This is the third and final volume in the Fionavar Tapestry. It is the brightest, deepest, saddest and most glorious of the three. I cry throughout pretty much the last third of the book, because it's so sorrowful, so lovely and there is so much beauty. I love these books, they echo into my life and that is powerful.
This is the second book in the Fionavar Tapestry. I think it suffers a little from being the second of a trilogy. A lot of this book is concerned with setting up the last book. Now don't get me wrong, a lot happens and like the first book it completely absorbs me. I read this book in one day. There is so much woven into this story, so much depth that speaks to me so much. This book was much deeper and sadder than The Summer Tree* and the last book of the trilogy is even more again. This trilogy is one of those books that I don't take to work, it's too private for me, I don't want to explain why it is so sad and so glorious.
I wish sometimes I were a poet so I could adequately convey how beautiful and moving I find this book. This is one of my favorite books that I've ever read, however I can only read this book very occasionally. Unlike say, The Lord of the Rings which I read about once a year or so. I read this book, and the rest of the trilogy, so seldom, because I cannot bear to read it more than that. This story is so rich and so all consuming for me that I simply cannot read it more often than every 4 or 5 years. I think this might be my 3rd or 4th reading. Now, I am the sort of person that can read a book and then turn right around and read it again, if it's something I loved. This book ties together so much mythology and brings it so very alive. It reads like it should be a spoken epic. The language is so rich and simply drips off your tongue. I simply love it.
This book was alright, it had a fun concept. But the writer had his tongue so firmly is cheek it just got old. By the end of the book you were just sick of it. There oculd have been a lot more plot or character development but instead there was just clever little jokes and such. So the first few chapters were fun but then it just got annoying.
This is one of my all time favorite books. I've read it, I don't know how many times! It is a nice simple read, the plot is fairly uncomplicated. If it weren't for a little bit of sex (alluded to, not actually described) then I would call it a young adult novel. Also, I read this the first time when I was 12 or 13 (the same age as the protagonist) and was reading a story about *talking* magical horses. What teenage girl wouldn't love that??? Now this is the first of the Valdemar novels. I think there are better books in the series (this was Lackey's first book after all!) but I will always love this one.
