The Morgaine Saga (Daw Book Collectors)

Book Description

The Award-Winning Trilogy...now in one complete volume!

Sword-and-sorcery meets hard sci-fi in C.J. Cherryh's epic story of a woman's mission across time and space to preserve the integrity of the universe.

"Cherryh is the best writer of this sort of adventure tale since C.L. Moore and Leigh Bracket....Any reader who is willing to become lost in an alternate reality will find much to enjoy."--The Washington Post

"Never since the Lord of the Rings have I been so caught up in any tale...enchanting."--Andrew Norton

Includes the novels Gates of Ivrel (Cherryh's first published book and winner of the John W. Campbell Award), Well of Shiuan, and Fires of Azeroth

Customer Reviews:

Morgaine & Vanye, two great SF/fantasy characters.......2006-07-31

The Morgaine series (of which this is books 1-3; "Exile's Gate" is the 4th and last so far) is scarcely without its flaws. Cherryh's prose alternates between elegant and clunky. The plots have their repetitive side--ever read the Morgaine book where Vanye and Morgaine get separated?

Yet the imaginative nature of the setting and the protagonists' intriguing personalities more than make up for those flaws. The idea of time/space Gates is one that's been explored by many writers. Cherryh not only comes up with the idea of a team's being sent through Gate after Gate to shut them all down ... but she doesn't even write *that* story, skipping instead to the team's last survivor, and how the man she takes into her service becomes her ally and friend.

I re-read these books every couple of years to revisit Morgaine and Vanye, and to enjoy the time spent with them. In a genre where setting so often eclipses plot and plot so often eclipses everything else, these novels put the characters first, and do so with great success

Morgaine: Myth in Flesh.......2006-04-27

There are many different aspects that make a book (or a series) stand amonts the others. The Morgaine cycle is all about this extraordinary character possessed by a mission that leaves little to no room for her human self.
We stand before and admire this goddess that gives up everything to save the universe on a quest that doesn't allow turning back, and inhabiting the body and mind of the all too human Vanye we can approach her, get close to her and, unbelievably, love her.
This is the miracle that C.J. Cherryh created for us in these books. Enjoy it!

typical cherryh - the best.......2006-04-09

i've stumbled on the books of morgine through the wrong end - "exile's gate". i liked that a lot and found the ones that preceded it (in the one volume edition). i was expecting at least that fourth novel's level, and got a whole lot more.
in spite of the cover (morgaine looks pretty under-dressed, not mentioning vanye's attire), morgaine's saga is a rare treat. what's it about? frozen in time behind a gate that leads to nowhere, after her army of allies has been crushed by those she hunted, morgaine is saved by the youth vanye, an exile in his homeland, a pariah to his kind. her obssession leads her to require him to join her as servant for the time needed to complete her mission - and that time stretches to the far future, as there's always one more gateway between worlds to close and still more qhals to destroy. embittered by his ordeal, enslaved to the woman's single-mindedness, young vanye is eventually mesmerized by her and will follow her through the gates even when she has released him. and her obssession will put them in danger again and again, until even friends turn into enemies and they find succor only in themselves.
the writing has cherryh's inimitable style. the simple plots of the books are always fascinating and eventually the pair of wanderers pass on to unforseeble ends, wich i think is the masterstroke of the first trilogy (and even of the fourth book, "exile's gate"). i for one couldn't see morgaine settling down or vanye leaving her go on alone.
i only hope that the series will continue someday (after all, there's "fortress of ice" announced in the fortress series, why not another morgaine book? ).

read it ! this is one series you must not miss!

Should be called the Vanye Saga.......2006-02-08

I really like these 3 stories. I have just recently been able to find the third book. I have read the first book about 5 times and the second book 3 times. It is one of my favorite series. The book gives a great background of Vanyes character. His dedication and love of Morgaine hails him as a special hero. I would have liked more of Morgaine background and where she truly came from. Her character took a complete turnaround in the third book that surprised me. I always took her to be very calous and uncaring about the people around her. Still, I found I liked her. Vanye story is what makes this series so good though. Cherryh made him to be a real person that you could beleive in, and felt all his personal conflicts. I will definitly reread these books again and again.

