Complete Trilogy review - individual reviews are belowI first read the Deed of Paksenarrion between classes at TAFE way back in the hazy mists of 2014 - it took me 3 months at the time to get through this 1200 page tome, but it always stuck with me as a very unique and enjoyable low-fantasy epic, and probably my favourite portrayal of paladins in fiction.This time around it took me a solid 5 months to get through it due to some dips in reading, reading along with Denise and Di over at SpecFic Bu...

ANOTHER LABOR DAY WEEKEND FAIL! I was so excited to finally get to this, and have a wonderful escape. I have a line that I haul out to make fun of people who must have simplicity in their art, the line from Amadeus where the Emperor dismisses Mozart's music because of "too many notes." Well, one good thing about getting older is the ability to laugh at ourselves, and I'm gonna say this book has too many words! Really, 3 chapters for what could have been dealt with effectively in maybe 2 pages? Y...

I want to say first that I've read hundreds if not thousands of books and the largest percentage of them are probably fantasy. I love this book and rate it as one of my top 3 or 4 favorite novels. I can't recommend it too highly. I really don't think I can recommend it highly enough. Please read this book. I keep multiple copies on my shelf and have loaned out (read given away) many copies. This one is great.I read the omnibus edition of this book. It’s actually a trilogy. The Deed of Paksenarri...

Nowadays, readers tend to give authors as much as five pages to impress them. More often, it's one page. Sometimes, it's even one line. It's too bad, really, because people who read that way tend to miss some real gems. I've been slipping into that kind of reading mode, if only because there are too many books to read in a short lifetime. But for whatever reason, I stuck with this series far longer than I normally would have.First, the problems.This is a chronicle, and sometimes it reads like on...

Robin McKinley communicates with Elizabeth Moon (@emoontx) on Twitter a lot, and I figure if Robin likes it, it’s worth a read.I did not finish this book, but not because it was bad. It was, in fact, a very interesting book, but there was a major flaw that kept me from finishing.The story of Paksenarrion, or “Paks” as the reader comes to know her, is essentially a good one. She’s a mistreated daughter who runs away and joins the army … and that’s pretty much all that happens in the first book (t...

Fantastic, I forgot I was reading an omnibus edition of 3 books I was so engrossed.When I first read the blurb where it said it was a high fantasy story of sheepfarmer's daughter turned paladin, I admit I was a little wary. I envisioned some immature teenager shooting bolts of blue light from fingers instantly dropping scores of ugly orcs, talking pets, [insert cheesy/campy bad kiddie movie theme), etc. Needless to say, it wasn't and was a fantastic story.The 3 books of the omnibus follow one af...

This book made a criminal out of me....let me explain.This was the first fantasy novel that I remember reading -- the first that wasn't a school library find, aimed at children. This is not a children's book. I was around eleven or twelve and was visiting a neighbor, and saw this cover of a lady in armor on a horse swinging a sword.And I thought: "Wow. That lady's cool. And she's not wearing a bikini."So I asked the neighbor if I could borrow it. This is a pretty big book, mind, and I think he d...

The one-star reviews are right about one thing: if you're not into the trappings of classic high fantasy, you probably won't enjoy Paksenarrion. There are orcs and dwarves and rangers and sentient forests and magic rings and giant evil spiders; people go on quests, and elves save the day more than once. Courage and self-sacrifice are transformative qualities. There is a happy ending and not everyone dies. Sound cliché? Well, it was the eighties and everyone wanted to be Tolkien--gritty medieval

This is in my opinion the best fantasy novel ever. I actually read all three of the individual books before this omnibus came out, but they are really one complete story.It has fantasy elements done in a deep way I haven't seen anywhere else. If you want to understand Paladins, this is the place to do it. If you want to get an idea of how a God or gods could use someone's life through pain and trial, this is the book.Did I say it was the best fantasy novel ever? Go read it now.

Terrible. I hoped that the author’s experience in real combat would make this an interesting novel, but instead it just bogged the story down with boring and completely unnecessary details. She feels the need to describe every type of mud, but Paks’ training to be a soldier still somehow feels like a montage. Add to that unrealistic dialog, a plot that *still* hadn’t started at page 131, evil characters who are VERY VERY evil and good characters who are VERY VERY good, and you have yourself a pi...

