Customer Reviews

The Dreamstone (Runesword, Vol. 3)

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"The Dreamstone" is the third book in the "Runesword" series. Written by two different female authors under the pseudonym J.F. Rivkin (responsible for the excellent but largely unheard of and underappreciated Sword & Sorcery series, Silverglass) it details the further adventures of our four Outcasts; Bith a young human sorceress, Caltus a young human warrior, Hathor the vegetarian troll and Endril the world weary elven archer. In this installment the group learns that their reoccurring wizard nemesis Schlein has been given a powerful artifact called the Dreamstone by his master, the aptly named Dark Lord. With this stone Schlein can attack the heroes while they sleep and make the danger of dreams a reality. Here are my thoughts on The Dreamstone;


Pros

+ Quick and easy read.

+ Had a bit of a darker tone than the previous books. You can clearly see the more adult Sword & Sorcery influence of the authors while still trying to balance the book for a younger audience.

+ Cover art by Larry Elmore.

+ Doesn't continue to rely heavily on Norse mythos.

+ The "Dark Lord" actually begins to take on a form and is partially described.


Cons <Contains spoilers>

- Bith and Cal's squabbling is still present and continues to annoy. To quote the elf Endril at the end of the first chapter, "Did I say you were behaving like a green girl? Forgive me. I was incorrect. Both of you are behaving like nursery brats."

- Extremely abrupt ending. Just when the story was shaping up it ended.

- Story didn't really follow the group finding and destroying a Runesword as commanded by the god Vili in the previous books. While a sword with runes on it was destroyed while Cal was fighting a demon it's never explained that it was a Runesword. Nor does Vili appear to commend them on the completion of their quest.

- As in the previous books things move along rather quickly and often without purpose making things feel loosely strung together.

- No world map.


The Dreamstone, in my opinion is the strongest Runesword title that I've read so far. However, that's not exactly a difficult feat to achieve. There were parts that I really enjoyed reading while there were other areas, such as the YA influence, that slowed things down for me. It's too bad that the J.F. Rivkin authors weren't hired to write more of the series as I think it would have helped fill in the storyline a bit more. However, I still felt some things were left unfinished, especially regarding the god Vili and the destruction of another Runesword. In any case it was still an acceptable and refreshing read despite its slight story tangent.

RuneSword is a great series by several authors of sorcery and adventure about four outcast adventurers that must save the world from the Dark Lords. Elizebith the sorceress, Caltus Talienson the warrior outlaw, Hathor the barbarian ogre, and Endril the elvin archer who must put aside their differences to band together on several adventures through a continuing story in several books to save the world. A great adventure story of might,and magic, of triumphs and victories at unbeliviable odds. A must read for those who love adventures set in the time of the middle earth.

SAVE YOUR MONEY AND DON'T BUY THIS BOOK. BUT IF YOU ALREADY FELL INTO THIS TRAP, DON'T GO FORWARD!