Customer Reviews

The Bear (Saga of the First King)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I'm not going to write what the book is about because if you should already know from the other books in the series. However, I will tell you what I thought about the book itself as compared to the others.

I thought The Ancient was the best in the series. Great storyline, plenty of action and a great ending. The second book, The Dame, was more of a political book than an action one with action sequences few and far between. The character development was very good and it was a good read.

The Bear continues exactly where The Dame left off. It is even more of a political book than the previous two. Some of the main characters from the first two books are almost completely left out and take a sidestep to other characters. Some of it came off as if Salvatore got bored with a few of the characters and decided to disregard them. While the story still prominently features Bransen Garibond, the other main characters from The Ancient might as well have not been in this book at all and are certainly not pertinent to the story, with the exception of Gwydre obviously. That part was a bit disappointing.

Without giving anything away, I also felt that the ending came off as very rushed. I got the feeling that Salvatore hit a deadline and needed to get started on his next book. The ending was very rushed and some scenes came off as if he just needed to end it quickly. It cheapened the series for me quite a bit.

If you've read the other books in this series, then of course, this book is a must read and certain parts of it are highly enjoyable. But, all in all, the ending came off as very rushed. Is it worth reading? Yes. Could it have been a bit better? Yes.

The Bear gives us Salvatore's latest story from his epic fantasy world of Corona, the last tale in his Saga of the First King.

War continues to rage across the nation of Honce, with two lairds and one dame vying for a single throne controlling all the independent-minded territories. Ethelbert in his southern city and his ties to the Middle Eastern-flavored nation of Behr, Yselnik the coward with little true fire for anything but undeserved power, and Gwydre of the northern territory of Vanguard. These three vie for control of the nation's fate, but there are other lairds with designs on power. Milwellis and his father Panlamaris of Palmaristown harbor their own desires and hatreds, unwilling to accept one leader but able to compromise with another for political expedience. The Abellican Church, such a prominent figure in the original series in this world, also plays a part, having insisted on neutrality early in the war and being labelled as cowards and traitors by the various powers.

The Bear takes up exactly where The Dame (the prior book in the series) left off. The heroic Highwayman, defiant of all sides and wanting independence for himself and his family more than anything, has lost his legacy and his heart and has only despair. He encounters evidence of the brutality of war, visited by both sides upon all in their path including innocent children, and finds a renewed disgust for the warring factions and the consequences suffered by the innocent peasants. Ignoring his own sense, he is captured by one who previously spared his life, the Laird Bannagran (which readers of the series might hopefully have recognized his nickname, The Bear, as significant in the conflict since the books set in future of Corona name the nation as Honce-the-Bear, not just Honce...) a cruel and brutal fighter with a peculiar sense of honor. Seeking safety for his family and vengeance upon those who defeated him in the closing of The Dame, Bransen the Highwayman compromises and joins Bannagran, in turn serving under Yselnik. Both the would-be king and the Highwayman hate one another with fervent passion.

The Church is under siege by the forces of Palmaristown for their refusal to bend their knee to Yselnik. The formidable monks repelled the troops' assault in The Dame, but now they are further cut off and siege engines are being constructed to crack open the protective shell of St. Mere Abelle.

Don't forget the powries, who launched a stealthy nighttime assault on Palmaris in The Dame. The powries escalate their part in the conflict after the treatment of powrie prisoners by the Palmaris garrison, seeking and offering no quarter to any humans on any side. The blame for the powrie assault is laid by Laird Panlamaris at the feet of Dame Gwydre, cementing his desire to kill her and the monks with whom she shelters in St. Mere Abelle. Gwydre, cut off from her people in Vanguard, has dispatched a team to negotiate with Ethelbert to oppose Yselnik in exchange for her Queenship.

Alliances of convenience seem to be the primary feature of this book, with so many being seemingly in opposition to the established character beliefs and behaviors. That they are so willing to forego their path shows the powerful effect of the war upon the rulers as well as the peasants, seeking primarily an end to the death and misery even at the expense of their pride.

Salvatore excels again with his plotting and especially with the dynamic fight scenes. However, this book does not give much new to the series that readers have not seen before. Aside from the about faces that so many of the characters make in regards to their alliances, the story reads much the same as prior books in the series. As the prior books in the Saga of the First King, the land of Honce is much more brutal and unforgiving than in the initial series on Corona, but the underlying means of survival and success are the same. This is a great book and a wonderful capstone to the Saga, but it's not as great as some of Salvatore's earlier efforts in this world of his creation.

Honce has been at war for years as two rivals battle for the throne with each indifferent to the plight of peasants trapped in the deadly combat. Self-anointed King Yeslnik the Fool flourishes on blood and guts from the unmerciful war while his chief opponent Laird Ethelbert is perhaps slightly less inclined towards violence causing collateral damage.

Yeslnik's other major opposition comes from Dame Gwydre of Vanguard, who cares about the people, but is somewhat helpless as she is trapped inside the Church of St. Mere Abelle with the mystic monks; though due to magic jewels and the swordsmen, they are safe. She considers an alliance with Ethelbert, whom she deems is the lesser of two evils, but his assassins murdered Jameston Sequin and attempted to kill Bransen Garibond the Highwayman.

Bransen opts out as he is bone wary of war. He intends to takes his pregnant wife and leaves but he meets Gwydre who tries to help the beleaguered people. Instead of vanishing, he escorts her to meet the king's general Bannagran, the Bear of Honce to see if between them they can bring peace.

