Blood Trillium [Paperback]

Hello Everyone,

I am basing my rating on my personal enjoyment and perception of each story, and how well it fits with each of the other four books in the 'Trillium Saga'. I am also not basing my rating by comparing it to other books written by each of the 3 authors' other works (Bradley, Norton, May).

For this review/rating, I will not bump any stars off for bad service from Amazon/seller, or for any issues pertaining to the Publisher's presentations of these books.

For the record, I think the cover artist and the interior maps illustrator did a great job! FYI: I have never read any other books by Bradley, Norton, or May - either before, or since the five Trilliums, so this is my only reading experience with them.

I am outlining the chronology of the 5 novels below, because I have noted many people are somewhat confused or unaware of the series as a quintet, and some have asked what reading order, which book directly sequels this or that one, etc. I do not mean to throw any "spoilers" out here, so I apologize if anything I say is undesired.

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The series goes like this:

1990 - BLACK TRILLIUM - by Marion Zimmer Bradley, Andre Norton, and Julian May (focuses on the lives of the Three Sisters and their efforts to defend Ruwenda from invaders from Labornok and Orgastus) ** {Note: 'Haramis' was M. Z. Bradley's character, 'Kadiya' was Ms. Norton's character, and 'Anigel' was Ms. May's character}. ~ Chronologically is #1

1992 - BLOOD TRILLIUM - by Julian May (direct sequel: precisely follows the plots and characters of 'Black Trillium', although it begins 12 years later. It follows the storyline of a strange new evil wizard from the far north named "Portolanus" - who might be Orgastus arisen from the dead? Ms. May uses all 3 sisters nearly equally in the story, along w/ all other key players from the prior novel). ~ Chronologically is #3

{{{{{Observation between 'Blood' and 'Golden' --- Although written first, the saga's internal timeline of "Blood Trillium" takes place after "Golden Trillium". The issue is that the character growth/development of 'Kadyia' as written by Andre Norton, is not followed-through with in 'Blood'. This is not to say Julian May did anything wrong or wrote badly, it just implies that the 2 authors did not coordinate their character-arcs between these 2 installments}}}}}

1993 - GOLDEN TRILLIUM - by Andre Norton (very loose sequel...more of a "follow-up" to 'Black'; it can be read without reading the first two novels. Ms. Norton mentions the other sisters and events from 'Black Trillium', but this novel is 100% Kadiya's story and what she and her companions do in the time following "Black Trillium"; written in such a way that it does not contradict what would happen in the (to-be) "future chronology" of 'Blood Trillium'). ~ Chronologically is #2

1995 - LADY OF THE TRILLIUM - by Marion Zimmer Bradley (storywise, a long-term "in the future" follow-up to 'Black Trillium', but not directly a sequel to any of the Trillium novels. Bradley focuses on the latter years of eldest sister Haramis, Archimage of the Land, and her efforts to secure & train a successor. Bradley alludes to events in "Black", but in such a way that this could be a stand-alone story to read, but it is probably better to have read the others first. This takes place some 150-200 years after the closing of 'Black Trillium', so all the other characters are long-since "dead"). ~ Chronologically is #5

1997 - SKY TRILLIUM - by Julian May (direct sequel to "Blood Trillium"; this book does not make notice of anything which transpired in Ms. Norton's "Golden Trillium", and obviously, it takes place before "Lady of the Trillium" thereby rendering zero connection to both of those Trillium entries. This story again hinges on the 3 sisters, and the back-from-the-dead Orgastus, and his dealings with Denby Varcour, Archimage of the Sky. Again, Ms. May makes use of all 3 sisters...even though 'Anigel' was her primary creation/responsibility originally). ~ Chronologically is #4

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Thus, the Publishers and authors never "numbered" this Trillium Saga series. Functionally, I view it as the 'TRILLIUM TRILOGY' consisting of: 1] "Black", 2] "Blood", and 3] "Sky", with "Golden" and "Lady of..." being ancillary/companion pieces which can be read anywhere between the other 3, but most likely are best held until after Black/Blood/Sky.

*(Or read thus: Black, Golden, Blood, Sky, Lady of...)

My pet-peeve is that "Sky Trillium" was released by a different publisher, and so does no have the same cover artist or interior illustrator for the maps; it visually doesn't match the other four books. Also, "Sky" apparently is/was not ever available in the U.S. in hardcover anyway (only Trade PB and standard s/c). You can get the hardcover from sellers in UK or Australia, though it will not be the same cover artwork as the American Dell/Skylark paperback that you'd see stateside.

I had never read any of these author's prior to this Trillium Saga, and have not read any of their other works to this date. Obviously I was well-aware of "Mists of Avalon" and went into the series with a preconceived high regard for these authors, based on their respective reputations. I personally enjoyed Julian May's story-telling the most. I read Black, Blood, and Sky with enjoyment and enthusiasm, while I read 'Golden' and 'Lady of...' more out of curiosity and deference to Bradley/Norton's efforts.

Overall assessment: By all means read this whole series!! If you only like Norton or Bradley, then just read their solo Trillium volumes; if you are wanting an epic, whole world, ensemble cast, adventure/fantasy, then start with Blood/Black/Sky.

~ Scott T. Shier

I enjoyed the second book of the series abour the triplet sisters and the sacred trillium. This story takes place not very long after the first book, the Black Trillium. The world is in relative peace with Anigel as the queen of the land, Kadiya as the ambassador between the folk and humans, and Haramis has taken place of the Archimage, Binah. As I said, the world is peaceful but far from perfect. The sisters have still discovered very little knowledge about the power that they inherited from the first book, and their country does not get along with the surrounding pirate nations.

The story really begins when Kadiya loses her amulet in an unfortunate accident, and a new character, a wizard called Portolonious, comes seemingly out of nowhere and threatens the balance of the world.

I liked this book, although it is not as well done as the the first one. I did not like the fact that Haramis almost falls in love again with the sorcerer Orogastus, which seems to me that she still has not solved anything from the first book! Also, the sindona, living statues created by the vanished ones, have an original, but rather boring, method of almost single-handly winning the battle for the triplet sisters. The good parts out-weigh the bad parts of the book, however.

I found this tome and the previous one in the series to be very poor. The scope of Mays writings just doesn't come out here in the same way as the Mileu series. Perhaps if fantasy books are to your taste this will rate as more pulp but if the story of the Remmilards interested you in this I'd suggest you just re-read intervention! It'll save you a couple of bucks and make a far more rewarding read.