Customer Reviews

The Heart of Stars: Book Three of Rhiannon's Ride

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

 

 

Less than a year ago, I absently picked up "Tower of Ravens" because the horse on the cover intrigued me - I find it hard to resist the horse-crazy adolescent girl still lurking in the corners of my mind. I was excited to see that a sequel was already out, so I bought both of them at the same time and spent the evening devouring them.

I eagerly awaited the US release of Heart of Stars and the only complaint I have is that there isn't going to be more to the story! The way Kate Forsyth weaves the different and interconnected plots and characters together is truly enjoyable - sometimes when I read a book too fast, I'll get lost between the characters and plots and settings, but not so with this one.

I am a little disappointed that Rhiannon's Ride is being touted as a trilogy - there are so many unanswered questions at the end of Heart of Stars, questions that would be too tedious to stick onto the end of the novel, but would be well-answered as background details in yet another sequel.

The reviewer before me has already pretty much summed of the gist of the story, I just wanted to add my approval of this book as well. I find myself thinking in the "accent" that the characters speak in, which means that it was truly immersing - and I dinna ken how to stop!

After waiting two years I finally purchased the last part of the trilogy. Although still to finish the book(almost there) Kate Forsyth has continued on creating word pictures which enhance the storyline.

In contrast to some other reviewers, I loved this final book in the trilogy. I, like others, have been delighted by how Ms. Forsyth's writing has developed since her earlier works. "The Heart of Stars" engages us with vivid, evocative descriptions and crisp dialogue. The author doesn't "tell" us the story - she shows it. In addition, this was an incredibly exciting book. I read non-stop!

This is the third, and final, book in the trilogy Rhiannon's Ride. This book was a good balance of adventure and intrigue. I didn't think it was quite as good as the first two books; there were parts of the book where things got a little tedious and I had to drag myself through them. Those parts were far between and short though; so overall I really enjoyed this book.

Rhiannon takes off to rescue the twins from the Lord of Fettercain while the Keeper of the Keys must travel back through time to prevent the Lord of the Ravens from being raised. This book was, for the most part, fast paced and engaging. Forsyth's greatest strength is in characterization; even the characters with small roles seem to come alive.

As I said, this book switched between the two parties chasing down the bad guys and scenes at the court of Lusescere. Bronwen plays a huge role in this book as she steps up to rule Lusescere in her husband's absence. Lewen plays a much smaller role in the beginning of this book, with Rhiannon really coming into her own on her rescue mission.

This was a great book and a wonderful conclusion to the series. The plot of intricate and finely woven, the switches between viewpoint were well done, overall this was a wonderfully crafted story. A very solid fantasy. I can't wait to read more of Forsyth's work!

This is a great series of books from Kate Forsythe's world. Rhiannon is an endearing, strong female character. The writing is so vivid it leaves you feeling like you are right there in that remote imaginary world experiencing her trials and triumphs with her. Action packed Trilogy.

I have just finished rereading all of the books in this series, right after rereading the Witches of Eileanan series that comes before it. After rereading Witches, it was better than I remembered. After rereading this series, it was worse. Rhiannon changed dramatically from the first book to the third, and much worse it seemed like many many of the central characters from the first series were unrecognizable. Here is a breakdown of some of my biggest issues. Don't read them unless you want to basically know the entire plot of the book. SPOILERS : Johanna and Elfrida were established as being gentle and good in previous books and that is completely turned around in this book, and I just didn't buy it. It seemed forced, and like they were different people. It seemed like the author wanted to shock readers with their betrayal, but having read the previous books and therefore spending years with these characters, their behavior just made no sense. And considering that Nina herself noticed Deidre was out and about, the fact that she wasn't thrown back in jail and that she was called to testify at Rhiannon's trial was really unrealistic and seemed forced for the sake of the plot. Also, since Isabeau decided to bring Dide back from the dead I was very surprised that Olwynne was not similarly brought back, perhaps with Margrit or perhaps Lord Malvern. If it was ok to bring back Dide, who was a sacrifice, why not her? Iseult's behavior was similarly uncharacteristic and the fact that Isabeau called for Johanna when Lachlan was injured, when she herself taught Johanna much of what she knew was hard to swallow as well.

Basically the book was a lot darker than I expected, but not always in ways that made sense. I could have accepted Olwynne's death better had Dide stayed dead, but the morality involved seemed very arbitrary. It seemed like so so many of the central heroes and heroines from the previous series turned evil, or at the very least very weak. Even the fact that Olwynne was willing to let Rhiannon literally die and inspelled her oldest friend, though central to the series, didn't make sense with her reputation and her upbringing. In general I am just very disapointed with this series because while it was readable, I had to take frequent breaks to get through it. That said I love the world the book is set in and would happily read another series of Forsyth's set in this world.