Great Writing from A great Writer!.......2006-01-01

This great story put together in one volume as it is meant to be read will amaze the first time reader. I say first time reader because, it is a story that you will want to re- read.
The fourth part of the Story is a full normal length novel, as opposed to the novella length by today's standards of the first three parts now bound into one volume.
This is a book that actually blends the SciFi~Fantasy genres into something new and memorable. The battle of a lone woman warrior (the last of her kind, battling to keep the time continuum from unraveling), of a lone man of lost and regained honor, and the conflict of love and duty.
If you are a voracious reader, you might be surprised to learn that part one of this story was the first book Ms. Cherryh sold as a writer.
(Thank You Daw Books!)
This is the beginning of the whole revolution in Science Fiction and Fantasy, to having strong intelligent Woman Protagonist. If you haven't read this story, do yourself a favor, and do so.
For more information on this prolific gifted writer I also suggest the Cherryh Odyssey, which is a collection of essays about her work. Amazing stuff!

Average customer rating:

Ms Cherryh -- Please Write Another!
Exile's Gate (and the Morgaine saga as a whole)
The Best Since GATE OF IVREL.
A Great Book
Exil's Gate

Exile's Gate (Morgaine Saga, Book 4)
C. J. Cherryh
Manufacturer: DAW
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0886772540

Customer Reviews:

Ms Cherryh -- Please Write Another!.......2006-11-03

This is one of the books I keep going back to -- and it never disappoints. I think the reason is that love and honor are concepts that can inform our daily lives as well as those of fictional characters. Also -- it's just a great story! Ms Cherryh -- PLEASE WRITE ANOTHER! -- maybe Vanye and Morgaine arrive on Earth..........

Exile's Gate (and the Morgaine saga as a whole).......2006-02-24

In this SF-that-looks-like-fantasy series, the exile Vanye becomes liegeman to the mysterious Morgaine, who travels from world to world closing the Gates between them -- against the violent opposition of her enemies.

This is an interesting series partly because it includes some of the author's earliest work, which has some basic strengths --the characters, the situations they are put in -- but doesn't have the sophistication of her later writing, especially in the worldbuilding. It's good basic fantasy (except that it's really SF) but it shows that there's a learning curve even for the luminaries among us -- a comforting thought for the ranks of the great unpublished.

The final book of the four, Exile's Gate, is the strongest. Vanye and Morgaine, whose fraught allegiance resolves in a partnership that is satisfying but, realistically, doesn't solve their larger problems, are well-developed characters who must make painful moral choices while remaining loyal to one another. The worldbuilding is much stronger than in earlier installments, and I wanted to know more about the qhal, their intricate politics and the warrior Societies. But the qhal are secondary characters, even though they are also well-developed and by the end are demanding a heroic, co-starring role for themselves, and so their culture gets a bit less time than I would have liked. I particularly liked the increasing complexity of the portrayal of the phenomenon by which a person can steal another's body in a Gate; from a simple act of vampiric evil, it evolves through the series into a morally complicated and emotionally involving situation with many potential outcomes. Chei/Gault/Qhiverin is as interesting a character by the book's end as the main characters are, and Hesiyyn isn't far behind.

Fast-paced fight and action scenes add motion to an already dramatic plot throughout the series, and Exile's Gate is no exception.

I highly recommend the series as a whole.

The Best Since GATE OF IVREL........2006-02-23

In this fourth of the Morgaine Saga, Morgaine is starting to come down from her high horse and treat Vanye like an equal. Well, kinda. Sorta. Sometimes. When she feels like it. Other times, not so much. Either way, she is freaking him out.

She and Vanye have rescued a young man from certain death. (Guess whose idea this was.) This man has the same beliefs and superstitions Vanye used to have, which makes Vanye homesick. He also regards Vanye as a witch, the way Vanye used to regard Morgaine. The catch is, Vanye isn't 100% sure the kid is wrong. So this too is freaking him out. (And it's only Chapter Two.)

