Rating: Summary: A must read for anyone who enjoys science fiction/fantasy! Review: This book is but the beginning of one of the greatest trilogies I have ever read. The story revolves around a young woman named Paksenarrion who runs away from home to avoid the fate her father had consigned her to. Looking for fame and adventure, she joins a mercenary company in which she spends the rest of the book with. As the book progresses, I found myself coming to care deeply for the main character even to the point of becoming heart broken when something bad happens. Elizabeth Moon gives a realistic description of military life that is simply missing from many books in the same genre. The writing is very well done and keeps a good pace. The plot is excellent and not once did I become bored with the direction of the book. I would say that this book is a must read for any person who enjoys this genre.
Rating: Summary: Excellent!!!!! There's nothing else to say. Review: This book was fabulous, it's military contents matching that of the great David Drake and David Weber. I loved it.
Rating: Summary: A Great Beginning to a Remarkable Trilogy Review: This book was wonderful. The attention to detail and development of her personality and moral character was fascinating. The sense of honor Paks has is a wonderful thing to behold. The intriguing clues that there was more to Paks than an ordinary soldier made me very concerned about the release date of the second book. This is a classic.
Rating: Summary: 1st book in the best trilogy ever Review: This is a good book. It isn't the best of "The Deed of Paksenarrion" series, but is still great. I love how detailed it is, including even things that are not essential to know. The book is absorbing and is impossible to put down unless your mother threatens to throw it away.
Rating: Summary: The details alone make it worth reading Review: This is a great series! Follows Paksenarrion Dorthansdotter, a young provincial woman who joins a mercenary company at 18 and goes on to become a famous knight. Book One is about her days as a mercenary soldier. I was amazed at how detailed Moon's accounts of military life are. In some ways, this book is a little like "By the Sword" by Mercedes Lackey, but I would rate this by far as the better of the two. Paks is good, but not cocky, like Lackey's Kerowyn tends to be. She enjoys just being a common soldier, although her superiors notice something special about her from the first. Eventually, Paks becomes a key player in the main battle of the story, as several mercenary armies ally together to bring down Count Siniava, the bad guy. At times, "rich in detail" can become just "confusing", especially since (at least in the version I own) Moon spends a great deal of time on the importance of geography, but doesn't include a map. But if you enjoy more sword than sorcery, with likable (and perhaps even more important, believable!) characters, this is a great book.
Rating: Summary: A very enjoyable book. Feels very realistic. Review: This is a very good fantasy/adventure story and I recommend it to fans of the genre. This book follows the adventures of a young girl who has left home with dreams of becoming a warrior in a mercenary company. Her experiences are exciting, frustrating, unexpected, bewildering, and challenging to her. The big plus for me was the extremely realistic feel of this book. Her training and the missions seemed very genuine. Elizabeth Moon avoided going over the top with this book and kept it believable. For example, when someone gets an injury, they don't jump back up and just brush it off like many other novels. They spend days and weeks recovering.I read this as part of the "Deed of Paksennarion" compilation, but I felt more comfortable reviewing this book alone because I felt it was superior to the other two novels in the trilogy: "Divided Allegience" and "Oath of Gold". This book stands well on its own, even though it is part of a trilogy. If you read this and enjoy it for the same reasons I did, be warned that the next two books take a different direction and lose some of what made this book so enjoyable for me.
Rating: Summary: Crossing Over with the Sheepfarmers Daughter Review: This is one of those Science Fiction/Fantasy Crossover books that I don't usually enjoy. I tend to like hard Space Opera style SF, but I do like Elizabeth Moon, and after reading this I still do. She writes one hell of a story, and right from the first chapter to the end of the third book, you will be making time to read this book.
Rating: Summary: Strong and realistic female character Review: This is the type of book that should be given to teenage
girls. The portrait of mercenary life is quite realistic-
folks actually are injured, crippled or die. My only quarrel
is not with this book, but with the two that follow. The
series gets more fantasy oriented, and looses a lot of it's
realism and charm. Still, it is nice to read of a girl who
follows her (realistic) dreams and suceeds with hard work
and not with some magical gimick.
Rating: Summary: One of the BEST books I've EVER read! :) Review: What a great book! I read this book in 4 hours tops and I couldn't put it down! Paks is a strong character, smart and strong. The plot twists and turns, with an unusual dose of surprise every turn. Never a dull moment. BUY THIS BOOK NOW AND THE REST OF THEM TOO!!!!!!!
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