Realm of Light (The Ruby Throne Trilogy, Book 3) [Paperback]

Deborah Chester (Author)

Book Description

Series: Ruby Throne | Publication Date: March 30, 2004

The death of Emperor Kostimon has unleashed the dark gods upon the kingdom of Imperia--and only the Lady Elandra and the warrior Caelan have the power to save their land and people.

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Ace (March 30, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0441011721
• ISBN-13: 978-0441011728
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #642,817 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing Conclusion to a Promising Series, September 9, 1998

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Realm of Light (The Ruby Throne Trilogy, Book 3) (Paperback)

I enjoyed the first two books in the series. I was fascinated by the background of the empire and the characters that made it up. There were several plot developments revolving around characters that I found very intriguing: Hecati, Bixia, Agel, the jinji, the Magria and so on. For instance, we left her half-sister Bixia screaming that she would do everything in her power to bring the empress down. So, here we are in the conclusion and we never even see Bixia again, let alone have her try anything to ruin her life. The author focuses a great deal on minute details, then forgets the big picture. The emperor is mentioned almost as an aside that he is dead. What happened? We get about one sentence that the magria is dead and has been replaced by a former deputy that she had removed from office due to flaws. What happened? We never find out. We spend pages and pages focusing on the empress reaching Albania and her father, and all her attentions are concentrated on saving his life so that he could lead his armies to put her on the throne. Everything is about to come together, and then she's basically arrested and carted off to the capital with her family who have no real part in the rest of the story. No armies. Nothing. She earns the respect of a dragonrider who pretty much seems set to bring her an army of dragonriders, and we never see him or another dragon again. She wanted a jinji from the very first book, and she finally gets one. She even gets one that is unusually colored and matches her topaz colors, then all we get from the jinji is it piping up a couple of times that danger approaches. Well, duh. He never uses his peculiar skills that I wanted to learn more about to sense and draw off magic. We didn't need the jinji to tell us that. Too much detail was focused on petty humiliations and not enough on the real meat of the story. I was very disappointed at the lack of conclusion for this series. I feel as though I wasted my time reading the first two, which were much better than the last. I wish that the author would have extended the series to at least a fourth book to fully develop all the characters, then I would have been one happy reader.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Ruby Throne trilogy is a must read for Fantasy lovers, November 12, 1997

By 

Colin M (Littleton, CO United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Realm of Light (The Ruby Throne Trilogy, Book 3) (Paperback)

The exciting conclusion of the Ruby Throne trilogy begins right where it left off in book two. Faced with certain death behind, the Emperor and his band of refugees has no choice but to flee into the Shadow Realm. Caelan, not willing to let the Empress tread the dark realm alone, enters with her. They soon become separated, and are lost in the darkness. There is a way out, but the cost is high. And even if they do get out of the Shadow Realm, there is still the matter of those pesky prophecies.

An extremely well crafted novel, full of surprises and character growth. The relationship between the Empress Elandra and her guardian Caelan is full of emotionial tension, and the shadows and prophecies that follow them both add depth and character. Surprises are plentiful, and the action non-stop. All of these add up to one thing: loss of sleep when you can't put it down. An excellent fantasy setting by a terrific writer. Hopefully there is more to come.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A dull Deborah Chester Book, November 27, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Realm of Light (The Ruby Throne Trilogy, Book 3) (Paperback)

This was a very dissapointing ending for the ruby throne trilogy. I just loved and enjoyed the cat-fights, hair-pulling, and action in the first book (REIGN OF SHADOWS) but REALM OF LIGHT WAS SOO BORING, there was no conclusion at all. The death and rise of people were bluntly developed, it seemed as though Deborah Chester just sped throught this just to finish the third planned book, so she could work on her next trilogy. Oh, well...just hope another better book comes out in the meantime.