Blogcritics Author: Asgard

Book Review: Seabird by Sherry Thompson

Asgard — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 16:35:35 EDT

A must-read for CS Lewis fans.
Fans of C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia might have found a favorite new author. Seabird, the debut novel by Sherry Thompson, is reminiscent of Lewis's classic series in terms of the rich fantasy world the author has crafted, the teen protagonist, and the strong religious subtext.The story centers around Cara Marshall, a teenager who is...

Book Review: Naked Empire by Terry Goodkind

Asgard — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 16:12:42 EDT

An entertaining read if you can get past all the speeches.
Wizard's First Rule was, at one time, one of my favorite fantasy novels. The Sword of Truth series was reasonably entertaining, but lost steam as author Terry Goodkind gravitated toward philosophy and de-emphasized storytelling. I took a long break after volume seven, The Pillars of Creation, but finally decided to pick up the series again with...

Book Review: The Silver Serpent by David Debord

Asgard — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 04:27:59 EST

A gripping epic fantasy in the tradition of Robert Jordan, Raymond Feist and David Eddings.
In a world where magic is dying and nations teeter on the verge of war, three young people are preoccupied with their own concerns. Shanis is a tomboy who wants to be a soldier. Hierm is an unappreciated second son who wants to escape his father's expectations. Bookish Oskar wants to see the places he's heard of in stories and read about in...

Book Review: The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie

Asgard — Wed, 2 Jan 2008 01:26:14 EST

A gritty, character-driven fantasy by a talented new author.
The Blade Itself is Joe Abercrombie's debut novel, and a solid first effort. Reminiscent of George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, the book is filled with gritty, believable characters, and a foundation of what promises to be a broad, well-developed plot.The plot in this installment is pretty basic: the old empire is crumbling,...

Announcement: Short-content feeds

Phillip Winn — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 12:00:00 EDT

Sunday, August 26, 2007, marks the switch of all Blogcritics.org article feeds from full-content to short-content. This is the result of several converging factors, and is unfortunately a permanent decision (as permanent as any decision can be on the web, that is). We are aware of all of the reasons that this is a Bad Idea, and we are aware that some of you will be quite upset about having to click on something to read the free content, and we're sorry. Unfortunately, despite great effort, full-content feeds are not currently economically viable. Two other factors are involved: full-content feeds have resulted in an unprecedented level of content theft, with BC content appearing on many websites, usually spam sites, without attribution or permission. This duplicate content causes a cascading set of problems, not the least of which is that search engines generally aren't favorable to duplicate content, and don't always guess correctly. Finally, our RSS advertising partner is strongly in favor of short-content feeds. We hope that you'll continue to subscribe to BC via RSS, and when an article grabs your eye, it's only a click away, still free on the BC website. Thank you for your understanding.

Book Review: The Children of Hurin by JRR Tolkien

Asgard — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 16:40:23 EDT

The Children of Hurin is an assemblage of Tolkien's assorted writings, put together in novel format by son Christopher. The story was begun by JRR Tolkien in 1918, but never assembled as a complete novel. Christopher Tolkien has organized the work into novel format without altering his father's words, save a few grammatical corrections. Thus, this is considered a complete JRR Tolkien narrative.Darker than Lord of the Rings and more mature than The Hobbit, The Children of Hurin takes place several thousand years before the events of The Hobbit, at a time that the Elves were greater and were strongly allied with the nations of Men. Elves and Men have suffered a disastrous defeat in war, and Turin, the son of the greatest warrior in human history, is trying to reverse their fortunes.Readers familiar only with The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings might have trouble identifying with the rash Hurin. He has none of the Hobbit-sense of Bilbo Baggins, nor the exceeding nobility and honor of Aragorn. If he is reminiscent of any LotR character, it would perhaps be Boromir, who has the best intentions but does not always see the greater picture.It has been argued that Tolkien was not so much a writer as the ultimate world-builder, creating a detailed history of Middle Earth, along with languages, literature, folklore and cultures. One cannot read Lord of the Rings without feeling the pressure of tomes of Middle Earth history threatening to burst forth from the pages. There is more story than can ever be told, and The Children of Hurin is an enjoyable chapter in that history. The downside is that the story often reads like a history book. It's not always an engrossing read.Opinions on this book among Tolkien fans will probably be split into three groups. Avid Tolkien readers will devour this book and beg for more. Readers who liked The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, but didn't like them enough to read the Silmarillion will find it boring at parts, but worth the read. Fans who love the Peter Jackson movies but are not so in love with the books will hate it.Overall, The Children of Hurin is a worthwhile read for the average fantasy fan, and a must-read for Tolkien aficionados.

Delving through dusty tomes of ancient lore, in search of tales of valor, might, magic and wonder.

Book Review: In the Eye of Heaven by David Keck

Asgard — Fri, 8 Jun 2007 13:21:03 EDT

What does a young man do when you take away all that he has? That is the pivotal question in David Keck's In the Eye of Heaven. Durand believes he will assume the lordship of a small village that lies under his father's authority, but his plan is shattered when the heir to the village, believed dead, turns up very much alive. This event sends Durand on an adventure - through a dark, gritty medieval world.Keck's strength is that he has crafted an almost tangible world. The reader can easily get lost in this perilous, often creepy place Keck has created. The plot is not your usual and overdone fantasy quest, but is original and engrossing.The weaknesses of In the Eye of Heaven lie first in the characters, where none, other than Durant, truly pique the reader's interest, and in the development -- or lack thereof -- of the way in which magic works in the world. It is present, but not explored, at least in this installment of what is sure to be a solid fantasy series.Keck is one of the best new voices in fantasy and I look forward to his next book.Rating: 8/10

Delving through dusty tomes of ancient lore, in search of tales of valor, might, magic and wonder.