Reviewed by Vicky Burkholder
on 07/13/2008

"An evil necromancer has kidnapped the royal twins, plotting to spill their blood for revenge, and to restore his own family to life. Chaos reigns in the capital and Rhiannon finds herself burdened with a heavy charge: to save the one woman she hates above all others."

This is an interesting book. Not having read the others in the series, I read this with some trepidation, wondering if I would be able to pick up the story. While there may be some background details I'm missing, the story was able to stand on its own enough so that I was able to enjoy it without having read the others.

That having been said, there is much about this book that is confusing. There is so much jumping from one main character to another, I wasn't quite sure whose story this was. From the title, I had assumed Rhiannon would be the main character, but that's not always the case. In fact, she was the focus in only about a third of the book. Other parts followed the paths of Isabeau, Iseault, Bronwen, and others. There is so much going on in this book that I wondered if the writer would be able to tie everything up in the end. She did - and didn't. I was left with a lot of questions - a lot of dangling ends that leave room for another book in the series. It may be that those questions were answered in earlier books, but then they shouldn't still be left unanswered in this book.

Overall, I enjoyed the book. It is a high fantasy full of rich world building and unusual characters. The obviously Highland dialect was somewhat distracting and, at times, difficult to figure out, but this isn't an issue unless you don't like reading a lot of jargon. If you've read the other books in the series, definitely pick this one up. If you haven't, I do not recommend starting with this one. Like most series, it would be better if you start at the beginning. But still, this is a good book for fans of high fantasy.

Kate Forsyth has done it again. She has deftly interwoven her characters, world, and the history of that world to create a beautiful tale of love, pain, adventure, and heartache.

In THE HEART OF STARS, half-satyicorn girl Rhiannon, Keybearer Isabeau, and Banrìgh Bronwen all struggle in their own way to save Eileanan from the treasonous plots hatched by a gang of villains.

This book is absolutely gripping, exciting, and powerful. There are some scenes here that will leave readers in awe at what the characters manage to do. Forsyth doesn't waste time with perfect happiness - Eileanan is a true-to-life reality that is so detailed, so well-crafted, you will have a tough time pulling away. And tragedy happens.

One of the major questions here is on resurrection: Can it be done? And if it can, SHOULD it be? Characters in Eileanan take it as a fact that No, it should not. I didn't find, however, that there was a good enough reason not to bring people back to life. There needed to be more stress on the order of life, and the consequences of such an act, to convince us why not.

Another gripe: what's with the order of the book, and the synopsis at the beginning? For a hundred pages you get Isabeau, then for another sixty you get Rhiannon, and so on. In the past, Forsyth has always kept us hanging, a much better tactic when one wants to stress the intertwining of time and life while also making things more exciting.

But despite that, there are so many things going on - so many subplots and motivations and intrigues to grasp - that it all feels like one giant reality. Unfailingly, everything ties together, and nothing is left undone. It's lovely and complex, just like those tapestries of life Forsyth writes of in her books.

Pretend this is 4 and 1/2 stars, and after you've read all the other books in the series, go out and get this one. It's worth it, because aside from a few minor pitfalls, Forsyth weaves a beautiful tapestry of intriguing, honest-to-earth human (and half-human) beings. Their motivations, their thoughts, all ring true for some reason or another. That alone makes it worth the read.

I am not sure what the previous reviewers saw in this novel, but it was so disapointing. The first books were so good that I made my father buy me the Austrailian edition of the third book when he was there on business (it came out earlier in Australia). I read it immediatly but was very unhappy with the book. Rhiannon was barely in the story and Kate Forsyth had so many different plots going that the book felt disjointed and a bit tedious. Normally I am very easy to please, but I had such high hopes for this novel. It didn't even come close to what I was expecting based on the previous 2. Also, what was with what happened to Olywene? That seemed forced and unnatural. I am sorry, but stick to the first two novels.

The author had many good, solid ideas for this book but just could not tie up the ends in a satisfying manner. This is book three of Rhiannon's Ride, yet Rhiannon herself is barely in the book. It focuses on other events in the "shining city" with other characters, and even as she follows these through, the situations just fall apart. There is a big buildup over a sorcerer who wishes to be brought back to life, and the conclusions the characters there made, felt rushed and did not make sense. The big battles lead nowhere, *poof* and it was gone. There was a bit of forced sexual conduct between a villian and one of the "good guys" that felt tacked on and completely out of place with the book.

Rhiannon's heritage? Left up in the air.
One character is convienently killed just so that another would not be tormented by his split feelings anymore. Wrapped that up neatly did you? But the other characters seem to take this death in stride. Very unrealistic.
The evil laird? No one could catch him, til he was taken out easily at the end.

Things lead up to a head and just fizzled out over and over again. The characters were came to know in the first book were briefly brought in for a few cameo appearances but that was about it. The book has a disjointed feeling with too much going on and not enough plot to wrap anything up.

The world is certainly interesting and the author can create entertaining characters, but the end product is just not worth the read.