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The Cage of Nine Banestones (Pearl Saga) by Eric Lustbader
Review: This is the third novel in Eric Van Lustbader's Pearl Saga. The complex story and scope of the previous two books is effortlessly picked up. As with Viel of One Thousand Tears this installment takes the series in a new direction - to find the ninth Banestone. The characters that I have come to love were all here and if people liked the last two books they should enjoy this. The strong points of the series are the huge amount of detail that goes into this world - the castes, the religion and the loctation -, the excellent action scenes that send your heart racing, the compelling story that really involves you and makes you want to find out more about this world and the exploration of different themes, such as what effect gendre has on your actions.
This is not another farmboy-finds-magical-sword story. The world and story are fresh and interesting. Saying that there are some down points, there doesn't seem to be much passion in Lustbader's writting, we don't get a sense that he shares our need to find out more about the people in this land. Also, the pace often slows, with a lot of information thrown at us. While these don't take much away from the book as a whole, they did prevent me from giving this book five stars. Despite this the novel is still extremely enjoyable and I recommend it strongly to anyone interested in fantasy.
Review: After experiencing a fantastic and furious read-fest (for several days until 5am) with the first two novels in the Pearl Saga, and counting the days to the release of the third, I was delighted to find that Eric Van Lustbader has not let me down with the superb Cage of Nine Banestones. The plot effortlessly develops from The Veil Of A Thousand Tears without covering old ground, has beautiful character relationships and all the complex inner-conflicts and agonising choices for heroes and villains alike, that trademarks a Lustbader masterpiece. Never predictable, there are lots of surprises and new revelations to keep you turning the pages until the early hours and the fast-moving pace makes certain that you won't want to put this book down until you get to its riveting end. Anyone who enjoyed the Veil Of A Thousand Tears and The Ring Of Five Dragons should definitely invest in this one. My only criticism is that the next novel in the Pearl Saga cannot come soon enough.
Review: This book is exactly the same apart from the title as the book "mistress of the pearl" that I also purchased through Amazon.
It was advertised as being book 3 and 4 of this particular series. ( The Pearl)
So I am not happy about that.
Review: Please note that this is the UK version of "Mistress of the Pearl". These two books are identical save for the titles! Don't make the mistake I did and buy both thinking that one was the fourth in the series.
Otherwise, this book did little to forward the story.
Review: you can read the other reviews for a synopsis and the product description.
All i want to convey is that this book is a fantastic ending to the series and anyone who has read that first two books will not be let down!
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