Rating: 
Summary: A Great Fantasy Series--but Start with the First Book.
Review: --Not that you couldn't start with this book, but the whole series is worth the read. As with many of her stories, this one is highly atmospheric, building detail upon lyrical detail, slowly and usually darkly, until it is the whole, rather than the elements, which makes itself preeminent and enjoyable. This is Tristan's story--Tristan, conjured into being by a sorcerer, who has a looming Past, Present and Future, that is totally unknown to him. He is born a blank slate, has not been in the world a full year, and yet needs to make his way amongst religious and armed strife, political intrigue, dark powers, complex human relationships and everything else contained in the wide world. Not only must he find his way, but he must contend with a Destiny: rumors that hint that he might be the fore-told High King. This, while his great friend is King Cefwyn, whom Tristan loves and desires to aid-- to keep Cefwyn's enemies at bay and keep him secure on the throne. In this book we see Tristan begin to come into his own, growing more sure of his way as his responsibilities and his powers increase--to the point of him changing the fate of kings and kingdoms and the welfare of the world itself.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Fantasy Series--but Start with the First Book.
Review: --Not that you couldn't start with this book, but the whole series is worth the read. As with many of her stories, this one is highly atmospheric, building detail upon lyrical detail, slowly and usually darkly, until it is the whole, rather than the elements, which makes itself preeminent and enjoyable. This is Tristan's story--Tristan, conjured into being by a sorcerer, who has a looming Past, Present and Future, that is totally unknown to him. He is born a blank slate, has not been in the world a full year, and yet needs to make his way amongst religious and armed strife, political intrigue, dark powers, complex human relationships and everything else contained in the wide world. Not only must he find his way, but he must contend with a Destiny: rumors that hint that he might be the fore-told High King. This, while his great friend is King Cefwyn, whom Tristan loves and desires to aid-- to keep Cefwyn's enemies at bay and keep him secure on the throne. In this book we see Tristan begin to come into his own, growing more sure of his way as his responsibilities and his powers increase--to the point of him changing the fate of kings and kingdoms and the welfare of the world itself.
Rating: 
Summary: The Last - I hope not!
Review: A very neat attempt at wrapping all of the threads of this series together. Any time I finish a related group of books & feel cranky cause there aren't going to be any more & I WANT to know more about them - well, that is a success. Twists and turns of the plot delighted me. They also insured that I didn't go through the book at a breakneck pace. You can't. You'll miss something. (I bought this book on 5/3 & finished it on 5/5.) I'll start the second reading on 5/7. Tristan will delight me with his growth and choices. Cefwin's manuvering through the politcs of his court will get me thinking about Beacon Hill. The religious intrigues are not so pronounced but will still be there, as will the politics of the women's court. Something that is often overlooked. The growth of the lesser (never minor) characters will add flavor and bite. There is a depth in here that is very pleasing. If you haven't read this series - START WITH THE FIRST! (Fortress in the Eye of Time) They are all keepers & worthy of re-reading.
Rating: 
Summary: Fortress of Dragons
Review: Cherryh seems intent on prolonging this series by leaving loose ends throughout this book. Leave the never ending story to Jordan (I gave up on him after the 4th book). This series needs one more, long, book to tie things up. It would also be good if Tristen continued to develop. Each book in the series starts off with a confused Tristen that doesn't seem connected to the world around him enough to tie his own shoe laces. If the Sihhe Lords were this incompetent to begin with they never would have conquered the territory in the first place.
