Customer Reviews

Ending an Ending

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

 

 

An unknown man finds himself in a dark place. He remembers the trees, leaves and darkness of night, but doesn't understand who or what he is or where he is. He feels cold and remembers the daylight when he would be warmer so when he sees a bright light flickering off in the distance he thinks daylight and moves toward it hoping to not face another one of the weird beings he has already had to fight since arriving. At this spot, he meets a group of men. Sanct, later named by the others in this special group, feels the need to travel with this group and helps them in preventing the mage Obblagatt from taking over Seighn, Lej, and Brelia. After the mage is destroyed, Sanct feels only the need to get away alone. Centuries later, he awakes from another long sleep which proves to him that he is a Seren, but he doesn't know which God has sent him on the last mission or this newest mission.

The new mission: to save a princess and her babies. Sanct has not idea who, when, where or anything else about the mission. He instinctly does what he has to do. During this mission, Sanct meets Alaris, one of the most powerful mages alive. They join forces until after the babies are born when Sanct must leave. The reader doesn't know as yet who or what Sanct is and neither does Sanct know. By the end of the book, Alaris has his opinions as to who and what Sanct is, but he has little time to dwell on that matter since the Order of Humanity is after the children. Alaris sends each person involved out to do a part of the job that needs doing while he heads for his home: Pentagram. Now we must wait for Beginning: Second Book of the Laurian Pentology to learn what happens next.

Ending an Ending held me to my chair reading. Magic, elves, vampires, the whole nine yards, to use a cliché, is involved with the characters in this book. The book is filled with fantastic adventures in which to lose oneself; the ultimate trip into book land and well worth the time and money to obtain a copy to read.

I finished Danny Birt's BRILLIANT "Ending an Ending", and was greatly impressed by it! Chock full of rich and meaty characterizations, it was without a doubt a very filling read! I LOVED IT, and highly recommend it to anyone who wants vivid, unique characters in a wonderfully nonstandard fantasy adventure.

"Ending an Ending" has been criticized as being too cerebral, and cerebral it is, but the "too" part depends upon the reader. I found the depth refreshing. The philosophical self-reflection by the main character who was quite literally trying to find himself and his place in the world was an exciting change of pace, all the more satisfying because it challenged us to think about and digest what we'd read.

Here was a story that did require me to think, to participate even, and this truly was a strength. Birt plays a lot with writing conventions, much to the story's benefit. His original and creative approach to storytelling wholly complemented the story he was actually telling, as well as the unique characters he populated the world with. It wasn't just Different to be Different, it was form following function.

I am EAGERLY awaiting the other four books in the Laurian Pentology!

First of a series called the Laurian Pentology, this book takes place on a flat, polytheistic world where the gods take an active role in everyday life. People called Seren awake from Sleep, which could last weeks or centuries, knowing the name of "their" God. Their mission, and destination, is generally implanted in their brain. Sanct is the exception.

He has no idea who his God is (which is totally unheard of), and has come into possession of a staff of great power. No matter how much he tries to get rid of it, the staff always returns to him. In his present mission, Sanct has this vague feeling to travel in a certain direction, but agrees to go in the opposite direction to help Pander, who he met on a previous mission. They travel to the castle of Seighn, where Pander's mission is to prevent an assassination, but he doesn't know who or how or when. While there, the castle is destroyed by a magically-created earthquake, and the King and Queen are killed. Pander and Sanct get their daughter, and heiress to the throne, Eiry, out of the area, fast. Whoever caused the earthquake will be looking for Eiry.

Along with several others, a young man named Claren joins the group. He was subject of some high-level magic, which scrambled his neural circuits, causing him to talk in gibberish. After his brain is unscrambled, he and Eiry instantly fall for each other. Alaris, a mage of great power who seems to know everyone and everything, finds an isolated farming community where all of them, especially Eiry, can hide. The urgency is because the amount of time allotted to the world is quickly running out, so there is the great danger of everything just ceasing to exist.

