Rating: 
Summary: A welcome delight for the reader...
Review: I read this book years ago, I was stunned and exhilerated. This is why I read fantasy and science fiction. So that the story can grab me and the characters can touch me. Tanya Huff has written one of my favorite novels of all time with Fire's Stone. I've re-read it, it was ruined, I re-bought it. If she ever decides to write about this world again, I will be the first in line for it. I am a true Tanya Huff devoté!
Rating:
Summary: Highly recommended
Review: I'd read Tanya's "Blood" series and enjoyed them. I was worried that her work in fantasy would be a disappointment. I was happy to find that I was worrying needlessly.
Tanya writes characters that you can be interested in; whose flaws are just as interesting as their merits. The plot follows the quest formula, a mage, a warrior and a theif - but the participants aren't your typical stereotypes.
Worth the read for any fan of fantasy.
Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful, totally convincing characters
Review: It's the characters and their relationships that make this book such a treasure. The plot of this story is pretty standard. A magical stone is stolen, and has to be retrieved to save a city from destruction by a volcano. Interesting idea, but no big deal. But there are three gorgeous principals involved - a prince, third in line to the throne, and therefore superfluous to everybody, a thief, and a young woman from another country, who is also the most powerful wizard around. The prince has lived a life of self-indulgent drinking and womanizing ('manizing', too). The thief comes from a culture where men who love other men get burnt at the stake. He watched his father flog his (female) beloved to death, and has built up walls around his mind to protect him from caring. His courage and skill and coldness have made him the best thief in the city. The wizard is still feeling her way into her skills, and the more subtle skill of understanding other human beings. She gets betrothed to the prince, but as a wizard is forbidden to love or make love. So she ups sticks from her faraway country (where she is the heir apparent) to tell the prince so. The thief, meanwhile, falls into the prince's hands. For reasons the prince doesn't quite understand, he keeps the thief away from the royal torturers, and saves his life. The thief makes it abundantly clear that he is not interested in a relationship (too much pain, terror of tenderness, visions of blackened corpses on stakes). The wizard watches these two, knowing the inevitable, and sighs "men!". They all get sent off to find the stolen fire's stone. The inevitable happens. The prince realises that the thief is real, and has real feelings, and that he matters more than anybody else he has known. The thief comes to terms with his own emotions, gradually breaking down his walls, and learning to love again. And the wizard, who's been lonely and friendless, realises that she's made two best friends. The changing relationships are beautifully, skilfully and convincingly developed. The sub-themes and sub-plots are well done, too, particularly the thief's friendship with an irreverent old lady. There's no explicit sex, but there is something much more subversive: heartwarming, selfless love and affection, between all three. A lovely tale - to be read when you're feeling depressed about the awfulness of the world, and the selfishness of the rich and powerful. You'll wander round for hours afterwards with a glad smile. A sequel please!
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful, totally convincing characters
Review: It's the characters and their relationships that make this book such a treasure. The plot of this story is pretty standard. A magical stone is stolen, and has to be retrieved to save a city from destruction by a volcano. Interesting idea, but no big deal. But there are three gorgeous principals involved - a prince, third in line to the throne, and therefore superfluous to everybody, a thief, and a young woman from another country, who is also the most powerful wizard around. The prince has lived a life of self-indulgent drinking and womanizing ('manizing', too). The thief comes from a culture where men who love other men get burnt at the stake. He watched his father flog his (female) beloved to death, and has built up walls around his mind to protect him from caring. His courage and skill and coldness have made him the best thief in the city. The wizard is still feeling her way into her skills, and the more subtle skill of understanding other human beings. She gets betrothed to the prince, but as a wizard is forbidden to love or make love. So she ups sticks from her faraway country (where she is the heir apparent) to tell the prince so. The thief, meanwhile, falls into the prince's hands. For reasons the prince doesn't quite understand, he keeps the thief away from the royal torturers, and saves his life. The thief makes it abundantly clear that he is not interested in a relationship (too much pain, terror of tenderness, visions of blackened corpses on stakes). The wizard watches these two, knowing the inevitable, and sighs "men!". They all get sent off to find the stolen fire's stone. The inevitable happens. The prince realises that the thief is real, and has real feelings, and that he matters more than anybody else he has known. The thief comes to terms with his own emotions, gradually breaking down his walls, and learning to love again. And the wizard, who's been lonely and friendless, realises that she's made two best friends. The changing relationships are beautifully, skilfully and convincingly developed. The sub-themes and sub-plots are well done, too, particularly the thief's friendship with an irreverent old lady. There's no explicit sex, but there is something much more subversive: heartwarming, selfless love and affection, between all three. A lovely tale - to be read when you're feeling depressed about the awfulness of the world, and the selfishness of the rich and powerful. You'll wander round for hours afterwards with a glad smile. A sequel please!
Rating:
Summary: 3 misfits, 2 powerful wizards, 1 fantastic adventure!!!!
Review: Ms. Huff's characters are some of the most ragtag and troubled that I've ever encoutered. Still, they come across as people you can empathize with, rather than pity. You cheer them on as they try to tackle the problems of an entire nation while managing their own shortcomings and hang-ups...and there are plenty! A prince, a thief, and a young wizard seek the magic talisman that holds back the everpresent peril threatening the city. At the same time, each grows and matures, forming bonds of friendship and love to last forever.
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining and Interesting
Review: This book is a great read when you just want to relax and escape. It has interesting characters, a terrific, flawlessly executed setting, humor and romance. I also happen to like the way Huff treats gay/lesbian themes. It's not the focus of the story, but it's there and it's real.
There were one or two scenes that I thought were a bit melodramatic, which keep me from giving a full five stars, but this isn't a life changing sort of novel. It's an exceptional action adventure story, nothing more, nothing less. It earned it's place on my list of "comfort reading" and I would recommend it to anyone who likes a good story, and dosen't mind same sex love.
Rating:
Summary: Great characters
Review: This book's plot is pretty average. Three strangers meet up and set out on a quest to retrieve a stolen magical object. What made this book enjoyable was the three main characters. Aaron is a runaway prince turned thief. Darvish is a drunken prince who turns out to be a pretty decent guy after he drys up a bit. Chandra is a princess who's not happy about her betrothal to Darvish because all she wants to do is wizard about. The characters are all pretty likeable and well developed for such a small book. If you are looking for a decent but light fantasy story with a bit of slash thrown in then this is a good choice.
Rating:
Summary: Another Good One
Review: This is probably the fifth or sixth book I have read by Tanya Huff and she is definitely an author I would highly recommend. I really liked the characters in this, especially Darvish (despite his drunkenness in the beginning). Though the growing relationship and feelings between Aaron and Darvish made me a little uncomfortable (I would rather have had Darvish lusting after Chandra instead of Aaron) I didn't let it put me off and had a hard time putting the book down in order to do the necessary everyday chores that need to be done. Tanya Huff does a wonderful job of showing what friendship and true caring is all about. I hope she does come up with a sequel to this, but if not anything else she does come up with will be very good without a doubt. You can't really go wrong with one of her books.
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