Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Good effort but..., 10 Mar 2008
Bought this book on the strength of the back cover blurb. Not the most original of tales, but appealing concepts nevertheless. Modern fantasy doesn't have to be completely original for me to enjoy it, but it does need to be well written, with believable characterisation; it needs to bring about that elusive combination that enables the suspension of disbelief! And, most importantly of all, it needs to be entertaining.
There is a lot to like about this book,- those age old emotions of revenge, justice, love and loyalty but, overall, it does not seem to pull the job off. It feels a little like fantasy-by-numbers, with all of the cliches that we have come to know (and sometimes love) but it does not manage to achieve any real sense of tension. In regards to the "good guys," you never doubt, although the characters are placed in the most dangerous of scenarios, that they will survive. All of them. There is no sense of danger or the unexpected. The "bad guys" are very flat, with no real explanation of motive; a power-mad brother and a sorceror accomplice. They are just Evil.
I feel no great compulsion to rush out and buy the next installment, which, for me, is always the best means of judging a book. There are a number of sequels due out this year that i cannot wait to read. Just didn't get that sense of involvement.
On the whole a failed effort, very predictable with poor execution of an interesting premise.
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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Average at best., 12 Jun 2008
I bought this book, like many others, on the strength of its blurb and the fact the cover was beautifully done and catches the eye. I was pretty disappointed by the actual content. There is virtually no character build up, so that they appear shallow and lacking personality. There are also questions about why the hell some of them are there in the first place... Harrtuck and Carroway, take a bow.
The plot is unoriginal as already said, but the fact the 'hero' is a Necromancer is a nice idea. Necromancer's usually appear only on the 'dark side' and to have one on the side of good would have been interesting... if it wasn't so boring. How can you take an idea like that and manage to make it boring?! Its a wonderful achievement on the part of the author.
The plot is poorly constructed, the coincidences that spatter the pages are embarrassing at best and the cliche's that seem to bind this book together just made me want to cringe.
All that being said, I read the whole thing. It may seem strange to slate a book like I just did, but to be honest I found it strangely compelling. Whether its clever writing (which i highly doubt), the urge to seek something mildly original among the pages, the desire to see if Harrtuck and Carroway have a purpose other than to flesh out the fight scenes, or the hope that Gail Z Martin may, somehow, manage to rescue the most boring necromancer ever to grace a book, i really don't know.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
An afternoon's distraction..., 8 May 2008
Bought this as I thought the plot (from the blurb on the back) had potential. Whilst the prose isn't too bad, the 'coincidences' that other reviewers have alluded to really got in the way of the narrative. Also, the addition of the vampiric subplot and the oh so tired 'dark power trying to rise again' theme left me dissapointed. As stated, I finished the book in an afternoon as most of it was qute readable if not exactly ground-breaking stuff. It would have been much better to simply have Tris learning to use his new powers to remove his usurper brother from the throne, rather than suddenly being confronted with the threat of this dark power which is only introduced in the final third of the book and had me groaning with dissapointment. All in all, whilst the first part is readable (the action could do with slowing down in places), the second dives straight into cliche territory and revisits the old haunts we know only too well. It's a shame because this could have been a wonderful new addition to the genre.
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