Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Besieged (The Outcast Chronicles #1)

by Rowena Cory Daniells (Goodreads Author)

3.92 of 5 stars 3.92 · rating details · 203 ratings · 44 reviews

For nearly 300 years the mystics have lived alongside the true-men, who barely tolerate them, until now...

King Charald is cursed with a half-blood mystic son. Sorne is raised to be a weapon against the mystics. Desperate to win his father’s respect, Sorne steals power to trigger visions. Unaware King Charald plans their downfall, the mystics are consumed by rivalry. Althou...more

Paperback, 480 pages

Published July 5th 2012 by Rebellion Publishing (first published June 26th 2012)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

This book is not yet featured on Listopia. Add this book to your favorite list »

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 1,251)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Aug 19, 2012 Braiden rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

WHY DON’T I HAVE EXILE YET (while I wait for Sanctuary)????? *runs to Book Depository*

-----

Besieged was the first book of Rowena’s that I have read, and I feel guilty now for not having read any of the King Rolen’s Kin books (although I own the first) or The Last T’En – I really do; I enjoyed this first book in her new series The Outcast Chronicles so much that I hated myself for not having the sequel Exile yet. All I want to do now is finish this series then visit her decade-plus-old The Last T...more WHY DON’T I HAVE EXILE YET (while I wait for Sanctuary)????? *runs to Book Depository*

-----

Besieged was the first book of Rowena’s that I have read, and I feel guilty now for not having read any of the King Rolen’s Kin books (although I own the first) or The Last T’En – I really do; I enjoyed this first book in her new series The Outcast Chronicles so much that I hated myself for not having the sequel Exile yet. All I want to do now is finish this series then visit her decade-plus-old The Last T’En books since they are set in the same world.

Although Daniells writes from a variety of different characters point of views, the real focus of this series, I believe, is not the journeys of the individual characters but instead the changes that occur within the kingdom and across the lands. It is Imoshen's and Sorne’s actions that contribute to the story’s plot, yes, but these books don’t only centre on their lives, but really on what happens within this world on a larger scale. The occasional jumps in time (e.g. thirteen years forward) supplements the story of the kingdom of Chalcedonia, and not the stories of the characters however much their individual developments are made known and experiences grow. Daniells moves the plot along, leaving out the unnecessary bits to provide you with events that are important in the eventual shaping of the kingdom.

I was especially intrigued in this story because of the magical T’En and the evident differences between males and females. Female T’en have stronger magic and are feared and begrudged by the men, so both groups have different societies in which they live. There is much more to the T’En, but by reading can you only discover the grandeur of Daniells's world. Physically T’En have twelve fingers and toes as well as hair of a copper colour. Then you have the half-breeds or Malaunje, and as they only have half T’En in them, they do not have any magical abilities but are able to recognise and sense the magic instead. They are physically like the T’En and so are immediately branded as Malaunje if conceived by two human parents, a genetic defect if that is the case; the child is often given to T’En and the mother killed as they are ‘abominations'. The humans or true-men or Mieren despise women in general just as much as the male T’En and they have an aversion to magic. There is quite a lot in this world in regards to the interactions between and general nature of the races and genders to wrap your head around, but as you read you will come to understand it all. The gender politics was particularly interesting. I’m interested to learn more.

As mentioned earlier, Besieged is told through the POVs of a variety of characters who are distinct and individually crafted in the way they act and their desires. However, the two significant characters are Sorne who is the king’s secret Malaunje son and taken away to be crafted into a spy and eventual weapon against the T’En, and Imoshen who was raised by the T’En brotherhood and never made known to the T’En sisterhood in which she was meant to be given to. Both characters are considerably likeable and you are invested in them both as they set the wheels of their individual journeys in motion. Sorne is out to destroy the stigmatisation of being Malaunje, while Imoshen escapes from the brotherhood to find a safe haven for her children. They each find their own meaning in life – their calling.

