Crown of Earth [Hardcover]

For young friends Weasel, Arisa and Prince Edoran, things are somehow worse than ever. Having already assisted in overthrowing the reign of a murderous Regent and recovered the lost ancient symbols of the King's right to rule, the Shield of Stars and the Sword of Waters, the three teens should have been relatively safe. But, as everything seems to do in Deorthas these days, things have gone horribly wrong. Arisa's mother, the Falcon, has turned traitor and made a bid to take over the rule of the Kingdom. Thwarted by Edoran and Arisa in her attempt to kidnap Edoran and steal the Shield and the Sword, the Falcon holds Weasel as a hostage. Determined to rescue his only true friend, Prince Edoran has fled the palace in pursuit of the Falcon. It takes only one day away from the luxuries and servants he has always known for the young Prince to realize that he is woefully unprepared for a life on the road. But help will come from unexpected places and, with that help, the gradual recognition that he need not be the stupid, ineffectual Prince that the evil Regent Pettibone raised him to be. As the days pass and Weasel's time surely grows short, Prince Edoran will discover the man he might yet become even as he learns the true purpose and significance of the Shield and the Sword.

Nobody buckles swashes quite like Hilari Bell does. Each of the books in this trilogy have been, on the one hand, a rip-roaring adventure filled with dangerous intrigues, escapes and sword-play, and on the other, wonderful, rich character-driven stories about three young people growing into the heroes and heroine they were always meant to be. Where Shield of Stars focused on Weasel and Sword of Waters centered on Arisa, Crown of Earth is Edoran's story. As the book begins, Edoran is as he always has been - quiet, lonely, aloof, a Prince mostly ignored by the adults who rule in his name. But through his quest to save Weasel,the truth of Edoran's life and character - the past that created him and the desire to be something different, something more that burns deeply within - are slowly revealed. I am honestly puzzled by the fact that Hilari Bell isn't one of the best known YA fantasy writers today. Her prose is strong and lively, her characters are incredibly well drawn and fully realized, and her world-building is second to none. The Shield, Sword and Crown is a fabulous trilogy, the kind of stories you will want to revisit time and time again. Each book is strong and complete, there are no weak moments. I loved all three of these novels from beginning to end.

This is the third in a trilogy, so if you already know that you're probably planning to buy this already. And if you don't already know that - don't buy this book yet. It won't make any sense if you don't read the first two.

This is not the best book in the trilogy, but it is a mostly satisfying end to it, and I recommend it. I did find the major plot of "rich kid does real work and improves for it" to be a bit trying, but I don't think the author had a choice - that's kinda where the other two books led. It's just that there's just not much more to say on that subject that hasn't been said already a dozen times over. The intended audience may not have read it yet, though, so that's all right.

I happened upon Shield of Stars while in the midst of a multi-hour amazon kindle scan searching for interesting books to sample and possibly buy. I had some credit from a gift card and figured, why not? The sample had been good. I accidentally purchased Sword of Waters when trying to get a sample, but kept it anyway, which was a good thing. I enjoyed Weasel's story so much I went right into Arisa's. I was hoping to show some self-control and not buy this one immediately, but just had to know what happened. I liked this story well enough, though the pampered prince turned hard worker was a tiny bit cliched and I actually liked Weasel much better...and he doesn't show until about 85% into the story. They are a bit predictable, but that just makes them even more enjoyable, and I really liked the tie-in with the Tarot cards for the three main characters. I have already read some of the Farsala trilogy and am now exercising that self control and forcing myself not to buy the Last Knight until I've read some of my other downloads first *sigh*.


please look for my book, The Snow Child by Tina Moss, in the next few months

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 3 reviews  4.7 out of 5 stars