Rhapsody
by: Elizabeth Haydon
Review by Ciara Grey
 

This issue I'm taking a look at a new author who is attracting a lot of attention. My review will be on Elizabeth Haydon's, Rhapsody. This is the first novel of a trilogy.

Technically speaking, this was an excellent book. There was very little passive voice evident in the writing, which kept the tone of the book fresh and pace of the story smooth. The world she has created for her characters is vibrant and realistic, very easy to lose oneself in this fictional realm.

The main characters evolve smoothly throughout the story, each growing, learning, or realizing something important enough to propel the plot and show the character change, but never has the author reverted to simplistic techniques to turn a hero into an automatic bad guy. Achmed the Snake, who is an assassin, has some endearing qualities that make him a more complex and interesting character that expected.

Ms. Haydon has an ability to completely immerse the reader in the story. This makes point of view changes very smooth. The writing is concise and tight that moves at a good pace. Her knowledge of her characters and the world they inhabit is very thorough and consistent.

There was one thing about this story that rubbed me the wrong way. Toward the middle of the story, there is a blatant "info-dump" in the form of dialog. The reader is given a great deal of information about the history and order of society of the new land the characters escape to, which is probably important for the reader to understand, but struck me as an implausible way to impart this information.

All in all, this was a very well written novel. I would have to rate Rhapsody:
* * * * 1/2

I look forward to reading the next two novels. I would like to once again thank Ms. Haydon for taking the time out of her busy schedule to speak with us!

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Rating Scale:
* * * * * = Un-put-downable, excellent reading!
* * * * = Good value, interesting reading.
* * * = Had potential, but could have been better.
* * = Slow, difficult to read, could have been improved.
* = Imminently forgettable.