The Eternal Flame (The Great Tree of Avalon, Book 3)

Book Description

Avalon, the great tree world connecting the earth and the heavens, is about to be destroyed. The warlord Rhita Gawr is bent on conquest—and using an army of deathless warriors, a corrupted crystal, and a plague of arrogance and greed to succeed.

Three unlikely heroes are Avalon's only hope. Tamwyn, the wilderness guide, must travel the secret pathway to the stars. Elli, the brave young priestess, must defeat a terrible sorcerer in a realm of utter darkness. And Scree, the eagleman, must lead his winged people to do what seems impossible . . .

This spectacular final volume of T. A. Barron's bestselling trilogy combines gripping adventure with profound ideas about the powerful connections between humanity and the world.

Customer Reviews:

THE ETERNAL FLAME (THE GREAT TREE OF AVALON, BOOK 3).......2007-02-12

This is the last in a trilogy about the saving of Avalon by three of its long time defenders. Tamwyn, grandson of Merlin, must travel by a secret route to the very stars to save the true source of magic. Scree, the eagleman must lead his people to fight in the war of to save Avalon. Lastly, Elli, a brave young priestess must conquer an evil sorcerer in a realm of complete darkness, Shadowroot. Together they must overcome all the odds in order to save Avalon, especially at the final battle in Mudroot.

The story keeps you turning page after page with anticipation to discover just what will happen next to each character. Their adventures are spellbinding, gripping, and exciting and filled with vibrant descriptions of the characters, scenery and emotions. To truly appreciate the third book in this trilogy reading the first two, CHILD OF THE DARK PROPHECY (The Great Tree of Avalon, Book 1) SHADOWS ON THE STARS (The Great Tree of Avalon, Book 2) will provide a greater insight overall. Also reading T. A. Barron's MERLIN SERIES will enrich your total reading experience.

After this novel, I sincerely hope that T. A. Barron expands and writes an Arthurian series about Merlin and the rest of the earthbound characters from these novels. I'm sure this author could lend some new twists and turns to an old tradtional favorite!

A Great Ending, to A Great Trilogy.......2006-12-05

Some book series end with a disappointment, or cliffhanger. Some books end with a poorly written ending, or one that does not make sense. That, however, is not the case with this book. The Great Tree of Avalon: The Eternal Flame is a great ending to a great series. The book is the final installment of the trilogy, and follows the story of the three separate paths that each character takes in the book. It follows the original path of Tamwyn as he makes his way up to the upper branches, and stars beyond of the Great Tree. As well as following the story of Tamwyn, this book also follows the stories of Eli as she makes her way into the darkest reaches of Shadowroot, to destroy the crystal of Vagelano. On top of those two stories, this book also follows a third. The journey of Scree as he makes his way back to his native land, to band together his kinsmen for the fight for Avalon.

This book is the best in the trilogy in my opinion. It excellently wraps together all of the main storylines, as well as a few other minor storylines that are less important. There are no plot holes, as far as I can tell, and everything is perfectly wrapped together. This final chapter of the trilogy also has many more twists and turns, and unexpected surprises than the other two. Along with being a very complete novel, this book is also very well written. There are no unimportant characters. Every character in the entire book has a significant part to play. Each character also has their own personality, which other authors often fail to do. This book is also very imaginative. The names of the made-up lands, are very believable and well thought up. The entire book is extremely descriptive, and as a whole, paints a very good picture of the land of Avalon. There is not a single vague scenario in the entire book.

This is a hard book to just pick up and start reading. The reason for that is that this is the last book in a trilogy, which is a spin off of a previous five book series. It would be very advisable to read the initial Lost Years of Merlin series, before reading this trilogy. Although it is possible to pick up in the middle, it is hard, and you will more than likely find yourself lost. This book is also listed as a children's book, but it is by no means. Although this book is described to be for a younger audience, there is nothing childish about it. This book contains everything a good epic/ fantasy story should have. It has a good plot, descriptive battle scenes, a very good description of the land, and older characters. This isn't just another story of kids going off to save the world. There is much more detail to this, and for that reason, it is really readable by anyone.

Spellbinding adventure.......2006-11-29

Reviewed by Debra Gaynor for Reader Views (11/06)

Fans of the Trilogy "The Great Tree of Avalon" have been eagerly awaiting the final installment. They need wait no longer for only their imaginations could have prepared them for the newest adventure in "The Eternal Flame." Now that the conquest of Avalon "the world between all worlds" is at hand, the next step is to conquer Earth.

