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published 1998, Daw
My complaints about the first novel in the Crown of Stars series were many. I said that the villains weren't evil enough, the love plot was unbelievable, and the characters weren't very well developed.
The villains still aren't evil enough; for example, the leader of the reptilian Eika is almost goofy, though his son has potential, while Hugh, the church man who covets Liath and her knowledge is now in a position of power but just doesn't show enough overt evilness to convince me. Liath, the main character in the novel (though she shared the pages with Alain in the first book, he takes a back seat here) seems irrationally afraid of Hugh, who mostly uses his newfound power to boss her around and physically abuse her. When she's not around him, she's strong, confident, a heroine's heroine. What's up with her turning into a ball of mush when he enters the room?
The love plot in this novel isn't more believable, I just thought that it was sweeter. Sanglant, the prince, is Bloodheart's prisoner, and he's slowly going insane while being kept kenneled to the altar in the Eika's captured city. I like that in the hero; at least now we know he's fallible. Also in this novel the title makes more sense. It refers (yet again) to Sanglant, who was first the leader of the King's Dragons, and is now derisively called prince of dogs by all the Eika.
A couple plotlines are introduced here that I think have some potential. Liath finds out that she can wield magic; Liath meets Alain (finally) and they become friends; the evil Biscop Antonia escapes from her prison and meets a group of sorcerers in the mountains; and Ivar, Liath's childhood friend, is now in a monastery where he has been converted to a heretic religion by Tallia, who is the love of Alain's life.
The setting improved in this one as well, showing the world of the Eika up close with the interesting idea that Alain is sharing the dreams of Fifth Son, the Eika he released. Alain is much better developed here, and I think that as characters, only he, Ivar, and Hanna succeed. Liath needs some work on that irrational fear of hers. Alain learns that he is terrible in battle and afraid to kill, but the Lady of Battles appears and does his killing for him, which is interesting.
Overall, this book was better than the first one in the series because it was more interesting and a little less silly. The ending was fairly satisfying and the improvements in this novel mean the next may be very good.
Review by Catherine George
Reviewed August 11, 1998
ISBN 0886777704
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