Customer Reviews

The Golden Rose (War of the Rose Trilogy)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I loved the first in this series. I thought it was action packed with believable and strong characters. This book follows through with the first, but I felt the story line was just a little lacking compared to the first. The resolution was a bit to easily resolved. Still, I love the hero characters in this book. They are very human regardless of their unique magical abilities. I'm looking forward to the next.

The Duchess of Quitaine Averil knows it is time to fulfill her promise that she made to her uncle last year. She pledged to the traitorous malevolent bachelor King Clodovec that she would come to his court in Lutrec within a year to select who will sire the heir to the Kingdom of Lys with her. She made that vow to keep Clodovec from destroying the people of her duchy.

The depressed Averil begins her quest knowing her soulmate and magecraft bondmate is commoner Gereint, who she can never marry. However, Averil finds some hope when she meets opponents of the monarch who believe in the Serpent God of Chaos like the king does, but not to release this deity from his incantation incarceration. She also learns that her seditious uncle is planning to do to the Ladies of the Isle what he did to the Orders of the Knight. She knows he must be stopped with her only hope residing with Wild Magic; that means introducing chaos and anarchy by finding a way to void the marital laws of nobility to marry Gereint so besides their love they can craft the mystical counterpoint to the king.

The second War between Order and Chaos tale (see THE SERPENT AND THE ROSE) is a terrific fantasy suspense thriller that will have readers on the edge of their seats from the moment Averil knows it's time and never slows down until the cliffhanger sets up the next entry. The story line is action-packed and fast-paced, but it is Averil and Gereint's forbidden relationship that makes this saga excellent as the kingdom's laws forbid their marriage yet they need to bond in holy matrimony to raise the Wild Magic in order to save the people. Although this novel stands alone, it behooves readers to obtain the first stupendous story as that explains how Kathleen Bryant got us to this magnificent point.

Harriet Klausner

I can't help comparing it to CL Wilson's series and hers is so much better. These two books were fine but just not the same level of intrique or suspense as Wilson's. I found myself skipping pages in this book.

Averil despises her King, but she's made an agreement and is bound to honor it. Leaving behind Gereint, her true love but a man she cannot, legally, marry, she visits the capital and court, meeting with the countless men who wish to marry her, wish to secure the nation's leading heiress and the next in line to the throne. Averil can't deny the attraction she feels for one man--a prince of a distant country. He also shares with her another version of the faith in the vanquished Serpent-god. Not everything preached by the church is true, and for him, the Serpent is a neutral rather than an evil force.

Ultimately, however, Averil decides that the serpent's appetite for human souls cannot be tolerated, whether fed by the king or his opponents. She flees to Prydain and to Gereint. But the King's armies follow--intent on capturing the artifacts that will allow him to set the once-vanquished but definitely not dead Serpent free.

Author Kathleen Bryan delivers an intriguing world, filled with the creatures of Fae. Wisely, she allows for shades of gray--with neither the serpent nor the church free of lies and hypocrisy. Indeed, while the church is responsible for opposing the Serpent, the church's lies and its blindness to the full range of magic are at the heart of most of the problems Averil's world faces. I would have liked to see more of Gereint, who is a complex and changing character. In contrast, Averil comes off as spoiled and, frankly, annoying. If not for the magic that binds them together, I'd certainly suggest calling Gereint aside and suggesting that he finds someone a bit more interesting.

The Golden Rose was a great sequel. I loved the dramatic conflict that Averil faces as she learns that the line between good and evil is not as firm as she once believed and the political games she must play to learn of the final threat against the Rose. I still felt that novel did not develop more Gerient's story as well he being the other hero in this saga. What made the Serpent and the Rose powerful for myself was the growth of both major characters together and apart. The premise is of two who share a power unheard of in their world. With out respecting that the sequel lost opportunity for greater depth.

This is a fascinating read, if sometimes frustrating since Ms. Bryan won't do the expected or predictable. I'm impressed with her writing as well as storytelling abilities. The predictable... does not always happen. Which is how it should be, of course. I'm not sure if there's a 3rd book (likely) but it's well worth the read regardless.

This book is the second in a series from Kathleen Bryan which is the pseudonym for Judith Tarr. The setting is a fantasy version of medieval France. Our heroine is a young and beautiful would be queen with golden hair (hence the title) and powerful mage (of course). Our hero is a peasant with mysterious parentage who is also a powerful mage and is currently a Templar knight type of character. Of course these two opposites are drawn together by a bond of magic and love but are forbidden to be together because royal blood cannot mingle with common blood, and this forms the romantic tension in the series. Overall well written although the basic premise is not very original, the writing elevates this to 4 stars. I look forward to the next in this series, although it maybe another year before it is out in print (hopefully sooner).