This book – and I predict the other two books will too – has a strong relevance and connection to the goings on in our current world and society. And the title of the series is perfect for this. The rights of specific groups of people (e.g. LGBT among others) are suppressed and this can be seen between the groups of people in Daniells’s world. There is much to be discussed and I am eager to read Exile and Sanctuary to discover more about the characters, the T’En, and the world. Fantasy adorers will consume this book. Besieged was intriguing in all aspects; it has fantastic characters and a fascinating plot. Just have Exile with you to read immediately after – that’s where I failed.(less)

4 likes · like · see review

Aug 12, 2012 Bryek rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I have read Daniells King Rolen's Kin series before this one and it is really what lead me to read this books as the cover art, not me is not very appealing. I am not exactly sure who that is supposed to be on the cover and I assume it is Imoshen but its far from how I pictured her.
First off I want to say how addicted I am to this story! I almost set it aside after the first few chapters because it didn't pick up right away But i am very glad I continued bacause not 10 minutes later I was swept...more I have read Daniells King Rolen's Kin series before this one and it is really what lead me to read this books as the cover art, not me is not very appealing. I am not exactly sure who that is supposed to be on the cover and I assume it is Imoshen but its far from how I pictured her.
First off I want to say how addicted I am to this story! I almost set it aside after the first few chapters because it didn't pick up right away But i am very glad I continued bacause not 10 minutes later I was swept up into the story and could think of nothing other than it for the last few days.
Daniells creates an awesome set of characters that all are all fascinating and well fleshed out. The story focuses on two main characters but is also told from the view of a few others. I think this was done so that the society they were in was given balance when read by the 2 characters as they were mostly outside of their respective societies.
The T'en fascinate me. I honestly would be able to read endlessly on their motherhoods and brotherhoods as their society is so rich and their powers (magic) are interesting. The meiren were not as compelling as they had a set human medieval culture with an oppressive war loving king. But Daniells world building skills come to a forefront in this novel as you can almost feel the flow of the societies she has built as well as know why the meiren feel the hate towards the T'en. The ideas are easily mirrored in our own world that you can see it happening.
What I also loved about this series is the characters! they are all very interesting to read about, even the ones you don't like. I have an issue with books and too many characters (GRR Martin, Jordan, Goodkind). They introduce new characters all the time and I end up just skipping them because, well I don't care about them and they left the ones i want to read about at some stupid cliffhanger. Daniells doesn't do that and I found that I didn't skip ahead once! This is something I haven't done in a book in years (and this alone ranks her in my top best authors). The characters are all well written and each is actually relevant to the story and plays a significant role in the book (i've read books one and two so far).
I think i would have liked to have known more about the T'en society and would not have minding a bit more description of the T'en city but overall this book was amazing.
(less)

like · see review

Feb 10, 2013 Mark Cameron rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: high-fantasy

Books like this are the reason I have switched to Science Fiction.

It had a promising start. The first 50 pages did a good job of establishing characters and the race of the T'En. But after that everthing went downhill.

Pretty much everything in here is recycled. And it was done better in other books.

It repeatedly skips ahead several years at a time. It didn't bother me at first, but then I started to think "What really? Nothing happened in those ten years worth writing about?" And then you read a...more

like · see review

Jan 22, 2013 De Roedere rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I read the last T'En when it first came out and remember thinking that I'd found a new and decent read. The second and third in the trilogy didn't quite hit the spot - whatever that spot might have been is lost to time - and I guess that spot is why I've never taken too much interest in other books by this author.
But a friend gave me all three of The Outcast Chronicles for the holidays.
The cover seemed a little derivative of a series that's very successful at the moment, and I must admit that...more

1 like · like · see review

Jul 16, 2012 Mieneke rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, fantasy

I recently read and reviewed The King's Bastard , the first book in Rowena Cory Daniells King Rolen's Kin trilogy, which I really enjoyed, so much so that I that I went and bought the second and third books in the series immediately after finishing it. Consequently, I was really happy Solaris was kind enough to send me a review copy of the first novel in her new The Outcast Chronicles, Besieged. Before I get on with reviewing Besieged, I have to put something right: in my review of The King's Ba...more

