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100 of 115 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
"The Epic Fantasy of the Year" -- isn't, August 17, 2002
As I was reading this book, a line from THE MUSIC MAN kept running through my mind: "But ya gotta know the territory!" Let me explain: This is Robert Newcomb's debut novel. No marks against him there; everyone's got to start someplace. But not only has he not written fantasy before; apparently, he has only *read* one fantasy novel in his life. How someone can presume to participate in a genre in which he's not well-versed, I don't know, but Newcomb's lack of background shows in that he falls into the cliché-trap at nearly every turn. You've got an ancient war with prophecies and repercussions into the present day. You've got a gruff, inscrutable wizard mentoring the young, reluctant prince -- who happens to have unimaginably vast magical potential. There is no all-powerful EEEVILLLLL Dark Lord, but what there is is worse: the enemies are Sorceresses, the female magic-wielding counterparts of Wizards. Unlike in Robert Jordan's books, in which case there is a plausible reason for the schism between male and female magic users, here for some reason the women are just kind of randomly, innately evil. The author pretty much comes out and says that women, granted power, will almost inevitably use it for evil, whereas men, granted the same power, manage to maintain self-control and use it only altruistically. The writing is effective but pedestrian; in fact, it could use quite a bit of work. Newcomb has some pretty good visuals, but he often rambles on for pages of details when mere paragraphs would have been sufficient; he uses five words where one would work. The book is full of awkwardly phrased sentences, typos, and annoyingly frequent repetition of phrases such as "impossible angles," or the use of "the old one" to describe the wizard. Additionally, the violence is brutally and graphically depicted without being at all kinetic or engaging, making even the battles a chore to read. In terms of the plot, the novel opens hundreds of years in the past, at the end of a war between the Sorceresses and the Wizards. The Wizards, having won, make an unbelievably, and unforgivably, stupid decision -- they free the evil and powerful leaders of the Sorceresses to live in exile, rather than executing them. Needless to say, this altruistic act comes back to haunt them, as the Sorceresses, like the Wizards, have employed their powers to make "time enchantments" that make them effectively immortal. The Sorceresses, presumed dead in their exile, create a big army and. . .you get the picture. As for the magic itself, which is an important thing in a fantasy novel, it's pretty much a rehash of the old "Light Side of the Force/Dark Side of the Force" dichotomy with a few twists that pretty much make no sense. Further, there's very little sense of any kind of *rules* to the magic system; a Wizard seems able to do just about anything with magic without tiring or draining himself unduly. To close, I'll say this: I've seen this book compared to George R. R. Martin's books several times. I'd just like to point out that Martin's novels are not popular because they're big, thick fantasy. They're popular because they're good. Despite their length, they don't waste words. Every scene is important. Every character is important. And the events are not standard, clichéd fantasy fare. Readers are smart. They are not fooled by the fact that a book is long, and they recognize quality when they see it. This book is not quality fantasy. It is overlong, overdetailed, boring, silly, and far too self-important. I, for one, will not be reading any further volumes of this series.
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49 of 55 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
WAR OF THE WORDS, March 26, 2003
This book is an exciting account of a death-struggle between two mortal foes. Only one cam triumph. These deadly adversaries are the author and the English language. English loses. THE ADVERB PLAGUE! Good writers know that you don't tell your readers what you just said. Mr. Newcomb has yet to learn this. So we have gems like "Go around it,' Shannon said quickly."
"You'll soon find out,' he said sternly." "Gnomes,' he said simply." These examples are all from pp. 318 and 319, and there are two more in the same place. The first quote in the book is "Bring them up,' Wigg said simply."
Mr. Newcomb should find out what a "Tom Swifty" is. HOWLERS? Oh, yes. "Swinging one leg over the pommel of his saddle, he slipped quickly to the ground." (still p. 318) I'm sure he did, if he tried to dismount by swinging his leg over his horse's head. Nice image, though.
"Don't get any ideas about stealing our horses.' He narrowed his eyes and smiled ruefully." (318 yet again!) I wonder what the author thinks 'ruefully' means? REPETITION? Let's see...
(260) "reached out at the last possible instant"
(262) "help me wait until the last instant"
(262, 6 lines lower) "At the last possible second, Tristan..."
