Customer Reviews

A Tapestry of Lions (Chronicles of the Cheysuli, Bk. 8)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I am so happy to finally have the complete set. I have had bks 1-6 for years, but have never been able to get hold of the last 2. Every secondhand dealer in Adelaide had my name down for them, but no luck. Thank you Amazon! But to the books... I have never been so caught up in a world as this. Jennifer Roberson paints the characters so clearly, and the story is so wonderfully told. Through the series the Cheysuli go from triumph to tragedy and back again. I have found myself crying in some parts and almost yelling in victory in others! The best aspect was that I never knew exactly how things would turn out. There was always some twist just when I thought I had it sorted. I managed to devour bk 7 & 8 in a day and a half. If you're looking for something to read anytime read Chronicles of the Cheysuli.

Tapestry of Lions is the last *unfortunately!!* of the Chronicles of the Cheysuli series. It is also one of the best. In all 8 books the author has maintained quality of characters, depth of plot and created a memorable and exciting addition to fantasy literature!! In the series Ms. Roberson presents us with one of the most original *and best in my opinion* takes on the shapechanger genre.

Pick them up and read them by all means and if you're reading this J.R.....give us MORE!!

No clearer image of people and places has ever been presented in a book. The events of this novel will make your heart race. You may even find yourself giving the characters advice. Never has an ending to a series been so bittersweet. It is a well anticipated conclusion that I was sad to see happen to a world that had truly enveloped me. Thanks so much for this world, Jennifer.

Like I said, this is far and away the best series I ever read. There are things in this particular book that broke my heart (like a death near the beginning), but there are also things that made me cry out of pure joy (like the cartain birth near the end). I was only about 13 when I read this the first time... four years later I still find it one of the most moving, best writtin series I have ever been privelaged to happen upon, and... well I sure like it, now YOUR turn to read!

This book brings together all the loose ends from the whole series! This is one of the best series I have ever read. Very well put together with a captivating story line.

This is a story about a spoiled, self-centered brat, who grows up to be a spoiled, self-centered, whiny man, and in the end gets everything he doesn't deserve.

*Spoilers below*

Kellin, the main character, is the second-to-last in the Cheysuli prophecy of the firstborn which threads through the entire series. He carries the blood of all the necessary races in his veins, except for the Ihlini.

Through most of the book, he uses the fact that his father is a prophet off somewhere, instead there with him, to act out in the most egregious ways... and no one stops him. As a man, he acts like a spoiled child, and everyone lets him, because he is a prince! He kills a few people... whines about his father never being there... whines some more... decides that no one loves him because his father wasn't there, and that he hates the world...

But it's the last book in the series! Somehow he must acquire the tainted Ihlini blood... but how? Through the most incredible, unbelieveable series of coincidences I have ever labored through in a fantasy book, that's how. So, 1) He happens to be making his way kind of toward the stronghold of the evil Ihlini, Lochiel. 2) Lochiel's daughter, Ginevra, miraculously happens to be mostly normal, despite growing up isolated in a tower with servants who are too cowed to speak, an insane demon-worshipper father, an insecure, jealous mother, and frequent contact with the equally insane Sekar. 3) Kellin comes across some nice guy near the stronghold who offers him food and drink. Coincidentally, it's an Ihlini who is on his way to marry Lochiel's daughter, Ginevra. Kellin realizes suddenly that the guy is Ihlini, they engage in a cheesy epic battle, and Kellin kills Ihlini guy but sustains grave injuries and topples into a nearby river which 4) washes him up into Lochiel's stronghold, where it turns out he has 5) amnesia, which luckily enables him to 6) completely change personality so that 7) Ginevra can fall in love with him, and he with her, because 8) she thinks he's the guy she's supposed to marry and with whom she will thwart the prophecy due to the fact that 9) no one in the stronghold has ever met Ihlini guy and 10) despite the statement that Lochiel "carefully researched his pedigree", he apparently never thought to get a physical description of any kind, nor send any messenger sorts to actually meet the guy. Oh, and Lochiel does perform a test to make sure Kellin is really the Ihlini fiance, using the guy's lifestone, but 11) Kellin passes because of the power of his blood. So, Kellin and Ginevra make a baby, kill evil father, and hie back to Homana. Meanwhile, the author (I mean, "the gods") has been killing off every male with royal blood under the age of 40 throughout the entire book. So at the end we get a cameo from Kellin's great aunt and uncles (Hart, Colin, Keely, Sean) who all come in and say, "Well, most of our children are dead, so why don't you just rule all our lands when we die." The End.

It also really bothered me that there are some gaping holes that never get explained. First of all, why exactly can't Aiden ever see Kellin? Because he would want to be with him? So? Does this mean that if Aiden had at least had contact with Kellin at some point over the years, Kellin wouldn't have been traipsing around close to Lochiel's stronghold to start this remarkable chain of coincidences that fulfill the prophecy? Very unclear. Second, what killed Blaise's lir, after all? Lochiel's minion who tried to capture Kellin later? The lion throne?

If you enjoy fantasy, you will enjoy this book. It is the last book the the Cheysuli Chronicles, and finishes a saga that covers one-hundred years of fantastical history and brings about the end of a magical prophecy. It is my favourite book in this series next to Daughter of the Lion. If you like Marion Zimmer Bradley, Andre Norton or Anne Mcaffery, you will enjoy reading this!

The book is an excellent follow-up to Flight of the Raven. I currently have the whole series and still enjoy reading them from time to time.