The Amber Enchantress

It's a borderline 3-star for me. I like that the book went back to being focused on a smaller scale, compared to the poorly-done battles in book 2. Book 3 follows the exploits of Sadira as she searches to prevent the next disaster to befall Tyr.

Sadira's a well-defined character with strong motivations. A bit better than her portrayal in book 1, but I still don't find myself empathising. I think it's caused by a lack of self reflection moments. She's driven to the point of having the ends justify the means; which was portrayed well enough. What I felt wasted was the expected turning point - where she realised how wrong she had been - it was done and over is just a few sentences, with nary a twinge of guilt or sorrow. It would've been a great opportunity to build her as a character. Oh well.

I did enjoy the plot, which more or less flowed well and made sense, except for a few bits (like the really strange, nonsensical, and unexplained must-not-have-bleeding-wound phenomenon surrounding the Pristine Tower). I particularly liked having a tribe of elves in spotlight, painting a picture of elven life on Athas. Also, the story revealed a lot more regarding the history of Athas and its sorcerer-kings.

And lastly, a complaint regarding how poorly the book was edited. There was quite a bit of grammatical errors and typos, especially in the later half of the book.