[Khallandra]

I was superised when I read this book for the first time and I really liked Ashe - his character intrigues me.

I like the way it wasn't 'conventional' fantasy and was a little darker though some of the characters really grate on my nerves but apart from that - I really liked it.

[Darknel]

Khallandra,
You thought Rhapsody was dark? What books would you call light?

[ndhaon91]

i think its funny that a few people thought Rhapsody was too perfect.... she's an ex-prostitute!

ficus... maybe i read it wrong... but i don't think the characters actually experienced all 1400 years in the root, did they? i thought it took them a handful year, but that time inside the root was somehow moving slower than time on the surface. funny, though... i had the exact same thought: MAN they must stink!

[FicusFan]

I felt it took 1400 years to read the 'crossing of the root', the least the characters could do is endure it (and stink) too ;)

There was at least one paragraph when they were walking toward the fire before entering it, and it said it took them a year - and that was just one paragraph. The tree trek was pages, and pages, and pages.....

It seemed to me that they kept talking about how long it was taking and how big everything was and how long it took to make any progress. They also could hear the sounds of destruction from above the earth, so they must have been in touch with the real timeline at some point.

So my reading of it was they were gone for that long and because of the magic of the tree root that they ate, they didn't age and it repaired them. But it could just be inference on my part, and the fact that they didn't die of dirtyness means they weren't really living through the 1400 years minute by minute. :D

[Priestvyrce]

I felt it took 1400 years to read the 'crossing of the root', the least the characters could do is endure it (and stink) too ;)

There was at least one paragraph when they were walking toward the fire before entering it, and it said it took them a year - and that was just one paragraph. The tree trek was pages, and pages, and pages.....

It seemed to me that they kept talking about how long it was taking and how big everything was and how long it took to make any progress. They also could hear the sounds of destruction from above the earth, so they must have been in touch with the real timeline at some point.

So my reading of it was they were gone for that long and because of the magic of the tree root that they ate, they didn't age and it repaired them. But it could just be inference on my part, and the fact that they didn't die of dirtyness means they weren't really living through the 1400 years minute by minute. :D

But it felt like I was reading it for that long! The more this book is discussed , the more I DON'T want to read the sequels. I was going to read the second book, but like always something came up( no not my lunch!). But I think that I will give Haydon's other novels a skip.

[Rira]

well, ive read the trilogy, and they were okay, but developed into too much of a love story for me. eveything everyone had questioned so far about the first book is answered in the secound. And i thought Rhapsody was too perfect, and technically, i dont know how Achmed put up with her. but i did love Rhapsody's And Achmed's relationship (no, there is no romance between them) and achmed remains one of my all time favorite book characters.
and Firbolg were a tribe of Irish or Scottish men in old times. Big hairy brutes....or so the legends go......

[Firebrand]

I applaud at attempt to use new creatures instead of all the classic, elves dwarfs halfings,

but its like this

lirin = elves

nain= dwarves

firbolg = orc but with redeeming qualities

F'nor were interesting along with the dhracians, the concept of the dragons was allright but nothing to revolutuionary.

Over all a decent read for what I call "girly fantasy" I finished the series, will read her extra volume about the characters, and thought the weapons she made up for the series were really great, but its no martin and its no jordan, and its definetly no Tolkien.

Oh and way too much gratuitous sex...

[Rira]

Over all a decent read for what I call "girly fantasy"

(harrumph!)
excuse me? im a girl....and it was way to mushy for me....and for my other friends. so it cant really be qualified as "girly".

and i really liked the idea of the dhracians....its was like nothing ive ever heard of. part of the reason why achmed was my favorite character.

[Sammie]

I've read all of this trilogy, so it's difficult to seperate which book was which, but I'll try to give it a go withot throwing too many spoilers in!

The world building was great. Enough to get a great picture of what's what, without too much waffle.

Characterwise, I though Achmed was great, but Rhapsody and Ashe were a little flat, though they became more fleshed out in book two. Everyone else was very 2D imo.

The outside perspective of the narrator was ok, but the later revelation as to his identity (book 3, iirc) rather spoilt this for me.

In the end, it was the plot that carried this, as much as the characters, for me. There was a lot of plot 'waffle', but overall I felt she brightened up some tried and tested fantasy cliches (elves, dragons, assassins with tortured pasts, and what was that about fighting with her eyes shut? Put me in mind of that Van Damme movie with the karate competition) by putting them into a fresh world and situation.

Get's my thumbs up!

Just as an aside, I cannot get into book 4 at all....and I have tried several times now!

[radar410]

Ditto to everything Sammie said, including trying repeatedly to reading book 4 and putting it down!:)