Prophecy: Child of Earth (Mass Market Paperback)

~ (Author) "Meridion sat in the darkness, lost in thought..." (more)
Key Phrases: dol mwl, canticle circle, mail caravan, Daystar Clarion, Sleeping Child, Living Stone (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Three cheers for Elizabeth Haydon! One great book (Rhapsody: Child of Blood) might be a fluke. But its sequel, Prophecy: Child of Earth, keeps right on developing great characters in a believable fantasy world without sacrificing the momentum of a terrific story. Best of all, Haydon promises to bring the current adventure to a conclusion in the next book, so no need to fear TNS (the never-ending saga).

Prophecy continues the stories of Rhapsody, the Namer who uses song, herb-lore, and affinities with fire and starlight to heal and protect, and her adoptive family: Achmed the Snake, an obnoxious former assassin and King of the savage Firbolg race, and Grunthor, his huge, cheerfully cannibalistic sidekick. Rhapsody travels in the company of the mysterious Ashe, who becomes much less mysterious as the story progresses. She meets a dragon, trains with a Lirin swordmistress who once carried Rhapsody's fiery sword, Daystar Clarion, and races to prevent the assassination of the Patriarch of Sepulvarta. Meanwhile, Achmed and Grunthor discover secrets of their mountain stronghold and learn more of their own powers. Together they repel renewed attacks by the F'dor, a demon seeking apocalyptic destruction. But they have not yet identified the demon's host or disarmed all of its agents, and time is running out.

Fans of epic fantasy will find Haydon a worthy successor to Tolkien, ranking with Robin Hobb and Guy Gavriel Kay. Just don't start reading too late in the day--once you've begun, you won't want to stop. --Nona Vero --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly

A sequel to Haydon's acclaimed first novel, Rhapsody, this is a novel of modest virtues. Again following the adventures of Rhapsody (the Cymrian Namer) and her friends King Achmed of the Firbolg and the giant Grunthor, the narrative recounts their battles with the demonic F'dor. Although Grunthor is the Child of Earth to whom the title refers, most of the action revolves around Ashe, half of whose soul has been torn away by the F'dor and used to create the monstrous Rakshas. The Rakshas (which, to make things worse, looks exactly like Ashe) is going about killing innocent people and plotting to destabilize the power of local governments. After Rhapsody falls in love with Ashe, she sets out (with the help of Achmed and Grunthor) to kill the Rakshas and to end the F'dor's hold over Ashe. This will clear the way for Ashe to reunite the warring Cymrian factions by becoming Lord Cymrian. As they fight their way to this conclusion, Haydon's three heroes must also protect the Sleeping Child, a mystical creature who's likewise threatened by the F'dorAand Rhapsody must train herself to use her magic sword, which can link her to the element of fire. Although the characters are appealing and Haydon's world intriguing, things there are so complicated that they require an excessive amount of backstoryAexplanations of what happened in the previous volume and in Cymrian history. Although impressive, these explanations tend to appear at inopportune moments and break the adventure's pace. The romance between Ashe and Rhapsody is, however, charming, and the novel has enough magic, good fights and thrilling love scenes to make it a keeper. (July)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 736 pages
• Publisher: Tor Fantasy; Mass Market ed. edition (August 13, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812570820
• ISBN-13: 978-0812570823
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (117 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #311,913 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

51 of 57 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The new fantasy master, July 7, 2000

By	Amari Kenyon (Issaquah, Washington) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Prophecy: Child of Earth (The Symphony of Ages) (Hardcover)

Even the curmudgeons seem to have a hard time dismissing this new writer. They fume about the "hype" her first book, Rhapsody, received, try to pick it apart and complain, and yet in the end they all kind of grudgingly admit they enjoyed it a lot. Perhaps I am unique in that when I don't like something I'm reading, I don't bother to finish it.

It was literally painful for me to put this book and its predecessor down. The characters are beautifully written, full of warts and hidden gifts. The plot hums along, with fast paced action giving way to more methodical, contemplative passages, similar to, gee--life! This is not a book for someone who enjoys mindless pap. It's a book that makes you think, and feel, and marvel that one person can devise such a clever history, can show so many different sides of people, can make you laugh and shudder and cry and want to scream all within a few pages.

Prophecy is a much faster read than Rhapsody. It is written without compromise; Haydon takes brave steps with characters that NO other fantasy writer would dare take. She is the new master of this genre.

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars There's some great stuff in there, but..., December 27, 2001

By	Thomas (Langedijk, Noord Holland Netherlands) - See all my reviews

There's one major problem; the romance. I might be somewhat oversensitive to this but there were two plotelements that threw me off this book immensely:

- Rhapsody's larger than life flawless character: I'm a big fan of the underdog. Rhapsody is Altruism made flesh to an extend that is really stretching the boundries of suspending disbelief. It got so bad at a few points I had to put the book down for a few days to restore my will to read any further.

- The Romance: I'll not spoil what romance, but it's dragged out far too long. It's really as if the author lost herself, and wanted to be Rhapsody so bad she started writing more of her bedroom fantasy instead of a story. These scenes frankly disgusted me at some points. Not because of their graphicness, I must say she did a fairly good job at that, but at their unrealistic sweetness.

Well, if you have a strong stomach when it comes to sappyness, you'll love this book. The plot is rather strong, the prose is phenomenal, though overly grandiose at points. The characters, with the exception of Rhapsody, are rather realistic and pleasant to read about.

All in all, I'd pick it up if I had nothing better to do.. Definately not worth a rush to the bookstore though.

Recommendations: CS Friedman's Coldfire Trilogy.

22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Please! I couldn't even bring myself to read the last 20 pgs, January 14, 2002

By	Ted B "elysium314" (Washington, DC United States) - See all my reviews

Since I am obviously in the minority in seeing this book as lacking, let me affirm that I am an enormous fan of modern fantasy. Sadly, though, there are certain characteristics of fantasy writing today, which many fantasy authors cannot help but include in their work, that I cannot stand. If nothing else, this book helped me to verbalize and understand these.

First, Rhapsody is shallow and unsophisticated as a character. Her motivations are so purely "good" and "selfless" that after a point you get fed up with it- it can be nauseating, at times. Second, Rhapsody seems able to cough up some new mystical power every other day. You're never particularly worried at a "close call," because you know the author will come up with some unbelievable stretch to get everyone out of it. Please. Third, the romance... my God!!! If you have a strong enough stomach to put up with the lovey-dubby companionship and "perfect lovemaking" that takes all night (and she spares no details), I take my hat off to you. Lastly, the book plays out like a morality lesson, or a treatise on feminism. It almost reminds me of one of those "made for Lifetime TV" movies.

This book is for those who read fantasy to look for a flowery world with unbelievably perfect and invincible characters. If you're after something else, try George RR Martin or, better yet, Ursula Le Guin (from whom Haydon heavily borrows).