Good but the ratio between almost poetic description and plot is a little too high. Will continue to read the series but only because the plot picked up at the end. ( )

This smart, lively cautionary tale chronicles the strange history of a kingdom destroying itself over a fundamental misunderstanding about the purpose of Beauty. The first volume in a new epic, Overstreet's novel often feels like a fantasy counterpart to Fahrenheit 451. And in terms of storytelling, it reads like a surprising intersection between the styles of Bradbury, Patricia McKillip, and Kate DiCamillo. - Adam

This was a very satisfying book. The quality of the story and the characters was right up there with what you'd expect from Ursula LeGuin. ( )

I liked this book from the very beginning. The setting of the lands, the names of the people and creatures and the fun ways they spoke made for the start of an interesting story. The mystery of Auralia sucked me in and I needed to learn more. Who was she? What change is she destined to change for House Abascar? What are her powers? It sets the stage for a huge and coming change in the Expanse and I can't wait to get my hands on book 2.
Longer review here: http://thebignerdofthree.wordpress.com/2012/11/06/book-review-auralias-colors/ ( )

I received The Ale Boy's feast (4th in the series) in the Early Reviewers. Because it is the 4th in the series I decided I wanted to read the ones before it. So while I read all 4 books directly after each other I'm going to review all 4.

The first book is Auralia's Colors. I only sort of liked this first book. While a lot of the descriptions were quite lovely I found it a bit shallow. It was only meh.

The second book is Cyndere's midnight. As I read this one I realized how wrong I was about Auralia's colors. The author has in no way created a shallow world. The farther I got into the story the more impressed I was at how he dropped subtle tid-bits into the first book that were developed more in the second book. Here I began to truly develop an attachment to the characters and their stories and struggles.

The third book is Raven's Ladder... again, I was floored at how complex and compelling this story has become. The history and myth of everything evolves in such an organic way. The characters define themselves more and more as the story goes along. It's like I got to know them as one would in real life... not how many stories are where everything is laid out before you right away. I never would have believed as I was reading Auralia's colors that this story could become so rich and complex.

And finally is the ale boy's feast. The conclusion of the books... not necessarily the conclusion of the story. (Which I always love.) 80 pages from the end I had no idea how the author was going to give me the satisfying ending that I wanted. I had so many questions that needed to be answered, I was terrified I was going to be massively disappointed that he has created bit off more than he could chew and he had tangled this story so tightly that there was no way he could connect all the pieces back together in the end... well I should have known... it was perfect. Beautiful even.

I loved these books. It was a rich, compelling, suspenseful, beautiful, and enlightening world. I'm happy I was able to spend some time there.

I'm glad I know how Krawg's story ended. :) ( )