Dark Lord: Book One of the Falconfar Saga [Hardcover]

Ed Greenwood (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Solaris (November 13, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1844165191
• ISBN-13: 978-1844165193
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,392,869 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Ed Greenwood, creator of the Forgotten Realms setting, is the best-selling author of hundreds of novels, game products, and articles. His most recent novel for Wizards of the Coast is The City of Splendors, a collaboration with Elaine Cunningham. He is also the author of the Band of Four novels published by Tor Books.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Ok read, a bit rushed though, November 10, 2007

By 

E. Wise (Ohio, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Dark Lord: Book One of the Falconfar Saga (Hardcover)

Maybe I'm just spoiled by the character development in some other series like George Martin & co, but this story seemed kind of rushed. The basic plot was somewhat attractive to me, fantasy writer sucked into a world of his making that is corrupted and needs fixing, however the writers knowledge alluded to places without taking the time to go into much depth.

The fight scenes are pretty well done though, and the personality of the main evil wizard was well developed and was a believable villain. The dialogue wasn't all that inspiring however and I found myself not caring about many of the characters tossed my way. I think if the author had spent more time developing these characters and moved the plot a bit more slowly things would have turned out a bit better.

That said, if you're into the D&D/Forgotten Realms type books, this fits right into that segment (fast moving, not very complicated plots with heroes crashing from one conflict to the next) then you should have a decent read of it. If you're into the more mature and detailed books like Martin, Jordan, etc this one may leave you a bit wanting.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I really did enjoy this book, December 1, 2008

By 

Kurt A. Johnson (North-Central Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dark Lord: Book One of the Falconfar Saga (Hardcover)

When Rod Everlar began having dreams about a magical land called Falconfar, a land of knights and wizards and beautiful winged women called Aumrarr, he wrote the dreams down and turned them into a series of best-selling books. But, when he awakes from one of those dreams to find himself confronted by a grievously wounded Aumrarr, he soon finds that his late night dreams have become his waking nightmare. Taeauna the Aumrarr spirits him off to Falconfar where he must heal the land and put right all that has now become so grievously wrong.

Overall, I must say that I really liked this book. I think that Mr. Greenwood did a great job of creating a very interesting world, which he populated with interesting characters. I liked the intensity of the action, and found myself totally drawn along by the flow of the story.

Sadly, the story does have its problems. First of all, Mr. Greenwood did go too far with the sexuality in the story - it makes it feel like the target audience was randy teenage boys, and it cheapens the whole thing. Secondly, after the first instance, the drinking of Rod Everlar's blood for its healing properties quickly took on a creepy and disturbing feel. And my final complaint is that the book ends with a cliffhanger, demanding that you read the next installment of the series, and keeping this book from being a free-standing work in its own right.

But, that said, I really did enjoy this book. The action was great, and the magic was exciting and well-drawn. Also, I really did like the characters of Taeauna and Rod Everlar, and cared for them along their adventures. So, let me say that I did love this book, and I do recommend it...with some minor caveats.

1.0 out of 5 stars Ed Greenwood Falls from Grace, July 12, 2011

By 

Antonious Prime "AP" (Scotland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dark Lord: Book One of the Falconfar Saga (Hardcover)

Oh Ed, how did we ever get here?

Let me start off by saying I read a LOT of fantasy, and as such can enjoy a shallow tale of swords and sorcery. I've been a fan of Greenwood since, well, the original Forgotten Realms years and picked this up hoping to be transported back to the days when the genre was fresh, and closer to the RPG roots from whence it originated.

How disappointed I was.

This is a terrible book and really smacks of a half-hearted attempt at a pay-day for Greenwood.

The writing is lazy, virtually unedited as far as I can see (as another reviewer noted, the word 'shapely' is used almost every page - also, I silently screamed every time I read the word 'wherefore' it's used so often). Random plot devices, hideously cliched exposition, uninteresting characters, lack of any real storyline... I could go on. But I won't. I've wasted enough of my life reading this trash.

If you prefer your brain cells to stay in your head as opposed to sluicing out your ears, avoid.