Customer Reviews

Twelve Treasures 01 The Sword Of Maidens Tears

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The main story is that Rohannan Melior (of a different world/dimension(?)) arrives in NYC as a result of his quest to find a sword that's been stolen from his family, and which will result in their disgrace and banishment their land's Court if it isn't returned soon. Of course, as soon as he arrives, he is mugged and the sword is stolen. Unfortunately, if a human handles the sword, they will shortly tranform into a ravaging monster with a craving for human flesh. RM hooks up with a group of mismatched Columbia University friends, and the quest is on to find the sword.

At first, I didn't like any of the characters except RM - the stranger in an even stranger land. They didn't seem to ring true, their speech patterns or something didn't seem right for their ages, or maybe they didn't behave as my college friends and I did. But gradually, once the background of some of the characters was revealed, their behavior became more understandable, given their flaws. (Though I still found myself checking the copyright date a couple of times.) There was still a little too much pretentious quoting and epigram-throwing for them to be believable, but I guess the author had to get it out of her system. The mugger who wound up with the sword was a tragic character, slowly taking that one extra step at a time that was leading him away from his dreams.

I wasn't all that happy with the ending until I realized that it was just the set-up for the sequel, which I will try to read. It was an interesting book, worth reading, but the characters could have been a little less stereotypical.

I really identified with the characters in this book, perhaps because most of them are around my age and living in a similar area to where I live. This is a well told, emotional and complex tale of an elf-lord in NYC and the treasure he must find. The ending sticks in my memory. (I won't spoil it here for those who haven't read this yet.) This book appealed to me more than the others in this series, I enjoyed finding out what happened later on. By the way--anyone who reads this will recognize the Babylon nursery rhyme reference, try checking out Deep Secret by Diana Wynne Jones.

Okay, that being said, this book struck me with a strong sense of deja-vu. Many years ago I encountered a book called THE GLOVE OF MAIDEN'S HAIR. The book, by Michael Friedman, is about an elf-lord magically transported to a modern-day city. He's the one who rescues the heroine from muggers, but there is a lot of this story that parallels. The style and the emotional quality and the actual stories themselves are very different, but if you liked this you might want to see if you can find a copy of THE GLOVE OF MAIDEN'S HAIR, it's a little dated, but worth a read.

Wow. What a way to start a series! I couldn't put this book down until I finished it (which wasn't really the smartest thing to do, with finals and all). The story is wonderfully written, and very unique. Has there ever been a heroine in a story who's a normal librarian? The ending actually almost had me in tears, since it's so different from what I expected. I agree with the person who said it first; have the second book ready! And when you read that one, be sure to have the third book ready! :)

Rosemary Edghill has a remarkable, rare, extraordinary talent with words. In many books, when there is no action/dialogue the reader is rather bored, but Edghill does a fantastic job! Her dry, sarcastic wit is simply great.

She has created a bunch of real, faulty, somewhat odd friends. Each has their own past and is a story in themself. Ruth, the main character, has to be one of the most real, somewhat "normal" characters ever created-she is not a superwoman, nor does she act like one. And Melior does not blend in right away and use powerful magic to solve his quest. He is injured and is facing momentous odds. Nor is he all-knowing, our culture is strange to him and he acts accordingly.

The basic plot is Melior, an elf lord, "falls" into New York City. Ruth, a student librarian, rescues him. She and her student friends have a hard time believing him, but Ruth helps him in his quest to discover his stolen magic sword, which he must find.

Warning: for those of you (like me) who object to gross or icky stuff, skim/skip all sections concerning the Grendel. It is horrible and gross. Other than that the book is entertaining, if a little depressing.

Warning: Have the next book at hand when you finish The Sword of Maiden's Tears. I didn't, and oh, did I suffer.

You people know the summary. Elf in New York. Very humorous, brisk, emotional, and just moving. The plot tends to slump towards the middle and leans towards the totally random at times, but Ms. Edghill more than makes up for it with her intense characters and scenes.. oooh. Read it. Now. Or I'll smack you with a trout.