Eli and Nuic know the crystal must be destroyed. They head to the Lost City on their mission. Elves, humans, eaglefolk, and tree spirits must form an alliance to do battle against Rhita Gawr and his ogres, trolls, and immortal dragons. This is a battle between good and evil; it's gory, brutal, and fierce.

This book has it all -- action, adventure, and humor. Reading this book becomes an adventure in itself. You almost feel as though you are there in the midst of the action. The characters jump off the page and lead you through the battle to save earth. The cover is perfect for this book. It hints at dark secrets inside. The print is a nice size. This book is well written; however it was a little difficult to read without having read the first two books, which I intend to do. I foresee a revisit to Avalon in the future. I recommend "The Eternal Flame" to those that enjoy fantasy and science fiction.

Grand, but not a finale, I hope.......2006-10-26

T.A. Barron left readers with a bundle of unanswered questions at the end of book two in the Great Tree series. In the final installment He answers many of them, provides a terrific finale and leaves the door open a crack for further visits to Avalon. There are an immense and wonderful number of actions that flesh out the events in this final book. As you read, expect to be totally immersed in the action. Plan to be deeply saddened as one character dies and discomfited as another doesn't. Expect to be very surprised as Batty Lad and Hennie the Hoolah reappear and one of them turns out to be much more than they appear. Most of all, expect to enjoy a wonderful and extremely well written conclusion to the trilogy.

Phenomenal Fantasy Adventure!.......2006-10-21

Right up there with the very best of J.R.R. Tolkien, this book (and this trilogy) has everything any fantasy reader could want. I gulped this book down instantly, and now I've started a second read. There's just so much adventure, humor, and rich meaning in this book! This is T.A. Barron's best ever -- and I can't wait to see what he comes up with next. (My vote is a return to Avalon!)

The Flame Trees of Thika: Memories of an African Childhood (Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics)

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Nostalgia for Happy Valley
The Flame Trees of Thika: Memories of an African Childhood
Love this Author
Truly A Classic
When can I get a plane to Africa?!

The Flame Trees of Thika: Memories of an African Childhood (Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics)
Elspeth Huxley
Manufacturer: Penguin Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The Flame Trees of Thika
Out of Africa (Modern Library)

ASIN: 0141183780
Release Date: 2000-01-31

Book Description

New editions of Elspeth Huxley's stirring account of her childhood in Kenya and her novel of the destructive forces of colonization.

In an open cart Elspeth Huxley set off with her parents to travel to Thika in Kenya. As pioneering settlers, they built a house of grass, ate off a damask cloth spread over packing cases, and discovered--the hard way--the world of the African. With an extraordinary gift for detail and a keen sense of humor, Huxley recalls her childhood on the small farm at a time when Europeans waged their fortunes on a land that was as harsh as it was beautiful. For a young girl, it was a time of adventure and freedom, and Huxley paints an unforgettable portrait of growing up among the Masai and Kikuyu people, discovering both the beauty and the terrors of the jungle, and enduring the rugged realities of the pioneer life.

Customer Reviews:

Nostalgia for Happy Valley.......2007-06-23

This is by now a revered classic of a young girl's childhood in the Kenyan countryside under British rule. One reads this and instantly identifies with the colonial family. It's a kind of Swiss Family Robinson story about that magical time in Kenya and thereabouts before World War I when the world seemed to be at the feet of the British King and all globes glowed pink under the Empire. Were people ever so free and happy as the colonialists in Africa who instantly had countless servants, nearly free land, and the British fleet for protection? This is Out of Africa for the middle class, as opposed to Isak Dinesen's aristocratic take on things. Still, the going was good, as Evelyn Waugh once said. Ms Huxley is a charming writer. Required reading for lovers of things African.

The Flame Trees of Thika: Memories of an African Childhood.......2007-02-02

The Flame Trees of Thika is a wonderfully written book giving the reader a glimpse of what it must have been like to grow up in Colonial Africa. It is an experience most of us will only have through reading and can only be compared to what it must have been to be one of the early settlers on the American Frontier.

Love this Author.......2007-01-10

I loved this book. It is beautifully written and is a gripping story on growing up in Africa.

