Customer Reviews

Crown of Stars (Crown of Stars, Vol. 7)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I have to admit, I started this book with some trepidation as it's always hard to successfully wrap up a well-written series. In addition, I thought the prior book, In The Ruins, was the worst of the series. The characters seemed flat, and the plot almost simplistic, especially given the wonderful complexity of the prior books. I shouldn't have worried; in Crown of Stars, all plot lines were successfully tied up in a logical manner, and the characters back to their original three dimensions.
I highly recommend this book to anyone, but you must have read the predecessors before tackling this one.

I can't possibly give the book only 1 star, since I DID enjoy it, up to a point. But as other reviewers have mentioned, it was ultimately very disappointing.

The premise of the series - with the early middle ages setting in, I guess, an alternate Germany, has always been wonderful. The society, with its matriarchal spin, the magic system, the rest, fabulous. And the Hugh and Antonia characters were among the best depictions of complex, self-absolving evil that I've come across (though they were dispatched with surprising swiftness in this novel). And of course, Liath, Sanglant, Alain, are pleasantly compelling protagonists.

But Crown of Stars is a hasty, fumbling attempt to tie up the various tangled plot lines that have dragged this series down for several volumes. The denouement of Alain's fate is particularly disappointing. Secondary characters - Anna, Ivar and Hanna for example - have far too much 'air time', once again. If it weren't for an ultimately meaningless focus on secondary characters, the series would have been completed a couple of volumes ago.

And Ivar and Hanna as a romantic couple? Whoa. Where did THAT come from?

This series began with so much promise, and then slowly, as it wore on, it became a jumbled mess. Ms. Elliott had so many strings to tie up, and so many storylines to complete that I think she lost her path. Instead of focusing on completeing the arcs throughout the book. She choose to start new ones!! In the final book, in the last one hundred pages. The Blessing arc, which she could have fleshed out so much more, came to a closing that left so much unexplained. Why did she age so fast, the implications of being with the Aoi, her reunion with Liath. These important plots, which drew readers in, and made them fans of the series were either brushed over or summarized in the last few chapters of the book.

Though the author promised to tell us who Alain's parents were, After completeing book the reader is still not sure. Then she attempts to tie in the Lady of Battles in with the Alain/Fifth Son arc and it was a mess. As if Alain and Fifth Son knew the entire time what would happen when in the first six books they were as lost and confused as Liath. I am going to have to reread it just to get a handle on what happened. Also, she never explains what happens to major characters. In the last chapter (epilougue)of the book she introduces a whole new set characters and uses them to basically summarize the main characters lives. I was so upset, because she spent the first two hundred pages with very little plot advancement. Finally the pivotal meetings, Liath and her grandmother, Liath and Hugh are brushed past so fast that you wonder if you were on a wild goose chase the entire series. And don't get me started on the Sanglant/Henry's childern arc. Overall, I would not reccommend this book to ANYONE!!! Which is saying alot, since the first three books in the series were so fulfilling.

King Henry's kingdom has been ravaged by internecine warfare, in a conflict that has been both long and bloody. The bitter in-fighting within King Henry's court and the ceaseless attrition of raiders has weakened his reign and saps his strength. Yet brute force alone will not be enough to stay the darkness that has been foretold as the shadow of the Cursed Ones has fallen. The spell holding the exiled from the land is failing fast and Liath's wild sorcery may not be enough to stay the greatest threat this world has ever seen.

It has been quite a while since I read a series and thought "damn, it's over!" at the end. The author has built a vast number of interesting characters but, despite the number, one is able to know and relate to each. Each of the characters has their own remarkable flaws and imperfections, and you actaully have opportunities to sympathize with each throughout the series (even the remarkably "evil" ones you think you would never agree with). Unlike the Robert Jordan WoT series which seems to go on and on and on without resolution, Elliot has squeezed a sweeping epic into a (mere) 7 books, and I found myself disappointed when I finished the last of the third book. Fortunately, there are enough open issues, unanswered questions and unresolved conflicts in the end that Elliot could forseeably write another series to "fill in the blanks". I, for one, sincerely hope to see more from this author in the very near future.

I only recently discovered the first book of these 7 in the series in a used book store. I was attracted by the cover art of the book. I read mostly science fiction and fantasy. It has been very entertaining reading the entire series over the past several months and is the kind of fantasy reading that I enjoy most because it allows me to participate in the life of another completely unique and different world. I particularly enjoyed the wide range of principle characters and although the sweep of this world is large and full of fantastic elements, the detail with which almost every "scene" is described pulls me right down to "earth" making the action more easily fixed in the imagination and interesting to follow. My only advice to readers would be to relax, slow down and enjoy each page. Don't rush through this saga. You're liable to miss something small that may be something large later on. It's a lot of reading and a lot of fun.

