The Way of the Rose: Everien: Book Three (Everien, Book 3) [Mass Market Paperback]

Valery Leith (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 27, 2002 | Series: Everien, Book 3

In a land torn apart by evil and time, a woman warrior emerges as the only hope for survival...

Everien is in chaos, ravaged by a voracious timeserpent that can tunnel through earth and time itself — calling forth terrifying monsters from the depths of Everien’s past and leaving barriers of time distortion in its wake.

The Pharician warlord Tash and his conquering armies have been thrown into confusion by the timeserpent’s attack and now must battle both the growing rebellion of the Clans and the stubborn inconstancy of this newborn world.

But the key to victory in Everien is the ability to pass through the timeserpent’s barriers and navigate the shifting sands of the land’s memory. To do that, the woman warrior Istar must harness the power of the fearsome Sekk and the sorcery of the ancient and elusive skyfalcon. Only then will she reunite her land and triumph over Everien’s haunting past.

Yet Istar must first learn the truth about herself — and tread a path fraught with heartbreak and peril — if she is to knit herself, her companions, and Everien back together again.


From the Trade Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In the concluding volume of the Everien high fantasy trilogy, Leith's (The Riddled Night) fertile imagination once again outpaces her narrative technique. Istar, the woman warrior, has to fight for the liberation of her homeland of Everien from the Pharicians while also fending off the time worms who threaten universal chaos; just for good measure, she's carrying the winged Eteltar's child. Meanwhile, Istar's foster father, Tarquin the Free, undergoes a strange metamorphosis eaten by the horse Ice, he becomes part of the horse and able to travel across both time and space on the trail of the time worms, in alliance with his partner, Jaya. Eventually Istar is able to harness Sekk magic to challenge the Pharician occupation and take on Prince Tash, while in Pharicia the Emperor Hezene faces civil turmoil, and Tarquin's discovery of the Way of the Rose means big trouble for the time worms. All these plots and subplots, as well as major and minor characters, run past the reader so quickly that it's hopeless to start the trilogy with this volume. Furthermore, no character here is as developed as engagingly as, for example, the byrdgirl Liaku in book two. Leith will appeal to those who like the early Terry Goodkind, though she has a better command of language. With any luck, in the future she'll get better at harnessing her plots. The jacket art announces "strong female character," although Istar as portrayed looks way too healthy and made-up.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

The Pharacian invasion of Everien dissolves into chaos as a monstrous time-serpent tunnels its way through the earth and creates barriers that distort the fabric of time itself. Only an alliance between the warrior woman Istar and the mysterious race of winged creatures from the land's ancient past can hope to repair the damage and bring healing to the world. Leith's epic trilogy comes to a rousing if not unexpected conclusion in a panoramic saga that should appeal to fans of grand-scale fantasy and sword and sorcery. Along with series predecessors The Company of Glass and The Riddled Night, this volume belongs in libraries where epic fantasy enjoys a following.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 560 pages
• Publisher: Spectra (August 27, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553579053
• ISBN-13: 978-0553579055
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 1.2 x 6.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,269,008 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful, disappointing, strange, plotless, interesting, November 7, 2002

By 

Amy (Rhode Island) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Way of the Rose (Everien, Book 3) (Paperback)

The title of this review sums it up: this book is a mixed bag.

First of all, let me say that I loved the first book in this series, "The Company of Glass." I thought it was different from every other fantasy I'd ever read, had complex and egaging characters, and most unique world I've ever encountered.

The second book, "The Riddled Night," was more exciting but confusing and the plot became tangled.

In this third and final volume, the plot unravelled completely.

What happened? It was as if Valery Leith wrote down her first-draft, first-impressions of the plot and didn't think it over. It's like her muse, pure creativity with no order, took over and left her without any control over what happened.

Now, the first two books got some negative reviews, I assume from readers looking for mindless sword-and-sorcery. Her books are mature and poetic, and sometimes too wordy, sometimes slow-moving, but she writes so beautifully with such distinctive imagery, it's worth it.

OK. "The Way of the Rose" made such little sense that I can no longer recommend the series to friends without beign embarassed.
The only reason I give this book 3 stars, instead of 1, is because there is no other fantasy world like this one, and Leith's writing and command of language is moving and beautiful.

Command of plot, she has not. What happened to the story that so captivated me in the first book? The backstory of Queen Ysse's quest for magic artifacts, and Quintar's company. . .where did it go? What about Istar, the warrior woman feeling lonely and confused? Now she's in love with a. . .I don't know, a bird man/monster. . .and it's the plot that's confused.

A character I liked, Xiriel the scholar, disappeared completely.

And my favorite character, Tarquin, formerly Quintar the Queen's champion, now a warrior in self-imposed exile, tormented by his past failures. . .what happens to him? Well, a horse eats him...

You see, my review is as incoherent as this book. Sadly, Leith had such a good thing going with the previous two volumes. I think it was the "time-serpent" that undid it.

I do recommend this book to anyone who wants to write fantasy or study every aspect of the fantasy genre. Don't write a plot like this! But do think of things as interesting as these, and write with such poetic beauty. Just keep control over your muse.

5.0 out of 5 stars complex yet enjoyable read, January 29, 2009

By 

N. Chen (Queens, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Way of the Rose: Everien: Book Three (Everien, Book 3) (Mass Market Paperback)

i rarely ever buy books - i like to buy them after i read them, only if i deem them good enough. i have purchased all 3 of the Everien series. As the other reviewees have noted, Leith has created this amazingly complex, intricate world that is confusing at times. But her language and imagery is so vivid and her phrases beautiful that it's worth the read. i have not come across any thing like this trilogy where the plot and the fantasy world is this complex. i found it very enjoyable and i hope you do too!

4.0 out of 5 stars Complex and not a cliche, September 23, 2003

By 

"jessi_lune" (Brantford, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Way of the Rose: Everien: Book Three (Everien, Book 3) (Mass Market Paperback)

Having read all 3 books I can safely say Valery Leith has created a very complex web of events and characters. This is a trilogy to be read slowly and savour, because it does not fall prey to all the simplistic cliches that most fantasy books do -X falls in love with Y, this person becomes braver and more noble due to this, someone overcomes childhood fears, all the characters split up to do different tasks, meet up in the end and have the usual 'aftermath orgy of explanations', etc. Thank goodness. Each character is a whole world unto themselves and does not necessarily come to understand all that has happened, but each has a role that, as time goes on, becomes complex, sad, bitter, sometimes funny and important in ways that cannot be foreseen. The evolving revelations about the Timeserpent, Everians, Ice, Jaya's role and the fate of the clans is not wrapped up in one perspective or one grain of truth.
Don't worry -this doesn't mean you'll need a dictionary, or will fall asleep due to lack of action, suspense or surprises. Enjoy the fresh narrative, the chapter endings that leave you hanging, and root for your favourite character, good or not-so-good.