Customer Reviews

Legacy of the Darksword

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

I was passing through the bookstore, looking for something to read on a flight home, and I had (at the time) what I took to be a happy accident, and came upon this book.

When I first read the series as a boy, I was entranced by it. I found the characters both compelling and believable, and the world set up by W&H had a marvelous history and a delightful take on things.

With these thoughts in mind, I began reading. "Legacy of the Darksword" is a shambling zombie of a sequel, keeping the facade of the original story, but possessed with none of the life, and burdenedd with a grinning rictus of a plot that frightens every literary bone in my body.

Characters we once loved are brought back, but utterly lack any appeal, perhaps due in no small part to the book's point of view, the ultra-bland scribe-mute Reuven.

Scenes that _ought_ to exude potency and importance are done ham-handedly. We see the meeting of Joram and Saryon after so many years -- and it's just so sloppily done! So little passion, so much drab.

Joram's daughter, the "generic willful fantasy daughter" is moderately interesting at best. She has gone through none of the trials or horrors that marked Joram's character -- her presence is a continual "So what?"

Fleeing from the protagonists, one might think that there is hope to be had in the villain's corner. If only it were so! The main menace in the book is a race of aliens we never see, and a bad guy 'technomancer' who we see only in the book's conclusion, to give _some_ face to the bad guys. (Too bad he's 'generic bad guy')

With all this said about the characters, you might hope for some saving gracing from the plot. Ha! It's a herky jerky sequence, tied together by chance, an indecisive scribe, and (literally!) deux ex machina.

All these horrible things happen at a breakneck pace, so there's zero time to develop character, theme, or even point. I read the soft cover in less than three hours -- the Almin help the people who bought the hardback!

My final rumination on the subject:

Why do W&H keep writing books like this? Earlier in their career, they wrote intriguing series, with rich, detailed characters, often in challenging settings, set against worlds that crackled with life and energy. For some macabre reason, they seem compelled to write sequels to these series, and so far, they seem to be batting a thousand when it comes to taking worlds we all love, then writing a single, rushed book to destroy everything we loved about said worlds. (*Cough* dragons of summer flame *cough*). If it's money, maybe we should take up some sort of fund, so they can spend their time writing something good.

Any self-respecting fan of the Darksword Trilogy will be doing themselves a grave disservice by reading this. They take the series's ending--which actually *meant* something--and render it all useless! It's really just this side of sacrelige; it's as if Shakespeare wrote a sequel to King Lear in which it turns out that Lear and Cordelia aren't *really* dead after all--it completely destroys any dramatic impact the original might have had. Ever since I've read this book I've been trying to disassociate it from the original series in my mind; it's actually not all that hard, given the noticable drop in quality since the original--it feels like it was written by an entirely different author.

Between this and the new Dragonlance books, I'm beginning tothink Weis and Hickman have no new ideas left. Instead they'veresorted to revisiting (and ruining) their old series in an effort to drag out another story. Case in point: "Legacy of the Darksword." We return to find the earth being attacked by a faceless alien race. Why? Who are they? What do they have against Earth? Nobody knows. We never find out. Some new one-dimensional characters are provided to fill in the gaps. Nothing really works: the emotion seems manufactured and the 'time line' plot is straight out of a bad Star Trek episode. Save your time.

People who have read the original trilogy will likely agree it's one of their best. I picked up the newest novel with a mix of excitement and dread: after all, it's been 8 years and I'm not in middle school anymore. Now I'm simply trying to forget the whole thing. It doesn't even seem like Weis & Hickman's writing style. Go for the original trilogy if you want a fantastic read.. but stop there. All hope abandon, ye who go beyond.

I am a huge fan of the original Darksword series. I was thrilled to see them revisit it. I reread the first three books with newfound admiration and absoulute enjoyment. I was afraid to read the Legacy of the Darksword because it would be hard pressed to keep up. It didn't. The alien race was never explained or even interesting without the slightest details of thier motives or who they are. Joram is nothing more than a minor charecter who has absoultely no depth. If you hadn't read the original series Joram had no identity. In some ways this is a pleasant, or not so pleasant visit with old friends but it leaves alot to be desired. The whole hopscotching through time really doesn't work and i finished by feeling cheated. I would still read this or any other Darksword sequals just on the chance that if can recreate that magic.

It pains me to realize how bad this book really is. I'm a fan of other Weis & Hickman works and I love the Darksword Trilogy. This afterthought of a book does the series a grave injustice, however. The characters are flat and the plot is insanely dumb. Do yourself a favor and skip this one.

