This series might have a future . . .

books:


	• Elegy for a Lost Star (The Symphony of Ages, Book 2) Elizabeth Haydon Tor Books, 2004 - 320 pages average customer review:based on 22 reviews view larger image
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Getting more back in the swing!

Just a comment to P. Pollak: Definetly, definetly read the first books. And then you'd know immediately to what that 'Elegy for a Lost Star' is referenced. You'll understand SO much more. And the first three books are much, much more enjoyable.

This book was better than it's predecessor in the series. Haydon seems to get a slightly better grip on her character's personalities. It's definetly a book that's just moving you along in action until the next volume is available. Still interesting and with some surprising twists and turns. The child is born (though a few lines in that section were REALLY drama-queeny and plain annoying for a RPGer like me) and, horror of horrors, Anwyn is back. And MAD.

Again, how I lament Faron, the maligned! *poses dramatically* I am eager to see what happens to the poor... uh.. fish-living-stone-man-thing.

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Dirge for a Rushed Tale

Fair warning: I will discuss some events in reasonable detail. If you dislike reviews that provide relative descriptive about events that take place in a book, please kindly scroll down.

Elegy for a Lost Star is the fifth book in Elizabeth Haydon's "Symphony of the Ages" series, which began with a core trilogy (Prophecy, Rhapsody and Destiny), then added on Requiem for the Sun, Elegy and forthcoming Assassin King (due in 2007, and that can't get here soon enough!). If you haven't previously read the first books, I cannot stress the importance of doing so. Some series you can jump into at any central point and pick up the thread; this is definitely not one of those. While Ms. Haydon goes over the basic sketch of history that brings the reader to the present through the chronicles of the three main characters, Rhapsody, Achmed and Grunthor, you owe it to yourself to immerse in the world.

I finished Elegy for a Lost Star after reading Requiem for a Lost Sun and revisiting the core trilogy the day or two before. Therefore, all the events sparkled fresh in my mind as I transitioned from one book to the next. While I found the core trilogy engrossing and impossible to put down, the speed slowed slightly through Requiem as I appreciated the detail more than anything else. However, the vagaries of Rhapsody being trapped in a sea cave became a bit wearing. Elegy's slim size, especially compared to the 800-plus pages of its predecessors, worried me a bit.

My initial judgment on Elegy is that it is a condensed novel, and while keeping the high standard of Ms. Haydon's writing skills, it lacks a certain sparkle. The plot wandered at points, picking up different story threads and weaving them in for a time, then discarding them again. Case in point: the hodgepodge use of Anwyn, the oracle of the past and now wholly a dragon, and Llauron, Rhapsody's father-in-law and also a dragon whose transformation completed three years earlier. From the cover, an informed reader clearly discerns Anwyn and Llauron looming over Rhapsody and her baby, Meridion. It should come as no surprise the dragon finally enter the limelight of the story. Unfortunately, they don't enjoy centerstage quite so fully as they should.

Anwyn's awakening jerks into the machinations of Talquisst, the highly unsavory regent for the troubled, divided nation of Sorbold (incidentally Ylorc and Tyrian's uneasy neighbour). The transition comes roughly and left me rather in the lurch, trying to figure out what happened with Anwyn's current struggles to regain her memory and exact her revenge on Rhapsody. Usually Ms. Haydon executes these different shifts in the storyline with a deft touch, but Elegy's movements lacked that particular elegance.

Another concern that dropped my initial rating from four stars to three lies in her treatment of the dragons. While we get background information through Elynsynos about how wyrmkin interact with their parents, and the sacrifice of the eldest dragon to seal the vault of Living Earth that keep the F'dor imprisoned in the heart of the earth, we lack more important details... Notably, Llauron's involvement with protecting Rhapsody, newborn Meridion, and her friends against his rampaging, furious mother. It feels as though Llauron suddenly manifests (no pun intended) in the story at some point, flits out of existence, then shows up when it matters most again. This form of deus ex machina disappoints me because Llauron's uneasy relationship with Rhapsody, Ashe, Anborn, and Achmed certainly changed after becoming a dragon and the first Cymrian Council meeting. The story covers very little of this in Elegy, beyond exchanging annoyed words with Ashe and Achmed's wry, superb brand of blunt-spoken displeasure.

Instead, we wander along between Sorbold's decline spiced up with scenes with Constantin, the Patriarch (and a new appreciation for the Chain of Prayer), the ongoing despair of Faron after washing ashore and ending up with a carnival of monstrosities, a sort of fantasy horror show (bearded lady, duck-footed performers, and other misfits apply here!). Faron makes for an interesting enemy because you have to feel some sense of compassion for the offspring of a tortured ancient Seren and a F'dor host, a lost soul tormented from the very beginning. Against Anwyn, the foil provides an entertaining level of comparison but it doesn't reach its fullest flowering.

