Castledance, Vol I (From the Chronicles of Fiarah) [Paperback]

K. L. Morgan (Author), John Atley (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 405 pages
• Publisher: TriQuest Publishing; 1st edition (June 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1583081836
• ISBN-13: 978-1583081839
• ASIN: 1583081763
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,057,555 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Beware the purple prose, July 29, 2004

By 

The Mad Editor (Planet Earth) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Castledance, Vol I (From the Chronicles of Fiarah) (Paperback)

I generally like most fantasy books at least a little bit, but this one left me wondering if an editor had ever seen the manuscript. There is promise in the basic idea behind the novel, but the text is in sore need of a good editor so that the story can become refined and easier to read.

I don't recommend this book.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful!!!!!!, August 1, 2005

By 

Mountain Mama (Colorado, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Castledance, Vol I (From the Chronicles of Fiarah) (Paperback)

What a wonderful story! I have actually read the other books in the series and they get better with each one. A must read for fantasy lovers!

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars disappointed, July 30, 2004

By 

elvenlights (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Castledance, Vol I (From the Chronicles of Fiarah) (Paperback)

I picked up this book after reading all the reviews proclaiming it to be squeaky-clean fantasy and the best thing "a reader" who wrote all those reviews has read in ages.

After reading it, I have to wonder what on Earth the reader has been reading besides "Castledance" in order for it to compare favorably. The basic plotline (if you can pluck it out from all the surrounding fluff) isn't bad. However, that and the fact that it is squeaky-clean are the only good things that can be said of the book.

The spelling and grammar mistakes are so frequent and so bad that they really threw me out of the story. Honestly. If my ninth-grade foreign language students turned in writing of this quality, I would expect them to rewrite it, and unless the rewrite improved greatly on the original, it still wouldn't get a very good grade. I cannot begin to fathom how this book got published in its current state.

The descriptions are excessive and unilluminating. They add detail but no depth. The English language is full of wonderful adjectives, yes, but they don't all need to be used in one book!

The dialogue was too infrequent and tended to be stilted, unnatural, and confusing when it did appear.

The footnotes were excessive and distracting and seemed to serve no purpose other than trying to motivate readers to purchase other books in the series. I'm sorry, but if a sequence within a novel that's part of a series isn't clear on its own, then the author needs to explain things in the context of the story or cut the sequence, not tack on endless footnotes referring to works the reader might not have on hand.

I was thoroughly disappointed with this book. I'm going to go read some Diana Wynn Jones or Terry Pratchett or Patricia Wrede or some good, old-fashioned Tolkein (heck, even some decently-written online fanfics) to wash this book's aftertaste out of my mind.

If you have any appreciation for the English language, find something better than this to read.