurable to read not a chore. The book is derivitive of Ms Norton's other work, but lacks its virtues. There is no strong sense of place or plot. The characters are cliched and one dimensional. In other books by Ms Norton the hero or heroine is very often out of place or time, must overcome some perceived physical or mental obstacle to find his or her place. In this book Ashen seems to be just going through the motions. There's no real sense of urgency about her situation, even when the villagers turn against her. Compare this for instance to the situations that Tritha and her Falconer find themselves coping with in Ware Hawk or Kaththea in Sorceress of the Witch World and you can see how weak this book is compared to even minor efforts written by Ms Norton alone. Please don't form any opinion of Ms Norton based on this work. Try The Zero Stone or Witch World instead of this one.
Rating:
Summary: Paint-by-numbers
Review: I've heard excellent things about Andre Norton, but I fear that the praise is either misplaced, or deserved by other books. Many aspects of this particular novel read like a paint-by-numbers fantasy: action! Adventure! Nasty nobles! A crumbling monarchy! Overdone enviroments! A beautiful hero(ine) discovering who she/he is! A few gratuitous monsters! Oh, the suspense... This book starts off strong, with the Lady Alditha of the House Ash (four houses: Yew, Oak, Rowan and Ash) escaping from the wrath of the new queen. Alditha is pregnant with the king's illegitimate heir, and she is taken in by a wysen-wyf (wise-woman, witch) to give birth to her baby. She dies shortly thereafter, and the wysen-wyf Zazar names the child Ashen. Years pass. House Ash is pretty much dead, Rown is following, the king is in a soused stupor and not expected to live long, the only known heir Florian is a sadistic brat, and the queen Ysa is willing to quietly "silence" anyone who threatens her control of her crumbling kingdom. Suddenly the king rallies, then sickens again, as the Rings of power (deep groan) magically zap from his hands to those of his wife. She knows that Florian is a sadistic brat, and that the Rings won't choose him--at the same time, she must deal with the fact that as a woman, she won't be allowed to rule officially, and about the strange rumors about a young woman near where Alditha died. Meanwhile Ashen grows into a young woman, whose beauty is not lost on the muddy misfits in the village near Zazar's home, and who mistrust her as an Outlander. She narrowly escapes, venturing into the sickened land that her mother narrowly escaped, and finding the beginning of her destiny. I had high expectations for this book, given Andre Norton's reputation. The book started off strong with the political strife, the escape into the swamp, and the mystery of Zazar. The problem is that when the initial thrill is over, the book settles into a slow, unimpressive pace unmarked by any future "wows!" or twists that we couldn't see a mile away. For example, when you hear that Kazi dislikes Ashen, you know precisely what actions Kazi will take many pages later. When you hear that the leader of the locals hates Ashen, you know she will have to escape them when they turn on her. You know that Ysa's son would be a scourge. And you know that there will be some slow-growing crisis that Ashen will, at some point, be called on to fix. (Why aren't prophetic heroes ever summoned for societal reform?) In fact, Ysa herself is one of the sole aspects of the book that is original and fleshed out. She's an aging but perpetually brilliant woman, who craves power not just for herself, but for the continuation of what she believes is good. (And if she has to commit genocide to do so, fine). Her revulsion toward her soused, insensate husband and her irritating, weak son is well-drawn, as is her scheming to remain in power though she is a woman, and thus not allowed. She's bad, but she's a good character. Oh yes, and Zazar. Zazar is an intriguing, Merlinesque character who lives on the fringes and has a definite flair, and an otherworldly presence, such as telling Ashen that when she dies a new wysen-wyf will emerge from her corpse. (Like the pheonix? Anyhow, very imaginative) Her pronouncements and foresights are downright chilling, in a good spinetingling sort of way. The giant luppers (think enormous carnivore frogs) are pretty chilling as well, as is "Visp," the eerie little batcreature who spies for Ysa. The problem is that while Ysa or Zazar would make an intriguing protaganist, the heroine is Ashen. And she lives up to her name: her character is neither really bad or really outstanding, she's overall pretty blah. She doesn't accomplish much on her own, drifting through her life and reacting to those around her. She is (of course) beautiful, smart, good and kind, a teenager without any problems like acne or gangliness (why is there never an average-looking hero-of-prophecy?); what is up with that cover? Her clothes are sagging down into the mud! Prince Florian is evil, but not as textured as Sharon Shinn's Bryan in "Castle Auburn," Kazi is a typical sniveling traitor, and there is the typical monarchy-political strife. (Everyone wants to rule!) The idea of rival dynasties is not new, and Patricia McKillip put the extermination, escape and retaliation in better form in Song for the Basilisk. I was intrigued by the idea of carefully kept trees whose presence mirrors the "health" of the rival houses; I cringed at the idea of magical rings "choosing" who to bestow power on. If you read any and all fantasy, or are a major fan of Norton, you may want to read this. If you don't want another magical-medieval fantasy with a coming-of-age and some stock characters, don't read.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointed
