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Deborah Chester
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The Sword, Ring, and Chalice Jess: This is the better of the two series that I have read by Chester. Just a warning- the summaries on the backs of these books suck, so I'll summarize as best as I can. The legendary king of Nether has disappeared along with the Chalice, and with it the country's only protection against the evils of Gant. His half-brother has usurped the throne, and the two children of the rightful king are gone. Fifteen years later, a teenager named Dain has just lost his sister and his foster father, and finds himself in the company of a spoiled prince and his patron, a kindly old chevard. Dain is a great character to follow- he's the subject of many prejudices because of his eldin blood, and has to learn the ins and outs of politics while struggling to fit in. The romance really doesn't come around until the end of the last book, but this is a pretty good series to check out. It borderlines on epic, but its still missing something (when I figure it out I'll let you know). The series continues with "The Queen's Gambit," "The Queen's Knight," and "A King Betrayed." I'll get those reviews up as soon as I've read them, but for now I've heard that they're good. 5/23/05
The Ruby Throne Jess: This series is a much lighter read than the SRC Trilogy, but still worthy. You follow the stories of two different characters that you know will meet up eventually (not until the third book), but you don't get frustrated waiting for it to happen. There's some political intrigue in this series, but it misses the mark. Its one of those "seemingly normal guy has special powers and is destined to rule" stories, with "girl who doesn't want to be queen becomes a queen anyway, but does a good job." Definitely not a first, but sometimes these books are great just to pass time with. Oh and if you're wondering about the dragons on the cover, no, this is not a dragon book. They come up a whole two times in the trilogy, so I'm not sure why they made their way on the cover. Oh well. If you're looking for a quick summer read on the beach, these books will help you escape for a few days. 5/23/05
Jess: Chester continues her "Sword, Ring, and Chalice" series without missing a beat. The first two, "The Queen's Gambit" and "The Queen's Gambit" deal with Pheresa's struggle to become queen of Mandria and all of the politics involved with gaining the throne. And naturally, forbidden love is thrown in to create even more drama. Although sometimes the characters are flat and whiny to show off the later changes they will go through, these books are pretty satisfying. Although they look like a trilogy, this is actually a set of four books, or rather two duologies. "King Betrayed" goes back to the story of Faldain, the main character of SRC. Pheresa is only mentioned in passing. Its still very similar to the previous series in style and pacing, so if you liked SRC you will like all three of these books. The only thing that truly irritated me is her overuse of making people "fall into darkness" (passing out) at the end of almost every chapter for dramatic effect. Really, after the first ten times I'm pretty sure the characters aren't dying. If you haven't read SRC, don't pick this series up, you will be lost. Enjoyable, but not the best by any means. 7/1/05 NEWS: "The King Imperiled," the sequel to "The King Betrayed," will be released in November in mass market paperback. |
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