Customer Reviews: Read 7 more reviews...
 A Brightly Woven Tale December 13, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Alison Croggan suceeds with yet another brightly woven follow on in The Pellinor series, another book to keep & treasure, My heart felt thanks to Alison Croggan.
Lived up to expectations December 3, 2008
I was curious as to how the CLimax of the series was going to take place.
I thought.. where, how is it going to link, how will they find each other.. whats going to happen, will there be a battle of some sorts. but no.. Maerad and Hem are led to each other by fates way.. they are guided.. and the defeating of the darkness isnt overdone... its impressive, simple, effective, and it made me sad that it ended, but glad because it wasnt rushed. the endings of soem books can be rushed and tied off loose ends for the sake of it, but this was done well. well thought out, well written and was a fantastic end to a brilliant series.
Fantastic! November 7, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This was a great read and an even greater conclusion a very nice way to say goodbye to Edil-Amarandh.
 A solid but slightly disappointing finale - Contains Spoilers October 3, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The three earlier books in this series are amongst the best fantasy novels I've ever read. Unfortunately, 'The Singing' is not, in my opinion, nearly so good. 'The Riddle', for instance, is a thrilling book from start to finish. It's shocking and visceral - the sort of book that has you anxious for the safety of its characters throughout. The problem, for me, with 'The Singing' is that it has nothing close to that excitement. In fact, it has very little tension, very few if any surprises, and most importantly didn't demand an engagement with its characters from this reader in the way 'The Riddle' demanded you sat up straight and paid attention.
Maered is so powerful in this book I didn't fear for her in the slightest. The amoral'elemental' potential towards evil at the root of her character (introduced in 'The Riddle') was really the aspect of her that would, considering her powers, make her interesting - again, I felt this aspect of her was just hinted at, and again, failed to generate tension or complexity in this novel. All the set pieces are anti-climaxes - neither the Landrost nor the Nameless One are seen, the battles with them are 'psychological'. The overall effect is woolly and unaffecting. Hem's story, perhaps surprisingly, (though 'The Crow' was excellent too!) has more tension and a sense of things being at stake - the scene where Hem fights for Saliman's life is the most powerful in the book. It's a terrible shame I feel because it was just the most brilliant series. My suspicion is that Alison Croggon wanted to provide a timely portrait of a world beset by war and environmental crisis, but the emphasis on flooded landscapes and wartorn communities alongside a slow paced, very 'psychological' novel produced, for me, a very muted, anticlimactic conclusion to this series.
 I wished it went on! October 1, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I have been waiting for this book for over a year since I read the first book, and was kept in suspense when it was meant to be a trilogy to begin with!
The Singing continued the story of Maread, Cadvan, Hem, Saliman and Irc. I do agree with one reviewer and that it was an anticlimax and the final showdown was a disappointment. I was also diasppointed with Croggan for not really developing the relationship between Maread and Cadvan, and so when the ending did come, it felt like I had skipped a few chapters and missed it all! I am looking forward to reading her next books, whatever that may be.
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