Defying their Black King in order to rally an attack on the peaceful Blue Isle, warrior-prince Rugar and his fearless daughter, Jewel, do not suspect that the islanders, under young prince Nicholas, have prepared to defend themselves.
The Sacrifice: The First Book of the Fey (The Fey Series)
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
16 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
The Fey are a ruthless, bloodthirsty, magic-wielding, conquering people. The people of Blue Isle, the next on the list of places to add to the Fey Empire, are peaceful, religious, and have never even encountered magic. The Fey expect to grind the Isle into the ground in a day. Instead, through luck or coincidence, the Islanders discover that the holy water used in their religious rituals kills Fey on contact, in a particularly gruesome fashion. The battle shifts, and the Fey end up fleeing, going into hiding in an invisible fort in the middle of the Island.
What follows are years of skirmishes between the Islanders and the Fey, who are led by the son and granddaughter of their Black King, Rugar and Jewel. The Islanders' king, Alexander, is forced to change his entire political outlook from a peacetime footing to winning a war, while his son, Prince Nicholas, finds out that war isn't as glorious as he thought. Meanwhile, the religious leaders responsible for making the holy water that is now used as a weapon have to reconcile their peaceful religion with the horrific things their water does to the Fey.
This is one of those books where no one comes through unscathed, and sometimes the characters you like the best are the bad guys. The writing leaves something to be desired sometimes, and Rusch has a tendency to repeat herself in an effort to pound certain concepts in, but overall, an enjoyable book with an ending that makes you anxious to hear more.
(Important Note: While books 1,2,3, and 5 are still available, book 4, The Resistance, is out of print and generally unavailable. I read the series without it and was able to follow it fairly well, but if you're the type who absolutely cannot read a series out of order, don't even start The Fey.)
What follows are years of skirmishes between the Islanders and the Fey, who are led by the son and granddaughter of their Black King, Rugar and Jewel. The Islanders' king, Alexander, is forced to change his entire political outlook from a peacetime footing to winning a war, while his son, Prince Nicholas, finds out that war isn't as glorious as he thought. Meanwhile, the religious leaders responsible for making the holy water that is now used as a weapon have to reconcile their peaceful religion with the horrific things their water does to the Fey.
This is one of those books where no one comes through unscathed, and sometimes the characters you like the best are the bad guys. The writing leaves something to be desired sometimes, and Rusch has a tendency to repeat herself in an effort to pound certain concepts in, but overall, an enjoyable book with an ending that makes you anxious to hear more.
(Important Note: While books 1,2,3, and 5 are still available, book 4, The Resistance, is out of print and generally unavailable. I read the series without it and was able to follow it fairly well, but if you're the type who absolutely cannot read a series out of order, don't even start The Fey.)
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Mass Market Paperback
When I first saw the title "The Fey" in the book store I thought, naw, I've read this story a thousand times. But Rusch acutally manages to make the rather standard plot into an amazing and original read. This king's daughter/warrior in battle proving her worth story certainly has some cliche elements, but they only give the reader a foothold for Rusch's magic in creating the brilliantly complex characters on both sides of the conflict. I never could decide which side I wanted to win, and never did decide even as it ended. Instead of the standard "some good, some bad people" set up for each side, Rusch puts the "some good, some bad" in each of her characters in a very believable way. Read this book if you're planning on writing some great, complex characters!
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
By Kayleigh
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Originally, I had picked up the second book of the series by chance. I read the first few chapters and fell in love with the book. It was soem time later when I was browsing for a new reading book at the library and I reconized the title. My consensus is that the first book of the series is as great as any other. The characters are well developed and their personalities are mulit-faceted. Kristine Kathryn Rusch shows her ample capability of writing when she wrote the storyline. For most of the book she holds you in suspense and keeps you guessing at what will happen to the mysterious race known as the Fey. Even though the book skips around from person to person, most of the attention is centered on the Islander prince Nicholas and the Fey princess Jewel, yet Kritine doesn't leave her other characters underdevealoped. Overall, this was an excellent book with lots of plot twists, suspense, and imagination and it's only downfall is that the book starts off slow.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Compelling Throughout
Jewel is the grand-daughter of the Black King, the ruler of the Fey. The Fey have conquered half the world and have set their sights on the other half. Read more
Published 7 months ago by A_Power
5.0 out of 5 stars
Finally on Kindle
I am overjoyed to see that Kristine Rusch's Wonderful FEY Series is now being released to Kindle editions. This is an Epic Saga for all true Fantasy Lovers. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Jeffrey Scott
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not Free SF Reader
The Fey are a pretty ruthless, conquering race, and having picked their next target, attack. However, the hierarchy of their victim manages to delay long enough to come up with a... Read more
Published on September 2, 2007 by Blue Tyson
4.0 out of 5 stars
backwards words
I read the entire series and the next series totally out of context. I read book 6 first and it made me want to read the prior book. Read more
Published on July 11, 2005 by cozy burns
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Fey series, by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Ok, so this series is long (5 books 500-700 pages long, plus sequel series 2 books 500 pages long), but it's really good! Read more
Published on May 14, 2004 by Myra Schjelderup
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Ultimate
Yes, this belongs to the best. All the books of the Fey belong to the top. This is fabulous writing. Kristine Rush is a genius.
This is fantasy as it's supposed to be.
This is fantasy as it's supposed to be.
Published on September 4, 2001 by C. Pieterse
1.0 out of 5 stars
Go find something else to read
I thought at first that this was going to be the same kind of satisfying series that Tad Williams' "Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn" series was. Read more
Published on May 11, 2000 by "alice_bastable"
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good Plot But Boring
It has a great plot. All the rest of the books in the series does too. Also, interesting characters, with strong personalities(most of them). Interesting world, too. Read more
Published on February 20, 2000 by yuki
4.0 out of 5 stars
A good start to a great series
I picked it up by chance, started it, put it down for a while...just couldn't get into it. Glad I picked it back up. Slow start but it "reels" you in! Read more
Published on February 1, 2000 by Bryan W.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Give it a chance
I really enjoyed this book and have continued to read the whole series. Admittedly it is difficult to get into but if you stick with it it will be worth your while. Read more
Published on November 28, 1999 by Michael McCann
