Kate Elliot - Crown of Stars
Overview:
Genre: Fantasy
Stars: 4 out of 5
Author's Website: Kate Elliot
My thoughts: A well-written epic fantasy series. I haven't finished it yet (I was borrowing it from Kate, and was up the The Gathering Storm, but that was so long ago I'll have to re-read the first four again before moving on the the final books. They're long novels, and they take some reading, but they're worth it!
The Books:
"King's Dragon" - Published 1997
For though King Henry still holds the crown of Wendar, his reign has long been contested by his sister Sabella. There are many eager to flock to her banner, and there are ways to make even the most unwilling lord into a weapon pointed at the heart of Henry's realm.
Torn by internal strife, Wendar also faces deadly raids from the north by an inhuman race, the Elka. And now terrifying portents are being seen; old ruins restored to life under the light of the full moon and peopled by the long vanished Lost Ones; dark spirits walking the land in broad daylight.
And suddenly two innocents are about to be thrust into the midst of the conflict:
Liath, who has spent her early years fleeing from unknown enemies, is a young woman with the power to change the course of history if she can only learn to master her fear and seize what is rightfully hers.
While Alain, a young man who may find his future in a vision granted by the Lady of Battles, must first unravel the mystery of who he is-whether the bastard son of a noble father, the half-breed child of an elfin lord, the unwanted get of a whore, of the heir to a proud and ancient lineage. For only when he discovers the truth can he accept the destiny for which he was born.
Liath and Alain, each trapped in a personal struggle for survival, both helplessly being drawn into a far greater battle, a war in which sorcery not swords will determine the final outcome, and the land itself may be irrevocably reshaped by the forces unleashed....
"Prince of Dogs" - Published 1998
Sanglant - the Prince of Dogs, King Henry's bastard son: though believed dead by all who could succor him, he is being held captive in the city of Gent by Bloodheart, the Eika warlord. Cursed by his mother's blood with an inability to die, he struggles to maintain the last shreds of his sanity in the hope rescue may yet come....
Liath - now a King's Eagle, and still grieving over Sanglant, she strives to unlock the secrets of her past while seeking to evade the traps set for her by an obsessively ambitious man. But even a post in King Henry's court offers her little protection from those determined to claim the forbidden knowledge she has hidden....
Alain - raised in humble surroundings but now proclaimed a Count's heir, he is increasingly troubled by visions of the enemy he befriended and the Lady of Battles whom he's sworn to serve. A man who desires nothing more than peace, he is about to be thrust into the heart of war with the Eika....
Fifth Son - least favored child of Bloodheart, he has returned to the lands of his own people to build an army to do his father's bidding. If he survives this mission, he will become a force to be reckoned with....
And even as King Henry continues his progress through his troubled realm, defeating rebellious lords and gathering their promises of troops to use at Gent, Sanglant, Liath, Alain, and Fifth Son are fighting their own battles against almost overwhelming odds. Only time will tell who will prove triumphant as all are caught up in the dangers and turmoil of a world at war.
"The Burning Stone" - Published 1999
Offered a haven from their enemies and the chance for Liath to study the ancient lore with those who claim her as their own, Liath and Sanglant - made outcasts by their love - flee from King Henry's camp only to discover that no place can truly be safe for them. Liath, born with a dangerous power beyond her understanding or ability to control, is torn between her longing for Sanglant and the child they are about to have and the call of sorcery, which can open the way into the land of the Aoi, the Lost Ones. And even as Liath struggles with magic's seductive spell, Sanglant's Aoi mother returns to the mortal world in search of the son she abandoned as a babe. As the fates of kingdoms shift with the changing fortunes of those caught up in the dangers of both civil war and continuing attacks by the nonhuman Eika and the Quman invaders, time is running out for Liath, Sanglant, King Henry, and the people of Wendar and Varre.
"Child of Flame" - Published 2000
Child of Flame takes us far beyond the borders of Wendar and Varre. Alain is drawn into the heart of an ancient conflict between humankind and their dread enemy, the Cursed Ones; Liath faces her most difficult trial in a land of exile; and Sanglant struggles to warn Henry about a dark conspiracy of sorcerers.
"The Gathering Storm" - Published 2003
The time of cataclysm is almost here when the land of the Aoi - cast forth from the world long centuries ago by an unimaginably powerful spell-weaving - will at last return to its starting point with disastrous consequences.
"In the Ruins" - Published 2005
The long-awaited cataclysm has reshaped the very land and seas, and disrupted the war for the empire. Now all who have survived the return of the spell-exiled Aoi lands must find a way to mend their shattered territories and take a stand against their enemies in a power struggle that may forge new alliances - or doom them all.
"Crown of Stars" - Published 2006
The land is beginning to recover from the cataclysmic return of the spell-cast Aoi lands to earth. But many new alliances are forming even as Sanglant struggles to legitimize his own leadership. The Aoi are carrying out random attacks - while implicating him as their leader. Stronghand has begun a march of conquest into the heart of Sanglant's realm. Adelheid and Antonia have made an unholy alliance. And Sabella and Duke Conrad are moving to seize Sanglant's crown. Cultures, religions, and races are clashing in what will be the ultimate struggle for control of this strange new world.