Customer Reviews

Black Trillium

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Okay, maybe not exactly but it sounded good and they all began with W. The three triplet girls are revered by their people as the 'Living Trillium'. The Witch is the Princess Haramis (eldest triplet) whose interest in books, learning, magic and the command of power may become her downfall. The Warrior is Kadiya (middle sister) who discovers that she is not as tough as she thinks. The Woman is Anigel (youngest daughter) who is more prone to dancing and clothes. They live in peace for 18 years before trouble strikes at the heart of their family. The sisters are separated and each mus follow a different path to reach their final destination and it may still be longer before they can reunite to destroy the evil sorceror Orogastus. He seems to control Prince Voltrik and is the way to destroy him. Haramis must journey to visit the Archimage and find her talisman (a wand) before accepting a great burden. Kadiya ventures into the lands of the Oddlings, creatures of different races who inhabit the swamps. She must find a sword and accept a different kind of burden. Anigel is captured by Voltrik's son Antar and with the help of a servant escapes. She must draw on strength she didn't know she had to find a circlet and complete her quest. Meanwhile, Antar has fallen in love with this beautiful princess and the more he is forced to pursue and capture her, the more he loves her. Orogastus can see their every move and the sisters grow desperate. How can they defeat one who can counter every plan and thought? Good read. One thing I didn't particularly like was the way the story jumped around. I have a feeling that each writer (there's three) chose a different princess and wrote solely about them. Therefore, sometimes I found myself a litte off-balanced.

The trio authors Marion Zimmer Bradley, Julian May, and Andre Norton have created a world so enchanting that I had to read non-stop from beginning to end. Action began from the first page as the triplet sisters are forced to split up and embark on their own journeys, and conquer themselves.

The story is fun, beleivable, and full of mystery surrounding the ancient citizens of the planet, the vanished ones. It is fairly easy to read because the authors did not add too much description, or confusing topics, which often take away the pleasure of reading.

The charcters came to life for me because their personalities were so human. Also, although I am not a feminist, I enjoyed the fact that the main characters Kadiyah, Haramis, and Anigel are women, which is a good change from many other fantasy stories that have either men as the lead characters or super-strong and unrealistic women running around and beating everyone up, (*cough*Xena-wannabees*cough), excuse me.

Black Trillium has all the elements that make an excellent story. The only problem that I had with it is that the ending seemed to be a little slapped together because it was so short.
This is when all three sisters confront The bad guy, Orogastus, together for the first time. About two short chapters later, the story ends. This dosen't create any loose ends, but it does take some of the momentum that the story had built up.

You would think with three different authors that the book might have a chance of developing a good plot centering around these three women. Though after the first couple of chapters I found myself liking the bad guys a whole lot more than the whiney or "I'll protect you all" or "I'm a wuss" princesses. Sure as the story moved on they got a bit better but still they were very chiche as was the evil omnipotent bad guy who "advises" the deluded king. Oh well, you can't always win.

This book is totally awesome! I mean, I'm 12 and I liked it so much that I read 3 times which is pretty good for me. I usually only read books once, even if they're really good. I just couldn't get sick of this one. I recommend it to anyone and everyone that every loved fantasy, magic and soul-travelling.

Review from Roz: I'll admit I wasn't too thrilled with the book at first. The whole first chapter, in which the royal family is beseiged in the Ruwenda Citadel, seemed almost melodramatic to me. I remember reading the first part of the book with a lot of skepticism. I was thinking, "Well, this is okay, but it's just not the best book I've ever read." However, once I got past the first few chapters, I COULD NOT PUT THE BOOK DOWN. It's just simply a wonderful story. I think most of the appeal lies in the characters--the three princesses who are so different from each other, the dangerously charming bad guy. The history and the setting are very well-thought out. There is an entire side-culture of the "Oddlings", the other sentient species on the World of Three Moons. The history of the place is textured--besides the surface story of the princesses' quests, there is a deeper, interesting layer underneath: the mystery of the Vanished Ones who have left their strange technology behind. When you really start to think about it, the plot of this book is a little tired. Some things are a little too cliche or contrived. But the bottom line is: Who Cares? It's an effective, interesting, enjoyable book, and I loved it. The characters are the best part. Well done.

This book is truly what introduced me to these superb authors .It's definately one of the best books ever written .Magical ,interesting ,fast moving,it has all the qualities to a good book .I adored the creatures they invented ,the Oddlings ,the tree varts ,the Glismak ,the Skritek ,and everything else .They develope a wondreful feeling that I've barely felt before . Here is the plot :Three princesses are born in Ruwenda :Haramis ,smart and leader -like and heir to the throne ,Kadiya ,firey tempered but an amazing huntress,and Anigel,sweet ,timid ,and loving .Each of them is bestowed with the amulet of the black trillium by the Archmage Binah .When the princesses are young women ,the neighboring country of Labornok invades.Haramis ,Kadiya ,and Anigel are split up and sent to look for the magical talismans that will save their country :The Three Winged Circle ,the Three Lobed Burning Eye ,and the Three Headed Monster .But if the sorcerer you uses the king of Labornok as a puppet finds them first ,they will surely be destroyed.

My mom and I both enjoyed the Trillium books. I was shocked to see negative reviews. If you liked fast paced fantasy, "The Black Trillium" is a must-read.

While I must admit this book had some fantastic points in it I was anticipating action and while the build up was fantastic it was a let down in the end when everything was resolved in about 25-30 pages after a long build up. I normally shy away from books written in sections switching between characters right when it gets interesting. This book held my attention vividly and though vague in some places other than the slight let down of the end and the fact that some elements of the plot were blatanly expected I found this book quite good.

Well, for just a fantasy novel it's average. The story isn't very original, and it's not written very catching. For a book by Marion Zimmer Bradley it's simply disappointing. I don't know Andre Norton, but I read quite a fine book by Mercedes Lackey, and I don't know why they didn't manage better. It was quite boring and not the least intriguing. If it had been other authors I might not even have finished it. For some reason they managed Tiger burning bright quite well, so I don't know, why this is so disappointing. OK, sorry it wasn't Mercedes Lackey, I got mixed up, but anyway.

I loved this book. It has a consistency rarely found in fantasy stories, creating a realistic world with believable characters, boundaries, and the vivid writing style invokes images in ones head that are hard to forget. I read this book a couple of years ago and just thought about it recently, but couldnt for the life of me remember what it was called! I finally found it! Hooray! Anyone who likes fantasy should *read it now*!