Rating: 
Summary: Readable, but confused
Review: Really, the title of my review says it all. I bought the book (actually, the books, since I bought books three and four as well) while browsing in a secondhand bookshop, and mainly because I liked the jacket illustration (I am referring to the English version, which personally I like better than the American one), so I had no preconception, and added to that had not read book one (and couldn't obtain it in France) so I was not in the best of minds to pick up in the middle of the story. Well. I did like the characters-most of them, at any rate.
But two things really account for the score. First, the story. It's not that it's particularly bad, but there's too much in it, too many subplots that get you confused, don't get you very far-when you think about it very little of import actually happens because the story is spread out between so many characters (add to that an annoying tendency of the author-but then it's almost inevitable when you deal with several strands of plots- to cut off at the most interesting moment. that's fine by me, keeps me reading, but the thought of having to wait for fifty to seventy pages before Mrs Furey gets back to them was almost more than I could bear).
Point two, the stereotypes. It's not enough that the plot is somewhat redolent of a typical quest fantasy, and that the main characters on the good side-particularly Aurian and Anvar-are so much the clichéd heroes that they become bland at times- but the villains are really too much of a caricature to be believable. And some scenes are so naive (like the one between Anvar and the Cailleach) that they make you shake your head.
I'd like to add that despite that, I'm in the middle of book three, and I must admit that so far Mrs Furey seems to have made an effort on the cliché side, at least as far as the villains are concerned, but this, coming after the second book, I am afraid, sounds even less believable than the Dark-Lord-villain.
The subplots problem has remained the same. I think it's a good light read, and she does have talent for creating memorable characters-but the ones you keep in mind are, I think, more the secondary characters than the main ones.
Rating: 
Summary: The Magic continues!
Review: This book is not as good as Aurian, but it is still brilliant. the action moves at a quick pace, but not so quick as to leave you running to catch up, and as usual the descriptions Maggie Furey gives us to explain the events are colourful and vibrant. The book is very easy to follow, even if you haven't read the first one, but who would read a sequel without reading the starter anyway? I loved it.
Rating: 
Summary: fantastic
Review: This book was not as good as the first one but it definetly was fantastic.I couldn't put it down.The way she discribes the charactures makes you see how much they have grown.My faveourite characture is Shia because she is a characture made of pure fantisy and is very loveble she would also do anything for her friends.I am currently in the middle of her thired book and that too is very good so far.
Rating:
Summary: Well thought, well wrought.
Review: This the second book in The Aterfacts of Power series (following Aurian, and followed by The Sword of Flame and Dhiammara).After their harrowing ordeal in the blinding desert of glittering gem shards where they recreated the Staff of Earth, one of the lost Artefacts of Power, the Mages Aurian and Anvar find themselves victims of yet another treachery. Aurian, now several months pregnant and so bereft of her powers, ends up in the stronghold of the Tower of Incondor, prisoner of Harihn, Prince of the Khazalim, whereas Anvar is taken hostage by Blacktalon, High Priest of the Sky Folk, in the high-peaked city of Aerillia. Both are in league with Miathan, who covets Aurian's child, on which he's put a terrible curse. Shia the great cat might be their only hope. In this second volume, Maggie Furey takes the opportunity of Aurian and Anvar's confinement not only to develop background characters such as Vannor and his daughter Zanna, Parric, Forral's former horsemaster, or the Nightrunners, but also to introduce the reader with a whole cast of new characters, among which the winsome shapeshifting Xandim Chiamh and Shiannath, therefore letting the story unravel gently, without slowing the pace of action. And all the while, the mountain is watching...
Rating:
Summary: Just as good as the First... Even Better.
Review: This was a classic tale of good over evil. It was a great read and I couldn't put it down. Now I'm searching desperatly for the third book so I'll have something to do over the holidays.
Rating:
Summary: An involving novel. It kept me in its grip, front to back.
Review: This wonderful fantasy book of magic and treachery is a must read. There is never a weak point in the plot, and the action never stops. You are drawn into Furey's magical world
Rating: 
Summary: Plot heavy
Review: Too many plots and sub plots in this second of the series. Getting hard to keep everything and everyone straight. Would have been better keeping all the subplots in a separate book and just getting on with it. It's too much like reading more than one book at the same time.
Rating:
Summary: Plot heavy
Review: Too many plots and sub plots in this second of the series. Getting hard to keep everything and everyone straight. Would have been better keeping all the subplots in a separate book and just getting on with it. It's too much like reading more than one book at the same time.
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