Cherryh really puts Vanye through the wringer in this one. When I first read this book on my lunch break, many years ago, I actually nearly fainted at my desk at one point. I had to stop reading and breathe for a bit. And really, I'm not the fainting type.

If you have read the earlier books, nothing will hold you back from this last one. If you haven't, then go read GATE OF IVREL, the first and the best of the series. This is only the second best, as a story, because it cannot stand alone the way the first one can. Also, the parts that aren't told from Vanye's POV are FAR less compelling than those that are.

But Vanye himself is as human and compelling as ever, and the way he deals with the continual culture shocks, identity crises, threats of eternal damnation, and hideously no-win moral dilemmas continues to enthrall as the character matures, hardens, and despairs, yet against all odds is still found to be clinging by his fingertips to his faith and decency. Morgaine, likewise, is not chopped liver. Boy, does she know how to turn the tables.

I give this four-and-a-half stars on it's own merits, and five as a sequel. If you liked the earlier ones, it won't disappoint.

A Great Book.......2004-01-11

I have to say this is one of the best books I have ever read. I read this book before I had ever even heard of the other three books. I was so impressed by how well written it was that I went out and bought the other three the day after I finished it. C.J. Cherryh did a superb job on this book. Very few other stories have drawn me in so completly. Just a great book all around.

Exil's Gate.......2003-05-23

The novel Exil's Gate by C.J. Cherryh is about an epic journey of Morgine, who is on her way to close the gate of Morond. Many fierce battles take place while she finds and fights her way there. But on her way she meets other characters like Ichandren, Chie ep Kantary, and vayne. Their characters help Morgine to suceed in closing the gate. I rated this novel 5 stars due to its action adventure theme and that its a book that you cant put down. But I would really reccomend this to anyone who wants an adventure.

Average customer rating:

First-rate for a "middle" book
Hurry through this to get to Fires of Azeroth
The excellent follow-up to "Gate of Ivrel"
TENSION ... that makes you beg for more.

Well of Shiuan (Morgaine Cycle)
C. J. Cherryh
Manufacturer: DAW
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0879973714

Product Description

Fantasy. "The world of Shiuan was doomed. Rising waters and shattering earthquakes due to the coming of a vast and strange new satellite had sealed the fate of its peoples- flee or die with their world. Their sole escape routes were the Gates, the passages between worlds established by a forgotten cosmic race. And just as this knowledge dawned on the desperate tribes and cities there appeared the woman Morgaine- whose mission was to seal Shiuan's Gates." Winner of the John W. Campbell Award for the best new writer of the year.

Customer Reviews:

First-rate for a "middle" book.......2007-05-28

The middle volume of a trilogy is always a difficult animal: It lacks both the background and set-up material necessary to introduce the story, and the climax promised for the final third. Here, Cherryh forthrightly treats it as the "bridge" story it is, and it's a rather depressing read -- though necessary for what comes after. Where Andur-Kursh in the first book was a land of armed holds on crags and hard winters, Hiuaj is a slowly-drowning land of earthquakes under the thumb of the qual halflings of Shiuan to the north. Jhirun is a young barrow-folk girl of the south, dangerously fey in the eyes of her family and neighbors, who rejects her home for the legendary prospect of safety in the north when Morgaine and Vanye, her sworn right hand, appear suddenly before her. But where Morgaine spent only a hundred years in the Gate between coming and going, the army she led in Andur-Kursh, and which disappeared into the Gate of Ivrel, landed in Hiuaj a thousand years in the past, and Jhirun is one of their distant descendants. Morgaine's quest this time is to pursue Vanye's cousin, Roh -- who is no longer what he seems -- in an attempt to close Shiuan's Gate before Roh can use it for his own ends. It's a much darker and much more unpleasant journey than the straightforward quest in the first book, but Roh is a fascinating character: How much of the original man is left, how much is now the body-changing qual who inhabits him? You should have all three volumes lined up on your shelf so you can read straight through this one, put it down and pick up the third volume. The whole epic runs to 700 pages and it's well worth your time.