2 likes · like · see review

Jan 06, 2013 Ruth rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: spec-fic

c2012: FWFTB: mystical, wyrds, hatred, sisterhood, brotherhood. There are a lot of echoes of other spec fic plots and worlds in this book but Ms Daniells excels in this book at putting her own spin onto the tried and trusted plotlines. IMHO, the blurb is totally misleading and may relate more to the trilogy as a whole rather than this particular episode. I can see why - had the blurb mentioned that this frst book focussed on the YA characters 'growing into' their various talents, a number of pot...more

like · see review

Oct 05, 2012 Tony Kelly rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I was pleasantly surprised. I've been at that lethargic point where almost all fantasy is the same no matter how recent I pick up or how far back into garage sales and old used book stores that I go. Maybe it was because I read this on the tail wind of Prince of Thorns (which slapped me silly), but I mostly picked this up because it was THICK and wanted something to last a plane ride and couple nights of reading.

I got the feeling that this was a stage setter. The book takes us through decades...more

like · see review

Aug 17, 2012 Sean the Bookonaut rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Besieged is the first book in The Outcast Chronicles by Rowena Cory Daniells. The Chronicles see Daniells return to the world which she created in the T’En Trilogy. The Chronicles are a prequel to that series and take place at a considerable distance from the evens featured in the earlier works.

It is not necessary then to have read the earlier trilogy, to understand or enjoy Besieged.

Where to start on Besieged?

There are good books that you can appreciate and enjoy, then there are books that yo

...more Besieged is the first book in The Outcast Chronicles by Rowena Cory Daniells. The Chronicles see Daniells return to the world which she created in the T’En Trilogy. The Chronicles are a prequel to that series and take place at a considerable distance from the evens featured in the earlier works.

It is not necessary then to have read the earlier trilogy, to understand or enjoy Besieged.

Where to start on Besieged?

There are good books that you can appreciate and enjoy, then there are books that you will lose sleep over or have to get you significant other to hide from you so you can get work done. Besieged, for me is the latter. I found its story and Daniells’ writing tugging at my consciousness at every waking moment of the two days it took me to read it.

The dark and twisted tale

Beseiged is a saga of blood, family inheritance and the struggle for acceptance. A tale of political scheming, intrigue, and up close and personal violence. A tale of character’s wants, desires, and ambitions causing misery and misfortune for those around them. It is a story of two people and two cultures and a path of destruction they seem unable to avoid.

Sorne is the half blooded son of King Charald in a kingdom where T’En and the half blooded Melanjue are slandered as Wyrd’s, abominations in the eyes of the true men who follow the Churches of the Seven. He is raised in secret by a high priest and forged, through deprivation and holy torture, into a weapon to use against the T’En.

Imoshen is secretly raised by a T’En Brotherhood, an action the breaks the 400 year old covenant between the male and female factions of T‘en culture. She has an untrained talent for wielding the T’En gift and an inquisitive nature unfettered by the dictates of the covenant.

Imoshen searches for acceptance and a home for her children. Sorne searches for love and affection from a father who will give him none.

Both these characters are agents of change in two cultures set to collide with one another.

Dark fantasy not for the squeamish

I have been a fan of Rowena’s since consuming the King Rolen’s Kin Trilogy last year. Besieged features the same pacey writing but with much darker content.

There battles in Besieged occur off page. Daniells focuses on the interpersonal, which makes some of the content darker than your general fantasy tale. There’s not much left untouched – children die, and characters are tortured. The violence isn’t gratuitous but Daniells’ skill in getting you to love characters and invest in them before she hurts them in front your eyes, is superlative. You simply must read on to ensure that characters obtain justice or carry out revenge.

If you were squeamish about the inclusion of a gay character in the King Rolen’s Kin series, then you may have to put on your big boy/girl pants to read Besieged. The T’En culture is split into Brotherhoods and Sisterhoods, same sex coupling is common and expected, in addition to trysts that result in offspring.

There’s also aspects of sexual politics within in the Brotherhoods that might make male readers squirm uncomfortably.

Similar in tone to a Song of Ice and Fire, but complete

I have made comparisons between Daniells’ work and that of George R.R. Martin before, stating my preference for the former. If you are looking for dark, gripping adult fantasy, but in a finished product, Besieged and I venture, the rest of the Chronicles, will sate your palate.

This book was provided to me by the author.

