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The Sword of Maiden's Tears (Book One of the Twelve Treasures)

The Sword of Maiden's Tears (Book One of the Twelve Treasures)

List Price: $4.99
Your Price: $4.99
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Wow!
Review: Rosemary Edghill has a remarkable, rare, extraordinary talent with words. In many books, when there is no action/dialogue the reader is rather bored, but Edghill does a fantastic job! Her dry, sarcastic wit is simply great.

She has created a bunch of real, faulty, somewhat odd friends. Each has their own past and is a story in themself. Ruth, the main character, has to be one of the most real, somewhat "normal" characters ever created-she is not a superwoman, nor does she act like one. And Melior does not blend in right away and use powerful magic to solve his quest. He is injured and is facing momentous odds. Nor is he all-knowing, our culture is strange to him and he acts accordingly.

The basic plot is Melior, an elf lord, "falls" into New York City. Ruth, a student librarian, rescues him. She and her student friends have a hard time believing him, but Ruth helps him in his quest to discover his stolen magic sword, which he must find.

Warning: for those of you (like me) who object to gross or icky stuff, skim/skip all sections concerning the Grendel. It is horrible and gross. Other than that the book is entertaining, if a little depressing.

Warning: Have the next book at hand when you finish The Sword of Maiden's Tears. I didn't, and oh, did I suffer.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Wow!
Review: Rosemary Edghill has a remarkable, rare, extraordinary talent with words. In many books, when there is no action/dialogue the reader is rather bored, but Edghill does a fantastic job! Her dry, sarcastic wit is simply great.

She has created a bunch of real, faulty, somewhat odd friends. Each has their own past and is a story in themself. Ruth, the main character, has to be one of the most real, somewhat "normal" characters ever created-she is not a superwoman, nor does she act like one. And Melior does not blend in right away and use powerful magic to solve his quest. He is injured and is facing momentous odds. Nor is he all-knowing, our culture is strange to him and he acts accordingly.

The basic plot is Melior, an elf lord, "falls" into New York City. Ruth, a student librarian, rescues him. She and her student friends have a hard time believing him, but Ruth helps him in his quest to discover his stolen magic sword, which he must find.

Warning: for those of you (like me) who object to gross or icky stuff, skim/skip all sections concerning the Grendel. It is horrible and gross. Other than that the book is entertaining, if a little depressing.

Warning: Have the next book at hand when you finish The Sword of Maiden's Tears. I didn't, and oh, did I suffer.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: An Elf in New York City
Review: Sounds cliched, doesn't it? I thought long and hard before I bought this book, but I've found a marvelous author. Rosemary Edghill manages to avoid the cliches that abound in modern fantasy novels. She has created a world were good doesn't win through deus ex machina, but actually has to struggle. The protagonists actually have character flaws. Now, how often does that happen to the good guys? If you want a book, and a series, that doesn't allow easy choices, then try "The Twelve Treasures."

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: I Wound Up Liking It Better The More I Read
Review: The main story is that Rohannan Melior (of a different world/dimension(?)) arrives in NYC as a result of his quest to find a sword that's been stolen from his family, and which will result in their disgrace and banishment their land's Court if it isn't returned soon. Of course, as soon as he arrives, he is mugged and the sword is stolen. Unfortunately, if a human handles the sword, they will shortly tranform into a ravaging monster with a craving for human flesh. RM hooks up with a group of mismatched Columbia University friends, and the quest is on to find the sword.

At first, I didn't like any of the characters except RM - the stranger in an even stranger land. They didn't seem to ring true, their speech patterns or something didn't seem right for their ages, or maybe they didn't behave as my college friends and I did. But gradually, once the background of some of the characters was revealed, their behavior became more understandable, given their flaws. (Though I still found myself checking the copyright date a couple of times.) There was still a little too much pretentious quoting and epigram-throwing for them to be believable, but I guess the author had to get it out of her system. The mugger who wound up with the sword was a tragic character, slowly taking that one extra step at a time that was leading him away from his dreams.

I wasn't all that happy with the ending until I realized that it was just the set-up for the sequel, which I will try to read. It was an interesting book, worth reading, but the characters could have been a little less stereotypical.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Typical fantasy/contemporary crossover
Review: This book is typical rehashed crossover material. From the elf to the "grendel". I found myself not caring one bit for any of the characters. The dialogue is contrived and the concept just sets you up for a boring read. Do yourself a favor and stay away from this book and, God forbid, the 12 book series. An elf in the NYC subways? Yawn.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Not your average fantasy romp
Review: This book seemed to go beyond the average crossover genre, first by reversing the usual crossover, and second by introducing real characters, people who had faults, weaknesses, and basic humanity. Each character had a basic fear, a basic weakness, each of which is painfully pushed out to the forefront here, and which makes each character all the more noble for his or her ability to confront and rise above it. This could be the next best series out there, so far as I'm concerned.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Flawed, but not a bad read
Review: This was a fairly good book. For a group of characters that I expected to be boring, Rosemary Edgehill did a great job. The humor thrown in is a great touch. However, I thought the romance between Ruth and Melior felt forced and the climax and conclusion (no, I won't give it away) felt like they didn't fit with the rest of the story. Still, not a bad read.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Flawed, but not a bad read
Review: This was a fairly good book. For a group of characters that I expected to be boring, Rosemary Edgehill did a great job. The humor thrown in is a great touch. However, I thought the romance between Ruth and Melior felt forced and the climax and conclusion (no, I won't give it away) felt like they didn't fit with the rest of the story. Still, not a bad read.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Who'd have thought?
Review: What can I say? I've never been an avid science-fiction/fantasy reader, but after I read this book, hey, call me Trekkie. The characters seemed like real people who face life with the same (well, not always ) problems we do. I just connected with it. The Twelve Treasures series is definitely going to be a part of my collection.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: I loved this book
Review: Wow. What a way to start a series! I couldn't put this book down until I finished it (which wasn't really the smartest thing to do, with finals and all). The story is wonderfully written, and very unique. Has there ever been a heroine in a story who's a normal librarian? The ending actually almost had me in tears, since it's so different from what I expected. I agree with the person who said it first; have the second book ready! And when you read that one, be sure to have the third book ready! :)


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