Customer Reviews

The Phoenix Transformed: Book Three of the Enduring Flame

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

I don't normally write reviews because usually by the time I've read the book, other folks have already expressed what I would say. Not in this case. I'm surprised to read that some folks skimmed pages - if so, they missed wonderful examples of character development and plot lines building. To me, the story is about a journey - one of learning compassion, understanding, respect for strange ways, and finally trust: in one's self and in others. The characters and plot unfold and develop with exquisite, realistic detail. Yes, it takes time, but how else to reconcile such disparate peoples? And what an unexpected twist at the end - never saw that coming! I found the book to be a very satisfying end to the series.

I was very disappointed in this whole series. I never did get "close" to Tiercel and Harrier. I wanted to, but Harrier was too grouchy and Tiercel too wimpy. I hated that they didn't bring Ancaladar back until the end. And I know I will get a lot of flack, but their total disregard of the animals in the book really turned me off. I just read the part where he burned the shotar, but it died before it hit the open ground? I found it disturbing. I know it's a book, but... I, too, wish she would have just stayed with Kellen and kept their characters going.

I really enjoyed the first two books- picking them up without having read the Obsidian trilogy, and I fell in love with the story which showed real promise and potential to be a great epic. The second book lagged a little bit insofar as character development went, but I figured "hey, it's the second book in the trilogy, it's obviously going to get better!"

Unfortunately that's not what happened. What we got was Harrier being gruff and grudgingly accepting of responsibility, Tiercel endlessly complaining, no Ancaladar until the last few pages, an uninspired evil villain, and endless desert trekking.

To be completely honest, reading about a group of desert nomads who struggle across an unforgiving desert could be interesting- but not for 500 pages where the 'trials and tribulations' are wash, rinse, and repeat. The group of adventurers are plagued by a series of the awakened demon Ahirain's minions. Over. And over. And over again, with little to no variation in battle sequences.

There was also no progression on the villain's side! The great demon Ahirain wanted to bring back the endarkened, that is what had been hinted at in the first two books and would certainly have made for some really awesome plot. But all she does is make ugly versions of desert animals and dead people and send them to attack our protagonists in order to impress some remnant of an ancient civilization. Very scary.

Whenever the book actually showed promise- IE Servasse taking Bisochim and Tiercel to the Elf lands to get help, which could have opened up new ideas and subsequent plot derivations- Not to mention a much desired break from the desert! But no. Servasse gets her wing eaten and so they have to go back to the main group. After much journeying, they finally get to where they were going, and they then decide it's time to go all the way back to where they started! What a plot twist right? I wanted to throw the book at the authors. The only reason I 'liked' this book was because of the ending. If the rest of the book had been written like the last 50 pages, it would've been great.

Check it out from the Library if you want some closure to the series, but don't buy it- you may as well read the first 100 pages and skip over to the last 50. You wouldn't miss much.

This was an unexpected ending to the trilogy, but much appreciated. Not bad as a stand alone book, but much better if you read the rest of the series.

As others have mentioned, this book is rrrreeeeeeaaaaaallllllyyyyyy slow. No that there's no action -- there's plenty of that. But, none of it seems to move the story along. There doesn't appear to be any growth; any progress for the main characters. The ending was fairly satisfying and -- just barely -- rewards you for sticking with it. Minor spoilers below...

I say "seems" and "appear" because the end of the book does point out how the triumph couldn't have occurred without the stuff they went through. But, it was a hard read because it was hard to care about what was going on. And, it all seemed so pointlessly repetitive. I read on only because I wanted to be done with it, not because I was dieing to know what happened next.

I felt that the relationship between Harrier and Tercel should have been slowly growing and improving so that what happened to them at the end was not only acceptable but joyous. Each of their challenges in the dessert should have brought them just a bit closer to understanding one another so that the ending was a comfortable fit. But, instead, it was jarring and I didn't like that.

I do get what the authors were tying to do -- show that there was a whole different dimension of the two magics, so we didn't get to see magic the way it was handled in the first trilogy. But, it made it all so much less satisfying.

I also didn't like that so much was left unresolved. What would happen at Arimathaya? Where would the Isvani end up? How about Harrior's relationship with Shaira and the tribes? Hints but no closure.

All in all, this trilogy was a disappointment -- especially in comparison to the excellence of the first one.

I'm a huge fan of the first series, the Obsidian Trilogy, but this entire trilogy seemed weak, and this last book was a definite letdown. It seemed smaller than an epic should be, if you know what I mean, plus it was incredibly depressing. I thought the first book was good, but by the time Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory got to this third book, it seemed as if they didn't know where to go with the plot. Also, the characterization in this book seemed one-dimensional; no one coming into this trilogy for the first time would understand why you would care what happens to the heroes. Save your money, and re-read the Obsidian Trilogy.

The first couple of chapters and the last couple of chapters are the only thing worth reading in this book. The rest is them wandering in the desert, constantly asking themselves the same questions and getting attacked over and over and over. By the end of the book I could really care less about any of the characters and the one bit of "romance" seemed like an afterthought thrown in at the very end. It's also completely lacking any of the sharp banter that made me laugh in the first trilogy. I'm sure many will buy this book just to finish out the trilogy like I did, so when you're dredging through the middle wondering if anything interesting is going to happen, the answer is no. Time to skim until you get closer to the end. An unexciting end to an unexciting series.

Just like this trilogy as a whole, the last book was Good, but not Great. I liked it alot, but i'll be honest, i skimmed through most of it. Which i NEVER do with her books. It was entirely longer than it needed to be, and, quite honestly, one of the parts near the ending could've been left out completely, because it didn't add anything to the story, nor did it seem like it was supposed to serve as any sort of plot point or anything for the main characters. It seemed to me they just added it in there to make their page quota, which they probably did. Like the others have said, the ending (I won't spoil it, because there really is nothing to spoil) was majorly weird. Not dissapointing, really, just......odd. It seemed like an odd choice to me, to have one of the characters choose as he did, though it was nice they didn't just go with the "Oh look, that one's free, i'll pick that one" thing like i thought they would do. I still do not really understand what this whole 3 become one thingy is, and it seems like it would create more problems in the aftermath than it solved, *SPOILERS!!!!* but then i'm not the authors. In the end though, i'd say, if you liked the first two, get this one. But only from your local library, if you can, like i did. I didn't pay for the first two, and i wouldn't pay for this one. Which is a good thing, seeing as how they turned out.

*for instance, what happens to the Wildmages and High Mages now that any of them can bond with dragons? Wouldn't that make High Magic a bit harder to do? And what about regular people? Would they be able to be bonded as well, or is it just Mages?*

The finish to Harrier and Tyr's attempt to save the world delivers on the promise of the first two books. Both characters have been fun to be with and this final stage of their growth that places the harshness of epic war with the deeds of heroes is believably written. At almost 800 pages, you won't find yourself racing to the end, but you'll be cheering them on all the way!

It is an excellent story. The first book in the series was a children's storiy, this one is NOT. Very bloody, lots of death and destruction. So you start out with a children's story, a lot of adults dislike children's stories. You finish with an adult story, this is fine if an adult is reading it.