Customer Reviews

The Sun Sword (The Sun Sword, Book 6)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is a satisfying conclusion to the Sun Sword series as it has been developed so far. Okay, there are some indications of fatigue on the author's part--West's prose style, while it can be dramatic and moving (check out the last scene with Diora at the end of Broken Crown) is often torturous and convoluted, and it wears a little thin by this point in the series. Also, some have complained that the battle between the forces of the North and the South seemed strangely anti-climactic, and I can see their point.

*However.*

The author's *strengths* in this part of the series are completely on display as well. I believe I've mentioned in other reviews of her work that Michelle West has a real gift for characterization. This is *certainly* the case here. Her characters are so well developed that they feel almost *four*-dimensional. Her themes of childhood and parenthood continue to be present in the work; in particular I was rocked by the line about Kiriel, something like:

"Ashaf was the mother of her heart.

But she had always had two."

Without giving away spoilers I'll just say that for me, this line made a moment that could have come across as completely contrived and out of nowhere, not only suddenly make sense, but also carry significant emotional weight.

Some have complained also because they feel the story was not finished, in particular that of Jewel and Avandar. I actually found that to be a *strength* of the series, as strange as it may sound. Perhaps it's because I came in not having read Hunter's Oath and Hunter's Death, so I wasn't getting the whole of Jewel's story to begin with, but it seemed to me that this ability to "let plot threads go" actually contributed to the feel of the series as a whole. I mean, heck, it was always clear that the main story of these books was that of Diora, Sendari, Teresa and Valedan; Jewel may have had a part to play, but this wasn't her story, and now that she's finished with that, having gone "south if south calls," it's time for her to go back to the cares of the rest of her life. Just like in the real world, there are no endings, because nothing ever really ends.

The interplay of the two different cultures, South and North, both fully developed and contrasted with each other, is on display here as well, and Valedan's ability to draw on the strengths of both is fully realized. The meeting of Diora and Valedan and their slowly developing relationship is portrayed as only West could have done it, and Anya and Kiriel, Kiriel and Isladar, Kiriel and Ashaf's village, Elena and Telakar--wow.

The only thing I can think of that would have made it better would have been if she had found a way to work the cradle song into the conclusion. While that is the only song in the series, in my opinion it represents the best use of poetry in a fantasy series since Tolkien, in that it encapsulates what I see as one of the primary themes of the entire series. Having begun more or less with the cradle song in the first hundred or so pages of the Broken Crown (and thus set the tone), I would have liked to see it show up at the conclusion as well to sort of "close the circle." But that's only a minor flaw. Particularly when so many fantasy authors seem to be writing "the series that does not end," West is able, all things considered, to pull off her final book superbly. All in all, I found this to be an excellent conclusion to an excellent series. If she writes a future series dealing with Jewel and her den (as some have commented she plans to do) I will certainly buy it and read it as well. Well done, Ms. West. Well done.

A lot of people complained about the fact that Jewel's story wasn't finished. After all, Jewel has played a major part in the battle for the Dominion. However, not to worry. I read in her home page that Michelle West was writing a stand-alone novel called House War that is about Jewel, the house war, and the den.

That aside, I would like to concentrate on the book. This is the conclusion to the series about the Southern war, and it was beautifully written. I thought that the character development with Diora and Kiriel was well done and believable. What truly touched me, however, was the new revelation about Auralis and Anya. By the end of the book, we see some changes in Auralis that are, I believe, for the better.

What I liked about these books was the fact that the author doesn't put in a bunch of shabby sex scenes between characters that detract from the story. Instead of romantic relationships, we see more of parent-child relationships. Such relationships include Teresa-Diora, Isladar-Kiriel, Sendari-Diora, Alina-Valedan, and even, to a lesser extent, Isladar-Anya. I also enjoyed reading the first meeting between Valedan and Diora, and continuing to watch their slowly growing relationship.

