Customer Reviews

Heroes of Legend

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

 

 

This is high fantasy in the classic sense: It makes no pretense at being great literature, carries no "message", takes no high moral tone. Refreshingly, it is purely ENTERTAINMENT, and along those lines it succeeds very well. It is thouroughly engaging, contains interesting and colorful characters, and is just a fun read. It should interest anyone from early teen-age to adult that likes fantasy and/or a good adventure yarn. The author has created a fascinating world in which the characters bump into adventure and misadventure at every turn. Boring it is NOT. In fact the plot moves along so well and the authors uncomplicated style so readable that it seems much shorter than its 350+ pages. On the down side the text itself contains some annoying typos and a couple missplaced (?) words that detract (slightly) from ones reading enjoyment. But on the whole, as a good bit of 'mind candy' for fantasy/adventure readers to curl up with, this one is hard to beat. These readers will detect several influences in this book. There are obscure and not-so-obscure references to many works of fiction and fantasy, both books and movies, contain therein, and it is fun picking them out! My advice: Read and enjoy.

I have read my son all the Harry Potter books. He is ten and a good reader but we enjoy this 'bonding' activity. In searching for something in the same genre I was recommended this book by a friend. The story is a far cry from a boy student/wizard and at first I thought it would not hold either of our interest. I was very wrong! Though more along the lines of Tolkiens or Terry Brooks' works my son and I could hardly put it down. Every evening we could both hardly wait to read about Captain Boomer, Landan, and the other "Heroes of Legend". It is so fun and so readable that we were done with it in less than a week and I read it myself a second time. While the story progresses rapidly, it contains enough detail to make even a second reading quite revealing. Collier Hageman is the most imaginative writer I have read since I discovered Fritz Leiber years ago in college. In the end two more books are mentioned and I eagerly await them both. So does my son. P.C. 1-27-03

This is an engaging story that is a study in colorful characterizations. The many characters are fascinating and multi-dimensional and yet the plot is not bogged down with a preponderance of detail. The author paints vivid pictures and evokes wonderful imagery with a minimum of words and creates a rollicking adventure yarn of epic proportions, all in less than 400 pages; rare in this genre awash with ponderous works. This is highly entertaining reading for any fantasy/adventure fan of post-"Harry Potter" age.

This book is what I read fantasy for! What a rollicking good tale! This story is full of richly imaginative creatures and characters. The plot moves along, never losing ones interest for a moment, and in spots is quite funny. I appreciate the vivid imagination that crafted this world that is, as the cover blurb says, "both mysterious and familiar". The classic elements of high fantasy are here but combined with some things not commonly found in these types of stories: telekinesis, martial arts -- sort of, prehistoric creatures, the list goes on. As a student of folklore I was able to see bits of myths and legends from old Russia (the Baba Yaga is a minor (!) character), Africa (Moongwa -- a savage giant grey feline supposedly living in East Africa) and Ireland ( Will 'o' Wisps). I won't divulge the plot and spoil it for you but will say that it is thourougly enjoyable, unpretentious and I eagerly await Ms. Hageman's promised sequels The Queen Of Theives and The Shattered Lands. One negative note is the number of typos. I was distracted by them but many won't even notice them. -- J.R. 7-30-02

I don't know what Firstbooks, the publisher of Heroes Of Legend, was doing when they 'set the type' so to speak, for this book. It is distracting to try to read what, by all other criteria, is a thouroughly enjoyable fantasy novella, and be subject to the typos in this. Granted I am an English teacher and also work part-time as a copy editor, so I am probably a lot more aware of them than most. As far as a storyline, it is wonderfully imaginative and Hageman has a gift for using words to paint vivid pictures in your mind. Some of this story is wildly original, and parts of it are obscure and not so obscure references to other works of fiction from Burroughs to P.J. Farmer to Tolkien. One gets the feeling that Hageman was chuckling up his sleeve the whole time he was writing this book, and it is great fun to figure out when he is by turns paying homage to his various inspirations and influences, or pulling a whopping good joke on the reader, but it all works as the storyline remains light, full of action, and interesting. The cast of characters is large and the odd names make it just a tad confusing to keep everyone straight, especially if you are used to reading books with one protagonist, but it is redeemed by managing to not become convoluted or difficult in spite of this. I await the sequel(s)and expect to be even more entertained by them, because guys, you're going to fix the typos in these before you release them, right?