Hurry through this to get to Fires of Azeroth.......2002-05-06

Cherryh seems to be just warming up here. The first book, "Gate," set up the characters, but was otherwise not up to much. "Well" is choppy and repetitive -- and in desperate need of editing (like dropping the first couple of chapters, and drawing out the ending so it reads better), but is well worth rushing through to get to "Fires of Azeroth." "Fires" brings it all together, with fantastic dialogue, action, characters, and so on. So don't give up. Blow through this, and get to Azeroth. You'll be happy you did.

The excellent follow-up to "Gate of Ivrel".......1998-07-01

This tale of Morgaine and Vanye following Roh through the gate into a world slowly being engulfed by rising seas is a good deal more engrossing than "Gate of Ivrel". It's a very dark tale, Roh, the halfling qhal, and the humans from the Barrows-hold all seem to be only out for themselves. But it is definitely a fine story, raising important moral questions mainly about Vanye's loyalties and the nature of evil. Many books claim to have transcended the black/white portrayal of good and evil, but with this book (and its even better follow-up, "Fires of Azeroth"), Cherryh truly does achieve what most of them couldn't; exhibiting the ambivalent nature of the border of good and bad. Superb.

TENSION ... that makes you beg for more........1997-01-03

This whole series, consisting of "Gate of Ivrel", "Well of Shiuan", "Fires of Azeroth", and "Exile's Gate", is my favorite of any author's, and I've read A LOT.

Cherryh's style is clean and dry, but at the same time very intense and passionate. Instead of using flowery words and melodrama to spoon-feed emotion to the reader, she uses common words and short, almost aggressive phrasing. The tension and passion and danger are drawn with a sharpness and clarity that is almost painful. A deceptively simple word or glance between these characters, whether friends or enemies, will at times bring that tension to a breathless peak, but without the expected release afterwards.

This is not an easy, exciting Harlequin-esque roller-coaster of peaks and valleys. This is a sharp ridge on a bare mountain with an occasional rock slide.

This is not a graceful Puccini aria that makes you want to weep and feel melancholy. This is avant-garde jazz where a single painfully high note is drawn out in the background for so long that you find yourself begging for a release that you fear may never come but then again do you really want it to?

It's exhausting, but in the best sense.

And about the 4th time I read the series, I found that it was funny too! It is, of course, a very dry humor, but it's there. And not a joke or eccentric comedic bit player to be seen.

It's easy to fall in love with these characters. They're very different from each other, but they're both excruciatingly familiar!

Cherryh creates the perfect male characters for a straight female audience. Cherryh's men are the kind many of us would create for ourselves. (Which is very different from the men male writers create.) Cherryh's men are capable of great valor and honor, but also of very deep emotion and affection, and self-reflection.

Also, her men often feel strong love and affection and respect for other men, without there being any sexual element to it. This is not only unique, but very difficult. The ability to create tension between male characters who love each other without it reading like sexual tension or a Sunday night "family drama" is something I rarely see. I appreciate it when I do.

My circle of friends has a shorthand way of expressing our reaction to this exhausting mix of physical danger and emotional tension, just by groaning "AAAAAHHHHGHHHHGHGHHHHHG!!!". If one of us starts off a conversation this way, another might say "Are you dying, or did you just finish a Cherryh?&quot

Average customer rating:

A major work by a major writer (when she cares to be)

A Classic!

Hrmmm......

not for fantasy fans only!

beginning of one of the finest SF series I've seen

Gate of Ivrel (Morgaine Saga, Book 1)
C. J. Cherryh
Manufacturer: DAW
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Cherryh, C.J. | ( C ) | Authors, A-Z | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
General | Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
General | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
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Fires of Azeroth (Morgaine Saga, Book 3)

Exile's Gate (Morgaine Saga, Book 4)

ASIN: 0886773210

Download Description

Scattered about the galaxy were the time-space Gates of a vanished but not forgotten alien race. In their time, long before the rise of the native civilizations, they had terrorized a hundred worlds -- not from villainy but from folly, from tampering with the strands that held a universe together.
Now the task was to uproot these Gates, destroy their potency for mischief, take horror out of the hands of the few who hungered for power by misuse of the Gates.
This is the story of one such Gate and one such world.

