Customer Reviews

Circle at Center (Seven Circles Trilogy, Book 1)

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

 

 

The fantasy world that Niles has created is incredible. I like the whole concept of the seven circles, especially since he has found a way to tie earth into the story.He has some interesting new charecters, such as the Delvers and wyslets that lurk in the First Circle. However, there are a few things that I would have liked him to describe in more detail. First, he concept of the Goddess Worldweaver. I have read the Wheel of Time series by Rober Jordan, and the Goddes Worldweaver seems very similar to Jordan's concept of the Wheel and the Pattern.I would have liked Niles to elaborate on this in more detail, as well as some of his characters. He did a splendid job in portraying the Delver Dwarves, Natac,and Sir Christopher, but i would have liked to have known more about some of the other characters such as Tam, the druids, Nistel, Rawknuckle Barefist (great name), and all the other creatures of Nayve in general.Overall, the storyline was great, but it moved too fast. I think the book could have probably been spread out over three. Niles has some great ideas though, and I would definately recomend the book to all lovers of high fantasy.

I have been an avid fan of fantasy since I was young, so of course I love watching movies and reading books about this fantastic subject. I was bored of watching television in my spare time, so I decided to take a chance on Circle at Center. I'm glad I did. This book did take some time getting used to with all the moving around, and fast paced plots, but once over that hurdle, it gets quite good. I have finished the whole series, and I believe that by far it is the best series that I have read- so far... I think it was a good blend of romance, action, lust, disgust, and a little bit of comedy. Sufficed to say, it will remain on my bookshelf for all to see and inquire about.

I bought this title because an old friend, Jean Targete, illustrated the cover--and WHAT a cover! It took a few chapters to get me caught up in the story and to care about the characters, but once I did, I couldn't put it down. It's good high fantasy, minus the youngster who discovers he/she is of great magical importance, so on and so on. It involves seven levels of the world, one being under the crust where dwarves and "delvers" live, one inhabited by elves and other creatures, such as talking dogs and "druids" from this level/world who are brought over after death to live in eternity. The first character we meet is Natac, an ancient Mexican warrior who finds himself in Naeve (the Center of Everything) after his heart is cut out of his body as a sacrifice. Surprise! He's brought there to help the peaceful race of elves how to defend themselves from what turns out to be a Knight Templar, also brought over (by whom, I wonder?) and madly burning sorceress elves at the stake. OK, so it's complicated, but Douglas Niles will make you understand. I'm looking forward to finishng the trilogy.--written by Jill DeFinis, Filthy's wife :)

I have to say that this book was good, but not too good. What makes the book interesting is taking human warriors from earth and bringing them to nayve to help fight a war. Also, there are many different races to help add diversity to the book. There's even a talking dog named ulfgang! The things that I didn't like though was when belynda got raped by king christopher. Also, some of the things in the book come to quick and aren't explained as good as they should be. Also be aware of the sexuality, as it is common in the second book as well. Still, it was a good read.

I liked this book at first despite the sex which I think, was written in too much detail. Sex can be implied at various degrees in a story, but this was a bit too much. But still I would have still rated this book a 4 or 5. However I hated the part when the knight raped the elf queen. A sage ambassador with great magical powers. Maybe I'm too much of a softy, but I hate when the author does not respect the fate of his characters. I would rather have see the sage-ambassador die rather than the be raped, which truly disgusted me!

To quote my Enlish teacher "this was Douglas Niles' porn" (although actually he was referring to Anne Rice's "Queen of the damned but I'm sure one might get the idea). I did not personally like this book mostly because of the emotional response that it inflicted me with.

I do however recomend this book and I would be very willing to read any other of Douglas Niles' books, however never again would I read this series, however; maybe once I'm a bit more mature, I'm not sure.

This book was excellent. I am a big fan of Robert Jordans and just finished his winters heart. So I went to get a new book and picked up Douglas Niles Circle at Center. This is a must read. Excellent book that starts off good and ends off excellent. I can't wait for the next book to come out in the series in the future. If your a lover of fantasy pick this one up.

In addition to other criticisms about the book, I'd like to add that the world that Niles has created really doesn't make any sense. He has slapped to together a bunch of fantasy staples such as elves, druids, dwarves, etc. without much regard to how they arrived or fit in his world. Things are exist because he wrote it -- no internal logic is necessary.

Terry Pratchett's Discworld books make much more sense -- and we're talking about a parody where that world rests on the back of a giant space-faring turtle!

I did not care for Nile's style of writing. I felt like the prose was a huge distraction, and I kept "tripping" over his writing voice. It wasn't as bad as the Ill Made Mute, but just as annoying. Basically, it was not fun to read. things that usually is a staple in books I do not finish reading is noticing the writing style more than the story. I did so with this book. I will probably never read another Niles book because of it.

Having read Niles' Watershed Trilogy many years ago, I was more than sure that Circle at Center would be just as good. The whole concept behind the seven circle realm was good, not excellent, but good. However, the concept of "bad Christian vs. good Goddess" was a little too melodramatic for my taste. I liked it, but he could have not made it so expected.
Even though the plot tends to wander off at some points, Niles still pulls it all together, leaving the reader wanting more.
However, I was slightly disappointed in the ending, which did not make too much sense. Still, I do think that it is a good read and one that I shall want to finish with the two remaining books.

I have never read a book by Douglas Niles before, but I couldn't help picking up this copy at the store! It looked great from the outside, but reading it was even better! I don't read that much fantasy fiction, but I would recommend this book to anyone. I was interested the whole way through and I still can't wait to read the next one!