Legacy of the Darksword blends together fantasy and science-fiction in a disharmonic confusing whirlwind. We are taken twenty years after the original trilogy ends. Saryon and his mute companion Reuven live in Oxford, England. Prince Garald is now King, of what, we do not know. Mosiah has unexpectedly joined the ranks of the Duuk-tsarith. Humankind is being hunted and destroyed by the Hch'nyv, an alien race seeking to eliminate everyone but themselves. Rumours stir that in Thimhallan Joram has created another Darksword, and that it is this that will stop the alien race from attacking. Saryon, Reuven, and Mosiah return to Thimhallan to attempt to persuade Joram to give them the sword so they can save humankind. Hot on their tail, however, is a group of people known as Technomancers who want the sword for their own reasons. Thrown into the mix is Eliza, Joram's daughter, and Scylla, an agent of a secret government department. Simpkin returns from the dead ...

...and it is only he who gave me any pleasure in this new tale. And even that was a dry emotion. The characters lack depth and the plotline is weak. Joram is a minor character, who has seemingly reverted to the angry and melancholy blackness of his youth. Time hop-scotching is introduced, whipping the story through three different alternate times.

While this is okay if you're looking for a "light read," this book holds nothing of what the original Darksword Trilogy has. Although it appears the same size as the first three books, the font is much larger to make up for it. The entire story was unnecessary, as the trilogy ended in a befitting manner, closing the Prophecy nicely. I'm not going to say "Don't read this," but please be prepared as you go into it that it's NOTHING like the original Darksword Trilogy. Don't expect much from it.

The novel by itself is fine. However, this book can't compare to the trilogy or the other books by the same author. Although I find the Darksword trilogy the gloomiest of all Weis & Tracy's novel I have read, they are a very good read and portray the human element (the emotion, the logic behind each action etc.) very well. This book lacks the depth and consistency. The plot is very very loose. I'm very disappointed with this book and don't think it deserve its place as the 'Legacy' of the DARKSWORD.

How disappointing! The oringal trilogy is ruined by this after though of a book.

I was passing through the bookstore, looking for something to read on a flight home, and I had (at the time) what I took to be a happy accident, and came upon this book.

When I first read the series as a boy, I was entranced by it. I found the characters both compelling and believable, and the world set up by W&H had a marvelous history and a delightful take on things.

With these thoughts in mind, I began reading. "Legacy of the Darksword" is a shambling zombie of a sequel, keeping the facade of the original story, but possessed with none of the life, and burdenedd with a grinning rictus of a plot that frightens every literary bone in my body.

Characters we once loved are brought back, but utterly lack any appeal, perhaps due in no small part to the book's point of view, the ultra-bland scribe-mute Reuven.

Scenes that _ought_ to exude potency and importance are done ham-handedly. We see the meeting of Joram and Saryon after so many years -- and it's just so sloppily done! So little passion, so much drab.

Joram's daughter, the "generic willful fantasy daughter" is moderately interesting at best. She has gone through none of the trials or horrors that marked Joram's character -- her presence is a continual "So what?"

Fleeing from the protagonists, one might think that there is hope to be had in the villain's corner. If only it were so! The main menace in the book is a race of aliens we never see, and a bad guy 'technomancer' who we see only in the book's conclusion, to give _some_ face to the bad guys. (Too bad he's 'generic bad guy')

With all this said about the characters, you might hope for some saving gracing from the plot. Ha! It's a herky jerky sequence, tied together by chance, an indecisive scribe, and (literally!) deux ex machina.

All these horrible things happen at a breakneck pace, so there's zero time to develop character, theme, or even point. I read the soft cover in less than three hours -- the Almin help the people who bought the hardback!

My final rumination on the subject:

Why do W&H keep writing books like this? Earlier in their career, they wrote intriguing series, with rich, detailed characters, often in challenging settings, set against worlds that crackled with life and energy. For some macabre reason, they seem compelled to write sequels to these series, and so far, they seem to be batting a thousand when it comes to taking worlds we all love, then writing a single, rushed book to destroy everything we loved about said worlds. (*Cough* dragons of summer flame *cough*). If it's money, maybe we should take up some sort of fund, so they can spend their time writing something good.

I enjoyed the book and hope the authors do more "quick-read" novels like this from time to time, but for a work that bears the DarkSword name, it was a disappointment. It was no where near as inspiring, thought-provoking, or epic as the original Trilogy (I'm the only Weis & Hickman fan I know of who enjoyed the DarkSword trilogy even more than DragonLance and DeathGate). I liked the ending to the original trilogy with its mixed-feeling conclusion. Legacy of the Darksword is a lot more "comic-bookish" and would have been better off as a stand-alone novel with its own characters and story-line rather than adding to the DarkSword Trilogy.