Child of Flame

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Strongest novel in the series. - Rated
Child of Flame (2000) is an intriguing addition to the Crown of Stars series. As the middle volume of the series, it would have been easy for this to be a slower-paced book full of setting up and limited plot resolution. Instead Elliott pulls off some interesting writing decisions which allows her to delve deeper into the mysteries at the heart of the series whilst pushing forward the action decisively. There are huge battles, several key storylines are closed off and the destinies of Alain and Liath (who has a lot less screen-time than in previous volumes) take them to some very strange places.

Child of Flame (****) is the strongest novel of the series, featuring some unexpected plot developments and forcing some serious reconsidering of what came before.

From Fire to Embers - Rated
I ordered this book when it first came out, then sat it on the shelf for three years while I delved into other books in my to-be-read pile. So when I did finally haul this down and began reading, I found I had great difficulty remembering all that had gone before in the prior three volumes. Elliott does not help very much in this regard, as the opening section of the book begins with a totally new situation in a much earlier time-frame (about 13,000 years earlier), and takes one of the major characters of the first three books and transports him into this era. When she does return to the time and place of King Henry and Wendar, she still does not provide any summary of earlier actions but picks up the action from where she left off in The Burning Stone. So for a quite some time, I found myself very confused and lost.

But as I read a little further, I found my memory of her characters, Sanglant, Liath, Hanna, Anne, Hugh, Stronghand, Alain and several others, coming back to me, which says quite a bit about these character's vividness and uniqueness. It is in fact just such strong characterization that is Elliot's strong suit in this saga, which she continues to display with the new character of Adica, vibrant and personable, in this volume, along with continued development of all her former people.

What is not so good is the seemingly interminable plot line of the war for succession of the Wendar realm, with King Henry out to solidify his claim to the title of Emperor, Sanglant off fighting the latest invaders of the realm, and Hugh and Anne busily scheming to prevent any possible reconciliation with the Aoi. Liath is off on her own personal journey of self-discovery, with very little interaction with the other plot threads, though there are some revelations about her history near the end that promise some fireworks in later books of this set. It seems to take forever for Elliott to present the origins of the war between the Aoi and humans and how the current situation developed, although these points once presented finally start to give her world a logical, consistent framework. At the same time, some of the mystery and magic of these works is lost with this explanation. The story arc with Adica and Alain is the best thread in this work, fresh, original, and with its details of daily living and technological level well thought out, but once again I felt this story was stretched out too long, with too many incidents that have little relevance to main story.

Also missing is the cross-cultural viewpoints on religion and the reasons for living that added so much depth to the earlier works, these items seeming to now be taken for granted and with nothing new added by this volume.

At over 900 pages, and with so little real action, this book was in obvious need of some severe pruning. As it is, it is an overlong bridge book in which the fire and excitement of the first three has died down to embers, which hopefully can be re-ignited in the next book.

--- Reviewed by Patrick Shepherd (hyperpat)

I failed to finish this book - a first for me - Rated
I thought I should try another writer in the fantasy world. I saw this book in my local library and thought OK I am sure these books will stand on their own irrespective of being in a series. I was wrong.

There are too many characters and no synopsis as to how they got where or why. I am sorry Kate but you are the first writer I have read that I have said to myself "Why am I continuing with this book it makes no sense to me".

Unlike Raymond Feist or Terry Goodkind, the books obviously do not stand on their own. So I guess I will just have to start from the beginning if I attempt to read "The Crown of Stars" series at all

Excellent peice of work, just great. - Rated
This was probably the best so far. Questions you asked your self before are answered and more are created. Who are Liathano's parents?, what happened in the great weaving when they first got rid of the Aoi?, and much more and many questions arise. There is so much going on wih so many characters, that the plots just keep twisting. Alain and Adica are just excellent characters. We meets creatures that we did not know of before, much is told in visions.

The good things I like about this series is that the characters are well drawn out, you know exactly what the character feel, there dilema's and more. Another thing is the Dreams and Visions of past, present and future, which gives you little information each time, I just like visions in books. The only downside to this book that I can think of is the story can slow down quite abit in parts, and abit too much detail in the books. The ending really speeds up, and so much happens at the end, you just sit down after reading it just thinking.

At the end of the book you'll won't be able to wait for the final book in the series (Hurruy up Elliot). Highly recommend the series to all.

Here's whats written at the back of the book: 'Lost and alone in an unknown country, Alain struggles to survive as he is unwittingly drawn into an ancient conflict between humankind and their old enemy, the Cursed Ones.

Separated from her husband and child, Liath must undergo her greatest test in a land of exile. Only here can she hope to discover the truth of her parentage and learn the extent of her remarkable powers.

Mourning the loss of his wife, the bastard prince Sanglant seeks his father, King Henry, to warm him about the conspiracy of powerful sorcerers who wish to destroy the Aoi, the Lost Ones, once and for all - no matter how much destruction their magic will unleash.

But King Henry's gaze is fixed on the throne of Aosta and the imperial crown left vacant for two generations. As a Quman army, sweeping in from the eastern steppes, ravages the Wendish countryside, Henry marches south, ignoring the pleas of his beleaguered subjects.

The great cataclysm, foretold in the stars, is approaching. '

A great new edition to the Crown of Stars series.... - Rated
A great new edition to the Crown of Stars series by on the finest Fantasy Authors of today. Kate Elliot has once again written a fast paced fantasy epic that leaves the reader gagging for more. Once again we follow Liath, Sanglant and Alian on their journey to understanding, intertwined the story of a king and kingdom in turmoil. While the story is very well written, it doesn't quite reach the level of the first 3 novels in this series, but do not let that hinder your enjoyment of this story.It is still very well written and you will probably find that you cannot put this book down until you reach the end.If you haven't read this series I recommend that you start with the first book "King's Dragon" and read the whole series. Here we definitely have one of the best fantasy epic series ever written and I recommend that you read the lot.