Rating:
Summary: Review of the Series, Actually
Review: Fortress of Dragons is the fourth volume, and officially the last, in a series with a continuous plot and characters. To understand these books you need to read them all, in order.The series is set in a well-described culture similar to Europe or England in the early Middle Ages, with magical overtones. Cefwyn is the crown prince and shortly thereafter the king of Guelessar, a barely united group of provinces. The powerful nobles who run the provinces want considerable say in running the kingdom, and some want to sieze the kingship. Cefwyn, though shrewd, cynical, politically experienced, and violent when necessary, spends most of the four volumes trying to get and keep his nobles under control. His other threat is the neighboring kingdom of Elwynor. Elwynor is equally disunited because the former ruler (called the Regent) left only a daughter, Ninevrise, who being a woman is not convincing to the Elwynim nobles as a ruler in her own right. Several of them wish to marry her by force of arms and are fighting each other. They also plan to conquer Guelessar, with the help of Cefwyn's disaffected nobles. Cefwyn's marriage to Ninevrise partway through the series only gives him the responsibility of uniting her kingdom in addition to his own. The other main character is Tristen, who provides the magical/fantasy element of the series. Tristen is a Summoning (of a dead soul) by an ancient and powerful wizard called Mauryl. However, Tristen is incomplete or "flawed," as Mauryl says, having been created with the mind and knowledge of a child. Mauryl attempts to teach him, but is defeated by a sorcerous enemy early in the first volume, leaving Tristen to fend for himself. Tristen walks to the Henas'amef, the nearest city, where Cefwyn is in residence as governor. Their paths soon intersect, with Tristen progressing from being Cefwyn's semicaptive ward, to his friend and military ally, as Tristen learns, and as abilities and memories magically Unfold to him. It becomes clear that Cefwyn's earthly enemies are allied with Mauryl's (and therefore Tristen's) supernatural enemies, with Cefwyn and Tristen fighting different aspects of the same battle. Aside from the obvious plot of "Who will win the battle?" the other and more intriguing plot is the search for the answer to "Who is Tristen and what is his purpose in life?" This question is continually asked by Tristen and everyone around him. He looks like a Sihhe, who were five magical warriors brought from "the north" centuries ago by Mauryl. They have long since disappeared (no one knows whether they could actually die) but left many human descendants. If so, which Sihhe soul is Tristen? The last halfling king Elfwyn, a gentle scholar who was assassinated by Cefwyn's grandfather (along with all the other halfling Sihhe he could find)? The original Sihhe Barrakketh, a very nasty warrior and ruthless ruler? Will Tristen be forced to accept the qualities or follow the path of the soul he was formed from? What is a Sihhe anyway? A sort of wizard? A demigod? A god? Is Tristen's purpose to fight Mauryl's enemy? Is he supposed to become the "High King" who many people believe will return, and who they want Tristen to be? But what is the High King--the king of Guelessar, Elwynor, both, or ? And will Tristen simply vanish once his purpose is fulfilled, or once some fixed period of time has passed? Is the entire plot driven by fate, or can Tristen and other characters control their destinies? Fascinating questions. Unfortunately--the earthly plot _is_ resolved in this last volume, complete with the satisfactory unmasking of traitors and pledging of loyalties. The supernatural plot is also apparently resolved. However, the questions about Tristen's identity and fate are never really answered. Worse, the author implies that they are. Mauryl's enemy tells Tristen that Tristen's nature is similar to his own--but what does that mean? Tristen becomes the High King--but what does that mean? Considering he would much prefer to leave the business of rule to Cefwyn and Ninevrise and nobles like his friend Crissand, to whom he turns over a title and governership assigned to him by Cefwyn. And even the kings and nobles fondest of Tristen want to retain their own power intact. The author says Tristen explains to Cefwyn what being the High King means--but it is never explained to the reader. This cop-out as to Tristen's identity is the major weakness of the series. The other is a scarcity of strong female characters, particularly positive ones. This is very much a male world, of male friendship, loyalty, alliance, and achievement. The author says Ninevrise was educated to rule in her own right. However, all she does for four volumes is sit and embroider among the ladies of Cefwyn's court, enduring their petty jealousies and backbiting over precedence and clothes, while she waits for Cefwyn to reconquer her kingdom for her. The treacherous Aswydd twins, former mistresses of Cefwyn's, are somewhat more interesting. Especially after one bears a son who may have claims to the succession. But that's yet another question the author implies that she answers, but doesn't. And then--will Tristen, who has barely spoken to any women, find a High Queen and found a new Sihhe dynasty? The supernatural means of communication and travel that Tristen and other characters discover seem inconvincingly like plot conveniences. And there is a bit too much sentimentality--cute little ghostly girls and things like that. It's a good series, but it could have been significantly better.