Customer Reviews:

A major work by a major writer (when she cares to be).......2007-05-25

After her two "Hanan Rebellion" novels, the Morgaine trilogy, of which this is the first volume, was Cherryh's first major project. It's the story of Vanye, bastard half-brother of the heir to Morija, whom he kills in self-defense and finds himself outlawed as punishment. Now an "ilin," a warrior without a clan or anything else to protect him, he is subject to Claiming by any lord who claims to put him under obligation for the period of a year. But Vanye, barely alive on a frozen mountainside, meets Morgaine as she exits a Gate -- only a short time, subjectively, after she entered it, but more than a century has passed by Vanye's calendar. Morgaine's task, as the last survivor of a party sent out by the Science Bureau, is to close the Gates all across the universe, to prevent a time-change enacted in the ancient past from destroying the present and the future. All the story is told, though, from Vanye's POV, so it has more of magic to it than science as he tries to understand what's happening. And it's a chase story from the first page, with Morgaine and Vanye, now bound to her to what he expects to be his death, forcing their way through a series of clan-chiefdoms as they try to reach the mountain upon which stands the Master Gate. Honor is a major force in this world and Vanye suffers greatly because of it, trying to balance the needs and demands of his "liyo," Morgaine, his remaining half-brother, whom he crippled, and his cousin, lord of another territory nearby. Even this early in her career, Cherryh was a master at spinning a magical narrative and dialogue, and you will want to have the other two volumes of the trilogy close to hand before you finish this one.

A Classic!.......2006-02-23

This is one of the small handfull of books which I have kept for years (decades?) and read repeatedly. It hovers just below THE LORD OF THE RINGS on the scale of great sci-fi/fantasy. Nobody who has read this book on my recommendation has been anything less than 100% pleased. Including my Mom.

Though this is the first of a series, it stands well on its own -- perfection just as it is. A real classic which can be read by people who don't usually read or like sci-fi. Loan it to your own Mom after you are finished and you will see.

The "heroine" is a traveler through space and time named Morgaine. But the entire tale is from the point of view of Vanye, a youth from a primitive and superstitious warrior culture who regards Morgaine as a witch. He is forced by a sacred oath to serve her, even though he believes that serving a witch will cost him his soul -- a LITERAL "Damned-If-I-Do and Damned-If-I-Don't" situation.

The book is science fiction, but reads like sword and sorcery, because that is how Vanye sees the world. He is a wonderful character, probably one of the BEST CHARACTERS EVER CREATED, imho. Cherryh's gift for realisticly portraying the psychology of a superstitious, obsessive, highly traumatized, warrior-caste teenager is so spot-on it is almost creepy. Morgaine isn't too shabby either.

Give it a try. I tell people to read the first three pages of Chapter One. That is all it takes to get them hooked.

Oh, and don't be misled by the the cover art. This isn't remotely cheese-cakey. The heroine wears clothes and everything.

Hrmmm.............2000-10-31

It wasn't that bad, but first let me note that the other 7 reviewers here have read this entire series (some more than once) and for the most part, they each seem to be lumping all the books into one review here.

I, however, as a first time Cherryh reader, found this book to be rather dry. The premise, setting, description, and characters were decent enough and it was quite unlike most other fantasy I've read. But it didn't really capture my imagination as it had theirs. Still, I hope that when I continue the series with WELL of SHIUAN, it will pick up as they have alluded, but for now -I am not sold on this one. Time will tell!

not for fantasy fans only!.......2000-07-07

I am not usually a fan of fantasy novels, but this novel and the three that follow it are one of the few exceptions to this. The most interesting aspect of the novel (and series) to me is the way both of the major characters, Morgaine and Vanye, are bound by their oaths to paths they would not otherwise have chosen. This novel deals more with Vanye than with Morgaine, and this reluctant warrior who will above all else honor his oath makes an extremely interesting character. Morgaine's character will be more fully developed in the novels to come; this first one belongs to Vanye. This is very human fantasy, a heroic reflection of all the things we do because we have said we would.

beginning of one of the finest SF series I've seen.......2000-01-23

_Gate_ is a great beginning to the Morgaine novels. Morgaine is an excellent heroine, breaking a lot of the lame stereotypes that lesser writers have fallen back on when it was too much effort to create a strong, unique female protagonist. If you appreciate a heroine who is all business and only fleetingly vulnerable, Morgaine is the genuine article. Vanye makes the perfect foil to her: fallible, afraid, loyal, and very human.

