19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Weak heroic fantasy, April 25, 2006
This review is from: The Amber Wizard: The Osserian Saga: Book One (Mass Market Paperback)
I'm rather weary of fantasy about people without flaws. The main character is a well intentioned young prince, clear and unquestioned heir to the throne, gifted with wealth, power, a fantastic sword skill. He's also the most powerful wizard in recorded history! All his opposition is external - he's forced by an evil spell to do an evil thing, but everyone forgives him because he was forced to do it. Then he has to defend the world against an evil being. But he's helped by the evil being's twin brother, and in the end salvation arises from the actions of his kid sister - through the climactic scene he's just a powerless pawn. I find it difficult to be sympathetic with someone who is handed everything and whose only opposition comes from external god like figures.
Which is a pity, cause the writer shows promise. The minor characters are in many ways more interesting. Reshel, the kid sister and Therain the kid brother are more interesting than the protagonist. They do things and make choices that make a difference. The world in which this is set is original, complex and has the potential to be interesting. All too frequently the writers spends time telling us about his world, when he should be telling us about the characters. The book would have been far better if it had been split into a series, so that each story could concentrate on, and develop, a few interesting characters. Instead this is a precis of a richer and more interesting epic. Kind of like an appetizer portion of an entree, the taste is present, but satisfaction is absent.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
blehh..., June 27, 2006
This review is from: The Amber Wizard: The Osserian Saga: Book One (Mass Market Paperback)
It was alright, I suppose. the ending is really dull, you start out expecting something exciting, but in the end it becomes a mediocre plagerism of a Tad Willams Series: Memory, Sorrow and Thorn.
The similarities are glaringly obvious: the villain is the "Storm King" of race exterminated through a human genocide, now the powerful undead king wants to return from the land of the dead and destroy all life. He even has red-robed priest/mage henchmen. Its really depressing, you should just buy the DragonBone Chair, its the first book in a series that David Forbes plagerised for the Amber Wizard and the series is superior.
You start out excited and interested in the characters, but that fades. Gerin is perfect, as Rashel, his Wizardess sister, and Hollin, the Wizard who trains them. Although they don't seem to need much training, almost immediatly after their power is awakened, they are master wizards and from that point onward recieve zero training, but somehow do just fine.
The characters are paragons of noble perfection, Therain is the only one who posseses any sort of flaw whatsoever: an inferiority complex. This isn't at all suprising considering that the author made his older brother and protagonist Gerin quite literally perfect. He is the most powerful Wizard ever, a master tactician, master swordsman, benevolent Duke, charismatic, smart, handsome and responsible. Even his one bad act in the book is forced by an evil compulsion spell rather then a possible imperfection in his character.
Interestingly, considering how perfect and glorious Gerin is, after halfway through the book, he does virtually NOTHING. He sits in his castle until the very last chapter when he runs off alone and banishes the evil king back to the land of the dead.
Therain is really the protagonist of this book, he held back the Storm King's army until their father the king could arrive to crush them, even though he is the book's sole imperfect character.
This book had a lot of potential, but I wanted a book about Gerin, not his brother. And when I read a book, its nice if the characters seem like actual people. The characters here are perfect virtuous Gods whom we cannot hope to relate to.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
What happened to good writing craft?, March 18, 2007
This review is from: The Amber Wizard: The Osserian Saga: Book One (Mass Market Paperback)
After getting to the end of Chapter Six, I am putting this book down for good! It is so incredibly poorly written that I cannnot even get to the point of commenting on the quality of the story. The author insists on "telling" rather than "showing" almost everything. During non-action scenes it slows the story down with wardrobe descriptions, and depictions of yet another great pillared hall (a standard fantasy image), or historical fact. In action scenes, it just ruins any attempt at pacing. So one minute the Prince/hero is being attacked by the badies, and the next you're learning his horse's name, and the name of his bodyguard's horse too! If the horses had any type of character or quality to them it would be understandable - but they don't! The author goes on to pin names and descriptions to countless other people, historic eras, magical objects or acts - but there is no purpose to any of it! I would far rather learn of a hero's character and image through his actions. Instead, the author "tells" us one thing, and then contradicts that initial impression by having him/her do something that does not build on that initial impression. The end result is that the character's of this story are wooden at best, and confused at worst.
If you want to read something more impressive (though of a slightly different ilk) pick up "Moonshine" - the second book by Rob Thurman. Beyond Tolkein, there is little fantasy that is truly well written, but Thurman's writing is tight, fast, fun, and character intense.
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