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kanissa's review against another edition
2.0
Back when I originally read these books, in the late 90s, this was my favorite series ever. I can't recall exactly what drew me to it, but if I had to guess, it was the fact that there was not ONE heroine, but THREE! Teenage princesses with magical abilities, what more could I ask for?
However, 15 years later, it doesn't hold up. I found the plot to be dull and thoroughly un-suspenseful. (Is that a word? It is now.) At no point in the story do you think the princesses might fail. Sure, each of the three has "trials" in her quest, but not once do the challenges seem insurmountable. Not only that, but the quests are lame. Each is a variation on "travel a bit, face an enemy, get a magical talisman", yet none of the enemies are really all that frightening. The characters are incredibly trite: Intelligent scholar who's haughty! Firey redhead who wants to kill all the bad guys! Shy and frightened youngest sister with a big heart! Also, the girls are supposed to grow and mature during their quest, but that seemingly comes from nowhere. At the start of the novel, they're all completely unlikable, and by the end, suddenly they've realized what jerks they've been and BAM! everyone's better. Peace, love, and happiness for all.
Now, I am all for having female protagonists - after all, I do have 2 X chromosomes - but please, for the love of Gloria Steinem, can we make them well-rounded and complex characters?
On the positive side, it's an interesting world concept. And the story is well-written. The three authors are blended fantastically. If you didn't know it had three authors, you'd never guess.
However, 15 years later, it doesn't hold up. I found the plot to be dull and thoroughly un-suspenseful. (Is that a word? It is now.) At no point in the story do you think the princesses might fail. Sure, each of the three has "trials" in her quest, but not once do the challenges seem insurmountable. Not only that, but the quests are lame. Each is a variation on "travel a bit, face an enemy, get a magical talisman", yet none of the enemies are really all that frightening. The characters are incredibly trite: Intelligent scholar who's haughty! Firey redhead who wants to kill all the bad guys! Shy and frightened youngest sister with a big heart! Also, the girls are supposed to grow and mature during their quest, but that seemingly comes from nowhere. At the start of the novel, they're all completely unlikable, and by the end, suddenly they've realized what jerks they've been and BAM! everyone's better. Peace, love, and happiness for all.
Now, I am all for having female protagonists - after all, I do have 2 X chromosomes - but please, for the love of Gloria Steinem, can we make them well-rounded and complex characters?
On the positive side, it's an interesting world concept. And the story is well-written. The three authors are blended fantastically. If you didn't know it had three authors, you'd never guess.
3dmelg's review against another edition
1.0
Epic fantasy. Not my style. Takes itself too seriously, little to no humor, uses big words to appear grand. I made it through half of Chapter 2 before glazing over and giving up.
lazylys's review against another edition
2.0
La Saga del Giglio non rappresenta certo la migliore produzione della Bradley (in condivisione o meno con altre autrici), anche se senza dubbio Il Giglio Nero è il libro migliore della serie.
La storia non brilla di originalità - tre principesse gemelle fuggono dal loro castello attaccato dal perfido re Voltrik e dal suo ancor più subdolo consigliere, il mago Orogastus, e per riconquistare e liberare il regno dovranno recarsi dall'arcimaga Binah e trovare tre talismani - e l'unica cosa che risolleva un po' il racconto è la caratterizzazione sfaccettata di Haramis, la maggiore delle gemelle.
La storia non brilla di originalità - tre principesse gemelle fuggono dal loro castello attaccato dal perfido re Voltrik e dal suo ancor più subdolo consigliere, il mago Orogastus, e per riconquistare e liberare il regno dovranno recarsi dall'arcimaga Binah e trovare tre talismani - e l'unica cosa che risolleva un po' il racconto è la caratterizzazione sfaccettata di Haramis, la maggiore delle gemelle.
aemkea's review against another edition
3.0
Oh man, I read this so long ago. Loved it, but I'd have to reread it to judge it again.
elfsara's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
jacalata's review against another edition
4.0
Ran into the word “lammergeier” and was like “why do I feel like that’s related to magic?” and hours later “they’re the birds in Black Trillium!” which, goddamn I’m impressed with that memory.
Stars might not hold up today, but I loved it at the time.
Stars might not hold up today, but I loved it at the time.
lwlowe_a's review
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
5.0
curatedcate's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
calypte's review against another edition
1.0
This book has one of the worst openings of any I've ever read. Every single thing the most basic writing advice would tell you to avoid is here: lengthy fantasy descriptions of places with silly names, written in a stilted, oh-so-fake, 'stylised' tone, giving you history for things you have yet to have any reason to care about. Paragraphs half a page long. Zero action.
Then - eventually! - we get to our main characters being born. Triplet princesses, each with different hair colours (!), each with such one-dimensional personalities it's painful. Eventually they get sent out on individual - but part of the whole, natch - quests, trying to save their kingdom from the evil invaders.
I struggled, really struggled, to get past the awful opening, only to fall into very bland, very cliched, fantasy fare. From about halfway through it's just 'meh', rather than awful, but that's not enough to make it even vaguely worth the bleeding eyeballs of the opening chapter.
Then - eventually! - we get to our main characters being born. Triplet princesses, each with different hair colours (!), each with such one-dimensional personalities it's painful. Eventually they get sent out on individual - but part of the whole, natch - quests, trying to save their kingdom from the evil invaders.
I struggled, really struggled, to get past the awful opening, only to fall into very bland, very cliched, fantasy fare. From about halfway through it's just 'meh', rather than awful, but that's not enough to make it even vaguely worth the bleeding eyeballs of the opening chapter.