storytimed's review
2.0
Coming to the mid-series sag. I actually did skim Alain's whole time travel plot. Liath's sojourn into the spheres should have taken fifty pages, not five hundred. Sanglant and Hanna get the most interesting stuff going on here: Sanglant has the real bread and butter of the book, going hard with the political maneuvering. We also now begin to get into the whole like, Talleifer inheritance bullshit, which. Whatever!! I don't care!
badmc's review
This feels like a chore. I skimmed the reviews for this and rest of the series and decided against continuing. A pity. I will try some other works from Elliott.
kittenscribble's review
4.0
Fantasy, fourth in the Crown of Stars series. A vast improvement over the first three. Elliott, though blessed with superlative world-building skills, tended to bore by doling out history disguised as monologues. This book tells instead of showing, by thrusting one of the characters into the distant past to experience the cataclysmic events that caused the conflicts of the present. Meanwhile, the ongoing war for succession continues amidst magic, treachery, and multilayered politicking. Brilliant, gripping; totally worth slogging through the first three volumes. I mean it.
snazel's review
4.0
But seriously, WHY is this not a GOT-type miniseries. For that matter, how did that get picked up and not this. This series has everything. Everything! Evil elves! Technologically-advanced goblins! The music of the spheres! Heresy! Dragon-Vikings! Betrayal by the gods! Fake miracles! Real miracles! Insta-love! Books! Sieges! Time travel! Griffons! AWESOME BATTLES! Magic hounds! Weaponized gossip! Really good-looking bad guys! Torture! Escapes! Betrayal by your friends! Matriarchy! Fresos! Blood sacrifice! Learning! Angels! Weather! The importance of weaving! Heroic sacrifice by dozens of people to get children to safety! The plague! Feminine whiles! Arranged marriages! Centaurs! Dragons! The place of coils! Translators! Metal forging! Religious reform! AHHHHHH.
vaderbird's review against another edition
3.0
5 star - Perfect
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish
dark_reader's review against another edition
4.0
UPDATE: I read where Kate Elliott said that the inspiration for Adica was the Egtved Girl, and I love this detail.
Best volume of the series so far, in my opinion. But it is loooonnng. Each book has gotten progressively longer and I really felt it here. Fortunately, I enjoyed most every bit of it. There was only a little bit of drag in the middle, during Alain and Adica's extended journey. This book stands out for fully presenting at least two major character arcs: Adica's entire story (a new character in the series), and Liath's journey through the celestial spheres. Sanglant is better humanized here than ever before. Young Anna makes a return to the story, after having only a brief cameo in the prior book. A number of story elements make complete circles, reflecting the Circle of Unity that is the primary holy symbol of the Daisinite church. I feel like this book accomplished more literarily than the series to date. And just when you thought that you coudn't hate Hugh any more...
It's not just the number of pages (850 in the original DAW hardcover edition, 200 pages longer than the prior volume), it's the density of the text-per-page, which appears to be much higher than in most contemporary fantasy hardcovers. It's also not just the word count (over 300,000 as best as I can estimate), it's the slower pace at which the words flow than I am used to. Elliott has certainly crafted a complex, detailed story set in an authentically early Medieval world, with full attention to the weather, the flora, the clothing, art, and livelihoods particular to that era. As in prior books, you really have to pay attention while reading because vital plot points appear without warning. This book really slowed down my usual reading pace. Usually in a calendar month I will read up to 1000 more pages than I did in the month that included this tome.
