Customer Reviews
Good but faulty - By: Sigrun, 25 Nov 2008 
This is the first time I read anything by the author & I will look for her in future. She has for some reason completely slipped me by & I found this book by chance in the library.
The tale of Paksenarrion is a good one. I like reading about strong female characters who can take care of themselves & often saves a man :) The heroine is a normal girl with high dreams & very likeable. She is not perfect & these dreams often seem a bit naive & that she should have more realistic expectations after a time. But then, maybe the story would be less realistic that way.
The writer is proficient & obviously gifted with good imagination. The world she sets before us is rich in detail & clearly seeks much from Tolkien. The world offers a lot more stories & I would be interested in reading those as well.
I must say that the first book was the least interesting. I found reading about endless marching in the rain & soldiers training a bit tedious. Book two was a lot more interesting & book three even more so.
The story is not without mistakes, some glaringly obvious. The writer makes a very well known mistake when she kills off a character & then brings him to alive again a couple of pages later when he speaks up. He doesn't speak again though, so it's like the author realized that this character was dead. She must have forgotten that she made him speak again after he died but why nobody noticed this before the book was published, & again when alll three books were published together, is beyond me. Don't they have proof-reading?
Another fault is more serious by far. No slight error here, no, a lot bigger than that. In book three Paks starts a quest to find a missing prince, to place him on a throne. Now, I the reader, know immediatly who the prince is. There is only one possibillity. None. But Paks? She doesn't. She ponders, wonders & speculates. During the next twenty pages or so she starts gathering clues about the identity of the mysterious prince, paces in frustration why she can't put the puzzle together & damns that she doesn't have solitude to puzzle over this better. On each & every page I stared in mute amazement at what was happening. Ok, we know! We know who the prince is, hello?! I found myself shouting at the book: Stupid! How stupid are you? How many clues do you need? How come you haven't found the answer when you knew it alll along? I mean, at the start I thought it was some kind of a joke, I mean, she just couldn't be this stupid. But yes. She was. Right until the bitter end.
This is a grave mistake by the author. An author should never write the story so that the reader becomes so frustrated by the protagonist. These pages were almost a total waste of my time. If the author intended us not to know before the heroine, it shouldn't have been so blindingly obvious right from the start.
But the book is good, quite so. After the first book I had difficulties in putting it down. It's fast paced, grabbing, with a likeable heroine. A good book with a few flaws.
WOW! The best ever! - By: Dorte Krogh Nielsen, 05 Jun 2008 
I can't describe just how good this book is, it just blows you away from page one. I have read many a fantasy book, but never have my mind been this happy & consumed by at book, as it has been while reading about Paks. I find that reading it once is good, reading it twice is fantastic, but reading it the third time or tenth time, it just gets better & better. It's a must have for alll high fantasy fans out there!
A great military fantasy, one of the very best. - By: B.K.Price, 28 Dec 2007 Elizabeth Moon's Deed of Paksenarrion is an able edition to the world of fantasy fiction.
This tale follows the story of Paksenarrion or Paks to her friend's a sheep farmers daughter who is being forced into a marriage to a man an she has no love for. Paks has always dreamt of becoming a mighty warrior & an adventurer, so to escape her unwanted marriage she runs away from her family's farm with the hope of finding adventure.
Shortly after her escape Paks finds herself employed as a mercenary with the Duke of Phelan's company, this is Pak's dream come true, it's also were her adventures begin & a legend is born.
After six months of rigorous training in the arts of war Paks is ready to travel south with the Duke of Phelan's company & goes south to war.
Taking part in battles, sieges, & being hunted through woods & vallleys. Paks quickly gains a reputation as a brave & proven warrior.
She is also descovers she is chosen by the gods & that the fate of the world rests in her hands.
Elizabeth Moon has created a strong cast of characters, the action scense are brilliant, you can tell Ms Moon has spent time in the military(US army during the late sixties). The training & battles are very realistic you almost feel as if your ther standing next to Paks with a sword in one hand & a shield in the other. Great stuff!
If you liked this book you might want to read Moon's other fantasy work Gird's Legacy.
I hope this review was of some help to you.
One of the best books you'll ever read - By: A. M. Archer, 31 Oct 2006 How to even begin to review this masterpiece? Setting aside the fact that it is beautifully writen, that alll the characters are well developed & full of life, that the plots are compulsive reading...setting aside alll that, there is Paks. If you do not become enchanted with her, feel as she does, as you read this I'll be suprised! She is an ordinary real person tring to forge her own life rather than follow a path set before her. The book will take you on the journey of her life from the time when she runs away to the legend she becomes. It is to this day my alll time favourite book & I have yet to find its equal - they say that Moon is Tolkien's true heir I say she has surpassed the master. Please just give it a go you will not regret it!
I love paks and you will too! - By: Rodney Powell, 16 Jun 2001 I just got done reading one of the best epic fantasies I've read! Like the medieval ministrels Moon tells us a tale of great deeds, tragedies & truimphs of a unforgettable heroine, Paksenarrion, or Paks to her friends as you will soon be as you read her story. You will follow Paks as she decides to defy her father & not marry a pigfarmer & follow her dream to become a great warrior.You watch her as she joins a mercenary company of the leadership of the noble Duke Phelan & see the world.And what is Paks world you might ask? Paks'world is place with it's own set of myths & legends,beauty, great evil & greater good.You will watch Paks as she grows from a starry-eyes young private to a seasoned veteran in scenes of battles & wars.Moon's description of life of a medieval fantasy mercenary so realistic you would swear she was one herself.You will also see bit by bit Paks true destiny which is to become a Paladin knight in the service of Gird.Another thing that makes her endearing is that Moon makes Paks a real person.She is no unstoppable Xena clone but a real flesh & blood person with her own fears which she must conquer to reach her great destiny.Moon's world-building skills are quite impressive as you see Paks' world through her eyes.You will watch as our heroine battle great evil like followers of the sinister gods like Achrya the spinner of webs & Liart the master of Torments.The book is one of the most deeply spirtual fantasies I've ever read because there are scenes where Paks is tortured by her enemies & only her faith of her god & Gird are her only weapons.Finallly you will watch as Paks fulfills her destiny by restoring a king to his kingdom & help defeat the forces of evil.I implore Ms. Moon to write another Paks novel because I want to read more of her adventures & see more of her beautiful & unforgettable world through her eyes!