A rare picture of New York. After I read this book, I could barely breath before I found the next one. I love all the characters (except the grendel) Kevin's story makes you really feel the drama of the hero and his "dragon" (of whatever he questing to slay) in a whole new way. I love Naiomi "sniffle".

After this rare and wonderful book, I want to move to New York and wander rainy streets at night in hope of a cute mugee . . .

Please excuse the harmonal teenager. At any rate I really enjoyed this book every time I read and reread it. If you liked it the first time, buy it, you probably hooked.

A rare picture of New York. After I read this book, I could barely breath before I found the next one. I love all the characters (except the grendel) Kevin's story makes you really feel the drama of the hero and his "dragon" (or whatever heros quest to slay) in a whole new way. I love Naiomi "sniffle".

After this rare and wonderful book, I want to move to New York and wander rainy streets at night in hope of a cute mugee . . .

Please excuse the harmonal teenager. At any rate I really enjoyed this book every time I read and reread it. If you liked it the first time, buy it, you're hooked. If you like royal elves, read this book!

This was a fairly good book. For a group of characters that I expected to be boring, Rosemary Edgehill did a great job. The humor thrown in is a great touch. However, I thought the romance between Ruth and Melior felt forced and the climax and conclusion (no, I won't give it away) felt like they didn't fit with the rest of the story. Still, not a bad read.

I really liked this book. I purchased it from the SciFiBookClub, in a trilogy, containg all three of the books, Sword, Cup, and Cloak. I really liked this book. I thought it was kind of sad, all the things that had happend to Ruth, and Micheal. I really did not like the idea that Naomi died. However, out of all the Characters, I most liked Jane, she reminded me of myself, timid, and completly trying to deny everything, but very intelegent. I read on the review of eith the 2nd or 3rd book in the series, that someone thought Ms. Edghill was not a good author for the series, I have yet to read the other two, but I feel that her stop and start method of action and emotion, as well as her sense of humor and drama, really make this book a very good one. Also, I like the idea of the sceptisism of the New York Student Librarians, and the "group of outcasts" well, I have taken up enough of your time.

It is late at night in the busy streets of New York City, a place famous for its apathy and hostility. When walking home, you very nearly trip over the body of some unfortunate who just got a first hand look at New York City muggings. But this does not look like your average mugging victim -- he looks more like a Vulcan SCAer or an outcast from a live production of The Lord of the Rings. In short, he is an elf, a real, live (though quite bruised) elf in New York. And so begins Rosemary Edgehill's The Sword of Maiden's Tears, a thoroughly entertaining fantasy story with likable characters, a fast moving plot, and a surprising ending. Although most New Yorkers would probably step over the elf, Melior, without as much as a second glance, student librarian Ruth Marlowe takes him back to her dorm, agreeing to help him find what was stolen from him: a cursed sword that turned any human who touched it into a monster. So now it was up to Ruth, her fellow student librarians, and Melior to get the sword back before the body count became too high, and the beast, known as a grendel, became too strong. But in a city as big as New York, such things are easier said than done. The main characters in the novel are quite likable and very realistic -- they have real faults and real weaknesses. Jane was the bitter product of too many skipped grades and a lost childhood, Ruth was very trusting and in the beginning was the only one who believed Melior's story, Philip was an irritating (but useful) hacker, Naomi was a cook with a lot of common sense and skill in martial arts, Michael was a cool-tempered former cop,and Melior was the at times haughty elf. They were not perfect and, as proved in the ending, the "good guys" do win out in the end, but their victory comes with a price. Although nearly 300 pages in length, The Sword of Maidens Tears was a fast moving, entertaining novel that I am sure I will reread many times. It was not the average fantasy story, since it took place on Earth instead of in some distant Avalon or other such place. It also makes the reader step back and think of how strange our society actually is; how confusing all of the lights and machines and huge cities would be to someone who had never seen such things before. It also made me think about what the world would be like if all the legends were real and monsters like the cannibalistic grendel actually did exist in the world.