Into the Forge [Paperback]

Dennis L. McKiernan (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: ROC (1997)
• ASIN: B000H1JIQ4
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Fantasy Equivalent of Comfort Food, July 9, 2005

By 

Eric S. Terrell (Keene, NH) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Into the Forge (Hel's Crucible, Book 1) (Paperback)

Reading a Dennis L. McKiernan novel is like sitting down to a meal of your favorite comfort food (fried chicken and mashed potatoes for me!). You always know what to expect and although you've consumed it countless times before, you still savor every bite. Sure, McKiernan doesn't break any new ground here, but he tells his stories well, filling them with the heroic good guys, evil bad guys, and an epic quest that makes this an enjoyable escape into familiar territory.

Into the Forge is Book One of the Hel's Crucible Duology. While this two-part series is supposed to tell the story of the War of the Ban, we don't see much of the actual war until late in this book. Instead, we get the tale of two Warrows (think Hobbits or mini-Elves) and their mission to deliver a token to a king halfway across the world. What this serves to do is narrow the focus of the tale McKiernan is telling. This story is almost single-threaded, meaning that the narrative never departs from the two Warrows' point of view. And since they're together for most of the book, you end up with a single, simple plotline to follow. (If only some other authors had this kind of focus.)

I recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a light, quick fantasy read. Whether you've read any of McKiernan's Mithgar tales or not, you should be able to jump right into this one. If you're looking for something totally original or with a more complex tangle of plot lines, you probably want to give this one a pass.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantasy Masterpiece!!!, June 2, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Into the Forge (Mithgar) (Hardcover)

Although I thought this book was going to be another Tolkien ripoff, I found that the story was an original in it's own right. Also, a book can not be considered a "ripoff" whent the author admits to have gotten "ideas" from a previous author. This book did a great job of telling the tale of the war of the Ban which is what all of his books have centered around since The Iron Tower Trilogy. This Title is Mckiernan's second best novel ever...only to be beaten by part two of this Duology, Into the Fire. but that is another tale...and it IS all connected you know!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars In response to the detractors, below:, October 19, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Into the Forge (Hel's Crucible, Book 1) (Paperback)

Many people are speaking of a Tolkein rip-off. Well, _Into the Forge_ has a person of diminutive stature as the main character, he is on a quest, and possesses an important object that is round (for Bilbo a ring, for Tip a pewter coin). But folks, that's about as far as it goes. The main character being a Warrow (similar to a Hobbit) does *not* automatically make it a rip-off. And as every fantasy novel has a quest, that's hardly offensive. It's actually rather classic. So that's my support for the book.

I will agree with the comments about the characters being slightly immature, but that is most likely from McKiernan's efforts to make them "ordinary people", i.e. innocent. It works-- you sympathize with the characters and feel for them througth their trials.

This book was not the best ever, but it's good. And it's definitly McKiernan. It's worth reading if you've read any other McKiernan (probably not the one I'd start with, as he uses a lot of stuff from previous books--none of it's necessary, but it may help). So, four stars on my list-- a good, solid fantasy quest with touches of greatness and, yes, originality.