(less)

1 like · like · see review

Jul 21, 2012 Christian rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, paper

I would have given 3.5 stars if i could. I had a real hard time keeping up with the seemingly unannounced time advances. sometimes weeks, months or years pass by between chapters or within the chapter itself. there are a few times when a date is used at the start of the chapter but not often enough.

The second issue is with the lack of character development. Granted if you speed up time to advance the story, its difficult to take the time and give us characters we can identify when we see their n...more

like · see review

Jun 10, 2012 Caz rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Was given a free copy from the publisher, and although I love fantasy and read a lot of it, and am always up for reading new releases, this just didn't do it for me I'm afraid. There wasn't enough descriptive writing especially about the places visited - the places in which the story was set, I mean - and I thought the characters weren't fleshed out enough. It felt like Daniells was rushing to give us action, intrigue, new words and magics without explaining fully who and where the characters we...more

1 like · like · see review

Apr 11, 2013 Kristen rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

I had mixed feelings over this book. For the most part it wasn't that bad but for the most part it just seemed to be a lot of back stabbing and no real flow. I know some people have complained about the homosexuality in this book but it's only mentioned and doesn't go into detail. The sex is done tastefully and is actually plausible. In Roman times, warriors were encouraged to engage in homosexuality because it helped to form a more cohesive unit. With that being said I am going to get the next...more

like · see review

Sep 20, 2012 Mervi rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: epic-fantasy, fantasy

290 years ago the peace accords were signed between the True-men (whom the T’En call Mieren) and the powerful and long-lived T’Enatuath (whom the humans call the Wyrd). The two races have co-existed in an uneasy peace since then. Sometimes half-bloods (whom the T’En call the Malaunje and the humans call the Wyrd) are born to two True-men parents. According to the accords, the True-men have to give up the half-blood infants to the T’En.

Sorne is king Charald’s eagerly-awaited first born son and he...more

like · see review

Jan 09, 2013 Kirstie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, high-fantasy, pure-awesome, strong-female-characters

I read this book at the first book for my Australian Speculative fiction Authors Challenge. I was certainly not disappointed. *waves Australian flag enthusiastically*

Beseiged is a multi-threaded tale involving an entire race hated by ‘True-men’ involving the pure blood T’En and their magic, the Mieren(True-men) and half-bloods between the two races. Besieged is full of political intrigue and war and characters you love and love to hate.

This is one of those books where I wish Goodreads gave me th...more I read this book at the first book for my Australian Speculative fiction Authors Challenge. I was certainly not disappointed. *waves Australian flag enthusiastically*

Beseiged is a multi-threaded tale involving an entire race hated by ‘True-men’ involving the pure blood T’En and their magic, the Mieren(True-men) and half-bloods between the two races. Besieged is full of political intrigue and war and characters you love and love to hate.

This is one of those books where I wish Goodreads gave me the ability to do half stars so I could give it four and a half. I only give five stars to books the change me or I burn to read again the instant I finish them, and while this book is awesome it didn't quite meet either of my five star requirements - but the book is also better than some of the books I have given four stars to before and deserves the distinction.

Daniells has a skill with characters I feel. Some characters you just can’t wait to have a sword embedded in their gut (Charald for me), some villains you aren’t sure if they are villains or just people doing what they have to (Graelen, Oskane), other villains you can see flashes of good in them and can’t quite hate even if they are a power hungry bitch(Vittoryxe) and then there are the ‘good guys’.

With such a large cast of characters I thought I would get lost quickly, but Daniells ability to imbue characters with memorable features and behaviours and speed/regularity in switching between the various locations meant I never got lost (much to my surprise).

The world building is amazing. The different races and their cultures are unusual and clever and I like how Daniells has filled her world with gender wars as well as race wars and power wars. I certainly wouldn’t want to live there though ;p

The plot was well paced with action breaking up the politics and intrigue, and even though my reading time is quite minimal I was able to finish the book much faster than I expected. I also can’t wait to start the next book.

Something I really loved about the book as well was that when a coupling happened it was just as frequently a same sex pairing as a different gendered one, something which I enjoy in my fiction when it is done well. I believe in love without the boundaries of race/gender ect.