To give just one example of Cherryh's descriptive talents without spoiling the book, if you close your eyes and visualize when Morgaine draws her primary weapon, a shiver will probably go down your back. Rare indeed is the author who can scare you without resorting to grossness.

You could save time by ordering _Well of Shiuan_, _Fires of Azeroth_, and _Exile's Gate_ at the same time you order this one. If you order this one you are going to want the other three anyway.

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THE BOOK OF MORGAINE (Saga of Morgaine)
C.J. Cherryh
Manufacturer: Nelson Doubleday
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000SEKZHQ

Average customer rating:

Character-driven fiction of the VERY highest quality . . .

Stunning: heads and shoulders above the first two books

One Of The Best Fantasy Books I've Ever Read

The apex of the Morgaine series.

TENSION ... that makes you beg for more.

Fires of Azeroth (Morgaine Saga, Book 3)
C. J. Cherryh
Manufacturer: DAW
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Cherryh, C.J. | ( C ) | Authors, A-Z | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Gate of Ivrel (Morgaine Saga, Book 1)

Exile's Gate (Morgaine Saga, Book 4)

ASIN: 0879974664

Download Description

The Gates were relics of a lost era. The Union Science Bureau surmised that they had once linked a whole network of civilizations throughout the galaxy-an empire ruled by a ruthless race known as the qhal. This qhal empire had spanned both Space and Time, for their Gates warped time, enabling qhal travelers to step from point to point across light-years unaged. It was even possible to travel into the future. However, intervention in backtime could affect entire worlds and civilizations, could change the course of galactic history, could destroy empires and possibly even implode time itself...and this was what the Science Bureau believed had happened-sometime, somewhere in the unreachable past, an arrogant power-drunk qhal had done the unthinkable, and warped the very fabric of space and time.

Morgaine: pale in coloring and as tall as the tallest men, it seems clear that this mysterious traveler is a descendent of the long-vanished qhal. Aided by a single warrior honor-bound to serve her, it is her mission to travel from world to world sealing the ancient Gates whose very existence threatens the integrity of the universe. But will she have the power to follow her quest to its eventual conclusion-to the Ultimate Gate or the end of time itself?

Customer Reviews:

Character-driven fiction of the VERY highest quality . . ........2007-05-29

Wow -- what a climax! The final extended battle scene in this third volume of the trilogy, the summing up of all the threads of plot and character that began in Andur-Kursh months ago -- or maybe thousands of years ago -- all are brought together here. And Cherryh's skill in laying out the scene is such that you don't know what's going to happen until it does. Where the first volume was set in a land of mountains and crags, and the second in a drowning, swampy world, Azeroth is a land of vast forest and vaster plains. The qhal in this world have become the best they could be over the centuries, guarding the forests and the villages of men, laying down laws that ensure peace, and protecting the Gates of their world. Unfortunately, this also makes them difficult to persuade of the need for violence to deal with the scores of thousands of invaders from Hiuaj and Shiun who came through the Gate from their dying home world at the end of the last volume. Vanye is separated again from Morgaine, to whom he is bound by an unbreakable oath, though it's clear now that his regard for his mistress is far stronger than any oath he could take. The character of Roh, Vanye's cousin, inhabited now by an ancient, shape-changing qhal, is also developed with great adeptness and considerable sympathy. Finally, the crescendo of the final chapters is nearly unmatched in fantasy or science fiction, even in Cherryh's other works.

