12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Ultimate Romantic Fantasy!, December 1, 1999
Song in the Silence is one of the best fantasy books I have ever read, and I have read many! The book is primarily about the relationship between a woman, Lanen Kaelar, and a dragon. The setting is in another world that has an almost medieval feel to it. The author's writing style is superb and the book begs for a sequel. It is hard not to fall in love with the characters. Lanen is very strong willed and goes up against many dangers and terrible odds just to fulfil her dream of meeting real dragons. The book is a must of all who enjoyed Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern series. A pure joy to read. Delightful and entertaining. Romance and fantasy are skillfully interwoven in this brilliant book.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fabulous story - a must for all dragon lovers, February 6, 2002
Thank you Elizabeth Kerner! I am so tired of dragons being portrayed as angry, blood-thirsty killer beasts with no concious thought. Dragons are noble, wise, ancient, and fantastic creatures and here Elizabeth Kerner has captured these aspects with a new resounding flare.
When I began this book, the story was understandable and well thought through. The scenes and descriptions were vivid and thouroughly enjoyable. However, first person POV can be difficult for many people,(mainly because few authors write in it) and this book has many first persons - but I recomend patience and persistance. For thos who don't have patience, try to find some (you will be well rewarded), soon after the POV shifting began and I had accepted it, it no longer became a struggle to read, but actually brought a new depth to the story.
I recommend this tale (and *The Lesser Kindred*) to all women. Lanen is a Phenomonal and strong woman, to whom all women can relate and see something of themselves (past, present, and future) in her.
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49 of 66 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Love and lyricism- if only..., December 11, 2002
It's not that bad a book.
Of course, it's not that good a book either.
First of all, the good parts (because, after all, quite a few people like this sort of thing, and for all I know someone would like the book for this): The description of the dragons is fairly interesting. For some reason, the book's opening captured me, perhaps because the romantic in me likes to think of a character looking back on her adventures after all's said and done. Wonderful lyricism when she spoke of dreams of dragons. Night scenes in the book that were simply wonderfully described.
And then there are the Unfortunate Diseases it suffers from:
TLAFSS (True Love at First Sight Syndrome): There are people who don't fall in love at first sight. I find them much more realistic than Lanen and Akhor. Yes, she has a grand destiny, we know that. Does she _have_ to have a true love in a few days? While I enjoyed the unusual aspect of an interspecies romance, it didn't last all that long, and was severely undercut by the TLAFSS part.
UFS (Unfortunate Feminist Syndrome): It's yet another spunky heroine! See her prove she's just as good as the boys! See her get underestimated. See her have a perfect love affair with a male who just adores her.
I probably wouldn't mind this story if I hadn't seen it a hundred other times, and if it wasn't for the genre. It's _fantasy_. Authors can create their own gender-equal (or gender-free- even more fun) societies if they want to, and move past the tired old tropes. Getting banged over the head with a message is getting tiresome.
UDS (Unfortunate Demon Syndrome): Why do there have to be demons? Why? Make up something new! Please! This author has proven she can describe dragons breathintakingly; make up a new race and describe them breathtakingly.
CJS (Character-Jumping Syndrome): It was insane. It's the reason I quit reading Robert Jordan. The story might have gotten three stars if not for that.
So: Light, lyrical, romantic reading. Heroine unfortunately is spunky, falls in love at first sight, is pursued by demons, and doesn't step out of 'destiny-ridden-heroine' mode. Too bad.
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