Amazon.com Amazon.com's Best of 2001 (ISBN 0312867506, Hardcover)

In a book world awash in sword-slinging fantasy novels, each trying to out-Jordan the other, the arrival of yet another big new series on the scene is... no big deal. But much to the delight of readers bored to tears by doorstopper clones, Elizabeth Haydon's three-part tale is unique, thrilling, and utterly romantic from start to finish. The story of a magical singer of extraordinary power and her battle with a blood-soaked demon began in Rhapsody: Child of Blood and continued in Prophecy: Child of Earth. The trilogy's final volume, Destiny: Child of the Sky offers fantasy fans something they crave, but don't often see--a great ending.

When last we saw our lovely heroine Rhapsody and her two best friends Achmed and Grunthor, they had just rescued the Sleeping Child from the evil tendrils of the F'dor. But as they found out through the tragic loss of their young friend Jo, the three must follow the demon's trail of violence and blood, finding the children it has spawned across the land in order to track it down and destroy it once and for all. As in the previous two books, Rhapsody's love of her friends and desire to save children in danger drive her most reckless actions.

Elizabeth Haydon delivers us from the fantasy traps of never-ending plots, wooden characters, and yawn-inducing battles. She takes much of her style from romance and suspense novels, rather than historical fiction, giving her books real depth of emotion and humanity. It's true that there are spots of sentimentality that may leave some hardened adventure fans groaning, but that very thing may help explain why Haydon's books have succeeded with crossover romance readers so admirably. We can only hope she'll set her sights on another swoony adventure as soon as possible. --Therese Littleton