The scattered state of the story comes as a surprise given Elegy's overall short length. I'm not sure if it's just me, but I felt rushed in places and hopelessly without direction in others. Major milestones such as Meridion's birth came as an anticlimax and the distinct lack of Grunthor was a real shame. We at least see a good deal of Achmed, a truly excellent character in fantasy for the realism in his flawed person (versus Rhapsody's near divine perfection).

On the whole, this isn't up to the standard of Ms. Haydon's other books but I hope it will redeem itself by the segue into The Assassin King and a re-reading. The apparent shadow of doom and destruction layered over the continent by Anwyn's bloody campaign of vindiction and Talquisst's use of the deck of Sharra lacks the treatment it really deserved, but hopefully things will pan out well in the forthcoming sequel.

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The Calm Before the Storm...

Elegy for a Lost Star is, perhaps, one of the most gripping and breathe-taking book of the series. Once again, we have Achmed and Grunthor coming closer and closer to completing Ylorc, and Rhapsody being pregnant with Meridion. Ashe, Anborn, Gwydion and Llauron are there as well in all there glory. And Anwyn just won't die...
This book caused me to double-take on my favorite character, Achmed The Assassin King of Ylorc. He may seem like he does some pretty rotten things for selfish reasons (so what else is new?) but his intentions are good. And we are once again reminded that Achmed knows a heck-of-a-lot about the world and it's mysteries, which Rhapsody isn't as All-Knowing as we sometimes are lead to believe. His obsession to build the Lightcatcher threatens his friendship with Rhapsody, but like I said above, Rhapsody fools herself and makes everything worse.
Talquist is stirring evil and pain, molding holy living stone into a Titan-being of the former son of Micheal, The Waste of Death/Breathe, Faron. While I read more and more about Talquist, he held a surprising resemblance to the former Master of The Brother, Tsoltan the F'Dor, as odd as that might sound to some. But while Talquist is a former Merchant who has risen to power with the help of one of the scales of the Stolen Deck, Tsoltan had risen to power with the help of the spirit, hosting demons F'Dor. With this resemblence, and war coming on it's way, dejavu is likely as the Wrym Lands are threaten with war by Talquist as Serendair was with Tsoltan.
Anwyn is on a rampage, emerging from the Hintervoid, destryoing all in her path to hunt down the Lady Cymrian, Rhapsody. While Rhapsody goes through her pregnancy with the help of Achmed, Krinsel, Ashe and Elynsynos, Anwyn is ever-searching for the Lirin Namer. When Anwyn does catch-up with her, it will take Achmed, Elynsynos and Llauron to stop her, when both Achmed, Rhapsody and Meridion are trapped within an ended Wyrm...
Elegy for a Lost Star is a fantastic book. A nice installment to the World Wide Bestselling series The Symphony of Ages. While most series becomes dull and boring after a while (like Dragonlance by Weis and Hickman was for me), and lost there former shine, I believe EFALS carries on Mrs. Haydon's masterpiece quite nicely. The book still causes me to feel for the characters, laugh, smile and cry when other books can't make me beat an eyelash. So if you haven't read past Requiem for the Sun, pick-up Elegy for a Lost Star, one of the grandest fantasy books to be written to date. I'm sure you won't be disappointed.

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disapointed

the whole book was people talking. Nothing really happend. I also dislike how Ashe is never there when everything goes wrong with Rhapsody. I also do not understand what the point of Anwyn was. She was like a page filler.

This series might have a future . . .

I really like Haydon's prose, but sometimes get annoyed with the angst, insecurity, and whining of many of the characters. That being set I have stuck with the series for two or three characters that I love and cannot wait to read about. However, Elegy For A Lost Star reminded me of why I liked the original book in this series. I'm sure Haydon has some more great story in her and maybe one day they'll actually save the world.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Elegy for a Lost Star sets the stage for a major turning point in the Symphony of Ages series.

The dragon Anwyn--who has lain for three years in deathlike sleep in a grave of rock and black coal is freed by the cataclysm that concluded REQUIEM FOR THE SUN. sisoriented and confused, she remembers only two things-the person who trapped her in dragon form and locked her in the grave-Rhapsody-and an all-encompassing desire to wreak vengeance.

Meanwhile, Achmed, the Firbolg king, resumes rebuilding the his shattered home, while a guild of merciless assassins set about taking revenge on him for the killing of their leader.

A horribly deformed but magical being finds its way through a carnival of freaks to the palace of an evil despot, who sees in it the potential to be the instrument by which his plans of conquest and brutal domination of a continent will be realized.

With the rise of new leaders, good and evil, the long-awaited birth of the Child of Time, the dark plans of assassins and rulers, a confrontation that shakes the relationship of the Three, and a battle to the death between two dragons of unimaginable elemental power, the seeds of chaos are planted for a war that will, by its end, consume half of the world.

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