Rating: 
Summary: Not Worth the $5.20
Review: "This book is not to be tossed lightly aside, but rather hurled with great force." Dorothy ParkerI gave up at the first 1/3. The characters were caricatures, the plot was plodding and the writing was marginally worse than Mercedes Lacky (and that is an achievement). I realize the author has written some other books that aren't terrible (her star trek collaborations are pretty readable), but this one should not have been published until there were at least three more rewrites.
Rating: 
Summary: This book blows the imagination out of this world
Review: After reading this book the first time, I fell in love with the Fey and the Islanders. Once I started I could not put it down. Rush's grasp on the war within and the war all over was taken to the extreme. Her discription of the character's thoughts was extraordinary. I have read The Fey over and over again. It is a major must read for anyone. I am 13 and I love it
Rating: 
Summary: Hasn't ANYONE heard of ARROWS????
Review: As I started this book, I had no expectations. I was in the need of a book to read and I found this one on my shelf. I started to read it and was instantly intrigued by the concepts, the worlds, the races. Unfortunately, as I continued to read, I was very disappointed by the shallow, stereotyped characters and the boring plotline. I found myself unable to root for any character much less either side in the war between the Fey and the Islanders. None of the characters (except with MAYBE the exception of Silence) was the least bit appealing. Granted, the religion vs. magic / religion = magic ideas were intriguing, but they were greatly overshadowed by the fact that the Fey were battling against something that a 10-year old could have beat with a simple BOW AND ARROW!!!! I will not ruin the plot for you who are reading this and are looking forward to the book (there are many worse books out there to read), but when you are reading it, try not to think about the fa! ct that arrows, much less throwing rocks at the Islanders, could have turned the tide in the war. For anyone to read this book cover to cover and NOT think about using bows and arrows against the Islanders at least 1000 times, you would have to be truly unimaginative. I almost could have led myself to believe that bows and arrows were not yet discovered, but for two things: one society already had watches, and the fact that the Islanders were shooting arrows at the Fey!!!!!
Rating:
Summary: Composed of sentence fragments. Lots of them.
Review: At the beginning of this book I was intrigued by the idea of a magical and warlike people invading a peaceful country and failing to overthrow the natives. As I read beyond the first few chapters, however, I became distracted by the writing style, which is most strongly characterized by paragraphs composed of sentence fragments. It seems that many of the characters think in this clipped and broken style as well. I suspect that the author is capable of writing prose that is devoid of this annoying characteristic, and in fact there are sections (albeit short) that read much more smoothly. Unfortunately, these passages did not make up for the style of the rest of the book. In spite of holes in the plot that stretch the bounds of credibility (see an earlier review about bows and arrows for an example; also consider how much sexual attraction Nicholas could possibly have felt toward Jewel in their first meeting, as she was trying to kill him in melee) the story has some appeal. Not enough appeal, unfortunately, for me to be able to recommend this book. The potential for a good and well-told story, represented by the intriguing elements of the plot introduced early in the book, remains unfulfilled.
Rating: 
Summary: A good start to a great series
Review: I picked it up by chance, started it, put it down for a while...just couldn't get into it. Glad I picked it back up. Slow start but it "reels" you in! Kristine has woven a fantasic tale of love, magic, treachery...and sacrifice. I applaud the entire series mainly because she has taken the Fey formula (wispy, fragile creatures) and transformed them into a conquering race, quite brutal actually. Plus, the strong religious intolerance element make it strike close to home. I've almost finished Book IV: The Resistance and have Book V: Victory and The Black Queen awaiting my eager eyes on my coffee table at home. Kudos to Kristine!
Rating:
Summary: A good start to a great series
Review: I picked it up by chance, started it, put it down for a while...just couldn't get into it. Glad I picked it back up. Slow start but it "reels" you in! Kristine has woven a fantasic tale of love, magic, treachery...and sacrifice. I applaud the entire series mainly because she has taken the Fey formula (wispy, fragile creatures) and transformed them into a conquering race, quite brutal actually. Plus, the strong religious intolerance element make it strike close to home. I've almost finished Book IV: The Resistance and have Book V: Victory and The Black Queen awaiting my eager eyes on my coffee table at home. Kudos to Kristine!
Rating:
Summary: Give it a chance
Review: I really enjoyed this book and have continued to read the whole series. Admittedly it is difficult to get into but if you stick with it it will be worth your while. But i do recomend that some of the writing might be a bit gory in parts for some people, but if you like Magic, War and Suspence this is the book for you!
Rating:
Summary: Go find something else to read
Review: I thought at first that this was going to be the same kind of satisfying series that Tad Williams' "Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn" series was. But midway through book 3, I stopped and hurled it against the wall as hard as I could. The writing was ponderous and flat, the story was original - sort of - but was directionless after the first two books, the gratuitous gore affected even *MY* cast-iron stomach, the characters were empty and evoked no sympathy on my part...
Rating:
Summary: Go find something else to read
Review: I thought at first that this was going to be the same kind of satisfying series that Tad Williams' "Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn" series was. But midway through book 3, I stopped and hurled it against the wall as hard as I could. The writing was ponderous and flat, the story was original - sort of - but was directionless after the first two books, the gratuitous gore affected even *MY* cast-iron stomach, the characters were empty and evoked no sympathy on my part...
Rating:
Summary: Amazing writing and Amazing Story!
Review: It amazes me each time I read a review of Rusch you either hate her work or love it. I am one of those who cannot say enough good things about this series and this book. The book is niether wildly fantastical or whimiscal. Rather it is based on Olde English concepts of magical folk. Rather than having mages that have all the power these magical creatures are limited in their abilities to one kind of magic, changeling or prophesizing to name two. I know it is worth the read and I cannot wait for the next in the series!
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