a so-so fantasy of 2 branches of mages who are fighting it out secretly. This is a matriarchal universe, much like King’s Dragon. Profuse profanity, immorality, and homosexuality thru-out. ( )

When a couple chooses opposite sides in a coup, their three children are torn apart and raised separately. All are female; all are mageborn. The eldest pursues power at any cost; the middle child pursues justice through politics, and the youngest joins the resistance. I was impressed that even the "evil" characters like Glennis have believable rationales for their actions; I was even rooting for her! Sarra, the middle child, is my favorite character. I liked the youngest sister the least, simply because she is so young, so unquestioning and has so much power. ( )

A good fantacy novel with all the correct ingreedients. the strangeness was added to with the concept that this was a truly matriarchal society where men were not allowed to own propert in thier own right, much as was the case for women in our own history. this was an idea that I loved and one that more could be made of - I look forward to reading more of this author

I originally read this book about 10 years ago. I loved it then.

When I picked this book up to thumb through it to remind me of it's content and help me write this review, I found myself getting hooked for a second time and ended up reading whole chapters, even getting a cup of tea then sitting down to read more.

I love it still. I relate to this book, in as much as you can relate to a fantasy based story, I have two sisters of my own we are so different some of our battles are ongoing and very highly charged (I'm thankful we didn't magic to throw at each other when wrestling for the remote!). The characters are mostly deep and admirable, they all have their quirks and dark sides which make them seem more human. I changed alliances with the characters so many times while reading the first time it was kinda funny. Lots of 'oh my god! What a bitch!' comments ran through my head as I was reading it.

Despite all the doom and gloom I didn't ever want to put the book down because it was too sad to continue or everything seemed so bad for the characters I couldn't go on [so how could they?].

Melanie Rawn's writing style is amazing. It is engaging, eloquent and vivid. I felt like I was watching the events unfold.

There are many reasons why this book receives 4.5/5 stars from me. I could go on forever but instead I'm going to go make another cuppa and continue reading it, again. ( )

A re-read of one of my favorite books, part 1 of the Exiles series. It's a fantasy book but it has a wonderful detailed political thread as well. The characters are fascinating and well-rounded, the pace is high and the setting interesting. 5 stars. ( )