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Liked It1 of 1 members found this review helpful “This is a trilogy I can read over and over. I love how real the story feels as you travel along with Paks and watch her grow from raw recruit to Paladin.” see full review » see other reviews » |
Didn’t Like It “Decent, but s-l-o-w. Moon eventually makes it all come together brilliantly, but in a horrible torture scene that I will never read again.” see full review » see other reviews » |
Newest Reviews
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“Excellent vintage Moon”
Caroline A wrote this review Tuesday, November 10 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“Wonderful book.
Charles I wrote this review Wednesday, June 24 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
Strong female lead.
Attention to military detail.
Sweeping scope, good vs. evil.
Morality without self-righteousness.
”
“I have read this book numerous times. Elizabeth Moon has taken the work and world of Tolkien, the master, and made it her own. She is a worthy successor to his legacy. She also writes exceedingly good science fiction. Not all authors can do both with as much accomplishment as Ms. Moon.”
Shuggins wrote this review Sunday, March 8 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
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DKayeS wrote this review Monday, November 24 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
This is an omnibus of a trilogy about a female warrior named Paksenarrion.
* *** Sheep Farmer's Daughter.
Paksenarrion runs away from home to avoid an unwanted marriage and joins Duke Phelan's army. She discovers that army life is both more and less than she'd expected, and that she has an aptitude for it.
* ***½ Divided Allegiance.
Paks has completed her initial enlistment, and, feeling increasingly dissatisfied, enters training to become a Palladin.
* *** Oath of Gold.
The culmination of The Hero's Journey--Paks first has to lose everything to achieve her destiny.
The Deed of Paksenarrion was recommended to me by somebody, years ago, and had been in my TBR pile ever since. It's a trilogy, but the kind of trilogy like LotR--one really long story artificially cut up into separate volumes. So in that respect, it works best in the omnibus form. And to tell you the truth, the books really blurred into one another.
It took me a while to figure out what was going on; what the whole point was for this trilogy. It's a Hero's Journey. There's no other point to it. It's simply a biography of the character of Paksenarrion--a laundry list of events from the time she decided to leave home until she fulfilled her destiny as a Palladin of the Gods. You can go through the books with a list of Hero's Journey steps and check them off clearly, in order, one by one.
This might work, if I had any reason whatsoever to care about Paksenarrion becoming a Palladin. A lot of the reviews (and again, Amazon baffles me--144 reviews, averaging 4.5 stars--we obviously read different books again) compared it to LotR, but there's a huge difference: LotR had a Hero's Journey, true, but it also had an overarching plot. The journey in LotR took place within the context of returning the ring to Mt. Doom. There is no comparable plot to The Deed of Paksenarrion.
It would also have been more effective for me if the characters were more engaging. If, for example, I'd met the character of Paksenarrion in a previous book, when she was already a Palladin, and this was a prequel showing how she got where she was. Perhaps there is such a book, written before, but taking place after The Deed of Paksenarrion. If so, I wish I'd read it first. It's a certainty I won't search it out now.
I do enjoy military details, thankfully, so some of Paksenarrion's adventures were entertaining. The second book, where she came into her own as a warrior, was marginally more exciting. Unfortunately, that didn't last, and by the third book, I started feeling bashed over the head by the Hero's Journey concept.
Her infallibility really started grating, as well. Even when things went wrong, as when her colleagues were killed, it was only because she couldn't save them because she was serving The Greater Good. Also tiresome was the fact that each separate adventure had little to nothing to do with the other adventures in the books.
Two things would have saved this series for me: 1) a context in which to put the Hero's Journey. It could actually have been quite simple--if the evil she defeated at the end had been threatening her home at the beginning--it would have made the entire trilogy more coherent and given me a reason to want her to succeed. 2) Something other than gender to distinguish Paksenarrion from a generic Hero. She's asexual, succeeds at everything she does, and everyone except those who are evil or small-minded loves her. Give her a flaw or two, or make her have to choose between love and destiny. That would have been a story worth reading.”
“I would highly recommended this book to anyone. There are several places throughout the book where you just won't be able put it down, and others where it will have more of a relaxed and contemplative feel. So for those who are looking for high tension throughout the book, it may feel a little slow, but I wouldn't let this stop you, because it's well worth it. ”
abdi f wrote this review Thursday, November 13 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“Long but very good.”
Danielle B wrote this review Saturday, June 28 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“This is a wonderful book of fantasy, yet not like most fantasy books in that the main characters are human. The details of training, fighting, and self-discovery are expertly woven into the interaction of humans and fantasy creatures, both good and evil. It's long, but a very good read.”
Jody C wrote this review Monday, June 9 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“Decent, but s-l-o-w. Moon eventually makes it all come together brilliantly, but in a horrible torture scene that I will never read again.”
RaneeMc wrote this review Saturday, April 5 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
0 of 1 members found this review helpful“Stacey's Pick. I put off reading this for a long time, and when I finally did read it I was furious that I'd waited so long. Moon is one of those rare authors that's equally talented at both science fiction and fantasy,”
Katy Budget Books wrote this review Wednesday, March 12 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Not one but three novels, published as a single massive tome. The size is a fair indicator of its weight as well - no brain popcorn, this book. A tale of high adventure and epic doings that is engaging and readable, with a heroine that refuses to follow the traditional swooning and romantic path. Paks is no princess, no fairy, no sorceress. She's the daughter of a sheep farmer who joined an infantry and in so doing, changed the course of her world. If you like a bit of meat to your books and believe that not all stories need revolve around a romance, I recommend this. It will make you laugh, make you cry, and make you feel yourself a better person for having read it. Despite its size, I turned the book around and began afresh as soon as the last page had been read.”
Whiskerwing wrote this review Tuesday, March 4 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