I enjoy all of the characters and the path that events have taken, which are wildly different than I would have guessed at the start of the series. I am frequently struck by the lack of privacy in this setting; even a private, secretive discussion between the king and an advisor is done with half a dozen stewards and attendants on hand. Royalty go to bed with multiple servants and hangers-on sleeping in the same room, even for sexy-times. Regular people in a village might all sleep together in a longhouse. Even going to the privy has no guarantee of privacy. It sounds exhausting. Equally striking is the length of time it takes to do anything. Each book takes place over the course of at least a year, with factions frequently bogged down for months in a particular location waiting for, say, the snows in mountain passes to melt. A queen or king here does not spend time in a castle, rather they are constantly "in progress", traveling the land, planning for next year's military action during whatever campaign season the climate allows, reminding each region's dukes or margraves or whomever that they're in charge, and gobbling up everyone's food stores along the way with their massive train of nobles, advisers, scholers/churchpeople, servants, soldiers and camp followers.
It should be noted that [a:Kate Elliott|8660|Kate Elliott|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1418093298p2/8660.jpg] sufferred from tendinitis while writing this book and had to do part of it in longhand. She is one of my favorite writers and is clearly an abject professional.
Best volume of the series so far, in my opinion. But it is loooonnng. Each book has gotten progressively longer and I really felt it here. Fortunately, I enjoyed most every bit of it. There was only a little bit of drag in the middle, during Alain and Adica's extended journey. This book stands out for fully presenting at least two major character arcs: Adica's entire story (a new character in the series), and Liath's journey through the celestial spheres. Sanglant is better humanized here than ever before. Young Anna makes a return to the story, after having only a brief cameo in the prior book. A number of story elements make complete circles, reflecting the Circle of Unity that is the primary holy symbol of the Daisinite church. I feel like this book accomplished more literarily than the series to date. And just when you thought that you coudn't hate Hugh any more...
It's not just the number of pages (850 in the original DAW hardcover edition, 200 pages longer than the prior volume), it's the density of the text-per-page, which appears to be much higher than in most contemporary fantasy hardcovers. It's also not just the word count (over 300,000 as best as I can estimate), it's the slower pace at which the words flow than I am used to. Elliott has certainly crafted a complex, detailed story set in an authentically early Medieval world, with full attention to the weather, the flora, the clothing, art, and livelihoods particular to that era. As in prior books, you really have to pay attention while reading because vital plot points appear without warning. This book really slowed down my usual reading pace. Usually in a calendar month I will read up to 1000 more pages than I did in the month that included this tome.
I enjoy all of the characters and the path that events have taken, which are wildly different than I would have guessed at the start of the series. I am frequently struck by the lack of privacy in this setting; even a private, secretive discussion between the king and an advisor is done with half a dozen stewards and attendants on hand. Royalty go to bed with multiple servants and hangers-on sleeping in the same room, even for sexy-times. Regular people in a village might all sleep together in a longhouse. Even going to the privy has no guarantee of privacy. It sounds exhausting. Equally striking is the length of time it takes to do anything. Each book takes place over the course of at least a year, with factions frequently bogged down for months in a particular location waiting for, say, the snows in mountain passes to melt. A queen or king here does not spend time in a castle, rather they are constantly "in progress", traveling the land, planning for next year's military action during whatever campaign season the climate allows, reminding each region's dukes or margraves or whomever that they're in charge, and gobbling up everyone's food stores along the way with their massive train of nobles, advisers, scholers/churchpeople, servants, soldiers and camp followers.
It should be noted that [a:Kate Elliott|8660|Kate Elliott|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1418093298p2/8660.jpg] sufferred from tendinitis while writing this book and had to do part of it in longhand. She is one of my favorite writers and is clearly an abject professional.
dotsonapage's review against another edition
4.0
This is the fourth volume in what has become one of my all-time favorite fantasy series. This time, we not only get to follow the adventures of Saglant, Rosvita and others in the present but we also learn more about the past history of Elliott's world through Alin's eyes and discover a different world altogether with Liath. I love the relationship between Alain and Adica, he's one of my favorite characters and I was really glad he'd finally found the love he so deserved. I also enjoyed reading about Sanglant's adventures, catching up with characters introduced two books ago, and watching as things around King Henry come unraveled. Excellent book, a page-turner to the very end.
judith_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
bookworm5732's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0