By: Patricia A. McKillipDespite glowing reviews on Amazon, and a high recommendation from Meezly, I found this book to be tedious and rough around the edges. I didn't find the world that McKillip created to be that interesting, the characters didn't seem very well defined- even the writing seemed awkward at times. Theres very little that's descriptive, which I find necessary in creating a believable fantasy world. Finally, as Joseph Campbell points out, many heroes refuse the call when it is first brought to them- but our hero from Hed refuses the call way to long, to the point of which it becomes the main focus of the first book. That being said, I'm curios to go on to the second book because one of the first reviews on Amazon suggests that the first book is by far the weakest link in the series...
@Meez- did you find this to be true?
On the other hand, because of the praise this series has received, I thought I must be missing something, and so I plowed on. The book does have an interesting cliff-hanger ending that would lead me to consider reading further. I'll wait for Meezley's answer about the other two books as far as that goes. In the meantime, however, I'll put this one down for now.
1 comment:
whoah, I didn't realize you've read TROH! hehe, I've been kind of neglecting the 50-book thing until now since 2007 is over :0)
from what I remember it did take me awhile to get into the first book, and the cliffhanger did propel me to read the 2nd. the trilogy as a whole was what made the story worthwhile and satifsying.
but I was also teenager and fairly new to the fantasy genre at the time. I think if I was already a seasoned and older reader, these books might not have the same appeal as it did in my youth. but I do recall getting sucked into the world in the first book, so if the first didn't cut it for you...
Post a Comment