No editor could have been assigned to the book. WONDERFUL NAMES! So ingenious, like Tristan (where's Isolde?), Natasha (where's Boris?), Wigg (Wigg??), Lillith (where's Eve?) Lillith's father is named Agamedes, and her brother is Chauncey. Obviously an Anglo-Greek lass. (Chauncey??) I could go on, but it's hardly necessary. The amazing thing is that, not being a masochist, I didn't read the whole book. I did not need to scrutinize the work for occasional lapses. I found these almost at random. This is just plain bad writing. It is a weak first draft. How could such a thing be accepted by an agent and a publisher? The biggest loser in all of this is the author, who, with this thing on the shelves, may never learn to write at all. Please, someone, send him a copy of Browne and King's "Self-Editing for Fiction Writers," quick. Or maybe his publisher will buy him a copy. It's the least Del Rey could do, seeing that they wouldn't give him an editor. FINALLY: I pass over in silence, since others have covered them here, the unpleasing scenes of ghastly, gratuitous gore and silly, sadistic sex that the author inserts, perhaps in a desperate effort to keep his readers awake. But I can't resist mentioning that Mr. Newcomb manages to mess up even his dedication! It reads, "For Joyce, mon raison d'etre." But 'raison' is feminine, and the phrase should be 'ma raison.' Please, Monsieur Newcomb, stay away from foreign languages. You have enough trouble with English!
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27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Putridity with plenty of hype, December 10, 2003
This review is from: The Fifth Sorceress (The Chronicles of Blood and Stone, Book 1) (Mass Market Paperback)
It's a mystery that this pompous, unoriginal, often offensive tome wasn't handed around the editorial department for the sake of comic relief, and then rejected with extreme prejudice. There are plenty of hack fantasies out there, but "Fifth Sorceress" may take the cake for the most putrid. After a war between the sorceresses and the wizards, the wizard Directorate sends the four remaining sorceresses to sea on a perilous voyage to who-knows-where. Centuries later, young Prince Tristan is about to become king of Eutracia, where those of "endowed" blood get to rule. Except he doesn't want to. When he gets lost in the woods and ends up in a cave full of red water, his sister Princess Shailiha and the wizard Wigg search for him -- and encounter signs of the sorceresses' return. Tristan's coronation is interrupted by horrible flying creatures that murder all the wizards but Wigg, his parents, and most of the people in the area. Then the sorceresses kidnap Shailiha -- and her unborn baby -- with the help of a mysterious fifth sorceress (the title character has virtually no impact on the story). Now Tristan and Wigg must rescue Shailiha before the sorceresses get their hands on unspeakable magical power. Few books can truly be said to have no redeeming characteristics, but "Fifth Sorceress" is among those. It's a stinking, sloppy, poorly-written and poorly-characterized mess. There are only so many ways that things can be handled originally in fantasy. With wise and cryptic wizards, magic trinkets, winged warriors and a chiseled hero, how original can the book be? Even the concept of "pure blood" was painful. The writing is poorly edited and inconsistent. At one point, Tristan is raped by one of the sorceresses. Weirdly enough, he doesn't seem traumatized at all by this. Killing his own dad has only slightly more effect. Newcomb's style is unsubtle and repetitive; the words "blood," "endowed," and "Chosen" show up constantly. His obsession with sex shows in his weird choice of words (how can a person have a "sexual longing" for WATER?), and his "shocking stuff" (heads being strung on rope like beads) either read like bad porn or an unnecessary effort to shock. Perhaps the most offensive aspect of the book is the way women are portrayed. Either they're evil, perverted dominatrix fiends who wear sexy clothes (gotta have some gratuitous leg-flashing), or they are subserviant idiots who either get pregnant and cry, or serve as convenient sex toys for the protagonist. Apparently Tristan's endowed twin Shailiha (Princess Leia, anyone?) is supposed to be a spunky female character. The less said about Shailiha, the better. Tristan is a whiny, spineless excuse for a hero. While reluctance can be a good trait in a hero, here it just makes him seem like a spoiled brat who doesn't want to deal with responsibility. Wigg is a cookie-cutter wizard. Shailiha is so much baggage; she's basically a walking womb for an "endowed" baby the sorceresses want. She goes insane fairly soon into the book (apparently a woman can't retain her sanity if her husband is killed), and is even more annoying when she's insane. "Fifth Sorceress" comes across as "Star Wars" reimagined by an S&M enthusiast. A putrid, poorly-written, excruciating excuse for hack fantasy. It takes the worst of the genre and cobbles it together in one reeking bundle. Avoid at all costs.
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