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Rating: 
Summary: Too many complaints!
Review: All I have to say is that if you knew anything about the author at all, you wouldn't have so many complaints. Writing is a reflection of who we are. It encompasses everything around us. Do a little research about the author and I guarantee you'll like the books ten times more!
Rating: 
Summary: Review of The Spellsong War by L. E. Modesitt Jr.
Review: I enjoyed the novel "The Soprano Sorceress" and I was looking foreward to reading "The Spellson War." I enjoyed the book. However, I was shocked by the language. The Lady Anna, in my opinion, would not use crude and vulgar expressions such as the F and Sh words. One might expect such language from low-bred teens and soldiers, but not from decent college professors. Educated people usually have sufficient vocabulary to express themselves without resorting to crude or opbscene language.
"The Spellsong war" is wonderfully conceived, and executed. I feel sorry that the author chose to use vulgar expressions to make the book "cool."
Rating: 
Summary: Dissapointing Sequel
Review: I really enjoyed the first book in the series, and was excited to read the next one. What I got was a very blah book. It's hard to pinpoint the exact problem. Almost all character/world building is left to the first novel. The first novel had Anna's introduction to Erde and many of her reactions to her new circumstances, and learning about her new powers. This book doesn't build on those themes much, though relying on the same complaints she often had, from the first book. All politics are mostly shown by snippits of the other world leaders of Erde having bland discussion with their subordinates. Perhaps this is all building towards something larger in the next book, but I felt that I would have been just fine with Anna's storyline, and not had the world politics revealed to me without so much as a spellsong. OK, the novel is called the Spellsong War, but the Spellsong War parts bored me to tears, as well as the traveling between them, so what was left to this book? Not much. Speaking of long sections. I haven't read many Modestitt Jr books, so I don't know if this practice of copying text is common in the other ones. I could almost feel the copy-paste in the computer happening as I read. I had the sense that I had read several sections before, almost to the letter. The same description about flowery language, same complaing from Anna about the things following it happened over and over.
It's always Holly Lolly Polly Pop... We learned more warm ups in 2nd grade, why does she almost never vary it?
Almost everytime the hat is mentioned it is 'the floppy hat' with no other description. If you're not providing new information about an item, why bother mentioning it? I can almost always remember to imagine it as floppy. or flowery, or that she has to clear the same mucus from her throat or ect. Music. This is a problem. I have never been an opera singer, but I have been in a performing orchestra. Anna is missing some spark that makes it seem like she's been up on the stage. That she knows more about music than words like vocalise, or strophic (which is not clear to me, as a musician, though I could research it). She never seems to feel the music build in her, never describes what it's like to be the music, the intrument, to be carried by the rush of performance. Perhaps she's too...tired.(as she always is) But would it have hurt L.E. to do a bit more research into how music feels? how it feels to perform? Has he ever talked to a group of musicians? felt their passion? seen how they can geek out over an overture, or aria? Also, I understand she may not be a composer, but the snippets provided don't do enough to show that they are actually part of songs, The closest we get is a bit from The Battle Hymn, but as a classically trained opera singer(usually charged with memorization of their music) she should have a much larger set of music to draw from, even children's music as she's had children. Many of these things I forgave in the first novel, due to the intresting premise, characters, places. Somehow Anna has become a flatter character, with less to offer in this novel. I had expected things to evolve more, and was let down. With all of that said, I'll still likely give the 3rd book a try, I'm still interested in the premise, and want to see if things really do improve with the 3rd novel. I'm hoping for less travel, and more character building.
Rating: 
Summary: Harmonious Fun
Review: I stumbled onto the first book of this series,"The Soprano Sorceress," in the library and thoroughly enjoyed it. I was even more pleased to see that Modesitt had made the premise into a series. Anna is a strong and likable charecter sent into hard, dry, gritty times. Modesitt paints almost too realistic a setting making me wish for just a little relief by way of greener scenery or ease for the main charecters. I personally do not care for so much carnage and war in what I read, but I cared enough for Anna to read nonstop to the end. More on minor charecters that actually live would be nice. Do not be deterred. This is a great and fun read. A natural for anyone who understands the power of music and loves fantacy.
Rating:
Summary: An extra star for good intentions
Review: I'm sure Modesitt wanted to do a good thing by showing a strong female character in a world full of stupid sexist men. Certainly there is some truth to the fact that this happens. However, sometimes it's even worse to be patronizing, to make the woman a bitchy crab and the men consistently awful. This does nothing to span the gap between the sexes, and it makes for a boring, badly written book. In addition. as a musician, I have to take exception to the praise for the musical content. It stinks. I'm sorry. I don't care if Mr. Modesitt is married to a music professor. He has no sense of it in his plotting or writing. This is midlevel fantasy. I wish I liked it better, because I think he had the right intentions.
Rating:
Summary: The Further Adventures of the Soprano Sorceress
Review: In the follow up to The Soprano Sorceress, Anna finds herself and her adopted nation under siege from all sides. Using her powerful spell songs, Anna manages to pull through but not without some difficulty. I'd like to see this series explore her use of spell songs to control humans. She has used it innumerable times to force people to behave a certain way and it should have some dark consequences later on.
Rating:
Summary: GREAT BOOK!!!
Review: Well this is the 2nd book featuring Anna the Soprano Sorceress. I did wait for this one to come out and I hate to admit it but I was a bit disappointed. The story seemed to really plod along at times, in fact at some points it was actually boring! Also I realize it's a feudal society but is every man really that much dumber than the females?? Anyway while it wasn't as great as the first I must say overall I did enjoy it. The multiple unresolved and tangled plotlines really kept me intrigued. Modesitt is also doing a great job of showing that being the ruler ain't all that great and that being the biggest shark in the water tends to attract every other shark. Well here's to hoping the 3rd book is on par with the 1st!
Rating:
Summary: The Harmonies were a bit off key
Review: Well this is the 2nd book featuring Anna the Soprano Sorceress. I did wait for this one to come out and I hate to admit it but I was a bit disappointed. The story seemed to really plod along at times, in fact at some points it was actually boring! Also I realize it's a feudal society but is every man really that much dumber than the females?? Anyway while it wasn't as great as the first I must say overall I did enjoy it. The multiple unresolved and tangled plotlines really kept me intrigued. Modesitt is also doing a great job of showing that being the ruler ain't all that great and that being the biggest shark in the water tends to attract every other shark. Well here's to hoping the 3rd book is on par with the 1st!
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