I recommend this book (and series) to all fans of epic fantasy and those considering trying it out. I also recommend it to those who enjoy political intrigue that won’t bore you.(less)

like · see review

Apr 29, 2013 Judy Goodwin rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

I wanted to like this book, I really did. The cover art is gorgeous and that's what drew me in. I was disappointed, however, that it took so long for anything to really happen in the story. It also took a long time before I started to connect to any of the characters because the book begins before they really exist as viewpoint characters. I think I would have preferred that the book start with them at an age where they can think and feel and leave everything before that to flashback or backstor...more

like · see review

Apr 01, 2013 RuthAnn rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: adulthood, ordered-not-read

It is really hard to admit that I liked this book, much less gave it four stars. Purely based on the shocking amount of racism and sexism contained between the covers (or in my case, within the Kindle file) should make me ashamed of myself. But I have to say, I couldn't put it down.

As I think about it more, I realize that what Rowena Cory Daniells has managed to do is something not many authors can claim. She has created a whole new species, the T'En, and has managed not to make them act human....more It is really hard to admit that I liked this book, much less gave it four stars. Purely based on the shocking amount of racism and sexism contained between the covers (or in my case, within the Kindle file) should make me ashamed of myself. But I have to say, I couldn't put it down.

As I think about it more, I realize that what Rowena Cory Daniells has managed to do is something not many authors can claim. She has created a whole new species, the T'En, and has managed not to make them act human. That's been sort of a central problem in SF/F. Whether it be drawves, elves, the Fae, etc, authors have a really hard time separating them from being not only physically like human beings, but emotionally like them as well. And let's face it: if those species exist, they might share some traits with humans, but I would tend to doubt the separate cultures would allow for humanlike decision-making.

Enter the T'En, a larger, more beautiful humanoid type species. It would be easy to think of them as people, that is, until you read the story from a T'En point of view. Then it becomes all too clear that this society is enormously different from human society. Imagine if male Nazis and female Nazis hated one another and then developed magical powers. It's like that.

But if the T'En are bad, the humans in Daniells's world are even worse. What's the saying? As long as there has been the idea of a God, there have been people killing in his name? Well these humans have seven Gods, and are willing to kill in the name of at least six of them.

It was really hard to find a character worth rooting for, but my mind kept turning back to Sorne, the anti-hero, born a Malanjue, a mix between human and T'En, looked down upon by both societies and struggling to fit. There were times in the book I loved him and times I hated him, but I have to think that the world Daniells has created is not sustainable as it is currently. If all races are going to continue to exist, there has to be someone to bring them together, and I think Sorne is it, if he's not killed first.

If he is, well then, it's kind of like what would've happened if Britain and the United States had somehow been taken out of World War II and being stuck between the Nazis and the Soviets. Not a comforting thought.(less)

like · see review

Feb 02, 2013 Angelya (The Oaken Bookcase) rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: aussie-authors, fantasy, high-fantasy, reviewed

Review originally posted on The Oaken Bookcase, February 2 2013.

It’s been a while since I read any high fantasy, since a lot of it these days tends to be quite dark and depressing. While still containing some violence and oppression, Besieged isn’t nearly as dark as other books in the genre and I found that made it all the more enjoyable a read. That, and the fact that the author lives in the same city as me. Hooray for local awesome talent!

How to describe this world? Chalcedonia and the nearby...more Review originally posted on The Oaken Bookcase, February 2 2013.

It’s been a while since I read any high fantasy, since a lot of it these days tends to be quite dark and depressing. While still containing some violence and oppression, Besieged isn’t nearly as dark as other books in the genre and I found that made it all the more enjoyable a read. That, and the fact that the author lives in the same city as me. Hooray for local awesome talent!

How to describe this world? Chalcedonia and the nearby kingdoms are peopled by two races, who have lived in peace for the last several hundred years. There are the True-men, who are also called Mieren by the T’En. The other race is the T’En, also called Wyrds by the True-men.

T’En society is split into sisterhoods and brotherhoods, each with their ambitious leaders and hierarchy below. Men and women live separately, only coming together at festival times to select trysting partners. At other times, each group may take lovers from within their own sisterhood or brotherhood, or among the Malaunje – half-bloods who have the T’En characteristics but none of their power.

