22 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Compelling Action Adventure, May 10, 2005
It's not often I feel the need to defend a book from another's review, but after reading this novel, I have to laugh at some of the editorial comments made by Publisher's Weekly. While I don't disagree completely with some of their views, I think they might be cheating a lot of readers out there with their dismissive tone.
First off, they seem to spend a lot of time saying that this is the same old fantasy quest adventure, and in truth, it does seem that way in the beginning. As it goes along, however, the author employs some very specific twists that make it anything but. Easy to miss, I suppose, when your job is to read and review 500 pages a day.
The other gripe seems to be with the hero, Jarom. Clearly, he is not the most exciting character in the book. But neither was Frodo in LOTR. Nor Luke Skywalker in Star Wars, nor Gulliver in Gulliver's Travels. This story, like those ones, depends greatly on its ensemble cast. And the overall cast is terrific. Several characters might seem cliched at first, but over the course of the novel, most of them develop quite nicely -- Jarom included.
All in all, this is a capable, mostly stand-alone novel that sets up what I hope will be an intriguing adventure to come. The quest portion of the novel does tend to drag at times, but the incredible amount of action throughout the rest of the book more than makes up for it. And even when the writing does slow down, it never does so as much as Tolkien's. "Wooden prose" and "lethargic pacing"? Consider Tolkien the master! It makes me wonder, when was the last time anyone at PW actually read Tolkien?
Speaking of which, why is it that every new fantasy writer who comes along gets trashed for not being J.R.R.? Is it just a fantasy reviewer's shortcut, or what? I mean, the Model T was a legendary vehicle, yes. But I for one am sure grateful that automakers didn't stop there!
Bottom line, in this reader's opinion, is that if you enjoy fantasy adventure and would be interested in a fresh take on the epic quest, then The Crimson Sword won't disappoint. If, on the other hand, you believe that fantasy began -- and should have ended -- with The Lord of the Rings, then by all means, dust off those tomes and give them another read instead.
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11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Predictable copy of copy, November 30, 2005
Maybe I expected too much, but this must be the disappointment of the year. Thompson's novel offers an extremely predictable story, copied from a number of writers who in turn have copied Tolkien. The characters are one-dimensional, the portrayal of women is abominable and the only slight surprise came in chapter one.
The story can be found in any number of derivative fantasy novels: young man finds himself to be prince, finds ancient artefact and saves the world from (also ancient) evil.
I wish I had something good to say about this book apart from the fact that the language is reasonable correct, but unfortunately it is based on the most common stereotypes in the genre and the tale has been told hundreds of times since *The Lord of the Ring*, mostly better. I was constantly hoping that the writer would get a new idea (there are possibilities) but in vain. If you are desperate to find something of interest, it is possible to read the three women (yes, only three! Less than in LotR; not bad) as representing the trinity of the Godess (mother, maiden, crone): a queen who makes a half-hearted bid at power but is killed long before she can do anything interesting; a girl in love with the hero but prefers to stay at home and heal sick and wounded when he gallivants off to save the world; and a sexy, scantily dressed, evil demon queen.
If this is your first fantasy novel, it might not seem so bad, but if you are reasonably well-read in the genre, the chances are that you see it for the imitation it is. It is dedicated to Terry Brooks "for showing me how it's done even if I haven't learned a thing". Brooks might not be the best of models (opinions differ) but I cannot but agree: Eldon Thompson really hasn't learnt a thing.
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7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Subpar fantasy, too many cliches, April 21, 2008
The Crimson Sword by Eldon Thompson is the first book in the Legend of Asahiel trilogy. The second book is titled the Obsidian Key, the third book is scheduled for release in August 2008 is titled the Divine Talisman. This is Mr. Thompson's first foray into the land that is authorship and as such there are bound to be some bumps along the way, but as with most fantasy debut authors, I was willing to give it a shot.
The plot of this book, in a word, is cliché filled. In and of itself, a cliché riddled isn't a bad thing. However, when that plot is not disguised or altered in any way, then it becomes a hindrance. In this book we have several long-standing clichés. Such as; the search for an artifact (the crimson sword) that if found will save the kingdom, and secondly the plot line involving a peasant who is unknowingly is of noble birth. He of course spurns the notion that he can do something to save the kingdom, as he is going through the paces of trying to save the kingdom. There are a couple predictable sub-plots as well, such as; the evil wizard seeking to take over the kingdom, the rampaging monsters that strike fear into the country side and many more sub-plots to round out the novel. In the end when I finished this novel I was left with a feeling of mediocrity. The adage of `been there done that' holds remarkably true for this novel. Any fan of the fantasy genre will surely see many repeated elements in this plot. It is almost as though Mr. Thompson read a bevy of fantasy novels and then selected plot points for this novel and crammed them together to make a story, albeit a very predictable one.
What to say about the characters. Starting with the peasant (unknowingly noble) Jarom to the evil unknown wizard seeking to take over the kingdom, they are all clichés. I have read each and every one of them at some point or another in different novels - most better written then in this novel. Add to that the assassin turned former assassin (but who still kills people) who "somehow" finds himself following Jarom. It just becomes too much to stomach. There are brief attempts at character development scattered throughout this novel, but in almost every case I had the feeling it wasn't so much character development as it was the author trying to make sure a later plot element could/would happen thereby necessitating the small change in a character. One of the things that I found odd, was that even though Jarom is what would be considered a main character, at no point during this book did I ever develop a liking to the character. In fact it was quite the opposite, I didn't like the character at all. He comes across as bland and whiny. I can name hundreds of characters that are more interesting than him, and none of them are from this novel.
Some of the things that I didn't like about this book.
1 - As I mentioned above, the multiple clichés, both plot wise and character wise. I have said it before, if an author opts to use a time honored cliché for either, they much repackage it so that it seems at least somewhat new to the reader. An author can not rely on the belief that if it worked for the previous author it will work for them as well. After a while even the most interesting plot, or character, if repeated enough, becomes uninteresting. That is the case with this book.
2 - The language in the book. I am not talking about cursing our anything like that. What I mean is Mr. Thompson seeks to describe everything, and does. To the point that it sucks all the imagination out of the reader. The reader is left with no option but to only see the authors view in all things. In my opinion, that takes away a good portion of the enjoyability of a book.
3 - Too much flowery language as well. Mr. Thomspon seems to try and make this book more than what it is. I don't mind, once or twice, seeing inside the characters head and knowing what they are thinking. But, in this book, especially with Jarom, it happens over, and over, and over again. To the point where I actually became frustrated with it.
4 - Some of the plot points seem jumpy and contrived. I obviously don't know the degree of planning that went into this story, but some of the plot points lead me to believe that the story changed dramatically as it was being written and the author lost control of the story.
With all that criticism, there were a couple things I liked about this book.
1 - The world seems rich and detailed. From what I learned about the world while reading this book it seems like a world that took some considerable planning and organization.
2 - Mr. Thompson seems to have a decent ability to write, if he reigns in some of the issues I outlined above. Some original ideas, getting rid of some needless description, and I think he can be a successful author.
When all is said ad done, my overall enjoyment while reading this book was very little. I found it often uninteresting and repeated what I had already read in other books. While there are certainly things I liked, they were often outnumbered by things I didn't like and in the end that is what I will remember the most about this novel. I can not, in good conscience, recommend this book to many people. With the wide array of fantasy novels lining the shelves today there are so many other novels that I would recommend long before even thinking of this one. I, for one, will not be reading any further in this series.
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