Rating:
Summary: Speeding toward disappointment
Review: Having bought and read this entire series as it was published, I'd come to expect Cherryh's attention to trivial minutia and insignificant detail. What I didn't expect was that the conclusion of what has been hyped to be a Grand Fantasy would boil down to such unworthy things. That this book would have been reduced to perhaps 20 pages if the main characters had ever decided to act with conviction against other characters whom they knew to be enemies and dangerous to entire nations and dynasties has become a cliche; that Cherryh has been reduced to using such artificial conflict to create drama is merely sad. Her characters are always conflicted; in previous books, they were at least conflicted about matters worth being conflicted by. Cherryh's science fiction has always been superior (vastly superior, in this case) to her dabblings in fantasy; as a fan of this author, I can only recommend interested readers purchase "Cyteen" or "Rimrunners" to truly see how good a writer this woman can be. "Fortress of Dragons" is a hurried, disappointing end to a series that showed greater promise than was delivered. Too many questions were left unanswered, and the answers that were supplied were more often smoke-and-mirrors hand-waving than substantive, thought-out (and thought-provoking) conclusions. That these characters are able to go on to provide more stories is not in doubt; that they should is the real worry. Judging from "Fortress of Dragons", it's well past time to say goodbye to Tristen, Ylesuin, and Elwynor forever...and high time to wonder where the sequel to "Cyteen" might be.
Rating:
Summary: For Lovers of the English Language
Review: I am by trade a Technical Writer, but I have always had a great love of literature and the English language. "Fortress of Dragons" concludes one of the most finely crafted works in Fantasy. The first volume, "Fortress in the Eye of Time", is the only book I have ever reread immediately upon finishing it. It is the first book that ever moved me to send a "fan" letter. The subsequent volumes are the only hardcover editions I have ever bought because I did not have the patience to wait for the paperbacks. The series is a "mood" piece, a dark gothic tale that centers around hauntings past and present - a magical being is brought back into the world to battle an evil that haunts it. And it is this magical being, Tristen, who in the past may have been (and later is confirmed to be the case) one of the Magical Kings brought down from the frozen North to rule over a corrupted society. Those seeking a fast pace action story will not find it here; rather this is a tale of the psyche, a delving into the persona of Tristen who comes full born into the world with an impaired memory and how he comes to know who he is and what his purpose is. And in describing the inner conflict of Tristen and those about him, Cherryh has used magnificent prose, some of the best in the English language. Cherryh has along the way meticulously crafted a world, a world with a past, present and future filled with characters that the reader grows to care very much about. This is the true hallmark of a great fantasy. The growing self-awareness of Tristen that is developed throughout the series is a marvel to read. Cherryh has imbued this world with a completeness and consistency that shows the results of the 20 years she spent in gathering the materials for it. The mythological underpinnings of the storyline are well developed and have a "rightness" to them. The political and religious themes are so intricately intertwined with the magic of this world to make a perfect whole. I think that ultimately, though, what makes this a great fantasy is that, in distinction to many other fantasies, Cherryh has not devoted her entire efforts into making an evil at the cost of creating cardboard protagonists. Protagonist and antagonist are each perfectly realized. If you love beautiful English, there are few examples in literature as good as the Fortress series.
Rating: 
Summary: disappointing conclusion
Review: I didn't realize this was the final book of the series until after I had finished it and was reading the cover jacket. What a disappointing conclusion. Leaving some questions in the readers' minds is one thing but answering virtually nothing is another thing entirely. I also agree with another reviewer that most of the "plot" in this book was contrived. The reasons that Cefwyn continually gives for not dealing with known traitors to his kingdom wear thing awfully quick. But without that indecisiveness the book would be awfully short.
Rating:
Summary: Fortress of Dragons
Review: I found this conclusion book disappointing. It leaves too many questions unanswered. The story doesn't feel complete. Is Tristen the High King? It seems like he is. But in what capacity? And if so for how long? He looks to escape it but it doesn't look like he was meant to escape it. And if he is he will have to overcome alot of problems, especially to have Amefel. And if he is king will he marry and produce an Heir? Can He? And what about Cefwyn's TWO sons? This book could have been better or at least not the last in the series. There should have been one more to tie up all the loose ends from this one. I would like to see another book, maybe one set in the future, that tells what happens to the characters.
Rating:
Summary: very disappointing
Review: i have a deep amount of respect for c.j. cherryh. she has the ability to set a mood that is practically unparalled. her ability to tell a story, however, is not up to the same level. the storyline of this series is just not that good. it's extraordinarily repetitive. all tristen's time in the greyspace is essentially the same, with some subtle differences. the ending is massively disappointing. same old greyspace battle with tristen, and then a very basic "could have happened 1/3 of the way through the series" battle in the 'real world'. that was pretty much it for the ending. didn't even really sum things up, but that horse has been beaten to death, so i won't touch that much. the last 2 books are just the same old settings, which were great at first, but you have to take things up a notch. i realize that certain authors, such as tolkein, you have to soak in - they don't have blazing storytelling - but cherryh takes it a little too far for my taste.
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