There are some, however, who are not happy with the control the sisterhoods and brotherhoods hold over society. All-father Rohaayel, the leader of a brotherhood, smuggles away a child to a secluded island, intent on bringing her up ignorant of the way T’En society works. Imoshen’s powerful true-blooded child would be able to challenge the leaders and bring about change.

Meanwhile, the Queen of Chalcedonia has just given birth to a half-blood Malaunje and the King is furious. Rather than destroy the child, high priest Oskane sneaks Sorne away to raise him and study the half-blood ways, to try to find a weapon that can be used against the T’En and their magic.

Those are just two of the storylines threaded together in this story – spanning a period of about thirty years, the story often jumps forward by several years between chapters. Each story arc follows the events from within the brotherhoods, the sisterhoods and from within Chalcedonia, as well as from Imoshen and Sorne’s points of view. The end result is a rich presentation of life from almost every angle – the mothers giving up their children, the wars ravaging the land, the manoeuvres for power within the T’En society and the loves, prejudices, affairs and betrayals of everyday life.

Besieged is the first book by Rowena Cory Daniells that I’ve read, but I understand that her Last T’en series is set in the same world. I managed to catch up with the magic systems and societies without being completely in the dark, but I wonder whether the information overload at the start of the book might have been a little less overwhelming if I had read the previous series first! A glossary at the end may have helped understanding all the new terms as well.

I found the T’en societies fascinating – the way the Brotherhoods and Sisterhoods are kept separate and in fear and contempt of one another. I found it almost as fascinating that Imoshen, who was kept away all her life from the strict societal laws and expectations of the Celestial City, is able to see all of it and realise that it is wrong – that her people suffer and that there should be a better way to live. Despite all the horrors that are going on around this world, this is still a story of hope – of how just a few people can effect great change in society.

Once I got through the rather lengthy set-up early on in Besieged, I found all of the different story arcs to be very engaging and by the second half I found it very difficult to put down. Of course, this is only the first part in a massive trilogy so I am looking forward to getting my hands on a copy of the second book, Exile, very soon!(less)

like · see review

Sep 20, 2012 Gavin Gates rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Without a doubt one of the best openers to a trilogy release I have ever had the pleasure of reading. The backdrop is absolutely beautiful, Daniels has created a brilliantly described world that is very easy to get lost in, superb races in the Mieren referred to as True Men, T'en a race of silver haired six fingered and toed gift empowered humanoids, feared and hated by the hugely more populated Mieren and the Malajune a copper haired half blood subservient to the T'en , also hated by Meiren.
Th...more

1 like · like · see review

Aug 11, 2012 Tsana Dolichva rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Besieged by Rowena Cory Daniells is the first book in the Outcast Chronicles, which is being published around now (Solaris likes to release trilogies over three months). It’s set in the same universe as her Last T’en trilogy (which is out of print and difficult to find) but in that world’s distant past. You definitely don’t need to have read The Last T’en first (I certainly haven’t, what with being unable to get a hold of it). A copy of Besieged was given to me by the author for review.

I absolut...more

1 like · like · see review

Aug 13, 2012 Blodeuedd Finland rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

This story takes place over a few decades and then it ends when something big happens. Oh yes cliffhanger alert, but it was still a calm cliffie as things will happen. But there is no one hanging off that cliff just yet. Maybe in a minute though.

There are different POVs but the two big ones are Sorne. A half blood raised to be a spy and weapon. He wanted to prove he was something more than just tainted and I felt so sorry for him. Humans are stupid and would never see anything else.

