The Haven [Paperback]

Graham Diamond (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Littlehampton Book Services Ltd; First edition & printing in this form edition (August 1979)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0417043902
• ISBN-13: 978-0417043906
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,599,092 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Graham Diamond began writing as a fantasy and science fiction author. He was born in Manchester, England. His family moved to the United States when he was a young child. He was raised in New York City. He graduated from the High School of Music and Art. He then attended CCNY in NY, and the Art Students League of New York.

A fine arts major, Diamond turned to professional writing in his late twenties and is now is best known for books such as The Haven (Playboy Press), Lady of the Haven (Playboy Press), The Thief of Kalimar (Fawcett Books), Black Midnight (Zebra) and Forest Wars (Lion), Marrakesh (Fawcett), Samarkand, Samarkand Dawn, (Playboy). He soon turned to other genres; including historical fiction, thrillers, and later a true story of a Holocaust survivor's family during World War II, Maybe You Will Survive (Holocaust Press, 1991). Several of his books were published in the UK by Methuen.

Under the pen name Rochelle Leslie (the names of his two daughters), he authored Tears of Passion, Tears of Shame, a novel of South Africa set during the Zulu War of 1879 (Berkeley/Jove) which was subsequently published in Italy, titled, Venuto De Lontano, (To Come From Far Away) by Mondadori. He also has had various short stories published in anthologies. In addition to his numerous novels and non fiction books, he was employed as an editorial artist by the New York Times for many years, and has also taught creative writing in both New York and California. He regularly volunteers and lectures at public libraries and schools across the United States. "So much of my youth was spend studying in libraries," he says, "they became almost a second home."

A number of Diamond's novels, beginning with Forest Wars, The Thief of Kalimar, and Lady of the Haven, Black Midnight, were reissued.

Diamond divides him time between California and New York. He is also working on another novel.

Additional bibliography

* Captain Sinbad (Fawcett)
* Cinnebar (Fawcett)
* Marrakesh Nights (Fawcett)
* The Falcon of Eden (Playboy)
* Beasts of Hades (Playboy)
* Outcasts (DAW anthology)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, But No Thumbs Up, May 25, 2011

By 

Anathaniel Wallace "Nosidino" (Wash, DC USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Haven (Paperback)

The Haven is a book that did not not reach its true potential. The plot was intriguing, but ultimately I feel the book fell short.

There were simply too many characters to keep track of. While not as divers as GRR Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series, this book had more characters than needed. At least GRR Martin's gigantic books had enough pages and text to introduce and develope the characters of his world; such was not the case in The Haven. Thus we were left wanting for more.

Nigel and Desmond along with the wolf Hector lead a detachment of men and wolves thru the Northern Forest in search of a new world. While they toil thru this forest wilderness, the Haven must deal with vicious and intelligent dog beasts intent on invading the human domain. These dogs are animals that wish to tear humanity limb from limb. An army led by General Sean to deal with them is decimated in the Southern Forest, forcing humanity to retreat to safety behind the walls of The Haven.

The deaths of Lawrence and Antonius were contrived. Simply put, having them get lost in the "fog" was ridiculous.

Later in the book Diamond tells us about a battle but does not show the battle. He breaks a cardinal rule that authors are never supposed to break in that it is always better to "show" rather than "tell." I'm referring to a big battle between dogs and men that is given third person treatment. This was all the more frustrating because the rising action of the preceeding two chapters led us to the conclusion there would be a huge action-filled battle. There was none, which was a big let down.

The climactic battle at the end of the book was another contrivance that diluted the power of the book's ending. This book had great ideas but it ultimately fell short of establishing a hold on its reader. Despite the above flaws, I'm giving this book Three Stars. Diamond was on to something good here, and it looks like this was the foundaton of a series (Like The Hobbit Was To Lord Of The Rings). I read the second book in the series called the Dungeons of Kuba and was enthralled from beginning to end by that book; so I know that Graham Diamond can write--perhaps better than any Fantasy writer I've ever read. I assume this book The Haven was an abberation because the other books I've read were all Five Stars.

A. Nathaniel Wallace, Jr. My 60th Review!