Customer Reviews

Guardians of the Flame

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Have you ever wondered what would happen if you suddenly found yourself as your character in an actual AD&D setting? That's what happens to these college students when it turns out their professor, who organizes their gaming nights, is also from the Other Side. This was absolutely excellent. I could NOT put it down and literally fell asleep while reading it (which is something I only do with GREAT books!) You don't want to eat, you don't want to sleep, you just want to see what happens next. I've managed to read the next 3 in the series as well, want the rest of the series, and so will you. Sci-fi fanatics, RPGamers....read this! Rosenburg has really done his homework. You see every spell, feel every bruise, smell...well, you get the idea. So go get it! What are you waiting for?

Mr Rosenberg has written an incredible series. Like many of his fans I first read this in highschool and find myself re-reading it over and over again. Full of adventure and humor, the stories are a fast read. Lots of plot twists, full of lovable characters, you will want to get the entire series and wait impatiently for the next book.....which hopefully will be comming out soon. I highly recommend this, its a great introduction to the works of Joel Rosenberg.

Upon reading "Guardians of the Flame," it was my attention that it was about some characters being pulled into their fantasy game. Many people who enjoy role-playing games (e.g. AD&D) would understand that being in the real thing (a medieval fantasy world) is and would truly be a great adventure...for about a week or so. But going further I see that the characters stay there for life, some even losing theirs along the way. Joel Rosenberg implemented this use of crossing reality with fiction (a real world with a fantasy world) and made a swashbuckling drama, if that is possible. Some times, the characters themselves evolved and learned from their mistakes, slowly maturing as the novel took its course. This is extremely hard to do when one considers the many aspects of life. With some lessons being taught to characters, the novel its self is also that captivating that the reader can also learn from it. Compared to other fantasy novels, "Guardians of the Flame" is a novel that can be read over and over without getting tired of the plot or losing any of its meaning. This is a must read for anyone who has ever been exposed to authors such as Tolkien, Jordan, or Salvatore. The plot its self is so grippling that one will not be able to put the book down to even drink dare drink upon going to the next chapter. Rosenberg's use of description upgrades the fighting scenes with necessary macabre when needed, or even lightens the mood of a moment that is sad in total regard towards the reader's emotions. That is another aspect of Rosenberg, his tendency to supply important moments with so much life that a reader can actually sense any of the character's feelings and emotions. "Guardians of the Flame" is and will be the best novel for hard-core fantasy readers, and the first novel they should read.

Quite possibly one of the best series of books ever written.
Mr. Rosenberg has created a believable fantasy world. The story flows so well that you'll look up to find that hours have passed and you've become so engrossed that you really don't mind the missing time.
With this omnibus you begin a sweeping saga of character growth. You will see how each character is given time to grow and become an integral part of the story.
You will follow Karl and his companions- Walter, Doria, Andrea, Ahira, Lou, Ellegon, Tennetty, and Chak- as they travel the Eren Regions. You will find yourself cheering out loud and crying along with them.
Don't forget to read the other Guardian's novels. Also look for Mr. Rosenberg's fans on the net, we're waiting to meet you.

This omnibus edition of the popular fantasy series written in the 1980s wast just re-released. Guardians of the Flame is the story of a group of college students who, while playing a game of Dungeons and Dragons (or its fictional equivalent), are transported to the world in which their game is played, and are trapped there until they find the Gate Between the Worlds.

What can I say, I have fallen in love with this series! It is the novel every RPG geek has dreamed about. The characters are funny - though some are slightly more one-dimensional than others - and the adventures the group has are action-packed. I'm currently reading book 4 and, while the action is a bit bogged down by some political situations the characters have gotten in to, I can tell the series is going to become one of my favorites.