Then there is...more

like · see review

Jul 21, 2012 Tehani rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, australian

Thoroughly enjoyed this. Though it took a little while to warm up, that was just the time it took to start to get to know the players! I loved that Daniells was not afraid to jump swathes of time in order to get to the exciting parts, that worked very well for me. The world building is fabulous, the characters are excellent - highly recommend, although you might like to be sensible and buy all three (released one month apart) before starting, because you'll get to the end and REALLY want to keep...more

like · see review

Aug 14, 2012 Liana marked it as to-read · review of another edition

So there are those books with pretty covers. And books with pretty titles. And books with pretty summaries. This book has them all! I want to read it. The cover totally caught my attention, (We all know not to judge a book by its cover, blah, blah blah. But we do that anyway!) and the title caugth my attention even more. The Outcast Chronicles, huh? I like series. 'Chronicles' just makes it sound cool. And the summary! This is a must-get, must-read.

like · see review

Dec 17, 2012 Vivian rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book was a meandering mess. I liked her King Rolen chronicles, but I tried reading this book and I was deeply disappointed. It seemed to me that some of the story lines needed to be tightened up and polished. I think fantasy authors leave all these hanging story lines so that they have room for never-ending trilogies and all that. It makes for a terrible reading experience. What happened to have a book stand on its own?

like · see review

Apr 10, 2013 Victoria rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, part-of-a-trillogy, epic, 2013-reads

Another intricate plot and character weaving by Daniells. Despite it being over 650 pages in it's paperback form, this book hooked me from the very beginning and always kept me going. I can't wait to find out what happens to Sorne and Imoshen in the next book. I'm just glad that I have the time currently to read this massive book series.

like · see review

Sep 29, 2012 Erin rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: swap-books-list

Overall, Rowena Cory Daniells still does a splendid job in making her readers work to understand this book of hers and I applaud her for writing so many crazy but beautiful things all into one action-packed book. It takes a lot of work to do all of that by the looks of her writing. So if you're a big fan of Game of Thrones or a fan of pretty much anything with some interesting fantasy elements in it, then this book will definitely work for you! As for me, it may not have totally blown my mind bu...more

like · see review

Sep 15, 2012 George Shirer marked it as abandoned · review of another edition

Started reading this a while ago, put it down and have no desire to pick it up again. I found most of the characters unpleasant and have no genuine interest in finding out what happens to any of them.

like · see review

Sep 10, 2012 Robert rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012

I have to say this, you must have the next book to appreciate the first otherwise it ends very flat. I don't relish cliffhanger endings. It is fortunate that the book makes up for the non-ending with good if not at times great pacing. On to the next volume.

like · see review

Jul 16, 2012 Aaron Advani rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A good confident start to what looks to be an interesting series.
It feels completely different to the previous trilogy, the writing is alot tighter, the characters are alot more defined and feel as if they could walk off of the page into reality.
Looking forward to the next 2 volumes.

like · see review

Nov 26, 2012 Angie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Fast paced intrigue that keeps pulling you along - it does take a little bit to get used to the different names and terms used, but once you have that down, this is a great read.

like · see review

Oct 25, 2012 Margaret Blake rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book was a great read, with characters one could empathise with and a storyline that just kept me going. Looking forward to starting 'Exile', the second book in the trilogy.

like · see review

Mar 28, 2013 Adam Baca rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

it starts off slow and is slightly hard to follow (5 different stories. ...), but it picks up a bit half way. then leaves you wanting more at the end.

like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 41 42 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »

Recommend it | Stats | Recent status updates

combine
Other Editions (3)

Genres

Fantasy

77 users

Fantasy > High Fantasy

8 users

Adult

5 users

Fantasy > Epic Fantasy

4 users

Young Adult

2 users

Fantasy > Magic

2 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

About Rowena Cory Daniells

I write the kind of books that keep you up all night.

I write the kind of books that got you reading fantasy way back when. I also write gritty crime-noir with a touch of paranormal under RC Daniells.

I've been trying to add The Price of Fame to my published books section. But it keeps ending up in my 'read' books section. Not sure what I'm doing wrong.

I am unashamedly a Genre Writer!

(Many thanks to...more

More about Rowena Cory Daniells...

Books by Rowena Cory Daniells

The King's Bastard (King Rolen's Kin, #1)

The Uncrowned King (King Rolen's Kin, #2)

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About Besieged

No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »

title link	preview: Besieged
avg rating	preview: Besieged Goodreads rating: 3.92 (203 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15762906-besieged?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1342874227l/15762906.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15762906-besieged?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Besieged by Rowena Cory Daniells[/url]

Besieged (The Outcast Chronicles #1)

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website