- Hardcover
- Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty Ltd; New title edition (30 July 1997)
- ISBN-10: 0000319643
- ISBN-13: 978-0000319647
- Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
Battleaxe: Book One of the Axis Trilogy
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More About the Author
Product Description
Review
Praise for previous books in The Axis Trilogy:
‘The twists, revelations and foreshadowings keep you turning pages’
SFX
‘Absorbing. Those who like their battles bloody and realistic will get their desire, but here also are moments of great tenderness’
Starburst
Product Description
Epic fantasy in the tradition of Trudi Canavan, Fiona McIntosh and Robert Jordan.
A thousand years ago, the people of Achar drove the Forbidden from their lands.
But now the northern tribes of the Ravensbund are fleeing south again, with nightmarish tales of creatures who feed upon the terror of their prey. Winter has come early, and with it the promise of war.
Axis, bastard son of the dead Princess Rivkah, is sent north to the battlefront at Gorkenfort with his elite Axe-Wielders. Once there, he must hand over command to his hated half-brother, Borneheld, Duke of Ichar and heir to the throne. But during the long journey Axis falls in love with Faraday – Borneheld's betrothed – and finds himself reassessing the very essence of his beliefs.
With the fate of the world hanging in the balance, Axis must unite the feuding lands under one banner before it is too late and the evil rising in the north engulfs them all for good.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book is the first I've ever read from Sara Douglass. There are a lot of previous reviews that say that she's not a very good writer and the character's are flat etc. but, as someone who writes often in an RPG forum, I would say that any of this is due to the fact that while Sara was writing this book she was studying through university which changes the way a person writes.
I am an avid fantasy reader and I found this book to be gripping from the start, where as Hobb takes a while for action to be delivered this book, like Barclay, has action which compells you to read further to understand what has just happened.
This doesn't, and never will, compare to Kerr's Deverry, Westland and Dragon Mage series (which finishs soon yey!), but stands within its own right.
Due to the pure compelling action and the need to find out how it evolves will drive me to buy the next two books within the trilogy. Once the trilogy has ended, then a decision can be made on whether to buy the following. If Douglass is anything like Kerr than the books will keep getting better as the series go on.
I am an avid fantasy reader and I found this book to be gripping from the start, where as Hobb takes a while for action to be delivered this book, like Barclay, has action which compells you to read further to understand what has just happened.
This doesn't, and never will, compare to Kerr's Deverry, Westland and Dragon Mage series (which finishs soon yey!), but stands within its own right.
Due to the pure compelling action and the need to find out how it evolves will drive me to buy the next two books within the trilogy. Once the trilogy has ended, then a decision can be made on whether to buy the following. If Douglass is anything like Kerr than the books will keep getting better as the series go on.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Obtained an advanced readers copy of this book in the States, and upon completion immediately placed an order for the rest of the trilogy through the UK. Very engaging first work that kept my interest, despite lacking the depth of some of the best high fantasy work by Hobb, Jordan, or Martin. Despite a rather awkward start in the prologue, marred by the intrusion of the inset of a largely unneccesary and distracting chronology, the book soon takes off with a well told, at times inventive, and for the most part well written tale. I find the invented langauge somewhat inelegant, and references at times---the Icarii, the Charonites, the Wing Strike Force---rather bald and obvious, lacking in creativity and originality, but if one is able to read over these detracting elements, the story has much to offer, and for high fantasy is far better than most of the usual sword and sorcery fare. The world is well built, with good descriptive and character development, and its derivative elements are less pronounced than those that have been recontextualized or represent original contributions. As far as an earlier review that found the plot slow and tiring, I would assume this reader prefers his stories short on plot and character development and long on non-stop action. As this is not my preference, those reading this can determine for themselves which style of work they would prefer.
Despite my qualifications, my immediate ordering of the next books in the series says it all. I look forward to continuing the saga, and hope the upcoming works are as captivating as the first. Recommended.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This first book of the Axis Trilogy will keep you in the run for the other ones. The characters are really new though the imagination among fantasy writers is enormous and delightful. Sara Douglass makes ALL her characters interesting, including the 'evil' ones, which is also a thrill. Even of the weaknesses of the 'good' guys are a boon.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
What a let down...
i bought this book after recommendations from 3 family members who all love fantasy books. not only did i buy this book but i bought the whole series! What a waste of time. Read more
Published 8 months ago by J. Henderson
Distinctly average
Book one of the Axis Trilogy (Douglass is also the author of the Wayfarer Trilogy that follows this). Read more
Published on 11 Jan 2010 by A. L. Rutter
Riveting
Having read Hobb, Jordan, Martin this book is light relief. Non stop action, easy to read. There are not pages and pages of description. Read more
Published on 27 May 2009 by A. Parkes
Formulaic but still a good read.
I picked up this book with some trepidation as it has had very mixed reviews but it really isn’t a bad read at all. Read more
Published on 20 Feb 2006 by Ms. H. Sinton
Generic "by the numbers" fantasy
To sum up this book in one word: average. Very average. And oh so very generic.
The characters are mostly stereotypes, the writing's not great, and the story isn't very... Read more
Published on 19 July 2004
Same old stuff
After reading many rave reviews on Sara Douglass I took the plunge and bought the Axis trilogy. Should have kep my money.
The whole story line was fantasy by numbers. Read more
The whole story line was fantasy by numbers. Read more
Published on 9 July 2004 by michael calvert
Not so much axe-wielder as unwieldy`
It's hard to put a finger on just what is wrong with this book, but lets put it like this, whilst I managed to get to the end, I haven't felt compelled to go and get the other... Read more
Published on 11 Feb 2004 by Crazy Eddie
The Greatest Book Of All Time
After reading this book I was hooked on Sara Douglass. She is able to take a some what reality and twist it into another world without you knowning or caring about it. Read more
Published on 25 Jun 2003 by masterg
Good, exciting but lacks maturity - good first book though..
I enjoyed this book as a good classic fantasy yarn.
However, I thought that the characters were a bit stilted and the dialogue and description was written immaturely. Read more
Published on 16 Aug 2002 by Mr. E. Nzegwu
Enchanting.
This is the first book of the Axis Trilogy (followed by Enchanter and StarMan).
The story takes place in Achar, a land ruled by the Seneshal, a powerful religious organisation... Read more
Published on 2 July 2002 by Stephanie Noverraz
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