Most Helpful Customer Reviews
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sampling of Reviewers' Testimonials, January 4, 2010
This review is from: Choices Meant for Gods (Kindle Edition)
Not all reviewers post their comments on sites other than their own. Here is a small sampling of testimonials you can find throughout the Internet pertaining to the first novel of the "Choices" trilogy:
"Choices Meant for Gods" interlaces high action with a rich historical background, introducing the reader to this sweeping saga of war and ancient divination. The heroine is lovably flawed, marked by the impulsivity and brazenness of youth, but she is also daring and compassionate, strong-willed and noble-hearted beyond her years. Her intricate blend of strength and sensitivity brings to mind echoes of Anne McCaffrey or Catherine Asaro.
The leading man adds his own complexity to the picture, complementing his lady perfectly. Nigel Taiman is wonderfully genuine in both his affections and his depth of character, and Lender paints him as she does all her creations, with thoughtful style and grace.
--EM Sky, Wet Ink
Ms. Lender takes her readers on a wild ride of adventure, love, revenge, power hungry rulers, and hilarity....It is also Ms. Lender's characters that have me hooked. Her main character, Chariss, as the young lady who has been on the run since childhood, is both innocent and knowing without, at any time, being unreal. Chariss has an innate knowledge that surprises everyone. Will she and Nigel Taiman, the Master's grandson, be forever star-crossed lovers or do secrets matter? And the Master, the all-powerful God of Chariss and her friends, well, he is a bit overbearing...good for Chariss in humbling him.
--Chris Speakman, ChrisChat Reviews
In "Choices Meant for Gods," Sandy Lender takes her readers of fantasy fiction by the hand and leads them through an exciting world filled with sorcerers, gods, goddesses, dragons, and other mythical creatures. Through the use of interesting characters and clever dialogue, ("Try not to think, Nicolas. You look so much more handsome when you're bewildered.") she weaves a spell of magic and fantasy. The only problem for the reader may occur at the end of the book when they find themselves wanting more and discover they will have to wait for book two! Choices Meant for Kings
--Gary R. Hoffman, contributing author for short story anthologies "Seven By Seven" and "Never Safe"
Robin Hobb meets David Eddings in this rousing tale of a young girl gifted with awesome swordskills and mind magic. In a world where gods walk the earth in human form, can one woman stand as a protector to a god, and prevent the melding of two terrible bloodlines!
--Jack Hillman, fantasy author
Thank you for checking out the other reviews readers have posted for the hardcover and Kindle editions of "Choices Meant for Gods."
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful Beyond Description, April 6, 2007
What would you do to save something you loved? What would you do if you were threatened? Would you cower? Or would you fight with everything you had, every ounce of strength and magic you possessed? Some of us aren't even given that choice.
When Jamieson Drake, evil sorcerer, attacks the settlement of Treown, Amanda Chariss is left with no choice. To escape Drake and his army, she teleports herself and her mentor, the wizened old wizard Hrazon to the Taiman family home. There, they may find help and Chariss may find a cure for the magic that has infected her blood.
Chariss has the geasa, magic older than time, and she must use it if she and the people of Onweald are to stay alive. For Drake hunts her, wants her dead on his blade. Why is anyone's guess, but Chariss is has an inkling. For years, Drake has hunted her with the sole purpose of killing her. Chariss suspects that Drake is hungry for her power. But, in reality, Drake is in love with her.
He has enlisted the help of a Dragon who now walks in the human form of Julette. Older than time itself, she uses Drake like a pawn. She has her own plans, her own agenda and knows that she must help Drake to get what she wants. Of course, the fact that she is a Goddess doesn't hurt either.
Chariss must depend on all the help she can and her unsteady magic if they are to survive this first battle. She must be careful though, for she must make choices meant for Gods and one wrong move, one mistake, could lead all of them to death...
As a general rule, I don't read high fantasy. The whole genre bores me; it's grown stagnant with nothing new added to it. Each author that tries to write an engaging high fantasy tale fails to write anything new, anything fresh. Thankfully, Sandy Lender has changed all that. She has changed the very face of high fantasy itself.
Choices Meant for Gods is without a doubt the freshest most engaging high fantasy novel to come out in years and breathes new life into a tired genre. The characters leap off the page and the plot is lightning quick and deftly written with many layers that tease the mind and imagination.
What I love most about Choices Meant for Gods are the characters and how they interact with each other. She has thrown a new spin on what is good and what is bad and her characters are flawed and imperfect. They are people you grow to care for and, indeed, I didn't want the novel to end; I couldn't stand knowing that it would be some time before I saw them again.
She has reworked the standard quest into something meaningful and engaging. She has mixed magic with romance, battles, sorcerers, danger, and suspense; there is everything here that makes up a good store. My meager review doesn't even do justice to the plot. The pages flew by as I became ensnared under Lenders spell as she weaved her story. She writes with such assurance, such poise, that it is hard to believe that Choices Meant for Gods is her first novel.
Choices Meant for Gods is not a mere novel; it is a gorgeous piece of written art. I can hardly wait for the second book! If you read only one good novel this year, no, this decade, read Choices Meant for Gods. I'm going to be reading it for a second time. But read it yourself, won't you?
It will leave you breathless
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4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
A Shallow Book, October 20, 2010
This review is from: Choices Meant for Gods (Kindle Edition)
I don't usually bother to write reviews, however, I felt compelled to write a review about this book given the deceptively 15 5-star reviews. Well I suspect that some of them are written by friends of the author because there is NO way this book deserve 3 stars let alone 5.
The book was shallow, verging on silliness. The plot was weak, a girl running from a madman who had been obsessed with her mother and now his obsession moved to her just because she turned out to be a beauty. She had eluded him for 16 years with the help of her guardian, who we are supposed to believe is the most powerful wizard in the world. Along the way they meet many people and gods, yes gods! But I might as well call them people because there was nothing about them that scream "I am a god" not that I met a god before but please... immortal gods should be above many human sentiments portrayed in the book. The writer reminds us over and over that the Master is powerful, he could strike anyone dead, he could stop your heartbeat with a mere thought, yet he can't deal with one lousy sorcerer who is as superficial as the whole book.
I advise you not bother with this book, characters are 2 dimensional with no development at all, the bad guys are your typical want-to-control-the-world lot, the writing is repetitive, it's basically all dialogs that I sometimes get confused who is saying what.
Even one star is too much for this book.
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