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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
A flat tale devoid of emotional involvement, February 15, 2004
The Eyes of God is a story of how a single decision made for the sake of love leads to a series of unjust tragedies. Authors on the outside and inside covers commend it for being vague about what is for good and what is for ill. But while some authors, George RR Martin being my favorite, can write a story that is wholeheartedly grey or even black and still have their readers twined around their fingers, the Eyes of God only manages with its neutrality to make the reader care less about the characters. Every character but the villain and antihero is the same... they care deeply for human life but have a hard streak if you touch the wrong topic. They have a great weakness, but have learned to overcome it with time. This lack of distinction made it difficult to associate with any characters after the first three that were introduced. It would seem the author realized that with the characters' lack of individual charisma, he needed something else in order to make the reader take sides. The "good guys" not only have higher moral standards, but are also protecting a keep full of defenseless cripples. The "bad guys" are not only aggressors without moral cause, they are also murderers and psychopaths. My complaints could go on, but I have a word limit to deal with here. I should put in a few words about why I gave this a 2 instead of a 1. The anti-hero King Akeela follows an interesting path of descent to redemption throughout the book. He is without a doubt the most dynamic character contained within. Also, the plot, while not being full of suprises, follows a fairly unfamiliar path if the Arthurian love triangle is cast aside. If you like stories of medieval wars and aren't huge on characters, this story might be for you, but don't say I reccomended it.
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20 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A departure for Marco, August 18, 2002
This review is from: The Eyes of God (Daw Book Collectors) (Hardcover)
Having read John Marco's previous novels, of the TYRANTS AND KINGS trilogy, I went into THE EYES OF GOD with high expectations. T&K, despite characters that were usually pretty weak, was an amazing military fantasy, featuring some the best-written and most inventive battle sequences I've ever read, and quite a bit of interesting strategizing. THE EYES OF GOD, however, is a very definite departure from what Marco has written before. This novel is much more character-driven than his other novels; it is not about a war, but about the interactions of its characters. This was an ambitious move on Marco's part, considering how weak many of his characters have been in his previous novels, and it provides mixed results. This book is broken into three parts, each better than the last. Truth to tell, I really had to force my way through much of Part One; there was very little originality there. Part One was mostly just a retelling of the whole Arthur/Lancelot/Guenevere story, with a few twists, but it really served to make me a bit wary as to what the rest of the novel would hold. Part Two picks up nearly twenty years later, and basically is there to get all the characters in position for Part Three, which is where the final confrontation between characters occurs. Not only did my level of interest in the plot grow with each successive part -- Marco's skill at writing believable characters grew, too. At the beginning of the novel, many of the characters' actions seemed kind of spontaneous and didn't really work with what we knew of the characters, but by the end the characters all seemed real and natural. THE EYES OF GOD is a massive book, an epic fantasy that is truly worthy of the name. Like all of Marco's previous novels, this one stands alone even though it is part of a series. This is a book about love and betrayal, passion and madness, loyalty and honor, cowardice and paranoia and guilt. There are some battles, though frequently not on the scale of Marco's previous novels. There are nations at war, but they are not the point of this book. There are magical amulets, characters with "magic," monstrous beings, intrigue and revenge. Overall, despite a shaky start, this novel is definitely worth reading, and Marco's definitely an author to keep your eyes on.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Poor writing, shallow world, deeply flawed characters, March 18, 2011
I'm not sure I'd have given this even one star, but there was nothing less, so there you are. Not only is the plot predictable, the culture borrowed from our own world, but the actual writing itself is an English teacher's nightmare. Examples of misplaced or wrong conjunctions, and nonsequiter sentences and out of place, but very simplistic thoughts made this a laborious read. Other reviewers have extolled his military prowess, but being from a military family, I found it woefully immature lacking in military protocol. When a good writer such as Jordon writes, one takes for granted their vast knowledge in warfare, civilization building, intrigue, human woes, royalty, and leadership. Marco's attempt at building these is childish and I wondered how any publishing company accepted him. The characters are shallow and their behaviors are not consistent with their station in life.
If you want a good read, filled with the moral high ground, written in English (I at first thought Marco was not from America, and that it was simply a bad translation), full of adventure, and characters you can identify with, then don't waste your money on this series.
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