Some reviewers claimed that the final duel between Alesso di'Marente and Valedan kai di'Leonne was an anti-climax. I do not believe that this is entirely accurate, because it seemed to me that the real climax of the story was when Kiriel was battling the Great Beast on the battlefield, not when Alesso and Valedan dueled. I can also appreciate the fact that the author makes all of her characters seem real. Even the so-called bad guys made me want to cheer them on. Each character is not completely evil, not completely good. On both sides of the opposition, you see characters who are on a particular side for their own goals and values. No one character is black or white, but shades of gray instead.

In the conclusion, no loose ends in the SOUTHERN WAR were left dangling. They were satisfactorily resolved. Jewel's story wasn't meant to be resolved in this book because her role in the southern war was finished. And I will repeat: Michelle West is writing another book for Jewel called House War. Just hang in there people!

Yes, we found out what the kin planned all along, and why Kirel was born. She and Valadin fulfilled their promise, individually and collectively, and many southern threads were brought full circle. I loved the book, and devoured it. BUT - What about Jay?? and Adam?? and Margret?? the Den? Will Adam be able to heal na'Tere's gift? Will Kalatin be forgiven? Just who is Illaphraniel *really*? Will the Summer come? Will the Winter King survive/become the Summer King/ become part of Jay's Den? Just how will Avendar and Jay make peace? Is the hint in the last book of their making a separate peace going to happen, or was that just a way to end that scene? Will Havalena rise? *Please* don't leave us hanging with all these questions. I was realy hoping that Jewel and those following her would be woven back in somehow with the direction of the Road, but that just got glossed over. Why weren't they pulled in, along with the White Lady??? I know you are tired of writing this series, but... I'm not tired of reading about them!!

# Michelle has sold three books to Luna under the Michelle Sagara name

* Cast in Shadow (already written and due to be published in Aug 2005)
* Cast in Courtlight (already written and likely to be published a year later)
* Unnamed

These books are quite different in tone from her Michelle West books, which is why she is publishing them under a different name.
# Michelle is currently at work on House War (about 1/2 way through as of October), which covers the events involving Jewel and the succession to House Terafin. The story will also provide more information about the beginnings of the Den. This will be a two book series (honest!).
# BenBella books is reprinting the Sundered series! More information as it becomes available.
# Meisha Merlin is publishing a collection of Michelle's short stories.

It's a shame more people haven't had the chance to enjoy the beautiful world West has crafted. The characters She has created are nothing short of astonishing in their complexity and the intricacy of their relationships. If you enjoy epic fantasy with wonderful characterization and eloquent prose akin to Guy Gavriel Kay, than read this series.

Yeah, finally Diora and Valedan meet! If you haven't started at the beginning of the series do not start with this book and even start at the Hunter series to see where the author is leading us. Obviously, the story is not finished and a new series of books will come out as the final battle has not started. The battles in this book are just more preludes to the main good versus evil battle. There are many story lines and subplots and the author does a good job of tying many of them together. We learn more about Havalla and the Empire's mages and even about the summer and winter seasons. Unfortunately, we do not find out more about Jay and Avandar. Hopefully, the next book will cover more of this. The author did a good job of ending Valedan's quest, maybe we will seee more of him and Diora in the future. But still questions remain. I can't wait for the next book!

I'm not going to lie: I couldn't get through this series the first time around. I stopped reading around the fourth book, for two reasons - one, I didn't know if I could stomach any more of the subtlety inherent in every single scene, and two, I was probably just too young. But now I'm glad I reread it all and reached, at long last, this final chapter in a really intense, emotion-filled epic.

In THE SUN SWORD all the characters are finally coming face-to-face and learning to deal with their greatest fears. Valedan kai di'Leonne must lead his followers into a civil war while Kialli demons endeavor to gain control of Annagar; Jewel ATerafin is finally called back home to face the rest of her House; and Serra Diora di'Marano, Flower of the Dominion, must learn to live up to the memory of her dead family and step forward in life. And of course, there is everyone else: Kiriel, Auralis, Ramiro, Mareo, Alfredo, Isladar, Telakar, Elena, Yollana... Everybody goes through some sort of test that will ultimately prove their worth.

