Martha
My husband was reading the back of this book and mentioned that it seemed rather violent for my tastes. In many ways, he is right, so I've been trying to figure out how to describe why I liked this series anyway. Let's see if I can explain...
This series is about war, intrigue, betrayals, usurpations, rebellions, monsters (human & otherwise) and other ickiness that I usually avoid. It is also about love, loyalty, honor, and generally good people trying to find a mostly good path that leads out of the ickiness in a way that they can live with. It weighs revenge and when it should or should not be taken and what made it worthwhile (I didn't always agree). It yearns for peace after the price of freedom. It encourages finding out what makes one happy. It balances individual wishes against the needs of others.
It is about an unconventional trio of “siblings” (two half-brothers and a sort of foster sister), who love each other very much and want to find a way to support each other without supporting the bad decisions they see each other making. It watches them learning that some decisions belong to other people, along with the consequences, and they cannot be removed by wishing or ordering. It cries as they grow up & painfully make their places in the world. And it celebrates their everlasting bonds of family.
It is about their fathers, who love their children almost beyond endurance but struggle with the dangers & decisions that are thrust upon their offspring. Not only can they not help their children, they can't face their own pasts or see their own futures.
It is about their friends, who won't leave them even if it means their own deaths or destruction. It also presents a variety of potential allies, with hidden benefits & dangers, strengths & lies–choices to be made with lifesaving or deadly results.
It made my heart ache at times, from joy or sorrow, depending on the circumstance on the page. It had me rooting for some sort of “right” solution to be found, even when I couldn't imagine what that would be. And at the end, a solution was found (although not described in any depth).
How to get my children to be readers, paraphrased, in random order:
Let them pick what they like to read (check).
Let them abandon a book if they don't like it (check).
Let them read for the fun of it instead of making them do exhaustive literary activities (check).
Give them time to read (check).
Keep recommending different books that you think they might like until you find something they want to read (check).
Keep a lot of books around (check).
Expect them to read– a lot (check).
Let them see you read a lot (yeah, that too).
I guess that's why my children are readers. ;)
