(16 ratings) Submit Your Own Review More reviews by author A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - I - J - K - L - M - N - O - P - Q - R - S - T - U - V - W - X - Y - Z

Submitted by Da Auzzieman 
(Jan 11, 2007)

I have read the Crown of Stars series from King's Dragon to the Gathering of Storms.
I believe its a first class fantasy series to rival Tolkien himself!
At first in King's Dragons it was relatively enthralling and Kate leaves a great ending to make you really want to get the next book and find out what happened concerning liath's fate and what happened to sanglant. I got to say though that my favourite character was Alain and i also kept expecting (or hoping) that he'll get it together with liath. but sanglant is good enough. I wonder what happened when Alain meets Stronghand.
In the second book, the plot really get to you. I did nothing all day but having my eyes glued to the damned chapters. Some people might find all the religion and political intrigue boring but its really matter of taste. I would recommend this book to anybody who loves reading, especially literal historical fanatics!!
The rest of series is just as excellent. true, there were some bits that really carried on and on and gets boring, but the bright moments really made up for it.
I went for days with my tongue hanging out panting (er, just metaphorically) waiting for the next highlight of the plot. Also, there were so many twists and surprises continuously in the plot that each book leaving wanting for more.
Kate Elliot has really made a very addictive plot that was grimy, realistic, magical, surreal, heroic and historical. It also brought up many moral issue.
It IS a fantasy world based on our medieval past and for me, i got well involved in the context and i guess everyones's tastes are different. but for historical fans like me, this is must see book. You dont know what u missing!! there are other stories just as good as Lord of the Rings.
Anybody who have not read it or have dropped it midway, well, its a shame cause if you have gotten involved in the plot of Crown of Stars, then it would have given you a new insight and view on fantasy novels.
I agree completely with whoever it is that said Kate Elliot is one of the most underrated fantasy authors, with her talent this series she deserved to be at the top.

The Crown of Stars is a similar undertaking to Tolkiens: a detailed fictional historical saga, created as much to satisfy the author as the reader. These sorts of books are my favourite: Elliot has cared little for the whims of the mass-market publishing, and as a result the Crown of Stars is immeasurably richer than it might otherwise have been. Elliot has been scrupulously exact in creating her world to match that of early medieval Europe and Asia, and has bound in the magic that is part of all great fairy tales.

It is perhaps unfair to compare Tolkien’s work too much with Elliot: what is immensely satisfying is that her work has a great deal more emotional intelligence and is, in a sense, much more human. I compare the two because Elliot said somewhere that, ever since reading Tolkien’s work, she wanted to write her own saga, but with an individual stamp.

What is pleasing is that the Nobility that inhabit her pages are not especially noble: this is no age of chivalry. Machiavellian politics, poisonings, sexual exploitation, slavery: all these themes are explored to great satisfaction. Elliot’s work is not sanitised: characters get sick, urinate, menstruate, bare children and die painfully. Her world is a world inhabited by highborn and lowborn, women and men, the good and the evil, and she has done a marvellous job of telling their stories.

The relationship between Church and State is also explored, and Elliot has done an excellent job of recreating with some considerable accuracy the role of religion in medieval culture. Critics who complain about the level of religious reference in the books would do well to remember that in 8th Century Europe religion permeated every aspect of secular and political life: a secular American cast to her stories would be completely out of place.

This said, the series has some notable weakness: Kate Elliot juxtaposes tremendously turgid passages with flashes of brilliant beauty. The last published book, “In the Ruins”, could have been much shorter without loosing any of the threads of the story, contrary to the claim of the author, and there is an alarming cascade of unbelievable language and anachronisms which are incredible considering the lengths she has gone to create such an authentic world.

For example, in the last published book, the lecherous Lord Wichman refers to an unwilling wench as a “spitfire”. What would a World War Two aircraft be doing in the 8th Century? There are too many americanisms in the direct speech of the characters - perhaps something that only a European reader would notice – yet they are conspicuously and uncomfortably juxtaposed next to decidedly archaic phrasing. Perhaps herin lies a piece of advice for fantasy authors who favour history as the foundation of their world-building. Make sure you do not edit your own books, and if your book is set in an historical setting, make sure that at least one of your editors is familiar with that period.