What I love about Michelle West's writing is that she doesn't neglect to fill in any gaps about these characters. Sure, she leaves some things up to reader imagination - but none of this has anything to do with the characterization itself. In fact, once you've got that characterization down, you know the characters so well that you're able to read into their actions as much (or as little) as you like. It's all extremely well-done: these characters are as close to human beings as you will find in books. West does this with constant perspective-switching and tons of description - but it's description that's definitely worth it. In fact, I don't think she could have pulled off this series without all that serious attention paid to detail in her characters.

So what does this amount to? It gives readers a lot to read, for one thing, but I see this as a plus; if you know what you're getting yourself into when you start these books (and you probably do if you're reading the review for book six!), you'll understand that long chapters full of seemingly random events actually lend themselves very well to the series as a whole. In the end, all those pages of pondering and character interaction and small events add up to the really BIG events that make the books.

And boy, does West know how to write great "big events." Those long pages serve as wonderful lead-in to confrontations brimming with legend, symbolism, magic, and emotion. And I mean it: there is TONS of symbolism and metaphor in these books. Light versus darkness, cradle songs, rings, slavery, and family among others are all issues that are dealt with. West also delves into the pros and cons of power, lineages and meritocracies. I could write a research paper as long as at least one of her books about it all.

This whole series was just such a huge endeavor. It's not for the faint of heart, certainly, but it's so REAL and yet at the same time - the stuff of legends. I loved this, and I will strongly recommend all of Michelle West's works from here on out. One of my new favorite authors!

Michelle West is a poignant author with a large vocabulary and a love for intricate grammar. However, for me, the Sun Sword series didn't have the same impact that the Hunter duology had. These books were much more intricate. Some parts didn't appeal to me and others had me on the edge of my seat worrying over the fates of the characters.

This book, specifically, was one of the less interesting in many ways. This was an end to some plots, but less a continuation of the others. I would have liked to have seen more about what will happen next.

I really did love it, though.

This book is great. It does bring some closure to some of the storylines. However, there is still alot left undone and I would have been very frustrated were Michelle West to abandon this world for something completely different. However, I just read on sf.net that Michelle is working on her next book called House War. If you've read this series, you know exactly what that book will be about. If you are deciding on whether or not to read this book, do it. It's great. Just know that there is another book coming to bring us the satisfying end to some of the story.

I really enjoyed the first two books of this series, but after that they get a little inconsistent. I thought there were too many pointless subplots and things that didn't really relate to the main stories. But this book is much better than two that came before it, and I was enjoying it a lot. Until I reached the epilogue and realized how many aspects of the story weren't concluded, or even mentioned for most of the book.

If Michelle West didn't intend to finish these storylines in the conclusion of this series, then they shouldn't have been included in the first place. It shows a lack of planning that's really disappointing. There are subplots in some of the earlier books that could have easily been cut out in order to make room for the important aspects of these stories. But by insisting on putting in all those side stories and characters, she cheated her readers of the conclusions to some of the more central stories. Even subplots that were created in this book aren't completed, so I'm not sure why they were added.

The first part of the book is all about Jewel's den and the power struggle in House Terafin. Which has been a large part of all of the books so far. But the Terefin struggle reaches a climax, and Jewel heads back to the North, and there she and her entire plot pass out of the book and remain unresolved. I'm assuming that there will be a later book concluding their story, but it's inexcusable to call this book a conclusion to the series while leaving that huge plot unresolved. That was just the most glaring example, but there are plenty of other issues that go ignored.

The rest of the book is about the war in the South. It was mostly well done, but I wasn't exactly happy with the conclusion of the battle. The fight for rulership of the Dominion was well done, but the ending of the main part of the war was just disappointing. There was so much buildup throughout the series to this one battle, and its ending seemed hurried and so I felt a little let down. This book and the entire series are named for the Sun Sword, and yet in the real climax of exactly the type of battle that legendary weapon was created for, it's just not that important. Which is strange.

With this series, it seems West has taken on more than she could handle. I love the ideas and the characters, but both she and her editors showed poor restraint early on and let the series become so overly complex that even the final book couldn't complete it. Which isn't such a bad thing, if it means we get more stories of these characters. But I hope that she'll start structuring her novels better in the future so her readers avoid the disappointment of getting to what we think is the end of a story only to be left with the nasty surprise of so many things unresolved.