Customer Reviews

The Keep of Fire (The Last Rune, Book 2)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Let's face the harsh reality of customer reviews. They're either 5 stars, or 1 star. Benedict, or scathing. I choose the former, or rather, Mark Anthony earned it. Simplicity is the weapon of masters and fools, and clearly, Anthony is a master.

His plot is simple, yet enthralling. Gone is the complex plot and multitude of indecipherable subplots. I would take this book to school, and amidst the cackling children and ranting teachers, I found nothing but pure ecstacy, or sorrow, or horror. It is the kind of book that will keep you pensive all night long, pondering over who is the epitome of this vile undertaking, or who Tira really is.

His character development is commendable. One moment a character's ignorance almost gets him/her killed, and the next, he/she is the savior of the party.

For a budding author, Mark Anthony has displayed a skill in authoring which surpasses that of any other author, either self-promoted or reputably commended. If you are a reader who enjoys a captivating mystery/action book, then I recommend The Keep of Fire and Beyond the Pale. If Mark Anthony lives up to his well earned reputation, then The Dark Remains should par, if not surpass, the entertainment that The Keep of Fire has served me.

The continuation of Mark Anthony's saga was well worth the wait. I found the characters engrossing and likeable. There are enough plot twists in the story to keep it moving, as well as some mysteries that aren't solved until the very end. The hero, although reluctant about using his power, tries to keep his vow in the first book of not hurting anyone with his power. The characters in this book fight to stay true to themselves and what they believe in. In the world of Eldh, magic doesn't fix everything.

This second in the Last Rune series was for me entirely more satisfying than the first. The story has more mystery than the blatant obviousness of the first - though the cover doens't help in that respect too much. Grace is fleshed out a bit more, as she truly needed. Travis's passivity is intensified...but he seems to mature a lot as well...he becomes at least a little more pragmatic. Travis is fast becoming a favourite fantasy character of mine, in spite of, or perhaps due to his reluctance to use the power he possesses and his passiveness.
This story reveals the true nature of Melia, explains just who Falken is, gives us insights into Durge, reveals a lovely new character - who like all the others is a little shallow at times in this book - wait until the third to see Lileth shine, Aryn matures a lot too, her arm is barely even mentioned in the book, which seems to have lifted a bit of the 2D aspect she had in the first book - a deformed baroness with no chance of - but therefore guaranteed - love.
Like the first book revolved around the Magic Stone - Sinfathisar - the stone of Twilight, this Book revolves around the effects of the Stone of Fire - Krondisar...its a better story, with more purposeful moves made against the enemy in this novel...the first had little at all in that respect until right at the end.
Overall, this was a great book that I really enjoyed...try it you should be pleasantly surprised.

Like many of the other readers I picked this book up because I needed something to read and, like all of his readers I am sure, was completely blown away. Anthony has created a wonderfully rich story, I believe we have only seen the barest outlines of his delightfully complex plot, with bright, complicated , and still developing characters. I noted with great pleasure the echos of David Eddings in the dry wit of Melia and the whining, on occasion, of Travis. As noted already by others, the influence of other authors can be seen on Anthony's work, but in no way is this a bad thing, we are now all caught up in a grand conversation that only those who are avid readers of fantasy can comprehend. Although there are many things in these books that are innovative I don't have time to comment on them all and would just like to say that Anthony's portrayal of Travis' possible relationship with Beltan is a bit of a relief. It is nice not to be beat over the head with the gay issue, unlike what will happen if you read Mercedes Lackey, and I am curious as to what will happen in the next book, whether a relationship between the two of them would work, or if, perhaps, Grace and Travis have a future (or possibly Diedre and Travis?) hey, you never know what might happen. Anyhow, Keep up the great work Mr. Anthony. There are few books I have enjoyed reading more than yours and I look forward to all the ones yet to come.

