Customer Reviews

Iron Tree (Crowthistle Chronicles 1)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

I must admit that I picked up this book after choosing to ignore the critiques below, which I felt must surely be a little harsh. The scope for an epic, involving fantasy tale seemed intriguing from the book's publicity.

Sadly, I can only confirm what others are saying. This writer desperately needs a ruthless front-line editor to excise the deluges of description that completely sink this story. The author clearly lacks the restraint to rein herself in and evidently needs help to do so. Either a decent editor or back to writing classes, I'm afraid, because this material wouldn't pass muster on an average writing workshop.

I'd like to be able to say something positive, but I'm afraid I can only sympathize with readers who have spent money to buy this book and also for the unfortunate publishers who appear to have a bomb of a trilogy to market now. One to avoid, I fear.

Wow. This was horrible. I don't say that often, but it was true. The publisher let this out? And worse, she's been compared to Tolkien? No. Apparantly it wasn't just me either (man I wish I had checked out the reviews before getting this), except Harriet Klausner, but its not like she's reading any of these books anyway, and her opinion just cements that.

First of all, there are so many ridiculous lists of things that don't matter. I really don't care about all the fifty types of plants that come to the desert after the rains, sorry. And my lord, the decription. If I hear about how Lilith's lips are like petals one more time, I'll vomit. Some description is good, but geez, there's a thing called balance. I've never in my life seen someone go so overboard on description.

There was a glimmer of an interesting story underneath, which is a shame since it drowned underneath the descriptive swamp of this book. But apparantly the author wanted to have a "Shakespearean" twist to it. Darling, it doesn't work when you write in that style for the narrative, and no one will believe it when you're characters only stick to that style of speaking occasionally with no apparant pattern. Not to mention the fact that her two main characters could be gods for the lack of faults that they have (well, except the one goes nuts, but not for long), and their romance was so incredibly lame I was yearning for a Jennifer Lopez movie for something more realistic.

Please do not even bother. Maybe you can try it in paperback, but be warned, this book is really that bad.

One star for the pretty cover, the other for the quality!

Okay, I admit it- I judge a book by its cover. And maybe I've really learned a lesson about doing that this time. I bought it right when it came out, and man do I wish I had waited for some reviews to show up and the price to be cut in half before buying this horrible volume.

The Iron Tree starts out disappointingly, and predictably, ends disappointingly. The plot is nothing that special, and in fact, I found it quite generic. I wouldn't even have finished this if I hadn't kept waiting for the high point- which, to save you the anticipation, never appears in all the 400 pages. The book is crammed with useless tidbits that have no relevance whatsoever to the story, and it took me forever to finish it. And I must say, I found it rather offensive and mildly blasphemous that the author had to steal Celtic language and culture (druids, etc) and plop it into a landscape she made up. Is Ireland not good enough for her? Or couldn't she have tried a little harder and come up with something more her own? Okay guys, if at this point you're ready to start a Get-This-Sucky-Book-Out-Of-Print-And-Stop-The-Second-Crowthistle-Chronicle-Before-It-Happens Club, please feel free to contact me and we'll have to set something up.

At the end of this book, the narrator speaks to us and apologizes for any grief the story might have caused in its readers. I had to snort at something this presumptuous. Now let's set this straight: if I had cried at the end, I'm pretty sure it would have been because of the sudden realization that I had wasted time and money rather than by any sudden wave of emotion. Does this author qualify herself among Marion Zimmer Bradley and Juliet Marillier? If you want a good read, pick up something by either of them. But by all means, leave this book alone. If for no other reason, then do it for the rainforest.

Usually when I write negative reviews, I feel a tad bit bad about it because I might be causing the writer to lose business. Of course I don't do it undeservingly, but if I didn't write this, I would feel awful about the people wasting their money on such a horrendous piece of work.

This book lacks focus. It was rough to get through and I feel as though it was a complete waste of time. Just a set up for future books. You do not get a real feeling for any of the characters enough to even care about the storyline (if there was one).

A major dissappointment. Just description, description, description. Too wordy, not engaging by any means.

