Shapechangers (Cheysuli)

Rating:
Summary: Strong female characterization
Review: Alix, the main character is a treat. She is strong, willful and courageous. What a relief! Her relationships with the 3 male characters are sufficiently amusing to be believable. I hope the next book in the series carries on with HER story. The only complaint I have so far is that the publisher only has books 1, 5, 6, and 8 readily available. I hope the series doesn't degenerate into all stereotypical male characters, Alix has a lot of potential!

Rating:
Summary: All around good, easy read.
Review: As usual, Roberson caught my attention from the very first page. Through many parts of the book I was on the edge of my seat, with my heart in my throat. This is something that rarely happens when I read a book. Alix's behavior irritated me at times although at other times I was very proud of her actions. I thought some of Carillon's actions to be inconsistent with how Roberson originally established him and hence, unbelievable. I wouldn't say those two things should keep someone from reading it though.

I found the Cheysuli culture interesting and different, and I think that overall is what will keep me reading this series.

Rating:
Summary: Still dreaming after 13 years
Review: I first read this series 13 years ago when I was 17 years old. I remembered literally falling into these characters & the world they inhabited. I wanted to BE Alix (although I was much more attracted to Finn than Duncan). I found myself thinking about the characters & imagining having a "lir" even when I wasn't reading the books. I recently picked up the series again after 13 years and was able to capture that feeling again! This first book in the series was fantastic as are all that followed. IF you want to step out of your world for awhile step in this one that Jennifer Roberson has created. "Cheysuli i'halla shansu"

Rating:
Summary: Still dreaming after 13 years
Review: I first read this series 13 years ago when I was 17 years old. I remembered literally falling into these characters & the world they inhabited. I wanted to BE Alix (although I was much more attracted to Finn than Duncan). I found myself thinking about the characters & imagining having a "lir" even when I wasn't reading the books. I recently picked up the series again after 13 years and was able to capture that feeling again! This first book in the series was fantastic as are all that followed. IF you want to step out of your world for awhile step in this one that Jennifer Roberson has created. "Cheysuli i'halla shansu"

Rating:
Summary: Give it a break!
Review: I really got a shock at some of the reviews of this book. About ten years ago, Shapechangers was one of the very first fantasy books I ever read, and despite moving on to more sophisticated, perhaps better written members of the genre, this book still remains one of my all time faves (as does the whole series). Particularly startling to me was the lack of feeling for Alix, who I've always loved very dearly as a very strong, amazing character. I think one of the reviewers of Shapechangers was quite correct when they pointed out the role of noblesse oblige in The Chronicles of the Cheysuli. I never really liked Carillon or Duncan (I always loved Finn too much, just as later in the series I preferred the Corin's and the Kellin's to the Brendan's) but I had to respect their integrity and sense of responsibilty. If anyone found some of the choices made by the characters in this series a little strange or too treacle-y (as one reviewer found Alix's marriage), perhaps they had not yet formed a coherent conception of tahlmorra and what it entails in the lives of the Cheysuli. I normally don't get attracted to prophecy-type fantasy, but the Cheysuli prophecy was strong enough to sustain me across the eight books of this series. Of the series, the first and the last books remain my favourites. I think Shapechangers seems even more poignant after having read the others - poor babe didn't know what she was getting herself in for! No seriously, the simplicity of Shapechangers and the focus upon Alix was very beautiful (the later books necessarily being broader in scope), and I thank Jennifer Roberson heartily for providing me such a heroine (a very human heroine, at that!) in my early youth and for providing me with the dream of Homana and the Cheysuli full stop.

Rating:
Summary: A captavating book
Review: I've read all her books in the Chronicles of the Cheysuli. I found them all to be captavating, and I've got to agree with one of the reviewers if you can buy all the books in this series you should do before you starting reading one them, for once you start you'll want to read them all. Jennifer Roberson like all good writers brings each and everyone of the books alive, and you feel like you are apart of it. In Shapechangers you can't help but feel sorry for Alix as she struggles to except her place among her true people the Cheysuli. For she has grown believing herself Homanan, and the Homanans partly because of King Shaine and partly because of their ownselves both fear and distrust the Cheysuli. Even though Alix doesn't believe the lies Shaine has told as to why he whishe the Cheysuli exterminated she does fear them, and has to overcome that fear and except the magic that not only they process, but also her own.

Rating:
Summary: Precursor to a fabulous series!
Review: Ignore the nay-sayers. This series is what got me hooked on fantasy! I honestly don't think Jennifer Roberson gets nearly as much credit as she deserves for Chronicles of the Cheysuli. I first started this series when I was thirteen and from that moment on I lived and breathed the world of these characters for years. I was actually most enthralled with the last book "A Tapestry of Lions" where we get to hear the story almost entirely from the Ihlini side. A twist that just blew my mind at the time! But I was crushed after I realized the series was over. So I went on to devour Jennifer's other series starting with "Sword-Dancer."

Jennifer's female characters are amazing! I love how strong and courageous they are! Before her I'd stayed away from fantasy precisely because I thought it was all about boys going off and saving the world while the women either stayed home or stood on the sidelines gazing fondly at them. Jennifer's Alix immediately caught my attention and opened up a whole new world of possibilities to me. In fact, I think Robert Jordan can learn a thing or two about creating strong female characters from her.

I'm especially excited now because I visited Jennifer's official site (http://www.cheysuli.com) and found out she will be writing three more books in the Cheysuli Chronicles. One of which involves the forbidden romance between Hale and Lindir, which is what the entire series extended from so I can't wait to find out exactly how it happened.

I love all the characters so much and some of the concepts are far more advanced than most detractors of the tale are willing to concede including Tahlmorra (fate, kismet), meijahs (Cheysuli mistresses), the qu'mahlin (the racial war that started it all), the a'saii (Cheysuli zealots dedicated to a pure line of descent), i'toshaa-ni (Cheysuli purification ceremony; atonement ritual), the Prophecy of the Firstborn, and of course the lir (animal familiars that enable Cheysuli to take animal form).

The politics between Homana and the other kingdoms (especially Solinde) are also well done. Basically, if you haven't read this series yet then pick it up in Omnibus form starting with "Shapechanger's Song" and read it right away! You'll walk away with a family of characters that you're sure to treasure forever.

Rating:
Summary: i love these books
Review: the chronicles of the chysuli have been one of my favourite fantasy series for years. this book is one of the best, along with daughter of the lion; this series feature strong believable characters, men as well as women, and a prophecy spanning a century. plus, the two warring magic races - the use of magic - it's all written so well and the story is so gripping... i only wish there were more.

Rating:
Summary: Worst Fantasy novel I have ever read
Review: This should be more appropriately be shelved in the Romance section, because that is what it continually reminded me of. The gushing prose and melodrama was suffocating. The strong female protagonist was simple and irritating (compare her to Kerowyn, from By The Sword by Mercedes Lackey), and none of the male characters were likeable. I seriously started to expect that every male character in the book (including her FATHER and the ANIMALS) to try to force her to have sex with them! I struggled through this book because a friend recommended it to me. If you love Mercedes Lackey, Patricia McKillip, or even Anne McCafrey, stay away from Roberson. Stick with the best.