The infuriating thing is that her lack of discipline as a writer lets her down: it is in fact, infuriating because of the promise she shows as a storyteller. With some tighter storytelling and a compassionate, knowledgeable editor, this series could have taken its place among the classics of modern literature. Nevertheless, Elliot is to be commended for this tremendous work of the imagination. Like all good fairytales, The Crown of Stars offers wonderful insight into the human condition, and for that reason, I would highly recommend it.

Wow. Where can I start?

Well, I started reading this book shortly after my friend brought it to school. I asked her where she had got it, and she said a second-hand bookstore. She just chose it because "The cover looked interesting". I am so glad she did!

As soon as I started reading it, I couldn't put it down. I loved all the characters, even the ones I hated. Some, like Hugh, were perfect evil people. You couldn't help but love them at the same time you despised them.

If you put a lot of research in this book, you'll find that almost every name, person, and place, has a real-life counterpart. For example: Henry was really a German king (Wendar is Germany) and almost all the names are related to German monarchy somehow. The Quman, for example are Mongolians. It's so amazing how Ms. Elliot researched the information and actually makes it her own, while staying true to history. I thought it was an amzing series, and I can't wait for the next two! (The next one is called In the Ruins, and it is the sixth book. The seventh is coming out in February 2006. The sixth (In the Ruins) is due out August 2, 2005.)

Read and enjoy! I know that I did.
~mog

Pro:

I like the detail she put into world building. The fact that this is a realm with many unique creatures and which houses a religion loosely based on Christian faith was nice to see. It lent the world a background it needed. If anything, the world -colour as it is- was what held my attention through most of the story.

Cons:

The series itself is riddled with a lot of spots that need, imo, a LOT of editing or smoothing over. There will be sections of excellent prose - beautifully written and quite interesting, but shortly after
you'll find a bland, hastily written (unlooked over) part. It's as if she only fixed parts she liked, the rest she couldn't be bothered with or have the time to go over properly. I know she edits her work, but does anyone know if she has an editor outside of herself?

As with her characters, I felt that most of the supporting characters got the shaft if they weren't Liath or the Prince and that their characteration suffered as a result. (You can see what characters were favourites or not) Book 2 is especially guilty of this. Scenes that could have been shown are thus brightly impacted on us, were instead told in speeches by characters to other people. So, for example, instead of seeing Hanna's mission, and thus her characterization through it, we hear her tell it to the king. Info dumps -_-.

And aside from focusing on the characters she has, she includes extra characters so that her focus is further divided. Sometimes you need a lot of characters to show a growing world, however if you can't maintain the ones you ALREADY have, you shouldn't be adding more.

Another thing I was disappointed with was the way she wrote Liath's INSTANT friendship with Alain. I know, as we all know, that these are her mains and that the mains will have to get together as group, but I felt it was unbelievable how their sudden friendship came together. (Try putting Hanna in Liath's place, or some other person and I REALLY doubt the same thing could have happened.) I keep running the scenario in my mind and I was like... No, there's no way this could happen like this. She lost believablity points with me when she did this.

There's so many other things to complain about, but I'll leave off on the last bit here.

Liath.

Never has a plot been so conveniently laid out for a character to have everything go the way she needs. Everything that happens now shapes the path where the author wants to stick this young girl. She has to get her book back, she does. She needs to meet Alain, so she does. She needs to find the Prince and she does. I started to dislike Liath when she conveniently began to get this favouritism treatment from the author. She's this complaining, simpering girl who is always "I didn't ask for this," or "I don't want this" and yet she'll use it happily enough when it gets her what she wants.

Oh, and EVERYONE who is everyone WANTS her.

I think anyone interested in fantasy and history novels should give this series a go. What amazing depth Kate Elliott has gone into. It is her vivid descriptions of characters that draw the reader into the world of Liath and Alain. The journeys of these two characters threads a web of stories from the characters they meet on the way and from their own struggles combining to produce a magnificent whole.
I can't wait until the next book comes out, I am keeping my eyes peeled.