Review: Ok, this book reminded me of one of those stories you tell around a campfire where one person starts and then you pass it along to someone else and they have to add to it and so on and so on. There were quite a few small flaws in the story that just irritated me. One the minor characters seemed to total change personalities three or four time. At one point she was spy pretending to be a noblewoman, then she WAS the noblewoman, then she seemed to be a noblewoman pretending to be a spy. It was implied that another character killed someone then he simply denies it and the incident is ignored. It's like one of the authors writes the character, the other takes over and does something totally different with the character then passes it back and leaves the first author to try and get things back to the way they were. Then there's the location of the Bale-Bog. Throughout most of the story it is well established that the bog lies to the north of the country of Rendel, but somewhere toward the end it suddenly picks up roots and moves south. Now don't get me wrong all these things could probably be overlooked if the story was better, but the characters seem to lack an identity of the their own. The most well developed character in the book is Queen Ysa, so much so that I find myself almost cheering for her, after all, all she wants to do is what's best for the country, even if she is blinded by jealousy. Between the authors that can't seem to get in sync and the weak characters and plot line this book was a real disappointment.
Rating: 
Summary: Great start to a new series
Review: Rendel seems to have always contained four major powers: Oak, Yew, Ash, and Rowan. However, centuries of endless war have devastated Ash and Rowan, leaving the King being an Oak and the Queen being a Yew. In reality, the evil Queen Ysa rules with a strategic objective to insure her throne remains in the hands of her descendants even if the magic she uses is malevolent. Ysa knows that the only potential obstacle is the prophecy that a female Ash will rise to wrestle the throne from her. Already loathing that house for providing her spouse with a mistress and to insure that the prophecy never occurs, Ysa has committed genocide and wiped out the House of Ash. However, deep in the swamp lives a girl being raised by a healer. That girl is the biological daughter of the king's deceased mistress. Could she be the focus of the foretelling of the return of the House of Ash or is it too late since Ysa has control of the rings of magic? TO THE KING A DAUGHTER, the first entry in a new fantasy series, is an exciting tale that brings to life a magical world. The story line apparently sets the tone for subsequent novels as readers learn about Rendel, leaving characters in the background with the exception of Ysa. The apparent heroine never slides into prime focus until the end of the tale. Genre fans will enjoy the opening gamut that sets the stage for the series, but future surfers may find it difficult to float in and out without this well written novel as a guide. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: Disappointed This Avid Norton Fan
Review: Some of Ms. Norton's collaborations "click" and some don't. This one really doesn't. There's the trademark cute and intelligent animals, the wisewoman (wysen-wyf, a title that kept giving me a mental image of one of those dried apple dolls), the Sulcar--uh, Sea-Rovers, and some palace intigue. But honestly there was too much happening and the authors did not draw it all together. The book lacked a sense of "place" which never happened with Witch World. It was very hard to get a sense of when the actions were occurring in relation to one another. And none of characters seem to come into focus. I really had to push myself to finish this book, which has never happened with a book that Ms. Norton has done alone, and I really don't care what happens in the rest of the proposed series. Guess I'll just have to wait for the second Edgehill/Norton book due out this month. I thought Shadow of Albion was a real feast and I'm eagerly awaiting the next one.
Rating:
Summary: Setting the stage
Review: The book had a LOT of potential but didn't really fulfill any of it. The reader is left completely unsatisfied that anything productive has been done minus that the stage has been set for (hopefully) a sequel in which there will be some actual ACTION. I found it very frustrating that the authors had three different threads of events going on and didn't weave them together into any kind of conclusion. Instead, the book is basically bringing those three threads together. End of story. Nothing resolved. I wouldn't buy this book until a sequel is published and the sequel has been determined to actually DO something. Only then will this book be worthwhile for background.
Rating:
Summary: Setting the stage
Review: The book had a LOT of potential but didn't really fulfill any of it. The reader is left completely unsatisfied that anything productive has been done minus that the stage has been set for (hopefully) a sequel in which there will be some actual ACTION. I found it very frustrating that the authors had three different threads of events going on and didn't weave them together into any kind of conclusion. Instead, the book is basically bringing those three threads together. End of story. Nothing resolved. I wouldn't buy this book until a sequel is published and the sequel has been determined to actually DO something. Only then will this book be worthwhile for background.
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