The Darkest Day (Iron Tower Trilogy) (Book 3) [Paperback]

Dennis L. McKiernan (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Roc (October 1, 1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451450833
• ISBN-13: 978-0451450838
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #697,944 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Thinly veiled Lord of The Rings, October 21, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Darkest Day (Iron Tower Trilogy) (Book 3) (Paperback)

Having read Mr. Mckiernan's Caverns of Socrates and the Dragonstone, I was excited to read The Darkest Day, though I usually don't start at the end of a trilogy. However, what I found was a Tolkien theft of great magnitude: it's a Reader's Digest version of Tolkien's work, minus the wizards, and with a more military role for the Hobbits (imagine Frodo killing Sauron in his tower instead of destroying the ring). The synopsis of the earlier books (which sounds a great deal like the synopses in The Two Towers and Return of the King) shows that a small party escape into a dwarven stronghold by saying the proper words at one of the gates, while being attacked by a krakenbeast, then slay one of the dark lord's servants while inside, apparently in the process destroying a bridge over a chasm. Can anyone say Moria? There's the grumpy dwarf who befriends an elf (they ride off together at the end), and there's a mystical Elven enclave where people are healed (Lorien, anyone? They even get boats to continue their journey, and fine elven ropes.) And of course, what LOTR derivative would be complete without a Shire which the heros get to help defend? For all my disappoinment at the blatant plot stealing, it's decently written, though some of the dialogue is stilted, even given the fact that it is intentionally archaic. I will read others in the Mithgar set, in hopes that there will be some originality, on the strengths of other works of Mr. McKiernan's that I have enjoyed. Maybe I missed something, and in the preface to the first book Mr. McKiernan states as his purpose a retelling of Lord of the Rings, but somehow I doubt it.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Iron Tower Omnibus, September 8, 2011

By 

tyrel - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Darkest Day (Iron Tower Trilogy) (Book 3) (Paperback)

If you have ever read a series like this you will know that it is full of adventure and mind-bending feats. Being a very avid reader of all types of books, and having started Tolkiens Lord of the Ring series and putting it down due to the dullness and slowness of the books,I decided to try The Iron Tower Trilogy. What a great series!! Sure it parallels Lord of the Rings but it is different as time and people move quite rapidly. I could not put the books down. I have reread this series 3 times and love it more each time. If you think it is a rewrite of Tolkiens work, I urge you to read the whole series as it is quite different. I'd pick this book a thousand times over Tolkiens, Lord of the Rings. Wish they had made the movies from this series rather than the other. It makes better sense.

2.0 out of 5 stars A Plagiaristic Travesty, November 27, 2009

By 

George E. Borel Jr. (Michigan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Darkest Day (Iron Tower Trilogy) (Book 3) (Paperback)

I started with the Silver Call Duology when I was a young teen, and, upon finishing it I read the entire Iron Tower Trilogy. Even at that age, I was struck by the incredible similarities between McKiernan's work and Tolkien's. While I did enjoy it as a 13 year old, I am now astounded that it ever even got published. The Silver Call was to be a sequal to the Lord of the Rings, and some plagiarism is acceptable as a piece of 'fan-fiction'. But to go back then and re-write the Lord of the Rings as a prequel is pointless and unforgiveable. It pales in comparison to the original. Why read a thinly veiled and poorer copy when you can read the original? I have to say, I've never read another one of McKiernan's works, nor now do I care too. His editor should have been sacked as well. The Tolkien estate should have sued the lot of them. I gave it two stars only because I liked it when I didn't know any better. Now, I don't even think it should be in print anymore. Plagiarism of the highest degree.