Truly A Classic.......2006-02-16

In 1913, a little English girl named Elspeth relocated with her family from their native country to begin a coffee plantation in the wilds of Kenya. Similar in a way to Laura Ingall Wilder's adventurous and sentimental "take" on what was surely a very difficult experience for her family, Elspeth remembers Kenya as a wonderful place and tells us with lingering excitement of her experiences there in the short time before the First World War changed nearly everything. A delightful memoir that is a pleasure every time it's read.

When can I get a plane to Africa?!.......2004-10-18

If you are interested in other cultures and ways of life, this book is a treasure. Yes, there has to be a bit of willing suspension of disbelief that this would be the way a child would see and describe things, but if you can live with the fact that this is an adult looking back on her childhood, it's a small thing to get over. The descriptions I found perfect--very vivid, yet not so extensive that they became boring and slowed down the story. And just in what happens and isn't even excused (her parents leave her with neighbors, she accompanies the neighbor's worker to the city, where he leaves her with some more strangers--we'd be calling the police, and her parents are just slightly inconvenienced! And everyone else there has just left their small children at boarding school, not seeing them for years!), the book gives a lot of food for thought about the realities of life in that time and place.

Average customer rating:

Should be a classic
One of the best parodies of Twelve Days of Christmas

Bellbird in a Flame Tree
Kilmeny Niland
Manufacturer: Tambourine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Ages 4-8 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0688107974

Customer Reviews:

Should be a classic.......2002-03-04

This is a beautiful book by a prize-winning wild life artist, miniaturist, portrait painter and illustrator.

Several of Australia's animals, some of them unique, are brought to life in a book that has the capacity to delight people of all ages.

One of the best parodies of Twelve Days of Christmas.......2000-08-30

This is a parody filled with numbats, quokkas, lorikeets, wallabies ... all fitting nicely into the Twelve Days of Christmas. While the illustrations are not terrific they will entertain most children. All of which makes this book great fun.

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THE FLAME TREES OF THIKA
ELSPETH HUXLEY
Manufacturer: Chatto & Windus
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: B000BAREM6

Product Description

Classic novel

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A modern historical novel!
Flame Tree review
Flame Tree, a novel by Dr. Keith Dahlberg

Flame Tree: A Novel of Modern Burma
Keith Dahlberg
Manufacturer: Orchid Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Burmese Days: A Novel

ASIN: 9745240486

Book Description

This is the story of a man who has spent a lifetime avoiding confrontation, and who now find himself in a mediator's role, between a dictatorship and rebel armies fighting for survival, all the whole concerned for the safety of his loved one.

Customer Reviews:

A modern historical novel!.......2003-12-11

Keith Dahlberg's novel places the reader into modern Burma and Thailand through the eyes of medical missionaries. The author provides excellent "you are there" descriptions of the people and places, and readers soon are whisked into a fast moving politcal adventure.

I enjoyed the novel greatly, having briefly visited some of the areas decribed. The descriptions brought me back in time to those areas, and the novel highlights the hidden unstable political environment that most westerners don't see.

Flame Tree review.......2002-10-19

Flame Tree was a finalist in Copred's 2001 Peace Writing competion and has an incredible depth of knowledge about the politics, as well as the culture, of Thailand and Burma. More importantly, its author inspires the reader to find nonviolent answers to conflict. Dr. Keith Dahlberg does this by weaving the lives of two humanitarian volunteers with the lives of countless others who represent organizations working with the people of Southeast Asia. What happens at the Flame Tree Inn in Mai Hong Son on the border of Burma and Thailand is surprising, concuding a story that is both provoking and pacifistic. Flame Tree is a significant text for anyone who is interested in making peace.
Dr. Karen Lentz Clark
Department of English
University of Arkansas
Fayetteville, Ar

Flame Tree, a novel by Dr. Keith Dahlberg.......2002-08-09

I had not read a novel for 40 years but I wanted to read Flame Tree by Dr. Keith Dahlberg because he was our family doctor for 20 years. He was a very good family doctor and he and his nurse wife Lois made a real team. No one here wanted to see them retire and leave. Dr. Dahlberg was moral, humble, unassuming and kind. So what kind of novel would he write? It was eye opener and I loved it.

