Horrible Humes (Rune Sword, Vol. 4) [Paperback]

Stephen Billias (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 184 pages
• Publisher: Ace Books (July 1, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0441736971
• ISBN-13: 978-0441736973
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,548,395 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Having "Horrible" on the cover doesn't exactly help, August 17, 2011

By 

Media Man (Minneapolis, MN USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Horrible Humes (Rune Sword, Vol. 4) (Paperback)

"Horrible Humes (i.e. Humans)" is the fourth book in the "Runesword" series Written by Stephen Billias. It continues to detail the further adventures of our four Outcasts; Bith a young human sorceress, Caltus a young human warrior, Hathor the vegetarian troll and Endril the world weary elven archer. In this installment the group learns of a breach in the Mistwall where a frigid new villain uncreatively dubbed the Ice Queen is forcing her cold will on the denizens of the North. So, in true hero fashion the Outcasts set out once again to thwart evil. Here are my thoughts on Horrible Humes;


Pros

+ Quick and easy read.

+ Had a bit of a darker tone (for Hathor at least) than the previous books.

+ Cover art by Larry Elmore.

+ The Wind-Websters were an interesting society.


Cons <Contains spoilers>

- Contained one of the most ridiculous and laughable premises for a fantasy book ever. Hathor the troll is captured by the Ice Queen because she believes his vegetarianism is a threat to all evil races since he's not a blood-thirsty meat eater. Are you kidding me??

- Extremely abrupt ending.

- Story didn't really follow the group finding and destroying a Runesword as commanded by the god Vili in the previous books. In this book there's no Vili, no Runesword and no Dark Lord.

- Ice Queen villain was extremely vague and woefully underutilized.

- Some feats of utter ridiculousness. Examples include Endril killing a dragon with a single arrow and then Hathor forsakes his vegetarian ways and eats the whole thing!

- Endril is often depicted as a stereotypical fop and dandy elf complete with pointed shoes and flute accompanied by singing and dancing around. Ugh.

- No world map.


Horrible Humes had a few interesting ideas but for the most part failed to deliver. This entire book seemed to completely sidetrack the original purpose of the Outcast companions. With no Vili, Runesword or Dark Lord this just felt like a side quest for the group. It was almost as if the author wasn't briefed on what the overall story and purpose of the quartet's quests. In any case not a stand out tale in the Runesword series.