The Keep of Fire is a wonderful chapter in this captivating series. I bought Beyond the Pale on a whim, and was hooked on the series. Keep of Fire shows furthur development in the characters of Grace and Travis, as well as that of other familiar and new personalities in the saga. Anthony's continues with his masterful style of pulling the reader right into the action. He paints a verbal picture so vivid that the reader may jump by merely reading a discription of a scene, or reading a comment by one of the characters. An excellent read, The Keep of Fire will lead you right back to Amazon to purchase the next book in the series!

After reading Beyond The Pale, I wrote an online review (not for amazon.com) stating that it was "a good start". I really enjoyed some of the aspects such as the iron hearts, the travails of modern Americans trying to adjust to medieval living, and the mysterious Child Samanda et. al.. But I was fearful that the subseqent books would be a letdown.

In this second book of the series, Mr. Anthony continues some themes and introduces others. Once again, he focuses on a specific stone of power (this time it's the stone of fire). Our heroes work to prevent the misuse of the stone and the destruction of Earth and Eldh. We get more information about what it's like to live in medieval times. Child Samanda makes a brief appearance. The main characters finally have to face their inner demons. And so on. In addition, we get the character development that is typical of the second book of a trilogy, including the homosexual knight mentioned in other reviews.

In general I like Keep of Fire and the series. It may be a ripoff from other epic fantasies (Tolkien, Eddings, Donaldson, Hambly), but there is a lot of new stuff as well. Mr. Anthony has given us a rich world and some interesting characters.

Much like the book that came before it, "Beyond the Pale", this book is filled with the precise detail that I've already learned to expect from Mark Anthony. "Keep of Fire" contained the awe-inspiring imagery and gorgeous prose of its predecessor, and elaborated significantly on the already-real characters. I was helplessly caught up in this book, and encourage everyone who enjoys a good fantasy to read "Keep of Fire". The third book promises to be every bit as fascinating as the first two. All that really needs to be said is that this series is, without a doubt, my favorite. I've never encountered such believable and likable characters, or waited so nervously for an ending, or delighted at each new turn -- read these books for yourself, and see why!

I really liked "Beyond The Pale," the first of The Last Rune series. I thought it was a little uneven, but I couldn't put it down. Mark Anthony particularly excels at writing action and horror sequences. So I was eagerly awaiting "Keep Of Fire" and was not disappointed. I consider TKOF so much better than BTP, that I was wondering if the same author wrote both! Still intact are the great action sequences and the pulse-quickening spookiness, and to those already great qualities Anthony adds an intriguing mythology, revealing some answers to questions raised in BTP while introducing new ones, and an unbelieveable sense of place, the ability to paint a real world and place the reader smack in the middle of it. I didn't really buy the character developments at the end of TKOF, but it hasn't dulled my appetite for more of this series! Can't wait for "The Dark Remains" in February!

I read both books in the series and they were great! Anthony has all the talent to be someone to reckon with in the fantasy field.These novels are the real deal and has all the trimmings for a major fantasy epic:magic,intrigue,menace and it is dripping with atmosphere.While other fantasy authors write continue to crank out books that are clones to the original(like Robert Jordan) Anthony's books are unique to each other and only share the same characters.Do yourself a favor and read these books!The only thing else I have to say I hope the author writes faster because I can't wait to get my hands on book 3!

Hey, we can't eat broccoli all the time! We need to enjoy something relatively non-nutritive from time to time. This, the 2nd book in the Last Rune series, is the literary equivalent of jalapeno poppers! Lots of dramatic action--the lead characters are constantly imperiled! People are always getting nearly killed. Travis and Grace, the transplants from Earth to the magical realm of Eldh, are remarkably resilient when plopped into a somewhat inconsistent world. (For example, what is the real difference between maddok and coffee? Why even bother? Horses, sheep, bread and clothes are are medieval style. Why create a drink exactly like coffee, (only better) and call it maddok?) These little things can be irritating--almost as irritating as the fairly bad illustrations on the cover. (Can we have the characters depicted to match their descriptions in the book?) Despite all this, I enjoyed the action and energy. The author is not afraid of completely bizarre and unforseen plot twists dropping out of nowhere. Enjoyable, but leaves you wanting something a little more filling.