ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature.

I got through about three quarters of The Phoenix Endangered on audio. This was a sluggish and clunky second installment in The Enduring Flame trilogy. The writing was dull and not much happened to advance the plot. By the time a battle finally started, I couldn't muster up enough interest to participate.

Even more than the last book, this one was full of two teenage boys brooding, bickering, whining, and being noble. Half of what they say is said "sulkily," "rudely," "darkly," or "huffily." I got tired of hearing how they didn't want to be heroes and didn't want to kill anybody (even when a huge evil army which had destroyed a few cities and killed thousands of people had them under siege).

And the plot (what little there was) was just plain silly. For example, it is considered extremely rude to ask an elf any question (we are told this so many times!), but it really makes no sense that the boys have to figure out other ways to find out important information for their quest. According to elven protocol, if you needed to find out if an elf is seriously injured afer a battle, you'd have to say something like: "It would make good hearing to know whether that sword has stabbed you in the guts and you are dying."

Also, the entire evil mage and his army was ridiculous. The explanation for how the mage had become evil (addressed in my review for The Phoenix Unchained) was unbelievable (especially after his dragon rejects him) and his military tactics were idiotic. He claims that all the nations are going to band together and come fight them, yet he sends his warriors out to search the vast dessert for one of the tribes who don't seem to want to join his army. That's smart. Worse were the people who he had managed to band together to form an army -- it would have been hard to find that many illogical and gullible people. In fact, they were so stupid that they weren't at all scary.

When the evil army was at the door and I was starting to wonder if there might be some stock quotes on National Public Radio or some commercials on my favorite alt rock station, I decided it must be time to quit The Phoenix Endangered. In fact, even the audiobook reader himself sounded bored.

By the way, I still don't know what the phoenix is.
Read more Mercedes Lackey book reviews at Fantasy literature. ( )

This is the 2nd novel in a young adult fantasy trilogy. It picks up immediately where the previous book left off, with two young men travelling far from home attempting to discover what Tiercel's prophetic dreams are all about. They know that evil is attempting to return to the world, and they must discover a way to stop it. Tiercel is a High Mage, the first human high mage in a long time. His friend Harrier is a Knight-Mage, though at this point he has no idea what that means.
This is fairly typical young adult fantasy. They spend a lot time travelling, which gives them an opportunity to learn their skills and more about what is going on. Unfortunately, it also features a bonded dragon, which is just too similar to Eragon. It also features the bad guy of the moment, the desert tribesmen. Otherwise, I enjoyed it, the world they've created is interesting. ( )

This is the first Lackey book to get 2 stars from me. I liked the characters, I liked the world/setting, and I liked the story, even though it's kind of cookie-cutter Lackey. What I didn't like was the writing.

What it is is... padded. This entire trilogy barely scrapes past 1200 pages (this book was around 400 pages). The authors should have cut the excess, boring crap and sold it as one big book. It is full of repetitive, circuitous dialogue (yes, the characters like to bicker and argue a lot. That would be ok. But even the smallest things are often dragged on far too long.)

Physical buildings and objects are described far, far too much. The worst thing is that they are insignificant things. For instance, a building that is in the story for five seconds, and has no importance, is described right down to the how the clay for the tiles was made. This took up a good chunk of the page, about a half.

However, the characters really do shine. They are quite likable and it's sad that this trilogy is their home. Poor Ancaladar must be bored out of his mind.

Longtime Lackey fans and lovers of the Obsidian trilogy could give this story a go. Anyone else, pass. Read the Obsidian trilogy or any of Lackey's other works instead. ( )

The second installment of Tiercel and Harrier's quest to stop the return of the Dark finds their party enhanced greatly by one very ancient dragon. Unfortunately, the odds against them are still pretty poor - they'll face not only the scorching desert, but hoards of mislead desert tribesman, and that's just the first half of the book.

Say what you will, Lackey and Mallory aren't bashful about killing characters off! A bit more action and a faster pace keep this installment from dragging as much as the first book. ( )

As is often the case with number two in a trilogy, our heroes find themselves in apparently dire straits at the end of this volume. I'll be sure to look out for Book Three. Recommended for Lackey fans but read Book One first as they are not quite stand alone stories.