Customer Reviews

The Fire Duke: Keepers of the Hidden Ways Book One

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
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A trip home from college with friends turns into a nightmare with attacking werewolves and a journey to a mythical land..Once again Joel Rosenberg creates characters that you feel you know right down to their soul..Once you read this one you'll have to have the next 2 in the series & they won't dissapoint you..

Rosenberg starts another 'dual' series here, but with enough of a different spin than the Guardians of the Flame saga that it doesn't feel like he's done it all before. I'm always impressed with the way he gives the reader insight into the history of his characters without being overwhelming. A great mixture of action and insight, the 'what' and the 'why' of what's going on in the story.

And as usual with Rosenberg, the story is excellent. Thorian the Younger and Ian Silverstein are both worthy young heroes, and happily enough carry some baggage with them that actually affects them both positively and negatively throughout the story.

The Keepers series, in my estimation, doesn't quite measure up to _D'Shai_ and _Hour of the Octopus_, but it's definitely in the same ballpark. Solid, entertaining writing, definitely recommended for fans of Rosenberg or fantasy in general.

Ready for some fencing and Norse gods in your fantasy? This book delivers. Torrie Thorsen, college student, brings his friends home for vacation to rural Minnesota. Rosenberg shows the uniqueness of the family such as the fencing studio in the basement, Uncle Hosea's creations, and the mysterious gold which is the basis of the family fortune. His father's past as the professional duelist of the House of Flame invades the present as werewolves attack through a portal from another world. The beginning of the book is the strongest because of the descriptions of people in rural Minnesota. The character development of Ian Silverstein (Torrie's friend) is very well done. The fantasy world is well-constructed with lots of conflict. The special guest appearances by figures from Norse mythology are fun. I wish there had been more development of the female characters. The second book in the series is The Silver Stone.

Rosenberg does an excellent job wafting us right into his interesting "otherworld" where fertility godesses live in their retirement and Odin runs a ferry. He identifies a little too much with Ian, I think, and spends just a little too much time on small details, but then again the details add to the richness of the setting, so long as they don't bog you down. All in all, an excellent read, and I'm looking forward to the rest of the books in the series. I hope he can keep up the freshness of the ideas and vitality of the characters better in this series than he did in Guardians of the Flame.

Being of fan of Rosenberg for some time, I was impressed bythis latests offering. It is a well crafted book that takes the oldcliche of real world people being thrusted into a fantasy world and adds a lot of surprises! The characters felt real and three-dimensional. I have to agree with the eariler comment about Ian Silverstein because he was a really well developed, interesting character. Looking forward to the second book The Silver Stone.