This story revolves around the hidden identity of a young desert boy, Jarred, and the secret of the Iron Tree in Cathair Rua. When he sets out to discover the world Jarred meets Lilith, a young woman from the Marshlands, and falls in love with her. He decides to stay with her rather than continue with his adventurous friends, but the two lovers cannot live in calm and peace of mind for long as a curse hovers over their heads. Lilith's family line has been doomed to endure failed marriages as whenever they wed one of the couple dies young and the other goes mad. Jarred believes his immunity will protect him from this fate so they marry anyway, but is he right?

I think that the idea behind `The Iron Tree' is great, however there did not seem enough meat to the story to warrant such a lengthy book. What started well with exciting events, humour and some well-written new characters and places quickly deteriorated into a dull piece of writing that I had to force myself to finish. `The Iron Tree' is pretentious with old-fashioned language which added nothing to the world. I was constantly bombarded with lengthy descriptions which drew focus away from the main plot to unnecessary details, and lists (e.g. items in a room) which I learnt to skip over.

A fantasy world will always have foreign names and places, however I felt that these were overdone in this book. Too many names to remember yet they and other ideas were not original, merely what exists in the real world with small, but obvious modifications. The characters themselves seemed to have everything too easy and the few conflicts that they faced were overcome too quickly.

This is the first fantasy book in a long time that I have not enjoyed or thought well-written. I felt the author had decided one day to write a book and plunged straight in rather than working out how to make her idea work well. Do not bother reading this book unless you are very, very bored.

I drive a car, drink beer, eat meat, kill the odd spider, although after reading barely a hundred pages of this book I almost felt pity for the poor trees chopped down and pulped to create the paper for such an horrendous creation. This is indeed the worst novel ever written.

I read every genre going, from fantasy to politics, although if this book sets the standard for the modern trend in fantasy (as in the type of books publishers are looking for) then to me the fantasy genre is dead. Perhaps editors have themselves lost the ability to tell a good story from one so woefully bad it stackers belief.

CCT is a writer so fundamentally challenged by the notion of allowing a plot to slip through the tide of verbiage that it's a wonder she even manages to conclude a paragraph, let alone a novel. The story withers and breaks like an old tree overburdened by its own weight.

I might try another CCT novel, if only to see if she's lost her thesaurus, or to take the book to the paper mill for immediate recycling. In the end, a writer of only slight promise has delivered up something considerably poorer than was thought possible... It's hard to see this wooden trilogy finding a readership.

I bought this book after reading the Bitterbynde trilogy by Thornton. Expecting the same quality level of English mythology and original storytelling, I was very disappointed. The plot was trite, scenery and characters transparent. What's so interesting about two "most beautiful" characters meeting, falling in love, and then... well, I won't spoil the ending. But for fans of Thornton's previous books, I would not recommend this one.

I must say that after reading the Byyterbynd trilogy, I was reluctant to pick up another or CCT's books, after it started so well, only to finish in a horrendous rush, which ruined the story. And apparently my reluctance was justified.

After reading this novel, it is no where near her previous standard. Lots of description proved that she could use a thesaurus, but after the first few chapters, the same phrases begin appearing again and again. Barely a touch of realisim that even the fantasy genere requires was present, the entire book a string of endless cliques.

I can only hope that CCT listens to her proofers before releasing the next book, and if not, that the editors have the backbone to reject it until there is some form of story line.

Having enjoyed the Bitterbynde trilogy - ornate and flowery though the language was, the trilogy had a fresh take on an old story - I quickly rushed out and bought the Iron Tree in hardcover.

And quickly regretted it. The plot is unconvincing and the incredibly capable wise young protagonist is challenged by little that life throws at him. He lacks the 'flaw' a good character has to have to engage the reader's interest; heck he even has a charm that prevents all harm from touching him. No room for a character to evolve here! Ultimately, after having read about three quarters of the book on auto-pilot, I stopped and returned the book to my bookstore.

If you are hankering for your fantasy fix, and MUST read this, wait till it comes out in paperback.

The descriptions of the Four Kingdoms of Tir, the people, the vegetation, the mythological creatures are lush and beautiful. However, the plot and characterizations are very thin. The two main characters, Jarred and Lilith, are not engaging, and the limited conflict that they failed to resolve was not worth an entire book. As I came toward the end of the Iron Tree, it was clear that they were only there to set up a further story in which their daughter would be the main character.