Customer Reviews

The Summer King (The Chronicles of Faerie)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I enjoyed The Summer King much more than Melling's previous book, Hunter's Moon. While Hunter's Moon shared the same magical Irish atmosphere, the characters had less depth and its sugary sweet ending really disappointed me. I had been expecting a more sophisticated conclusion.

The Summer King delivered exactly what had been missing from the previous book. More exitement, more developed characters, and a wonderful bittersweet conclusion to the story. All in all a very powerful fantasy.

I can't wait for the next installment in the series.

Almost a year after her twin sister's death, Laurel returns to Ireland to find out why. What killed her bookish, honor student sister who believed in faeries? And--if what the fae are telling her is true--can she really get Honor back?

O. R. Melling is the real deal. She's Irish, she speaks the language, and she's studied the myths. When she writes about Ireland, she takes you there--and you don't want to leave. Go Underhill with Melling and other faery tales will not seem quite so real.

While this book is written for YA audiences, I think it's a compelling story for all ages and well worth the read. I plan on passing my copy along to a 13 year old niece and I'll get her the rest of the series as well.

Like its predecessor, "The Hunter's Moon," "The Summer King" is a beautiful and lyrical tale of the relationship between human and Faerie. With death as a major theme, The Summer King has a dark poignancy that touches the heart.

Melling's vivid imagery brings to life both Ireland and the Faerie places. The story has romance, excitement, adventure, and even a pirate: Grace O'Malley, Ireland's 16th century female pirate. The fairies come in a variety of forms: from the tricky but humorous cluricaun to the beautiful, frightening sea fairies known as the boctogai; from the dark Summer King to Midir, the noble faerie High King.

The Summer King is linked in some ways to The Hunter's Moon, but it's an independent story that can be read on its own. Melling deliberately wrote the books in the series so that each could be read independently.

I keep telling myself that I am going to go to bed when I finish this chapter. Only to continue because I can not wait to find out what happens next! You know you got an entertaining story on your hand when that happens. I enjoy that its easy to read and I love the gaelic thrown in here and there. I intend to learn a lot more about Irish folklore after reading this book because it has sparked my interest. Very fun to read!

Wow. I love fantasy, and this one truly captivated me. It is full of imagination and the characters were great as was the romance. The author's use of the Irish language and folk tales really brings these books to life. I definitely recommend this!

I really loved this book and you will too if you enjoy Irish lore. Laurel Blackburn returns to Ireland still recovering from her twin sister's unfortunate death. She believes that her sister had become involved with fairy-like beings. When she goes searching for them she discovers that fairies do exist. She sets out on a mission to return the Summer KIng to his throne. Sparks fly between her and Ian Gray as he comes to help her complete the mission.The end has a wonderful twist that readers will enjoy.

If you read "The Hunter's Moon" and enjoyed it, you'll definately love "The Summer King." To be honest, I liked this book much more than I did "Hunter's Moon." The characters have a bit more depth and the plot is more intricate. I would have rated "Hunter's Moon" maybe 3 stars. I don't particularly feel like summarizing the book (you can read amazon's summary and the previous review for that) mainly because whenever I look at reviews it's to see whether or not the book is decent...But that's just me. The only slight problem I had with this book was all the Irish language used, I personally do not know much of that language, and it could be a bit overwhelming ( but they do provide you with glossary in the back, and it does enhance the Irish feel.) Anyway, if you enjoy a quick, romantic, faerie story this is perfect for you.

I didn't like Laurel, or Honor for that matter. Maybe that's why i didn't enjoy this story, but it also seemed at times that the plot wasn't fully thought out. Laurel and Ian fight *all* the time, and then we have to read through Laurel thinking how she just wished they wouldn't fight so much, which gets repetitive after the first time. Near the beginning of the story, Laurel encounters one of the characters from O.R Melling's previous book, The Chronicles of Faerie: The Hunter's Moon (Chronicles of Faerie), but only for a very short time whilst on a train. Personally I think it would have been kewl if some of the people from Hunter's Moon were more present here. (I liked The Hunter's moon much more than i liked this book, especially the characters.) The top three things that I think bothered me the most with this book are:
1) Laurel and Ian's relationship doesn't seem to fit well in the book, like it's a sideline and yet it's supposed to be a bigger part of the story development
2) I didn't particularly like the ending, and Honor's role in the end seemed very disconnected with Laurel, to the point where it didn't feel like the two of them had any connection left. I think that was done on purpose, but i didn't like it.
3) The Writing style was boring, and things seemed to just happen at random, though i'm pretty sure they were meant to flow well, in an odd way. but they didn't. Thing's happen that make you wonder "oh i wonder why that is?", but then once they're solved it doesn't seem very satisfying. I wish i could give an example, but that would ruin it for those who haven't yet read the book....
I didn't hate this book, or even strongly dislike it, but I would never read it again.

I am a 30-year-old mom who enjoys escaping into Faerie now and then. I have read almost every juvenile fantasy novel to come along and most of them seem to simply be in the market to fill the void left by Twilight. Not these books. Not only did they give me what felt like a real adventure in Faerie, but the author did such a stunning job painting the faerie characters as they were originally captured in old songs, poems, and history. I loved this book and all other O.R. Melling novels and recommend them to adults and teens alike!

My daughter absolutely loved this book! She had gone looking in B&N for a particular kind of book. We spent hours there searching and reading the backs and finally came upon one in this series. She is 14 and didn't want anything too kiddish, but something interesting. I found the one and showed it to her and she thought it sounded perfect! So we saw it was part of a series and came right here to find them and ordered the other two! She loves them and poured over them right away! She has so enjoyed them!! Captured her attention and she'd love to see them as a movie too! Very well done! Beautiful covers!