127 of 132 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The farmer's daughter, May 3, 2000
This book is actually a compilation of three novels; "Sheep Farmer's Daughter", "Divided Allegiance" and "Oath of Gold". I like to think that these books started the popular trend in fantasy, of featuring women in heroic roles. Paks, (the heroine in question), manages to be a better soldier than most while still being sensitive to her feelings and friends.
Unlike many works of fantasy, Moon is more interested in the characters and their struggles and triumphs than in the fantastic creations of her world. I'm not saying that her world is not well rendered, it is, but it is the people in this story that demand the reader's attention. They are real, emotional beings with strengths, flaws and inconsistencies, just like the rest of us.
There is also a surprising amount of military detail in the story. In fact it taught me a thing or two about medieval fighting both from a lone warrior standpoint and that of an army.
Fair warning to those who intend to read this series; start on the Friday night. At least that way you won't jeopardise your job by coming in without any sleep.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
92 of 99 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The true Way of the Paladin is shown here., October 28, 2003
Capsule Description: A young woman who dreams of great adventures finds them -- discovering they are both less, and far more, than she had dreamed.
Review: In one of my other reviews (Lord Valentine's Castle) I mentioned that even a dyed-in-the-wool adventure addict like myself can find that there are too many heroes out there. However, there are a few books which go beyond mere heroes to HEROES -- books with characters who define the very meaning of the word, who become themselves incarnations of the concept. Such is Paksenarrion, sheepfarmer's daughter who ran away to join the army and ends as a holy warrior, a Paladin.
Much, perhaps most, of the fiction inspired by roleplaying games is at best uninspired and at worst utter drek. I actually avoided reading this series initially because it was recommended in roleplaying groups, and in roleplaying terms, so I thought it was just another of the many (uninspiring) fantasy series being published by TSR at the time.
I could not have been more wrong. The Deed of Paksenarrion does, in fact, have its roots in roleplaying, but not in the usual sense. Rather than being written either as a sort of record of someone's favorite character in a game, or as a publicity/demonstration piece for some gaming system or mechanic, Paksenarrion was born (according to an email exchange I had with the author) from bad roleplaying: Elizabeth Moon, not gaming herself, heard some people playing "Paladins" (Holy warriors in the service of a god) and doing so very poorly. Her reaction was of course that "such a person wouldn't ACT like that"... and in thinking about what they WOULD act like, Paksenarrion was born.
The Deed of Paksenarrion is a character study as much as it is an adventure, taking place in a world which seems almost mundane at first and only slowly reveals the magic and mystery behind it. "Paks" learns the art of war before she learns anything of the greater forces moving the plots behind the scenes, and it's a very long time before she understands the part she is to play. We learn to feel for her so that even as she becomes embroiled in ever-more fantastic -- and sometimes horrific -- adventures, we remember her as the earnest young girl who walked an entire day just to enlist in a mercenary company. And sometimes, she remembers that as well.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
30 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Epic Fantasy at its best!, January 27, 2001
This series is one of my all time favorites with good reason. Elizabeth Moon took the best of classic epic fantasy and made it her own with Paks' story. Resisting the urge to create a heroine who marries the prince or becomes mired in romance, what she gave us was a strong and human character who rises above her station to become a legend. Paks is not just a warrior, not even just a paladin. She is what we might in our own time call a Saint, perhaps even Prophet. Moon knows military life well enough that her work avoids being too pretty. Though Paks begins her journey as a wide eyed girl she grows with her reader. I LEARNED a lot reading this series. Many times in the past I have read a book and wondered "where do they eat, sleep, bathe?" Moon is meticulous in recreating life as part of a mercenary group from how payrolls work to digging and refilling latrines. She does this in perfect "show don't tell" style, and it works. I have worn out two copies of the smaller mass market paperpacks and have a spare copy of the collection in the larger volume so I can keep re-reading this wonderful series. Don't miss the opportunity to check it out, it will become one of your favorites.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
