Rating: 
Summary: Weak dragon weir
Review: This is not one of Storm's best. In fact,this is a confusing mix of conventional fantasy and arcane sex politics, full of loose ends and uncompleted scenarios. What's more, there isn't a single persona in the novel which I didn't find pityful, despicable or both...and who doesn't meet an horrendous death.If this is the FIRST book, I think I'll spare myself the other two.
Rating: 
Summary: Dark, gothic, disturbing
Review: This is NOT typical American fantasy. You can tell the author is a Brit. The characterization is rich, multi-faceted, and doesn't pander to the reader's inclinations. The plot is a bit thin, but well done in the context of the short length. The general style is DENSE. A great deal of narrative, not so much dialogue. I wouldn't call this a page turner, you have to concentrate and wade through thick viscous sentences, but the overall affect is positive. One negative, as others have mentioned, is a mid-stream switch in perspective character, and new characters added at the end. The book was as I said DENSE, so it tried to cram too much into too little space. Some of the characters presume greater familiarity that seems plausible.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting start to the series
Review: This is the first book in The Magravandias Chronicles. I thought it was pretty cool. I didn't enjoy it as much as some of the author's other work but it was a very interesting read. The first half of the book is told from a woman named Pharinet's POV. She is the twin sister to the Dragon Heir, Valraven. This part of the book is pretty dark. It's full of incest and jealousy which was fairly amusing but I didn't really get hooked till the second half of the book. In the second part, the POV shifts to a recently married Madragore princess named Varencienne. As she comes to know the characters from the first part of the book the mysteries of the sea dragon begin to unravel. I wasn't overly fond of any of the characters but I liked them all ok. The plot was interesting enough that I didn't really mind. I do look forward to learning more about some of the side characters in the second book, Crown of Silence, which I would be ordering now if I weren't broke.
Rating: 
Summary: The Sum Not The Equal Of Its Parts
Review: This novel never really credibly comes together, its component parts lacking the integration to achieve a well rounded whole. In many ways the story reads as if it is being invented as it goes along, without any clear sense of over-arching purpose or goal, various plot threads spinning out to their own, at times loosely tangled conclusion. If evidence of an "organic" approach to writing, the author has not been successful. As reviewers Angus Macdonald and bethohio have implied, elements in the plot to this tale lack a necessary cohesion and continuity, many events being explained or supported by exposition when necessary, the author often forced to tell rather than show the rationale for things occurring. There is underlying sense of action and events being staged to conform to the requirements of the moment, characters not always acting consistently, convenient circumstances placed in their way, and magical elements introduced and explained just when needed. Further, unlike some earlier reviewers, I found many of the characterizations kept bound to the surface of events, despite the author's attempts to provide complexity, perhaps weakened by their need to adhere to a plot that often seemed to roll along of its own volition, the character's thoughts and actions forced to conform. There is a clear division, in terms of the quality of writing, between the first section devoted to Pharinet and the successive sections---ignoring for the moment the epilogue---in which Varencienne is introduced and takes over as the main protagonist. The first section, entitled "Life," outside perhaps of the incestuous relationship, seems very conventional in its use of establishing the setting and background to this tale, drawing upon high fantasy tropes that seem overly familiar, and written in a style and narrative voice verging upon the most basic (I must admit that I came to this book directly from Guy Gavriel Kay's masterful writing in "Lord of Emperors," so perhaps this section suffered by comparison). With the introduction of Varencienne in section two, however, the writing and plot development appear to significantly improve, doing much to redeem the simplicity and sparingly imaginative opening to this book. Nonetheless, this first novel in a series remained problematic for me, being neither forgettable nor memorable. As another reviewer has mentioned, the book's conclusion in particular was unsatisfying, revelations hinted about Pharinet that seemed both out of character and out of the blue. Also, the image of the women---one an empress---squabbling on the beach was unintentionally burlesque. Finally, with the epilogue we shift to an entirely new locality and potential plot. While one senses that the author here, and elsewhere, is striving to enliven and enrich her tale with multi-layered intrigues, these efforts appear shallow and artificial compared to other masters of this device, such as George R.R. Martin, Steven Erikson, or Guy Gavriel Kay. This book does have its moments, and there is a certain seductive interest generated by the tale and its sea-based, elemental magic. However, these rewards here remain rather modest, and while one might be able to claim this book is decently written and offers, once past the opening chapters, a solid story, it is hard to embrace this as being much above average. Three and a half stars at best, though I have noted that Locus listed the sequel, "Crown of Silence," as one of the best fantasy novels of last year, among such luminaries as "Deadhouse Gates," "Ship of Destiny," "The Black Chalice," "Winter's Heart," "Lord of Emperors," "Tower at Stony Wood," and "A Storm of Swords." So perhaps this series improves and will reward continued reading.
Rating:
Summary: Good, yet somehow not so good
Review: Unlike alot of reviews I will not be giving away any of the plot, I will simplpy give a review. So, as I read this book I could not decide whether I wanted to throw this book away or wanted to keep reading just to see what happens next. This is to to the fact that throughout this book there are quite a few places where it slows down so horribly bad that you can barely stay awake. However when some thing does happen, its so profoundly well written and interesting that you can't stop reading. Unfortuneltly then you hit another slow spot and so on and so on. I also felt that this could have been a far better book if you got to follow the men at war, due to the fact that Valraven is a wonderfully complex and interesting character, who you want to know more about but just don't get to. I found the women, who are the main characters in the story and who's point of view you are reading from, are for the most part uniformed about the world around them and live simply dull lives. Until the men come home which is where the "I can't put this book down" parts are. However I will give Storm Constantine credit for creating a great world with many different cultures, with many different histories. As well as writing a book with many twists and surprises. However I would like to say that I hated it when in the middle of the story you switch point of views, from a woman who you have viewed the world through for the entire book up to that point. To a woman you have never heard of and know nothing about. Now for the best part of the book, which happens to be the ending, you have to read through a stop and go book. However I felt that the ending was so good that it was worth reading, and I think that it has setup a good plot for the second book. So we'll see what the second book brings to the table.
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