This was not a book I would have chosen for myself. I generally do NOT read fantasy. I'm more of a romance and biography reader. However, a friend was reading this at the beach and gave it to me when she was done with it. I LOVED it. It is strictly 'light' reading, for entertainment purposes. I don't think the author was trying to 'say' anything or get a point across -- much different to what I have read for years. The characters were wonderful, including one very strong female. The plot was imaginative and surprisingly fast-paced. There was not a dull page in the entire thing and I read all 350+ pages in a couple days, and was left wanting more. (NOTE: The author mentions two more books, The Queen of Thieves and The Shattered Lands, at the end of this one. I can't wait.) I want to thank Collier Hageman for introducing a whole new genre of reading to me, and in such a fun way.

I have read all the Harry Potter books and loved them and was searching for something in the same category and my friend Jackie gave me Heroes Of Legend. It is all about a bunch of real different types of characters that have to work together on a great quest that only they can fulfill. Along their way they run into all different tpes of creatures and monsters and have all kinds of fights and adventures. Sometimes this story reminded my of the Lord of the Rings books and sometimes it reminded me of the Conan books my brother reads. I love it because there is a real strong female characternamed Iliea who is very important to the story and she fights and travels right alongside the men and really gets their respect. One real dangerous character falls in love with her and another one becomes good friends with her. I hope she gets her own books because I want to read more about her. It turns out so that they accomplish their mission but some of the people don't make it including one very important character that I was surprised to see get killed. I think Iliea does get her own book because the last paragraph says to read more adventures in The Queen Of Thieves and The Shattered Lands, and she is the queen of thieves so this one sequel must be about her.

This was recommended to me by a friend who had seen me reading Tolkien. Frankly I think it is a wonderful story for children or adolescents but is not epic or literary enough to be ranked alongside "Lord Of The Rings", but then again, what is? "Heroes Of Legend" is certainly a lot of fun and is an interesting story but its uncomplicated and elementary storyline doesn't give one a lot to think about. It is told in a strict narrative style and frankly the cast of characters is too large and the names are too strange and confusing. I will give Hageman a lot of credit for doing a good job of giving each of the many characters 'equal time' and developing each of them adequately enough to make them interesting and non-one-dimensional. Certainly not an easy task, but I would prefer a story with two or three main characters, not a dozen! And this leads to the action jumping from one character/scene to another until I found myself having to go back and re-read just to figure out where I was in the story. I did enjoy to the highly imaginative monsters and creatures encountered in this book, but object to a couple scenes of violence that, while probably necessary for the story, were unnecessarily vivid. But all in all it was an enjoyable read but the odd mix of simplicity and complexity gives it a rather confusing 'feel'. I would recommend it for younger readers with a shorter attention span than I.

While it could benefit from some top-notch editing, this is a thouroughly enjoyable book. It is a classic 'high fantasy' story and contains all the elements one reads this genre for: wizards, dwarves, elves, barbarians, giants, fantastic monsters, giant cats, an epic quest, magical weapons, and a fantastic treasure. There are several references, obscure and not-so-obscure to other fantasy works, and it is great fun picking them out. The book contains interesting detail and description, yet moves along with not a single dull page. The author is a yarn-spinner of the first order and has created a fascinating world, populated by memorable characters. The book does have a large cast of characters but the author has done a good job of fleshing them out, allowing them to develop and giving each a unique personality. This is a suitable book for young teen-age to adult, though I wouldn't recommend it for younger children due to a couple scenes of rather intense violence, warfare, etc. The author promises two more books at the end of this story: "The Queen of Thieves" and "The Shattered Lands". I await them eagerly and hope he can meet the standard set by "Heroes Of Legend".

Yes, I think that Speilberg should produce a movie based on this book, to rival Pete Jacksons/Tolkiens "Lord of the Rings". This story is every bit as imaginative and evokes some vivid imagery. It would translate to the silver screen beautifully. I thought while reading it that I had read it before while in college and was shocked to find that the copyright date is 2001. Apparently the author picked some universal themes and archtypes and wove an exciting and original storyline around them. I found myself rooting for the goodguys and booing the badguys in spite of myself. Curious and intriguing to me is a theme of a person sundered in twain, divided into a good half and an evil half, that pops up time and again in this book. Is Hageman saying something about the dichotomy of man, or is it deeper than this? I was reminded of an episode of the original Star Trek where this occured to Kirk. It was entitled "Mirror, mirror" I believe. The author does a great job of making every one of a huge cast of characters multidimensional and unique. I was interested to see that in this fantasy world dinosaurs and cave bears exist along with dragons, will 'o' wisps, "giant tropical wolverines", and hideous bat-men. Multiple storylines develop over the course of the book and I wondered for a while what some of them had to do with the others, but they all come together into a satisfying conclusion. In spite of a great ending the story screams for continuance and I was happy to see that the author intends two more based on these heores of legend. I have been looking for a year now. C'mon Collier! Where is "The Queen Of Thieves" and "The Shattered Lands"?