Sara Douglass (1957–2011)

DNF halfway. This has a fascinating magic system - people who can instinctively speak to glass and other minerals and elements! And a mathematical system that fits words, formulas, and geometric structures together upon an entire pyramid.

But there are some serious consent issues here (enslaved woman falls for her rapist and abuser). It was refreshing, however to read a fantasy book where the eldritch evil actually does break through into this world, rather than the heroes managing to avoid show more it at the last second and readers never seeing the promised threat.

None of the characters were particularly like able or interesting except the antagonist’s brother, the crown prince, who’s WAY better than the jerk our mc falls for. When I realized I cared more about him after 2 chapters than about any of the people I’d read half a book about, that’s when I dropped it. show less

Of all the prophecy-based fiction I've read, Sara Douglass is very good at bringing in all the different plot thread in a way that doesn't feel forced, and wrapping up the story neatly and easily.

The moment that I most loved about this book was SpikeFeather's meeting with the Ferryman. His instant sacrifice of himself for the children was a truly good action, not forced or coerced. He immediately became my favourite character in that chapter. (Also, the fact that, even though the Ferryman show more wasn't asking for anyone to die, SpikeFeather didn't know what would happen to him highlights exactly how straight his moral compass compared to even StarDrifter from the first book. )

I'm not sure how I felt about Azhure stripping DragonStar of his Icarii heritage , but I suppose it was somewhat justified. I can already see how Caelum (sp?) is quickly becoming the spoiled favourite an I can see that leading to issues later if Axis and Azhure don't become better parents.

Overall, this was a great conclusion, and I can't wait to read the next trilogy of books. (Does anyone know a spoiler-free reason why these books are labeled as sci-fi? They seem to be straight-forward high fantasy to me.) show less

Trashy covers and ridiculous titles ("God's Concubine"? puhlease) predisposed me to discount these, but their emphasis on character development, and the healthy splashes of almost-realistic history, made me like them despite myself. There *are* some trashy bits--the sex scenes are by and large romance-novel-y, and sometimes the female characters get locked into the "strong, beautiful, and quietly commanding" niche. Regardless, I find myself excited about reading the third and final novel, show more which promises to answer the question of who has survived through the centuries--and who will triumph. show less

Not long after picking up this second book, I knew I was going to be angry a lot... and damn, I was right. Sighhhhh.

Enchanter is one of those books that you really want to like- great writing, beautiful imagery, lots of lovable characters... However, it's also one of those books you find yourself drawn to hate due to the stupid names for everything and a few really horrible characters, the main one being Axis, who is nothing but a giant douche (that's right). It doesn't help that everything show more in this entire damn series has to revolve around him. In the first book, I was fooled into thinking that I would grow to love Axis, but I was so very wrong. My dislike grew more and more as the story progressed, and by the time I'd picked up Enchanter and Faraday had been wholly wronged by that bastard, it was full blown hate. How could I respect him after he'd tossed aside poor, beautiful Faraday like so much garbage? The whole bullshit love triangle even colored my opinion of Azhure at first, though I've since gotten over it. If it weren't for Axis, I would have loved this series. Why couldn't he have just died and let someone less awful take his place as the main male character? Oh well. I gave this 3 stars because of the story, the few characters that I loved and the wonderful writing style. I did love some of this. show less