It was an end, though not as clean as I would have hoped... there were a few things that were definitly cleared up nicely... and there are a few things that made me go Hmmm? the end of the book quite confused me, it seemed abrupt though I do realize that it concluded Sanglant and Liaths lives.. Which I suppose was the point... As a book I enjoyed it but as a finish for this series... I was hoping for a lil more... I think the beginning of the series spoiled me...

Kate Elliott is an excellent writer but doesn't seem to be able to pull off a satisfactory ending. It feels like it's almost dinner time and she needs to wrap everything up before dinner is on the table and winds up with an ending that just leaves one unsatisfied. After reading her Jaran series (which also had a disappointing ending), I wondered if this one would end poorly as well...and it did.

I read all the books in a matter of 5 weeks. It absorbed my life. I was obsessed. Working, cooking and sleeping interfered with my reading pleasure. Everything else became a mist of fog as these books became reality.

To Kate Elliotte's editor I say "for shame!" Why didn't you delete every line that read Sanglant always sounded like that! Or that he fought until the end! Note also that some of the 'vision' chapters weren't in italics, which made it a bit difficult to follow.

If you're a sucker for a happy ending (like me), stop reading at the end of Chapter XIII The Abyss.

I would have preferred if Kate Elliott used Blessing and the next generation in another series altogether.

This ending was truly a heartbreaking disappointment. I won't recommend these, although they were exceptional. And when next I read the series, I'll stop at the end of Chapter XIII The Abyss and save myself a river of tears.

{!!spoiler alert!!}

In my mind, the ending spoilt everything. Liath and Sanglant weren't found in each others arms with a `happily ever after' they deserved, no, they died. Lavrentia never met Eldest Uncle, nor did Sanglant. Anna and Pappa Otto never even mentioned (and didn't Stronghand still promise him a reward for saving his life?). I couldn't agree more with Fantasy Junkie "FJ" about the rest.

I felt I'd lost something, after investing so much in these characters, after reading the last Chapter XIV The Crown and the Epilogue, Kate Elliott breathes life back into Sanglant, just so that he can die 40 pages later! She might as well have killed everyone at Kassel ...

I was introduced to KE's novels out of boredom...picking up a book with a strange cover and reading it with trepidation, to only become such a huge fan in a whole new world. I'm no expert. I haven't been reading fantasy for very long, but I definetly know what I enjoy and KE is one of my favorites of my short list...I think.

Here is one of my main problems - I loved almost every book of COS, except the conclusion - the final book. Why do I feel cheated? I was such a fan of Sanglant and I was hooked. I'm not sure when it happened, but I began reading KE's series for Alain, almost skipping pages to read his part. And for there to be such a big question about Alain and his heritage, and for it to not be answered? Well, I feel cheated...

In good conscience, I couldn't give this series a 5 or a 3 star...It was so good, it should have ended far better and it was too good to end so poorly. I love complex and multiple characters and intrigue. I want the good guys to win and I want to know in the end - if their happy. I don't know about you, but I want the conclusion to a long series to answer my questions and not be vague. Afterall, it is fantasy.

I BEGAN THIS SERIES A LONG TIME AGO, BUT GOT FINISHED BEFORE THE NEXT BOOKS CAME OUT. WHEN I FINALLY REALIZED THAT THE LATER BOOKS WERE OUT IN PAPERBACK I THOUGHT I WOULD RE-READ THEM AND FINISH OFF THE SERIES. MAN, I DIDNT REALIZE WHAT I WAS GETTING INTO. THERE IS SO MUCH BACKGROUND INFORMATION IN THEM THAT I HAD TROUBLE KEEPING TRACK OF WHAT WAS BEING WRITTEN. THE LATER IN THE BOOKS I GOT THE HARDER TIME I HAD OF KEEPING TRACK OF "WHEN DID THAT HAPPEN? ETC." I DONT ENJOY BOOKS THAT REQUIRE ME TO REMEMBER REAMS OF INFORMATION. I WAS GLAD TO BE ABLE TO SAY I HAD FINISHED THE SERIES BUT I AM NOT SURE HOW MUCH OF THE DETAILS I REMEMBER. THE BEST BOOKS WERE PROBABLY 2, 3 AND MAYBE 4. I WAS GLAD TO SEE AN END TO THE SERIES AND HAVE EVERYTHING TIED UP. BUT THE LAST BOOK ALSO SEEMED TO BE A RUSH COMPARED TO THE OTHER BOOKS. THE EPILOG MAY HAVE BEEN WHAT AFFECTED MY THOUGHTS IN THAT DIRECTION. ALL IN ALL, I PROBABLY WONT KEEP THESE BOOKS.