Customer Reviews

Lair of Bones (Runelords 4)

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

It ends so quickly with so many things unanswered or forgotten that it HAS to be a set up for another book or series. It isn't that I necessarily wanted a "happy" ending. I just wanted some resoultion, good or bad. Here are a few things that I can remember (possible spoilers):

Remember the book that was such a big deal in chapter one of book one? Everyone had to get a hold of it because it had secrets about the Days? Well, forget it because it's barely hinted at.

Daylan Hammer, Borenson's quest, etc.? Dropped. There's mention, and it's key for some of the characters, but after that, nothing.

Waggit who?

Erin has a large part in this book. Ultimately, though, nothing comes of her story and that plot is dropped.

Another key character is introduced in Inkarra, but he's there only to move the story forward, apparently. Repurcussions to his actions were not told.

Borenson discoveres a new rune, and must get to a facilitator to show it to them, but that is forgotten.

There's more, but what's the point. I was going to give this four stars, but with the abrupt ending, I'm giving it 3. It's still a solid read all the way through, I was just hoping for more resolution.

Yes, the other reviews were right in that it has a very abrupt ending, and the final chapter has a pace that leaves the reader wanting an endowment of metabolism, but there IS an end. How many fantasy series coming out of the '90s can say that? The pace leaves the characters a little less developed than I would have preferred, but not so much so that you can't cheer for them. I was pleased with this book for its intense action and closure (I'm not saying more isn't forthcoming, but this story line is done).

I believe Craig Daniel's review summed up all that I wanted to say about it. And, like Craig, I would of given this book a 2 if it weren't for the other three books. And, unfortunetly, I don't think I'm interested in this series anymore...

Beware, fans of Farland. This book may surprise you in a 'bad' way.

I've just skimmed through the first few reviews of the book, and I must say I'm quite astonished at what I've read. Some reviewers are claiming that the book is bad simply because "there is no clear ending", "I don't like what he did to Gaborn and Iome" etc. etc. This sounds to me awfully like a disappointed kid waiting to hear "... and they lived happily ever after" again.

If someone doesn't like unclear endings where the characters don't "live happily ever after", then probably Lord of the Rings would leave him disappointed too ("What do you mean Frodo and Sam don't live their lives in happiness in Bag End?").

What I really like in what Farland did to the plot (and what many will probably dislike) is adding a touch of maturity and reality to an otherwise quite archetypal fantasy story. What we usually expect from a heroic fantasy is to leave us with easy answers in the end - Farland builds the impression that there will be easy answers throughout the first 3 books, shattering that impression in the last one. Saying that the last book is a bit philosophical in nature would be an overstatement - after all, I would still classify the series as "entertainment fantasy" and not "intelectual fantasy", but it does add an unexpected level of depth.

If you don't mind what I've described in the previous paragraphs, you'll probably come to enjoy this last book of the series as much as I did. The plot is quite simple to follow, the action is fluent, the characters are well fleshed-out. Just don't read with expectations that Gaborn will become a demigod and single-handedly wipe out all threats from the world - you will be very, very disappointed.

This book provides an ending (seemingly) to the Runelord saga in a very concise and short book. It would appear to me as though the author had created a fantastic land with multiple storylines of varying complexities and just simply grew bored of it and wanted to give it an end. The story lines of all the main characters are ended with minimum of fanfare. The good guys win; the bad guy(s) are defeated in a minimum of pages(the reaver queen and raj ahten) and that is about it. I think I would classify this book as a let down. I think the author had a lot of good ideas (the runelords, endowments, the history of the land) and just really let that whole thing go to a waste. I am not saying there should have been more books in the series (overall I think the series took 10 real days for completion) but I think that a lot of storylines should have been fleshed out a bit and completed.

The book ends somewhat suddenly and doesn't realy set the reader up in regards to later books in the series. There are some storylines that could be continued, but since they weren't well constructed in this book, I am not so sure I would go and read them. (spoiler) the last 10 pages of the book take place over a few months time (a longer stretch of time than teh entire three books took up)...

I think this book could have been great, the only reason I gave it the three stars instead of 2 or 1 was because the previous three books were good, and I wanted to see how the series ended. David Farland: you can do better!

