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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great start to a new fantasy series, December 10, 2007
I am a fan of Deborah Chester's Chalice series, so I decided to give this book a try. After reading it I realized that it is actually set in the world of her older Ruby Throne series, which I had not read. You do not have to read the Ruby Throne series to understand the events in this new book, but I have a suspicion that it might help if you had previous knowledge of this world and the struggle between the Shadow and Light which forms the heart of this book. That said, I devoured the book in 2 days. The hero is great- a tortured warrior who has given up his soul but is not wholly evil. The heroine is a little too good to be true- everyone who sees her falls in love with her beauty, etc. There is a nice romantic tension between them that should play out over the course of the series. I may go back and try and find the Ruby Throne books to get a better understanding of the events preceding the start of this book. Hopefully I will not have to wait too long for the next book in this series.Unfortunately the authors' website has not been updated recently, which is somehwat frustrating because I am left wondering how many books are planned and what the time frame for their release is.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Ick, September 1, 2008
I wish I could write this off as a romance in fantasy clothing. Sadly i can not. While it's certainly got romantic elements it screams not passion or lust but _pastiche_. It's got the worst of cliches pile a top each other with sloppy characterization.
The plot summary is: The Ultimate Good Girl meets the Ultimate Bad Boy, and to save each other they must each betray a brother!
He's so bad he has no soul, she's so good she her tears are pearls. The cast around them would need to eat endlessly for weeks to be paper-thin. Best of all, it ends where it might accidentally get interesting.
Sadly there are redeeming qualities to this, not many a good pace, and what is certainly a well thought out world can't over shadow this mangled wreck wheezing on the battle field as it waits to be promoted to corpse.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Chester's Best since The Sword, The Ring, and The Chalice, October 22, 2008
I've been a Chester fan since finding her book The Sword on a bottom shelf of the library, her continuations on the characters from The Sword, The Ring and The Chalice trilogy didn't interest me all that much but this book is putting her right back on track.
Lady Lea is so sweet, she's so good and innocent that you can't help but have your heart go out to her. Her fear at the destiny she and Shadreal share is amazing and her emotions as she's torn between the love of her family and what her heart is telling her is beautifully written, you can't stop turning the pages.
But the character that stole the book is Shadreal, his dark and twisted personality is chilling but like popular villanous heroes you can't help but love to see him. He's cold and cruel to his men and even more so to Lea, he's so far gone down the dark path even he doesn't realize the good that is still within him.
Beloved characters from the Ruby Throne trilogy make appearances that will make fans happy but it is not necessary to have read that trilogy. I guarantee after reading this book you'll be counting the days until The Crown is released.
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