The novel gives insight into third world countries. It helps us to see that the world we live in is not simple. You cannot just give food, medical supplies and even our time unless we know what is going on. The novel helps us to understand in an easy way why that is so important. Not being interested in political realities, I found myself being pulled into this story and finally cheering when our hero ends up helping in a surprising way.

We could take that same prescription to any other area of the world and it would work as well. The unfortunate part of the novel is that the Dr. and Mrs. Dahlbergs will never be front page news. We make heroes of movie and rock stars when we should be holding these people to the light. If we could clone them and send 1000 in every direction the world would view Americans in a totally different light. We are now viewed as brash, selfish, arrogant and sometimes as bullies. If you read Flame Tree you could understand how we could be viewed in an entirely different way. This novel should be required reading for every American.

Where the Flame Trees Bloom
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A Different View of Cuba

Where the Flame Trees Bloom
Alma Flor Ada
Manufacturer: Atheneum
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Customer Reviews:

A Different View of Cuba.......2005-09-08

Alma Flor Ada paints a beautiful picture of her childhood in Cuba. As a teacher who looks for authentic literature about different cultures, I was very impressed with the stories that bore witness to the values of love and family in the Cuban culture. Each chapter can stand alone and the book works well as a read aloud. Ada's remembrances are very heart warming and will help children and adults to appreciate diversity. I would love to visit Cuba and experience some of the natural beauty and hospitality mentioned in this book.

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The Flame Trees of Thika
Elspeth Huxley
Manufacturer: NY: William Morrow and Co.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000NU6DTY

The Great Tree of Avalon 3: The Eternal Flame (The Great Tree of Avalon)

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The Great Tree of Avalon 3: The Eternal Flame (The Great Tree of Avalon)
T. A. Barron
Manufacturer: Ace
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0441015352

Book Description

The Great Tree of Avalon saga comes to an end as warlord Rhita Gawr, now a vengeful dragon bent on conquest, leads an army across the land-and the only thing that stands in his way is a trio of unlikely heroes.

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The Terrific Tree Story
Realistic read
Good first book
Intelligent and thought provoking
A Greatly Satisfying Read, said by one living in Indonesia

The Flame Tree
Richard Lewis
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0689863330

Book Description

Isaac Williams, twelve-year-old son of American doctors at a mission hospital in Java, Indonesia, is certain that his friendship with Ismail Sutanto is as solid and enduring as the majestic flame tree in the yard. But the haven of their small world is shattered when a fundamentalist Islamic organization begins to threaten the hospital. Terrorists infiltrate, the State Department orders an evacuation, bombs ex-plode, and Isaac is taken hostage.

The experience embitters Isaac. He knows that he should forgive those who have hurt him, yet he doesn't think that he can. His life is changed forever, but will it be forever crippled by his bitterness?

Set against the backdrop of September 11, 2001, The Flame Tree is a fierce novel of friendship, faith, and forgiveness. Richard Lewis tells a story that is at once timely and timeless, one that has the power to move hearts and open eyes.

Customer Reviews:

The Terrific Tree Story.......2006-09-19

The Flame Tree is a realistic fiction book by author Richard Lewis. This book takes place in 2001in a small town in Indeonesia called Java. Placed around the September eleventh terrorist attacks, this novel weighs Islam and Christianity in a way that makes you really think about both sides of this religious difference.
12 year old Isaac Williams lives with his parents in a Baptist hospital compound, where there is also a Christian boarding school holding hundreds of students. A giant flame tree towers over the compound. This is where Issac makes a discovery that should have been his first clue to realize something was wrong. In the bamboo forest that surrounds the compound, Isaac finds a gate that is hard to see from the inside and even more difficult to see from the outside. He thinks he has found a way to go see his friend Ismail without getting caught outside the compound, but has he found something sinister? He doesn't give a second thought to this. He slips out to go visit Ismail, a Muslim boy who lives with his family in Java. He and Ismail have a great time and Isaac slips back into the compound unnoticed... almost. His mother catches and then scolds him,but otherwise he feels pretty good. His life is that of a normal 12 year old boy. He has nice parents, a home, a loving God, a best friend, and a way to escape from his punishment sentence. Then, the twin towers collapse and kill thousands of Americans. Suddenly, Java's muslims are like a deadly cobra waiting to rear it's ugly head and release it's poisonous venom onto the Americans at the hospital compound.
This was an emotionly hard to read book, but it was very helpful in understanding Islam and maybe why he 9/11 terrorist attacks happened. Don't read this book if you are interested in stories from 9/11. Read this book if you are looking to understand them. This book also has a lot of religious issues and comparisons between Islam and Christianity in it, so if you are interested in that, this is also a good read. I would recommend this to 13 year-olds and older because it has some tough material in it. What will happen to Isaac? What do the gate, the flame tree, and Ismail have to do with it? Read The Flame Tree to find out.

