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mamap's review against another edition
3.0
conclusion of trilogy. so r'shiel has to step up and be the demon child, but has to give up humanity. how does she defeat the evil primal god patterned after the stringent moral beliefs of the catholic church? by a moment of pleasure with nothing labeled as "sin." one could see how i could take issue with the book. i do like the flow of her books - she doesn't overdo things.
everlaerian's review against another edition
2.0
Still had a hard time with the final volume of the original Hythrun Chronicles. I felt disappointed we having figured out that Damin and Adrina would end up together.... I wasn't a fan of R'shiel and am not a fan of her.
I am trying to find the newest Hythrun Chronicles by Fallon with are set about 10 years after the events of Demon Child... Kinda hope that the characters from Wolfblade Trilogy will be there, as there was no progress for them in this set of books... Hopefully I won't have too much R'shiel...
I am trying to find the newest Hythrun Chronicles by Fallon with are set about 10 years after the events of Demon Child... Kinda hope that the characters from Wolfblade Trilogy will be there, as there was no progress for them in this set of books... Hopefully I won't have too much R'shiel...
alfierose66's review against another edition
5.0
Brilliant conclusion, absolutely love it. Whenever I finish reading it I want to go straight back to the beginning of the series again.
tita_noir's review against another edition
4.0
Final book of the Demon Child trilogy.
R'Shiel (the Demon Child) accompanies Damin Wolfblade and his new wife, princess Adrina back to Hythria so that R'Shiel can help the Hythrians accept the unorthodox marriage and to cement an alliance between the Hythrians and the Fardonyhans. Once they arrive, people are awed by the Demon Child but dismayed by the marriage of the heir to their throne and the daughter of their enemy. While R'shiel, Damin and Adrina try to convince them all of the necessity of the marriage and the alliance, civil war breaks out and Damin must fight for his rightful place as High Prince.
Meanwhile the God Xaphista is not content to wait around to be killed by the Demon Child. He is busy planting doubt and attempting to suborn those closest to R'shiel to kill her first. R'Shiel is on her guard, not knowing where betrayal may come from.
And Medalon is a kettle ready to boil. Joyihinia, now possessed by the sadistic Lochlon is issuing orders that are subtly overturning centuries of Medalonian law. The Defenders are quietly preparing for rebellion and the Harshini may not be able to hold Sanctuary for long as King Korandellan is dying.
This series, which started less than stellarly for me, finished up quite nicely. This book was well written and quickly paced. I like that Fallon jumped from Hythria to Medalon to Fardonhya and back again so you could see what was going on in each place. She ratcheted up the tension very nicely.
As I reflected back over this series I couldn't help but compare it to other series (trilogies especially) that featured a central, pivotal female character. Elizabeth Moon's Deeds of Paksenarrion trilogy, Raymond Feist/Janny Wurtz's Daughter of the Empire trilogy, Elizabeth Haydon's Rhapsody trilogy and even Jennifer Fallon's own Wolfblade trilogy all spring to mind. I enjoyed these trilogies very much. And I can acknowledge, first book notwithstanding, that I enjoyed this Demon Child trilogy very much. However I know that my enjoyment of those other series was largely because i very much liked the main characters. Paksennarion, Mara, Rhapsody and Marla were all quite engaging and easy to root for. I can't say the same for R'Shiel. I actually had a very hard time with R'Shiel and instead gravitated to the secondary, yet infinitely more interesting Adrina. Rather than liking this series because of R'Shiel, I liked it in spite of her.
I do respect the fact that Fallon didn't go easy routes with R'shiel. In the end, R'shiel is a Godslayer. A very powerful person who affected great change in her time and place. So great that she basically united four warring regions and restored a persecuted, dying race back on the road to their former glory. Having accomplished all this it would be easy to give R'Shiel a nice, simple Happily Ever After. But she is denied that. Sure she triumphs and she is granted justice, but her road isn't the walk into the sunset that almost everyone else gets (even though, I think in the end R'shiel does literally walk away as the sun is setting...but you know what I mean). And I liked that very much. It felt very apropos.
Also while this book was overall a great read, it does lose a few minor points with me in it's portrayal of Marla. My impression of Marla is very much one that I formed reading the Wolfblade trilogy, which was written after this one. And I don't believe that the Marla she created in that trilogy would have reacted to Adrina the way she did in this book. I agree she would have been appalled at the political implications of Damin's marriage to Adrina, but the personal scorn of Adrina seemed out of character given how both of these societies view sexual relations. It just seemed to strike a discordant note with me considering how well she maintained continuity with Damin's character from one trilogy to the next.
R'Shiel (the Demon Child) accompanies Damin Wolfblade and his new wife, princess Adrina back to Hythria so that R'Shiel can help the Hythrians accept the unorthodox marriage and to cement an alliance between the Hythrians and the Fardonyhans. Once they arrive, people are awed by the Demon Child but dismayed by the marriage of the heir to their throne and the daughter of their enemy. While R'shiel, Damin and Adrina try to convince them all of the necessity of the marriage and the alliance, civil war breaks out and Damin must fight for his rightful place as High Prince.
Meanwhile the God Xaphista is not content to wait around to be killed by the Demon Child. He is busy planting doubt and attempting to suborn those closest to R'shiel to kill her first. R'Shiel is on her guard, not knowing where betrayal may come from.
And Medalon is a kettle ready to boil. Joyihinia, now possessed by the sadistic Lochlon is issuing orders that are subtly overturning centuries of Medalonian law. The Defenders are quietly preparing for rebellion and the Harshini may not be able to hold Sanctuary for long as King Korandellan is dying.