I first read this when I was 15. Over the past 25 years of my 31 year old adventure here on earth (in other words I am 31 years old) I have read perhaps hundreds of series, many in the sci-fi fantasy genre.
This series as a whole ranks in my top 10, with Tolkien, glen cooks black company series, Paul andersons the earth-book of storm gate, James Clemmons Banned and banished, and others. Why?
Well, lets be honest, the series doesn't have quite the cultural/historical depth of Tolkien, and not quite the breadth of the Earth book, and isn't really dark as the W'itch series. On a technical since there are better writers (I mean in grammar and prose.)
But this book, like the others in my top 10, has character. It tells its story well. And unlike some of the others in my top ten, I like all 10 books in this series equally well. Its characters are real, with real problems and concerns, and distinct (often gritty) points of view. They don't always overcome their problems, like Walters marriage problems, or Doria's inner conflict. There are strong adult themed problems here (I cant mention many of them as I think you should find them out in the story) It has an energy that grow as you read, as you become friends with the characters, and as they go through hardship and triumph (big and small) you feel for them, because these characters, almost every one of them, become your friends...They are not the nicest of people, but they are your friends, and in this world (if not always in ours)that means something special.
I still read this once or more a year, when I am sick, etc...and while I find I have to be in the mood for Tolkien, I can always read this.
In short, the books and writing may not be perfect, but it tells a great story, no, many great stories, about things great and small. A stroy about friendship that happens to be a great fantasy story as well. I strongly recommend it. Infact I am goind to re read them now. See ya in a week.

If you've ever spent any time clustered around a table playing a role playing game of any genre then you will be able to appreciate the possibilities in Joel Rosenberg's Guardians of the Flame series. This book is a reprinted version of the first three books in the original series: "The Sleeping Dragon", "The Sword and the Chain", and "The Silver Crown".

Mr Rosenberg starts off with a wonderfully mixed group of characters, each with their own virtues and vices, and puts them into a rich fantasy world full of magic and danger. The characters are very real and easy to understand, and are at times both heroic and tragic. The troubles they must endure as they strive to cope with their situation, blend well with their triumphs as they overcome each obsticle.

I'll definately be adding this to my library so I have it on hand for my kids to read when they're ready.

I was given "The Sleeping Dragon" to read by a friend who knew of my mutual interest in Fantasy novels when i was 14 yrs old. He had found it, as well as the next two books in the series amongst other used and seemilgly useless books in a milk crate at the bottom of his closet. A few months before i had borrowed a book entitled "The Weirdstone of Brinsingamen" which i truly adored. So I went out on a limb and read his next suggestion. I found it odd that i could enjoy what i at the time found to be relics. However i found myself absorbed into the world of Pandathaway and could sympathize with Karl Cullinane. Anyway my friend was already on book four when i began reading. I finished the first two books and was halfway through the third and asking him for when he would finish the fourth before the end of the week. I ended up having to take it from him, reading it and giving it back the next day, surly i might add because i was yearning for more book five was not when he went to buy it. Needless to say i've become an addict for reading ever since and can't go by a bookstore without seeking out a possible new Rosenberg purchase. I find that everything i have read by him is well worth my time.

I love this series. I have had to buy it 3 times as I have loaned my copies to friends, and they are never returned, because they have gotten wrapped up in it as well. The characters are rich and diverse. There is romance, action, and humor. The story begins with a bunch of college friends who even though they have different education backgrounds, a professor, a jock, an engineer, a dilitante, psych ect., they all have one thing in common, fantasy RPG (role playing games). I also like the fact that this is one of the first books I have read that had a physically challenged person as one of the main plot characters. So the friends meet every week for their RPG fix....but something then goes terribly wrong, or terribly right, as the real world and the fantasy world of gaming come together in such a way that you will not want to put the book down. This book combines the first three novels, and is a must have for those that want a good book to lose yourself in. If you have a friend, or kids (12-17), or know anyone that's into Role Playing Games, you really need to buy them this book. Themes might be a little too adult for the Harry Potter crowd.....

This is one of those books that you can pick up and read over and over again. I am about to enter college and can identify with Rosenberg's life-like characters. His fantasy world is so realistic I can smell the trees of the Healing Hand Tabernacle and felt the heat of the Waste of Elrood. I've read this book at least a dozen times since my dad introduced it to me and I have to order a new copy to take with me to school.