This is a fine piece of storytelling, and of world-building. It may seem a little slow, and will take some work on the part of the reader, but it is very much worth the time.

Danny Brit has created a complete world and stuffed it - jack-in-the-box style - in less than three-hundred pages. Its characters suprise, entertain, and titilate. The nations of his complex world are rich and visual. His characters aren't at all what they seem. There is a man (Sanct) who dresses like a Mage and isn't. He carries a magical staff that isn't there. He may or may not be on a mission for the gods. He crosses paths with elves, mages, mental deficients, royalty, and vampires. Sanct may be a hero, or he may be the instrument that destroys their world.

Villains become heroes and heroes become villains, in this very exciting tale. I appreciate that the author includes a glossary and pronunciation section to help those of us who have trouble with complexities.

As I said, this is a very exciting read and I am waiting(impatiently) for the next book.

From the moment you open this book you know its something different. From the style to the way the narrative interacts with the characters this is a fun, fast and entertaining read. It deals with some very complex issues, but without being preachy or pushing things down your throat.

I am 100 pages in at this moment and I have to say I am more in love with some of the characters then I usually am with some books at that point. Birt deals with them in such a human, real way that is very hard not to connect with them. Sanct's journey to learn mirrors the reader's eagerness to understand the world they are also journeying through. Yes there are aspects of the reluctant hero, the orphan and some classic fantesy traits but they are re-vissioned in such a way that reads as both original and timeless.

In that respect I also appreciate that his version of elves is not stereotypical.

The only reason this book does not receive a perfect score is that the two word dynamic did go on a little too long and the preface. The two words took away from his really amazing tone sometimes and got distracting, even though I knew what he was trying to accomplish. The preface I think set up the book as something a little different then what it actually is, but it was something I quickly got over. I may be judging on my own preferences...And those are hardly reasons not to read this book.

I am very excited to read his next book and watch this author really grow with this series!

I'm not sure what all the hoopla is about with the 8th grade vocabulary, but Danny Birt's book is an easy read compared to Tolkien or any other "classical" fantasy. Anyone reading George R. R. Martin or Robert Jordan is used to being introduced to a lot of characters and changing scenery. It's ragging on the genre to expect Fantasy readers to read in the slow zone or not to get their fill of creative characters and places.

What's cool about Danny Birt's book is that it's not the Hero's Journey. It's very hard to find a Fantasy book that is different from the formula Birt spells out in his author's note. However, there are some people who prefer the Hobbit to the Silmarillion--they're both good, but very different. But what a sorry world where only the Hobbit could get published and we never got to read the Silmarillion! Jordan introduces thirty named characters in the first fifty pages of his first book and it didn't hurt him any. My grandfather always said that you knew a book was good when you got out your pencil to take notes. But that's the hard core fans for you.

What I liked about this book, and why I gave it four stars is that I had fun reading it. Fantasy is about escapism and adventure but is a great genre for introducing metaphysical ideas. In Detective/Mystery you deal with ethics in the fantasy of crime; in Fantasy and SF you deal with metaphysics. I was hooked when Sanct first starts asking questions about the world and the three men and the elf were hard pressed to answer them.

But Danny Birt is right. If you have trouble reading Harry Potter, if you have metaphysical issues with why it's raining in July instead of sunny, then you might not like characters questioning the gods and using an adult vocabulary. Sorry to sound sarcastic, but a book should be evaluated for itself, not against the market sprawl.

Birt's book has action, intrigue, a world that is so creative that it really got me thinking about elves and dwarves in a different way. It's got issues that I care about treated in a real way and characters that are sympathetic and not cardboard role-playing figures. He treats Sanct's amnesia in a very different way from, say, Prince Corwin's amnesia, and I'm looking forward to the next book. The only thing bad I have to say about Ending and Ending is the thing I said about Martin and Jordan--WHERE IS THE NEXT BOOK!!! I'm sure it will be worth waiting for.