The final tale in the epic First King saga (see The Highwayman, The Ancient and The Dame) is a rousing winner as R.A. Salvatore continues to effortlessly blend magic and medieval type warfare inside an action-packed military-political fantasy. The key cast is powerfully drawn as betrayal and expedient shifting alliances between enemies is the norm. This series is one of the best over the past few years because of the deep look at political fantasy in a kingdom at constant civil war.

Harriet Klausner

Salavatore does an excellent job bringing the story to a close, while tying up all loose ends. A fitting end to a very good series of books!

If you like to read R.A salvatore you have to read this series. It is set in the world of the demon war series. I won't spoil the ending for you I will simply say I would have preferred a different ending. Can't have everything I guess.

I can't help but chuckle at the fact that I rarely give Salvatore less than five stars. I will readily admit that I am not an overly critical person, in that I want to be entertained first and foremost. The Bear provided that entertainment, but not because I am easy to please. :) We watched as Bransen grew as a person as he struggled with his own inner resentments and past experiences. We saw that in the midst of ignorance in the abelican church, there was a lot of good to be found as well. Characters grew and flourished. Afwin Wi made for a very dangerous and duplicitous antagonist, and Dame Gwydre and Laird Bannegran were examples of true leaders. Yeslnik's attempt at courage could be described as comic relief, and at the end of the day. Amazing battles were fought and courage surfaced from every side of the fight. In my opinion, the Corona novels are Salvatore's best work (not saying I don't love the Drizzt novels of course!) and The Bear lives up to expectations. Read and enjoy! :)

Beaten and disillusioned, Bransen Garibond, formerly the highwayman, makes his way home. He no longer believes that it's possible for war to make an improvement. Even if enlightened rulers win, their heirs will surely be worse and the cycle of death continues. The peasant always suffers. Meanwhile, the players at war change. King Yeslnik's armies are by far the largest in Honce. Against him stands only the aging and beaten Ethelbert...who in turn pays the assassins who stole Bransen's sword and the magical stones that gave him the highwayman powers. Even the church, which stands against Yeslnik, and an expeditionary force from far-off Vanguard, seem unlikely to alter the imbalance of power. Yeslnik is too strong--and Bransen can't bring himself to care.

Bransen links up with one of Yeslnik's lieutenants, Lord Bannagran, in hopes of regaining his sword. His assurance suffers a blow, though, when he learns that the church has come out against Yeslnik. Bransen's pregnant wife is inside the besieged chapel.

Ultimately, Bransen must come to terms with his loss of faith, look for the best even in those who are imperfect, and seek a lever that will change the political and military equation of Honce.

Author R. A. Salvatore continues a story begun with THE ANCIENT. The political scheming and use of magical communication to create a hit-and-run army that can survive despite being vastly outnumbered is interestin, as is Bransen's battle with the assassins who stole his sword and jewels. Bannagran is the most complex character in the story, but we don't really get to see much of him. The dwarves serve as tragi-comic figures and most of the other characters are sketched rather than fully developed.

To me, THE BEAR read a bit like an exceptional first draft. There's a lot to like here, and the plot certainly holds together. I wish Salvatore had spent a bit more time working on the characters, giving us a reason to care about Bransen, and made Yeslnik a bit more convincing as an antagonist. Overall, THE BEAR is enjoyable but not Salvatore's best.

I fondly remember reading the first two Drizzt trilogies and then the Cleric Quintet. They were great series and I enjoyed them. Now, what seems like 20 years later, I picked up the first book of this new series and read through due to the fondness with which I remember Salvatore's earlier books. What has happened? There's a real sense of dread that if I go back and re-read The Crystal Shard, that I will witness the same horrible writing that plagues this series, and in particular, this book. I'll never know though, as I will never buy another book by Salvatore after reading The Bear. It's that poor.

The grandness of scale was continuously lost through the series and the final book continued it. I could rarely decided if I was being immersed in a rich land with a great forces and epic struggles, or in a tiny little region with a few characters. The flow was simply not there and the grand battle scenes that you're led to, feel feeble.

The story also suffers from an almost comical sense of prose. I don't expect Cormac McCarthy, Robert Jordan or Martin, but I did expect something more than what came off as a middle schooler's writing. Literally, I found myself chuckling at how bad and cliched some of the lines came off as. Bransen's inner turmoil is so laughably contrived, that by halfway through this book I could not stop caring any less about the character. It was easier to picture Bransen as a gummy bear, bouncing here and there and everywhere, than the hero of an epic fantasy. The dialogue between any of the main characters is also very exhausting as it comes off as the same elementary philosophical discussion over and over again.

Such potential was really there, such as the powries and a few side characters, but I agree with another review that this book came off as rushed first draft. The finale of the book only came to see how bad it could get, and the ending was fitting for the feeling the series left me with.

Salvatore does another wonderful job of building/concluding another tale. The Bear is a fast-paced whirlwind of emotion, action, and intrigue. 5 Stars!

War Rages Through Honce, and the land seemingly will never know peace.

Fantastic Finale to the Highwayman series that started as a short story, and grew on the hears of many. Bransen is truely setting the tone for those humans we (rarely) see later in corona.

For those familiar with the Demonwars saga, the title itself gives a bit of spoiler.

As with all works of salvatore; when he foreshadows, you can usually easily identify it. However, its the HOW the event happens is what keeps you flipping the page.

It killed me not to skip to the end in this book. Only salvatore makes me want to do that, not because of the writing style, just because the anticipation killed me.


Good, surprisingly good, read!