Slaves of the Mastery: An Adventure

This is definately the best book of the trilogy. It exceeds book one (which was great because it was really original) by far because of its gripping story! Kestrel, Bowman and Mumpo are now older; their problems, it seems, more "realistic": Their hometown Aramanth, now by far a kinder place, is brutally destroyed by soldiers of the Mastery. All the inhabitants are either killed or taken with them as slaves. Only Kestrel is left behind - determined to find and save her family and people. But what she ultimately wants creeps upon her ever more: revenge! While Bowman works his way all the way up to General Ortiz of the Mastery, he learns the secret magic of the singer people and falls in love with the Johdila, an eternally beautiful princess promised to Ortiz. The princess is on her way to the Mastery to be married as a treaty. The wagon trail picks up Kestrel in the sandy desert half dead. Kestrel and the princess become close friends. She meets Bowman but mustn't reveal that she is his sister. And cruel General Ortiz falls in love with her, not the Johdila... The book is incredibly exciting from the beginning to the end. The story is very very good. It makes you a slave: you just cannot stop reading! ;)

dis book is awsome, i ve read it n its exciting but u should read da 1st book 1st.(wind singer) da 1st1 is a little boring. da 2nd 1 is non fiction so it isnt real but its very good. its full of imagination i would give dis book like a 4.5 star

This is a brillaint book. The first one was already exciting and absorping but Slaves of Mastery is breath-taking! I am a girl from Hong Kong. I didn't read much books before. But when i first saw Volume 1 and 2 from Library I grabbed it.The first one was a kind of children adventure.It was beautifully written, especially the link between Bowman and Kestrel.it seems likea classic.In second one,Slaves of Mastery, characters have grown up to 15 years old which is teenage years. In Anamanth they married soon but Kestrel refused marry to anyone.This is a reflection in the real world though.Nowadays most people are lucky that they can choose their own girl-boy to marry. Not like Ortiz and Siso who don't even know each other.Mumpo was a really lovely and mild boy! He changed from adore to LOVE Ketrel and wanted to marry her.The storyline is so cool. Ortiz was a cruel leader under the Master and he burnt Anamanth. But you can't believe that Ortiz will deeply fall in love with someone who should not. Although Ortiz was cruel, he had a pure love for his lover. he daydreamt about her a lot.^^He was the one who Anamanth people aimed to revenge for...This book has some scenes very cruel and terrible. It has more cruel and lovely scenes than the first! Especially the scene when Ortiz and his 'bride' were dancing!it was certainly a pure love for ortiz...Oh...he had a ending which surprised me...although he was really really really bad.This book made me cried a lot. it contains many many general touching. I run through the book and can't believe some horribe dying.I am highly highly recommend this book to everyone who loves fantasy story!Honestly, this isn't just a book only about three teengers' adventure! it was a truly touching, human-like and unforgettable story! I sincerely thank you the people who read my comments with tears!I hope you find my comments interesting and buy the book! Buy it! Buy it!!><I finished this book in one day! I can't even believe myself that I can read that fast!!

I picked up the first book of this series (The Wind Singer) off the library shelf because I thought the cover looked cool. I was very surprised when I liked it as much as I did. Normally, when a book is that good, I do not go on to read the entire series, because often the first book is the best and it is down hill from there. I went ahead and broke that line of thought because I enjoyed the first one so much, and checked out Slaves of the Mastery from my library. I couldn't believe it: it was BETTER than the first book. That's never happened to me before. I have now bought the entire series and am reading through them again.I think that certain parts of this book could be a little scary for youngsters, because William Nicholson addresses all kinds of social issues (and not pretty social issues, at that), and there a couple battle scenes that are pretty graphic. It is a perfect young adult book, however, and I recommend it above any other young adult fantasy book I have ever read, including Harry Potter, and the Sabriel series (which was one of those series where the first book was REALLY good and the last two kept getting worse). In fact, there were parts that had me laughing out loud (the boy, Bowman, is very clever sometimes. The cat had me cracking up, too), and there were parts that brought me to the brink of tears. It is a hard call between this one and The Wind Singer for which is my favorite of the trilogy.

SLAVES OF THE MASTERY begins five years after the events of the first book of this trilogy, THE WIND SINGER.The social circles of Aramanth have been forever broken by the somewhat peculiar Hath family and soon, Aramanth itself will be destroyed and the Manth people made slaves of a distant country called The Mastery.William Nicholson, whose screen writing credits include "Gladiator", has once again crafted a fast moving story of intersecting plots. And like THE WIND SINGER, there is much below the surface of the action. At the heart of the tale is the duality of life. Nicholson explores the similarity and differences between good and evil, freedom and slavery (even self slavery), beauty and violence, love and hatred, and life and death.The author has drawn on many sources to create this story, the most obvious of which is the Moses story and the "Book of Exodus." He has utilized his research for "Gladiator" in creating an artistic death sport called the Manaxa. But most intriguing is his exploration of slavery. On this point long hours of discussion can ensue, because Nicholson's implications are vast. We may even pause to ask are we slaves ourselves -- slaves of culture, religion, and even work? Just who does the Master represent in Nicholson's grand design. I have a definite opinion, and I'm sure you will too.The themes and juxtaposed scenes of beauty and violence make this a more mature book for older readers and adults. For these same reasons, SLAVES OF THE MASTERY rises above the level of the first book as Nicholson immerses us in two new cultures populated with characters, customs, and cultures that range from awe inspiring to absurd.The only negative may be that this book may not stand on it's own, particularly in the area of character development. If you haven't read the first book, the characters seem rather sketchy and thin, particularly the Hath family around whom the story revolves. Solution? Read THE WIND SINGER first.