I echo the comments of most of the other reviewers. Farland obviously lost all interest in this particular book. Way too abrupt of an ending, and so many details left unattended. A real disappointment to what I considered a pretty good series overall. Oh, and the editing was horrible. Numerous mistakes that jump out at you.

I eagerly awaited the fourth book because it seemed inevitable that many plotlines and themes would draw tightly together to form a stunning story. Although the book starts strongly with beautiful imagery of Raj Ahten's triumphant parade, it rapidly descends to terse narrative instead of the complex webwork of words and ideas which characterized the first three books. It seemed as though the author had so much material and so many threads to work with that it would have become snarled if they were woven in the same fashion as the first three. Either that or the author was under a harsh deadline or limitation and had to slash out anything which was not vital the the resolution of plotlines. Regardless of the reason, I felt that much of the magic, mystery and wonder was replaced by a straightforward relation of events. This disappointed me, for it was not simply the author's tale of the characters' actions which was interesting, but the initial socio-economic theories and deeply personal interplays which I found fascinating in the first three books.

The foregoing will not, and should not, dissuade series readers from this book. Indeed, I may read it again at a later date - just not anytime soon.

"The Lair of Bones" is an entertaining book having well-timed action and story arc changes. And I've liked the forcible concept. My big concern is having so many Dedicates and those caring for them. Issues of agriculture, supply lines, education, armed forces, and politics could be more seriously damaged with the number of Dedicates used throughout especially when they are casualties of war. An example would be the extremely huge drain on a society considering the number used for Raj Ahten and his Invincibles. If you take a strong farmer for a strength endowment prior to a battle, now you need to care and feed him and still care for the land. Substitute the strength example with any of the attributes 1000 fold and you see a crisis develop.

I'm not happy with how a metabolism endowment affects the time process. If I understand correctly, the book starts 7 actual days since the first book although to Prince Gaborn or Raj Ahten it seems longer. For strategy I think of supply lines, (re)construction, establishing Dedicates, healing of non-endowed people, and (re)tooling instruments of war. The times affecting these issues are overlooked and could be if the campaigns lasted months but the battles occurred over 7 days. I feel they weren't properly addressed and leave sections of the action incomplete.

I'm picking at details but overall the story was decent. A nice surprise or two but Baron Waggit is nowhere to be seen (although I have my theories) and he was important in the first 3 books. Sadly it ends a little fast, as if at a high metabolic rate. I would have liked the equivalent of an additional book to better articulate some of the above comments.

Thank you.

The first book of this series had great promise for fans of fantasy. Fast paced, and with an imaginative magic system, it seemed to be a unique gift to the fantasy setting that so often seems to be mere re-hashes of the tried and true formulae present in the settings that were set forth in Lord of the Rings. So, I was quite excited to get the final book in the series that seemed so promising. I loved the action sequences, and the precise way with which the author constructed the magic system and the consequences that it would have if one utilized it too much.

By the third book, the author was gearing up for what seemed to be a fantastic conclusion, and I was a bit skeptical that all of the plots could be wrapped up so neatly in one final volume, which, I understand, the Lair of Bones is. In fact, he did wrap things up far too neatly. Epic plot lines were destroyed in a few pages, with events transpiring in such a way as to make everything work out just perfectly, which never happens. There was no depth to any of the characters, and any danger that it seemed people were getting into was easily discarded or avoided. I never felt a real sense of peril or adventure, and I wanted to rush to get through to the end, which was, perhaps, the best part, simply because of its uncompromising nature.

I enjoy the fast pacing of the action scenes, but after one giant reaver, you've seen them all. There were no surprises at the end, and many of the earlier plot lines seemed to have absolutely no bearing on the conclusion to the saga. The book sagged at the conclusion. I felt no connection to any of what was going on, including the finale with Raj Ahten. If you've read through the first three and absolutely have to finish, then you might as well. If you're reading this to see if you should read the whole series, then you might want to consider another one.

What an awful book. Everything from the cover art to the writing has gone downhill from the first Runelords book to the point now where none of it is worth reading. David Farland has always been a marginal writer, but stupid me, I hung in there to see where it would lead. Hopefully it really is over now. I can't believe I wasted my time and money on this awful series.