Harp of Winds (Artefacts of Power, Book 2)

The story is the story! Maggie Furey's stories can sell themselves, for pure, escapist fantasy! A little heavy on the violence for my taste, but still a good yarn!

thanks steve

This the second book in The Aterfacts of Power series (following Aurian, and followed by The Sword of Flame and Dhiammara).After their harrowing ordeal in the blinding desert of glittering gem shards where they recreated the Staff of Earth, one of the lost Artefacts of Power, the Mages Aurian and Anvar find themselves victims of yet another treachery.Aurian, now several months pregnant and so bereft of her powers, ends up in the stronghold of the Tower of Incondor, prisoner of Harihn, Prince of the Khazalim, whereas Anvar is taken hostage by Blacktalon, High Priest of the Sky Folk, in the high-peaked city of Aerillia. Both are in league with Miathan, who covets Aurian's child, on which he's put a terrible curse.Shia the great cat might be their only hope.In this second volume, Maggie Furey takes the opportunity of Aurian and Anvar's confinement not only to develop background characters such as Vannor and his daughter Zanna, Parric, Forral's former horsemaster, or the Nightrunners, but also to introduce the reader with a whole cast of new characters, among which the winsome shapeshifting Xandim Chiamh and Shiannath, therefore letting the story unravel gently, without slowing the pace of action.And all the while, the mountain is watching...

Maggie Furey has created a world that is so vivid the reader has no trouble being swept along with the characters and feel their emotions right along side them. I do not think this second book in the series is as engrossing as the first book, Aurian. However I had so fallen in love with the characters that I needed to obtain book three, "Sword of Flame," as soon as I finished "Harp of Winds."

Aurian can no longer rely on her magic and must fight in other ways to save not only her life, but her unborn childs. The settings are fantastic in this one, having the winged folk, and thier cities in the cliffs.The Artifacts Of Power books are filled with one running main plot and several sub plots, making it an interesting and in depth series to read. However, by the end of the forth book all the loose ends are pretty much tied up.

I Never read the first book but got the second one as a present from my mom for christmas. Once I started reading I couldn't stop. The Story pulls you in. The power lies in the fact it spins so many character and character lines together in a beautiful webbed story.Main characters are Aurian and her friend Anvar who struggle against the evil sorcerer Miathan and a terrible winter that was created by him to gain power over their entire world. Things look bad, because Aurian lost her magic, because she's pregnant from her old lover, but everything comes to an end in a Beautiful climax, which makes ur eyes glued to the last pages of the book, and make u feel sorry u finished the book.I can't wait to go to the store for the other parts of this cronicle...

I wasn't a huge fan of Aurian, but wanted to see where the series ended up. Unfortunately, this book suffers from the same problems as the first. Anyone who has ever had to write an essay/story has been told "show, don't tell". Unfortunately Furey never figures this out. We are told characters are mad/evil/in love without ever seeing why. Additionally, I was annoyed that the title was Harp of Winds, when the Harp doesn't show up until the last 30 pages.

I loved this book! It reminds me in alot of ways of the Sword Of Truth series by Terry Goodkind. I love all the chac. in this book and I totally disagree with Diane from Norway. All of the characters I think are very well developed. There is constant action and intensity and it makes me want to sit up all night to finish it. I am sad to learn that Dhiammara is the last book in the series:( keep up the good work Maggie!

I have read both the first and second Book of "The Artefacts of Power" series and I have to say that it's true of what most people are saying; the adventures in the books are quite exciting and they are hard to put down. I must admit the writer has a unique imagination in the way that she describes things, but at times some of the writing style borders on the over-dramatic--a bit like some of Michael Moorcock's.The only reason why I have not given this book full marks is because of the amount of characters within both books there are just too many. The books are so jam-packed full with all these people, its hard to remember who is who, what each individual's characteristics and motivations are, who they were with at any given time etc. In the end, I had to keep a checklist in order to keep up with every character!I also got the impression that the writer was winging it a bit as the plot constantly jumps from one group of characters to the other in different locations. This was a bit frustrating when I read the first book in the series, I wanted to continue with it. So when it ended on one group of characters then skipped to the next, I just put the book down for a while to save exasperation. There is such a lot happening it may be a good idea to read one book straight after the other, making it easier not to forget the plot and individuals.Some of the characters seemed to disappear from the plot altogether. Whatever happened to Yaris, Jaris, Hargon, Fional and Sangra? I never heard from them again after Aurian's escape from Miathan. Maybe the writer herself is losing track of everyone like I did! Maybe I'll find out in book three?I have re-read David Eddings' "Belgariad" books a number of times but I wouldn't read these again, even though the main plot is very interesting, there's just too many people and I can't see that the final two books in the series being any different. If there'd been an an index for the characters and a better map design, it wouldn't be such hard work.

This book is great. But beware. The last book is bloody awful. I think the author got fed up. I'd had two of the first 3 and the last one on the shelf for years, loved the first ones, so rich. This is more of the same... But the last one, jeeze. So sparse. Obviously a wrapping up all the endings book with little flourish. I gave them all away to a charity shop so I wouldn't accidentally read them again. Too disappointed.

fabulous books, had to have my own copies as I keep rereading them. Brilliant read, fantasy to keep you guessing.Would recommed to anyone who likes fantasy

The book was delivered in good time, and in good condition. It was good to get this book after a long while of having the other volumes but not this one.

Book was as described