Customer Reviews

The Darkest Day (Iron Tower Trilogy) (Book 3)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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.

Reading anything derivative can be an exercise in pain, but the Iron Tower trilogy is like watching a train plummet off a cliffside. The most flagrantly derivative fantasy trilogy out there limps to a silly climax in "Darkest Day," a sad ending to an unworthy trilogy. (And, alas, the beginning of an equally unworthy series)
The Boskydells have been freed from Modru's Horde by the High King's armies. Tuck and Merrilee are reunited just as the armies start off to the land of Gron, where the evil Modru is planning to yank back the even more evil Gyphon from the void to which he's been banished. And wimpy Princess Laurelin is somehow a part of his evil malevolent plot. So Warrow Tuck Underbank must somehow save the world, armed only with a prophecy and a little red arrow.

The main positive thing that can be said about "Darkest Day" is that the all-too-similar elements are toned down a little. What's there is essentially the same as before, with the dull Elf seers, tough-wannabe hobbit clones, gruff Dwarves, and a thousand other little elements. There's not much that's new. Unfortunately, what McKiernan puts in instead is even worse.

Lacking a ring or a Mount Doom, he creates a climactic human sacrifice scene that wouldn't be out of place in a third-rate horror sequel. Modru's motives for kidnapping Laurelin are revealed, and boy are they stupid. The epic final clash is nothing more than background noise, and the characters become thinner and whinier as their numbers increase. As the final insult, McKiernan includes some shortish appendices and timelines, in the manner of Tolkien's "Return of the King." Including these fails completely to give the trilogy any depth.

The writing, while not quite as atrocious as it was in the first book, is still bland and obsessed with details that nobody could care less about. Dialogue is mind-blowingly trite, with the heroes speaking as if in the throes of manic, wild emotion; McKiernan is even subtle enough to have the villain Modru hiss when he talks. And while I love a well-written love story in any kind of book, the relationship between Merrilee and Tuck is so hideously sweet that it will make your teeth ache.

The weepily ineffective Tuck remains ineffectual and inexplicably liked by everyone; McKiernan injures him badly, apparently thinking that readers will sympathize. Psycho-Warrow Danner's storyline is concluded in a very theatrical manner. Galen, Gildor the Elf and Brega the Dwarf are still bland and uninteresting, as they have the same personality. And the insultingly weak Laurelin cries, whimpers and whines her way until somebody gets around to rescuing her. The stupidity of Modru's motives takes away any shreds of interest I had in him.

Written in a style to make Tolkien fans whimper and English majors grow dizzy, "Darkest Day" is a fittingly limp finale to a dull, derivative trilogy.

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.

It comes down to it at last. The Warrows brave the citadel of the Dark Lord and with a red arrow from a bygone age, the fate of the world will be decided. The arrow in question was found after in a tomb after the fall of the city in the first book.

Excellent read. Loved the conclusion, unfortunately like Tolkien, he dragged it on far longer than it needed. Other than that, was a great book.

The Darkest Day and the others in the series are my favorite books. I loved how the author got into such detailed explinations of the creatures and characters in the books. I thought that the characters were well outlined to the reader, and I enjoyed the many different plot twists. I think he is a wonderful writer and eagerly await his new works.

I enjoyed this book and the Iron Tower Trilogy VERY MUCH!!! YES, this book is VERY similiar to stuff Tolkien put out, and thats what I LOVE about it. In book 1, The Dark Tide, McKiernan gives much credit to Tolkien and several others so I see no problems with the similarities what so ever. I have read the series twice now and I'm sure I will read it again!

This book brings up shared feelings, fistly, it should be pretty obvious to anyone who read Lord of the Rings from Tolkien, that this book -like its two predecessors- is a blatant copy of it. Yet despite this, it is a good series, and this is the most enjoyable of all three installments. It tells the story nicely, and is always exciting. The story is divided in many parts, which is a nice touch. Especially the last part of the book is very well done. The last third of the book tells the story of how the victors spend their lives after the evil is destroyed, and it is very nice indeed, I read through it ravenously. Overall, a very good book, if you forget it is a rehash of tolkien's work.

Although slow at times in the beginning and definatly slower in the middle of the book, this book has a very good climax build up to the end.We see heros rise to the occasion. some in glory, and some in death.Good does triumph over evil for now.I liked the way the author told of the lives of everyone after the war,how they lived and how they died etc...

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