Sky 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 any other books written by each of the 3 authors 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 see in this item's photo.

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

In my opinion this was a very enjoyable and worthwhile read. I thought Julian May did a great job of developing Anigel and Kadiya, and I was pleased that she chose to follow up the plots of Blood Trillium and Black Trillium--that she focused on the three princesses. (I was quite disapointed when Marion Zimmer Bradley's book turned out to have hardly anything to do with Haramis herself, and was all about her successor instead.) Julian May also added a lot of depth to the history of the World of the Three Moons--the mysteries of the Vanished Ones and the creation of the Star Guild were finally explained.

My one and only complaint about this book has a name: Orogastus. It's just . . . how many times can you reasonably bring back the dead villain, come to haunt the sisters yet again? Oh, well. Since I was able to overlook that small fact, I really enjoyed the parts about Haramis and Orogastus and in fact I rather thought there should have been more about those two. I mean, the authors have gone to all the trouble of killing Orogastus (twice!!) and bringing him back (twice!!), so they might as well do something useful with the gimmick. And it worked out pretty well in the end, with Haramis and Orogastus able to come to grips with their mutual but grudging love for one another.

But somehow, I found their love affair more interesting in the previous books, when Orogastus was still the charming, dangerous bad guy, and when he still insisted to himself that his interests in Haramis were purely business-like . . . he had been a more convincing character that way. Now, it seems like all he ever does is walk around freely declaring his love, and somehow that deflates part of the tension of their relationship . . . I know, I know, the tension is supposed to come from the fact that they both love each other but are still enemies . . . but that doesn't work when he doesn't ACT like an enemy!! Um, wow, that was one heck of a complaint, but hey, at least they wind up together. Everything in the last couple of books has certainly been leading up to that. All in all I was pleased with this well-paced, satisfying story, and I really hope there will be a future installment in the series.

I read the book after picking up the Black Trillium about 2 years ago. I went through about 5 used book stores to find this book. I recommend highly this book to any of Julian May fans out there.