Barry Sadler's Casca: The Defiant [Paperback]

Paul Dengelegi (Author)

Book Description

Series: Barry Sadler's Casca | Publication Date: October 31, 2001

A new battle. A new legend in the 2-million-copy-selling series.

In medieval Venice, Casca becomes embroiled in a blood feud that sparks a war between families. But then, war is something the immortal warrior has survived before...

Casca lives on!

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Jove; Jove Edition - 1st Printing edition (October 31, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0515129542
• ISBN-13: 978-0515129540
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,328,135 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Better but still not Sadler, February 5, 2005

By 

Tony Roberts (Bristol, United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Barry Sadler's Casca: The Defiant (Paperback)

Paul Denegelegi's second Casca book is markedly better than the first but still contains a little too much over descriptive passages, making the book a little heavy at times. This story has Casca meeting a young Marco Polo in Venice and then accompanying him to China and the court of Kubilai Khan and he enjoys many adventures there.

Dengelegi writes well when battles are decribed but all too often there seems to be a little wandering from the main plot which detracts from the storyline. Sadler wrote in an all-action mode and this is what Casca fans really want, not a ponderous storyline which is why Denegelegi attracts a lot of criticism.

One thing I particularly disliked was the final part where the writer attempted to connect this book's storyline with the beginning of his first book and in the process contradicted Sadler's storyline for the character. Careless and with a little more care this would have been avoided.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars CASCA MEETS MARCO POLO?, November 28, 2001

By 

Apollo Reader (Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Barry Sadler's Casca: The Defiant (Paperback)

This 2nd novel of the return of Casca was a better effort than the 1st. I have been reading the Casca novels since it first came out in the early 80's and still own the first 14 novels, after that they fell towards bad writing oblivion for me. Barry Sadler's death was very sad and so was the Casca series for me. I am very glad to see a new writer come in and try to take the reins for the new series, but for some reason I find myself skimming thru lots of paragraphs to the end. I don't want to bash a good writer, but Paul D. seems to bring to life a Casca of old very well. His feelings and his mannerisms are all there like Barry Sadler used to write, but the action scenes to me are not written very well and are bogged down with flat battle sequences. For example, when Casca finally confronted the bad guy who killed his beloved, the build-up of the fight was finished much too quickly and easily. Barry Sadler's fight scenes and his revenge scenes were shocking and well written in an action-type way that left the reader satisfied. Paul is a gifted writer when it comes to the feel of the past and with customs of the peoples in history, but it is too bogged down with nothing really happening. Barry Sadler's books for the most part were less than 200 pages and the fat was trimmed off. I dont see how these other people can give this new Casca book 4 to 5 stars after they have read Barry's books, but to each his own I say. Keep trying Paul, I know these are big shoes to fill but I know you can do it better next time, Casca is too great of a character not to give another try for old time sakes!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Better, but still a way to go, October 2, 2006

By 

Gerry K "GK" (KS United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Barry Sadler's Casca: The Defiant (Paperback)

I have to admit that this is better than his original attempt at this series. The battles are much improved. The problem is that he is still overly descriptive of areas of the story that really does not require it. I found myself skipping pages again. When a reader has to skip pages for a lack of interest, you loose the reader's attention. Sadler had the ability to reach out and pull you into the story, and when you did come up for air or food you were ready to dive back in immediately. In this book, ofttimes I found myself on the outside looking in, and I really didn't care if I finished. The author also had a tendency to stray from the story and loose the plot for a while, which confused me at times.

I'm sorry but if this author makes another attempt at this series I doubt I will read it.