Realistic read .......2006-01-29

Growing up in a Muslim country, you seem so used to the Muslim traditions and way of life. Just like 12 year old Isaac. The realistic events in this novel are very thought provoking. It opened up my eyes to an uglier side of people. When religion becomes a cause for fighting. When people take on their own meanings of their religion. I was very surprised to find,after reading this book, that it isn't popular. It provides such an insight into the world in which most of us are oblivious to. It is painful, because it is told through the eyes of such a young child. But just like To Kill A Mockingbird, maybe it is only through eyes of a child which true suffering can be seen. I hope that more people, especially Americans pick up the book to read. It is powerful, and provides such a ticket into seeing the complications there exists in this world.

Good first book.......2005-04-09

The Flame Tree
By Richard Lewis
Set in post 9/11 Indonesia, this coming of age tale offers an intimate look at the culture of Muslims and their Christian neighbors through the eyes of a 12-year old American boy. While the story is compelling with the kidnapping of the hero (fair-haired, blue-eyed), Isaac, it is perhaps a little too gritty for most 12-year old readers with its graphic description of a brutal circumcision. While the realism of the tale isn't in doubt, once again Muslims' 'bad guy' status is brought into sharp focus. The author does attempt to "normalize" the view of the religion of Islam through the clever introduction of wise, old cleric Tuan Guru Haji Abdullah Abubakar, among others, who ultimately helps Isaac and his mother with the tall order of reconciling their anger with friends, God and terrorists.

The book does a superb job of raising questions in the readers mind about the origins of the Judeo-Christian and Islamic faiths in its attempt to show their fundamental similarities, but most middle school readers are going to gloss over these details and get caught up in the "gory details." This book is better recommended for the high school student studying cultural diversity or comparative religion. It would be interesting to see if this author attempts another look at the subject from a Muslim boy's perspective, since that would also be a compelling read.

Intelligent and thought provoking.......2005-03-17

The divergence of the monotheistic religions came when Ishmael went to Mecca, and Abraham's other son, Isaac, stayed in Palestine. Richard Lewis's The Flame Tree, is the modern example of the continuing conflict that resulted from this divide. Twelve-year-old Isaac is the son of Christian missionaries in Indonesia. He watches the world from the branches of the flame tree and plays with Ismail, a local Muslim boy, along the riverbank.

However, when the Tuan Guru Haji Abdullah Abubakar appears, in their once peaceful town of Wonobo, accusing the missionaries of committing sin against Allah by trying to convert Muslims to Christians, it's not only the boys' friendship that is threatened but their beliefs, as well.

Lewis's depiction of religious conflict is honest, real, and objective. Though the son of American missionaries, his story is neither one-sided nor preachy. The violence portrayed in the novel is shocking and painful but tastefully written.

The Flame Tree is intelligent and thought-provoking. It is action packed and lyrical, a wonderful contribution to young adult literature, and an excellent read for older adults too.

A Greatly Satisfying Read, said by one living in Indonesia.......2004-10-27

A marvelously, wonderfully spun tale, steeped in first hand knowledge and laced with imagery so realistic, that you forget that it is fiction. As an American living in Indonesia who was deeply impacted by the Bali Bomb, I battled between not being able to put the book down and needing to put the book down to process my response. This is an amazingly informative book. Through it, one is engaged on all levels - intellectually, emotionally and spiritually. Lewis' clever whit, ability to lead the reader into intimacy with each of the well-developed characters, and well-balanced approach to cultural and religious issues faced by our current generation, provided a greatly satisfying read. This story cuts straight to the heart, while being full of such great fun, adventure and suspense, that one is able to easily press through what would otherwise be a slow go through amazingly huge issues faced by our world today.

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Flame Tree: Selected Poems
Kevin Hart
Manufacturer: Bloodaxe Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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