This rating applies to the trilogy overall, though my review below concentrates mostly on the last two books. I reviewed the first novel, Sheepfarmer's Daughter, separately; my review is here: www.goodreads.com/review/show/625260624 . (That review is worth reading for insight into the development of the trilogy as a whole.) But while that novel can sort of stand as a unit on its own (though closely related to the other two), the second one, Divided Allegiance, ends with Paks in a terrible and ap...

This is difficult book to get through and it's not because the language is particularly difficult, in fact, the language is simple and direct. Is the language direct because the characters involved are soldiers and simple sentence structure just comes with the territory? I have no idea, but there is a lack of description in the writing which means there's a lack of rhythm to the sentences and the narrative itself. And that gets under my skin like nothing else.And then there's the characters. I'm...

This has been one of my favorite books since I was 11. I reread it just about every year (though I often skip certain parts because they make me cry, so I save the pain for every few years). This book is one of the best D&D-esque fantasies ever written. Sure, Paks gets hit in the head more than seems possible for someone to survive, and the bull-headedness she displays is at times annoying, but these are qualities of an interesting and dynamic character. Elizabeth Moon writes entertaining and de...

This book is interesting to me primarily for its description of the main character's military training. The author is a former Marine, and as such, her creation of a female warrior has more credibility than most. However, as technically accurate as this series may be in terms of military training and strategy, it is seriously lacking in emotional resonance. The main character, Paksenarrion (Paks), never really connects emotionally with anyone else. We are told that certain other characters are h...

I came upon this saga purely by accident, because I was testing out the Baen free Library (many thanks to them) on a new PDA. After reading a few pages I was hooked, and could not get to the second and third books fast enough. I completely got caught up in her trials and battles and victories. Ms Moons writing style captivated me and didn't let me go until I turned the last page. This is a story that when I finished it, I held the book close to me and sighed, sad that it was over. Paksenarrion i...

The one and only reason I haven't flung The Deed of Paksenarrion out of the window, drowned it in a vat of potassium hydroxide, or taken it to Half-Price Books and then used the resulting nine cents to buy myself a much-needed aspirin, is that I haven't reviewed it yet.Tomorrow, D of P, prepare to meet your richly deserved fate: sent in disgrace and ignominy to the nearest used book store, there to stew in your own fetid juices until some other poor fool staggers along and reads you.It will surp...

OK, I loved this book when I was twelve. Paks was my first screenname and hell I even named a cow after her. Yes, I said a cow, I grew up on a farm and that's what you do when you love something on a farm. You name a cow after it. My dad once named a cow after an ex-girlfriend of his and it pissed my stepmom way off. Ok I digress. This book is about a paladin. What's that you say? Only a holy knight! Only a divine warrior of good! And what else is Paks? A sheepfarmers daughter! Do you see why I

Well! The joke is on me after the way I kept saying year that I resented reading anything over 500 pages since most authors were neither talented enough not disciplined enough to be worth it, and here I am in the first month of this year praising my second book over 1000 pages! To be fair this is actually a compilation of three novels (though I am not sure the second would stand alone well).Paksenarrion is a sheep farmer's daughter, but dreams of more than just marriage. She wants to fight and s...

Out of all the books I have read, this is probably(ok IS) my favorite. I actually was slow and bought the omnibus having not read any of the 3 books. I bought it because I have read and liked Elizabeth Moon's other books. I actually need to buy another copy as mine is so worn and tattered, held together by cardboard and duct tape. Elizabeth Moon is a very strong writer with the ability to make you see her words in your minds eye not just on the page. Paksenarrion is the heroine of this trilogy a...

If you aren't bothered by fantasy clichés and are looking for a good story with a strong, female lead you should consider The Deed of Paksenarrion.This book is an omnibus edition that combines the books Sheepfarmer's Daughter, Divided Allegiance and Oath of Gold into one volume. The trilogy was written as one story and tells the tale of Paksenarrion Dorthansdotter, or simply Paks to her friends. Paks is the daughter of a sheepfarmer from a small hamlet in the middle of nowhere. In order to escap...