Stunning: heads and shoulders above the first two books.......2002-05-04

I'm the guy who wrote reviews more or less trashing the first two books of the series, largely because of the repetitive quality of the narrative. The first book does set up the characters and plot, but still dwelled on campires and cold food and finding shelter all too much. The second book continued that trend, but in some ways was worse: e.g. it spent the first few chapters on a character whom the writer just gives up on soon thereafter, and it was repetitious thematically in addition to narratively. The little bit of action suffered from Cherryh's penchant for being cryptic at the crucial moments of confrontation. "Fires of Azeroth" stands in sharp contrast to both, and it rewards the reader who decides to keep reading. The book flies by with fascinating, unique creatures, deep, complex, and fleshed-out characters of all kinds, towns (instead of just wilderness hacking), confrontations, plausible character development and transformation, a very delicate authorial touch on the subtle romantic tension between the two main characters, and action more gripping than I've read in ages. Cherryh still suffers from a tendency to write a bit cryptically during the action scenes, but these make sense (compared to "Wells" the action of which I thought was pretty close to incomprehensible to the reader) here, and are engaging. That's to be preferred, perhaps, to writers who merely dictate the action, or, like Tolkein, keep deferring it (in my opinion). A huge surprise, this is one of the best fantasy books I have ever read. I'd read the first book at a good pace, really blow through the second book, and then savor this one, the third.

One Of The Best Fantasy Books I've Ever Read.......2001-09-27

This is One Of The Best Fantasy Books I've Ever Read.

The apex of the Morgaine series........1998-07-01

If you can only read one of the Morgaine trilogy, let it be this one. As with "Well Of Shiuan", this book presents important moral questions to Nhi Vanye and to the reader. But unlike "Well..." this one is far less dark, and not all the characters Vanye and Morgaine encounter are quite as ruthless and self-serving as most of the characters in the previous novel in the series. The dealings of Morgaine and Vanye with the peace-loving humans and qhal of the forest adds a Tolkien-esque air to this particular installment. All this coupled with the development of Roh's character, and Vanye's developing relationship with him, makes for superb reading.

TENSION ... that makes you beg for more........1997-01-03

This whole series, consisting of "Gate of Ivrel", "Well of Shiuan", "Fires of Azeroth", and "Exile's Gate", is my favorite of any author's, and I've read A LOT.

This is not an easy, exciting Harlequin-esque roller-coaster of peaks and valleys. This is a sharp ridge on a bare mountain with an occasional rock slide.

It's exhausting, but in the best sense.

And about the 4th time I read the series, I found that it was funny too! It is, of course, a very dry humor, but it's there. And not a joke or eccentric comedic bit player to be seen.

It's easy to fall in love with these characters. They're very different from each other, but they're both excruciatingly familiar!

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Multiple books shipped as one item for your convenience. Save on Shipping/Handling charges.

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A life and spirtiual awakening book

Life Saver!

Good Reading; Good Advice!

Fully Human Fully Alive: A New Life Through a New Vision
John Powell
Manufacturer: Thomas More Association
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Why Am I Afraid to Love?: Overcoming Rejection and Indifference

Unconditional Love: Love Without Limits

ASIN: 0883473216

Customer Reviews:

A life and spirtiual awakening book.......2006-11-01

I read this book some 20 years ago and I still go back and reread it once in a while. It is an excellent book that has made my life more enjoyable and less stressful. I recommended it to my daughter and soon to my son. John Powell writes with such spiritual conviction that one can't help but to focus on the path of a new begining; the path of enjoyment of life as it was meant to be enjoyed. I also read two other books by John Powell, both were as spiritually dynamic and enlightening.

Life Saver!.......2005-08-20

This book is a life saver for me. Powell's style is scholarly, inspirational and readable - all at the same time! I've been reading and re-reading this book for a year. It woke me up to the subtle baggage I've been carrying around forever and has helped me start to unload it. I do indeed feel that I am becoming more "Alive".

Good Reading; Good Advice!.......2004-04-24

I read this book some years ago. I have loaned it to friends who enjoyed it almost as much as I did. I say "almost" because I made sure it was returned to me. It is like an old friend you like to visit with often!

Fully Human Fully Alive: A New Life Through a New Vision

Average customer rating:

Fully Human Fully Alive: A New Life Through a New Vision
John Powell
Manufacturer: Argus Communications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000NU4RTW

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