This series, which started less than stellarly for me, finished up quite nicely. This book was well written and quickly paced. I like that Fallon jumped from Hythria to Medalon to Fardonhya and back again so you could see what was going on in each place. She ratcheted up the tension very nicely.
As I reflected back over this series I couldn't help but compare it to other series (trilogies especially) that featured a central, pivotal female character. Elizabeth Moon's Deeds of Paksenarrion trilogy, Raymond Feist/Janny Wurtz's Daughter of the Empire trilogy, Elizabeth Haydon's Rhapsody trilogy and even Jennifer Fallon's own Wolfblade trilogy all spring to mind. I enjoyed these trilogies very much. And I can acknowledge, first book notwithstanding, that I enjoyed this Demon Child trilogy very much. However I know that my enjoyment of those other series was largely because i very much liked the main characters. Paksennarion, Mara, Rhapsody and Marla were all quite engaging and easy to root for. I can't say the same for R'Shiel. I actually had a very hard time with R'Shiel and instead gravitated to the secondary, yet infinitely more interesting Adrina. Rather than liking this series because of R'Shiel, I liked it in spite of her.
I do respect the fact that Fallon didn't go easy routes with R'shiel. In the end, R'shiel is a Godslayer. A very powerful person who affected great change in her time and place. So great that she basically united four warring regions and restored a persecuted, dying race back on the road to their former glory. Having accomplished all this it would be easy to give R'Shiel a nice, simple Happily Ever After. But she is denied that. Sure she triumphs and she is granted justice, but her road isn't the walk into the sunset that almost everyone else gets (even though, I think in the end R'shiel does literally walk away as the sun is setting...but you know what I mean). And I liked that very much. It felt very apropos.
Also while this book was overall a great read, it does lose a few minor points with me in it's portrayal of Marla. My impression of Marla is very much one that I formed reading the Wolfblade trilogy, which was written after this one. And I don't believe that the Marla she created in that trilogy would have reacted to Adrina the way she did in this book. I agree she would have been appalled at the political implications of Damin's marriage to Adrina, but the personal scorn of Adrina seemed out of character given how both of these societies view sexual relations. It just seemed to strike a discordant note with me considering how well she maintained continuity with Damin's character from one trilogy to the next.
ken_bookhermit's review against another edition
5.0
The Kariens' god is dead and R'shiel has killed him.
That's not a spoiler, since that's what R'shiel's destiny is, and she has fulfilled it. This was yet another riveting read and I could hardly bear to part with it. I read two hundred pages in a day! Which isn't that much of a feat, but I also found myself beginning to skim because I was too impatient and needed to know what was happening next.
The Hythrun Chronicles is not a game changer. It relied heavily upon preexisting fantasy tropes. It did nothing special to break away from the common ideas that make up fantasy, and it did a good job sticking to the rules. The magic, the interference of deities, and even the existence of the Harshini (who are vaguely elvish in how they are presented) aren't new to the genre, but it wasn't a problem because the execution was still beautiful, and it fit like a perfect piece in the story as a whole. I am infinitely glad that I stumbled upon this series.
Although, I'm curious as to why the cover for Harshini is the one with Dranymire and R'shiel when it wasn't a particularly important scene. Maybe they just wanted to have dragons on the cover? Who knows.
That's not a spoiler, since that's what R'shiel's destiny is, and she has fulfilled it. This was yet another riveting read and I could hardly bear to part with it. I read two hundred pages in a day! Which isn't that much of a feat, but I also found myself beginning to skim because I was too impatient and needed to know what was happening next.
The Hythrun Chronicles is not a game changer. It relied heavily upon preexisting fantasy tropes. It did nothing special to break away from the common ideas that make up fantasy, and it did a good job sticking to the rules. The magic, the interference of deities, and even the existence of the Harshini (who are vaguely elvish in how they are presented) aren't new to the genre, but it wasn't a problem because the execution was still beautiful, and it fit like a perfect piece in the story as a whole. I am infinitely glad that I stumbled upon this series.
Although, I'm curious as to why the cover for Harshini is the one with Dranymire and R'shiel
Spoiler
flying into Dregian Castlethiefofcamorr's review against another edition
5.0
I have a different cover (and mine is prettier) and I love how it shows what's going to happen whilst not being a spoiler.
An excellent end to a series. The dialogue remains just as witty and the characters are so perfectly developed that it makes it almost impossible to put this book down.
R'shiel is finally embracing her role as Demon Child and eee, it's epic.
An excellent end to a series. The dialogue remains just as witty and the characters are so perfectly developed that it makes it almost impossible to put this book down.
R'shiel is finally embracing her role as Demon Child and eee, it's epic.
ashybear02's review against another edition
4.0
It took me a while to get into this series, but by the end I must say I very much enjoyed it. The characters of R'shiel and Tarja didn't appeal to me too much, but once Damin and Adrina and the likes appeared I found it much more enjoyable.
Harshini summed up the series nicely and in a way I found enjoyable. It wasn't the 'they lived happily ever after' ending, but still a suitable one nonetheless.
A good series all round!
Harshini summed up the series nicely and in a way I found enjoyable. It wasn't the 'they lived happily ever after' ending, but still a suitable one nonetheless.
A good series all round!
r_reads289's review against another edition
4.0
It was, as expected, amazing. A perfect mix of hope, grief, despair and revenge.