Customer Reviews

Master and Fool (The Book of Words, Book 3)

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The 3 stars are for the series as a whole. As a long-time reader of fantasy, I've read most of the top names in the indusry: Jordan, Goodkind, Brooks, Etc. I've also read some real bombs. And although J.V. Jones' "Book of Words" trilogy isn't the best fantasy I've ever read, it's not as bad as some people have made it out to be. It does have some intriguing characters (notably Maybor, Baralis, and Tavalisk) and a a fairly interesting plot. What I didn't really care for is how the main characters were constantly put on the defensive(especially Melli). The fact that they were constantly chased/captured/separated began to wear thin by the third book. Also, I would have liked to have seen the magic abilities Jack and Baralis used fleshed out a little more. Overall, not a bad effort for a first-time writer, but could have been better.

Okay, so if you were snooping around in the fantasy circles circa 1995, you are indubitably aware that this trilogy generated an enormous buzz. That in itself was surprising, since The Baker's Boy was Mrs. Jones' very first novel. In addition, it was published by Aspect (Warner Books), an imprint not particularly renowned for publishing bestsellers.

In any event, to a certain extent taking the market by storm, the series was an instant success. The three volumes were all national bestsellers, which is quite unusual. They all topped the Locus Bestseller List. Okay, so it's not the New York Times, but it is still quite an accomplishment for a new author.

Like a lot of people, I bought the books when they came out. Unlike many, I didn't read them yet. The hype was too strong, and I didn't want it to influence me when I read the series. Of course, I didn't really expect to wait nearly 9 years before reading them, either! For some reason, even though Mrs. Jones wrote 3 more novels since the publication of Master and Fool, she never did create waves the way The Book of Words trilogy initially did. Now was the time for me to see what the buzz had been about. . .

As is usually the case, the series did not live up to the expectations the buzz had created within me. Hence, I'm happy to have waited before reading the novels. Otherwise, I would probably have been VERY disappointed by this series. With the enormous number of books I've read over the years, I'm afraid that I have become definitely hard to please. . .

But although the trilogy suffers from several shortcomings, in all objectivity I must admit that it is still a relatively good read.

My main problem with the series is the fact that it appears to be aimed at a younger crowd. In my mind, it seems to be aimed at readers who are under 18. Being 30 (yes, I AM getting old!), I couldn't quite get into it. But I am persuaded that if I had read the series when I was 16 years of age, I would probably have loved it. There is a certain innocence inherent to the characters and their views of love, honor, obligation, etc, that makes the whole thing not ring true to my "adult" perspective.

The biggest shortcoming of the series, however, is the fact that the characters are far from being three-dimensional. As a matter of fact, they are not "real." The author fell into a popular trap, namely creating "cliché" characters: the innocent boy with immense potential, the beautiful and spoiled young woman who turns out to be stronger and more courageous than she believed herself to be, the evil mage, the power-hungry prince, etc. And some characters are just caricatures, case in point being the Archbishop Tavalisk. And yet, having said that about the characters, they are still a likeable bunch. Which, in the end, helps you enjoy the books.

Several plotlines had a lot of potential (the knights of Valdis, the Seers of Larn, Jake's parentage, etc), but they were not exploited to their fullest. Had they been, this series would have been much better. Mrs. Jones took the easy road instead. . .

In light of all this, I have to admit that I nevertheless like J. V. Jones' writing style. She has a witty way to write, which I truly enjoyed. I think that she must challenge herself a little more with her storylines, and explore a bit more those concepts that she creates. It would certainly give ner novels more depth, which in turn would make them more enjoyable.

I believe that J. V. Jones shows great promise and could be a bright voice in the fantasy genre. Hopefully her other novels will show just how much potential she truly possesses. . .:-)

Check out my blog: www.fantasyhotlist.blogspot.com

J.V. Jones provides a wonderful story that is deeply intricate and surprising.

While I liked the first two books by Jones, I was very disappointed by the third book. While there is clearly an unconsummated marriage in the end of Book 2 and a hinted prophecy that Melli's hymen would only be broken by Jack, this is all ditched in the revisionist opening of the third book. Such glaring plot discontinuities suggest to me that the author either forgot what she had previously written or couldn't figure out how to work towards her prophecy and ditched all in order to conveniently wrap the series up. I am also disappointed by the corresponding shift in focus to Tawl at the expense of Jack. Jack seems to have dropped out of most of the plot development all of a sudden when he and Melli were the focus of the first two books. Now he's on his own when most of the action seems to revolve around Tawl and Melli. Hey! Editor! What were you thinking!?

The Book of Words (series) is on par with Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time Series. I only wish that Ms. Jones could have continued the series it was so good. Starting with the Baker's boy, Ms. Jones moves from character to character letting us into their thoughts. Unlike so many science ficiton/fantasy books, the heroes of her stories suffer real trials and do not magically make it past every crisis. Her writing is "simple" which makes for a good read. Whoever reads this book will enjoy the battle between good and evil and will understand where there is one, there will always be another. I highly recommend buying the complete series, you may read them all in one week.

A disappointing finish to this intriguing trilogy.

J.V.Jones had shown herself to be a skilled storyteller and a developing writer with the first two books. The basic story is great throughout...a classic fantasy tale based on the ongoing struggle between good and evil. This installment continues to follow the converging tales of our two main protagonists, Jack (the baker's boy) and Tawl (the Valdis knight).

The series started off well in the first installment and continued nicely into the second book, but somehow this book seems to have lost something...not so much with the basic story, but rather with some areas of its execution...let me explain.

1.)There are many flashbacks (in fact too many), referring to a previous time involving Tawl's disastrous relationship with this sisters.

2.)There were some conversation between characters seem somehow scripted and forced; conversation that didn't seem to go anywhere, leaving the reader with the feeling that the author was writing 'fill'.

3.)There are instances of people doing really questionable things, resulting in them unnecessarily, being put in harms way.

4.)And as I noted in my review of the second book, there were happenings and occurrences that just seemed unlikely, given the situation at hand.

5.)There were times of unrealistic cruelty in several areas, that again seemed a little overdone and thus making it somewhat unbelievable.

6.)And finally, the book became more laden with the above mentioned perceived shortcomings as the end approached; in truth it was all I could do to finish this work. It got to the point where I started skimming some areas because I was bored and just wanted to get finished.

Conclusion:
Although Jones has an easy to read and likeable writing style, this last book, unfortunately, has resulted in some of the luster being lost from the entire trilogy. However, if you can ignore the drop in quality, especially during the latter third of this last book, this is still an overall engaging and rewarding fantasy adventure. 2 to 2 1/2 Stars for this book; 4 Stars for the entire trilogy.

Ray Nicholson

Master and Fool is the conclusion to J.V. Jones' Book of Words trilogy. The trilogy starts off slow, but ends with a bang in this third book. I never expected some of the stuff that occurred, which is something I always look for in my fantasy books and made this series enjoyable.

Jack is finally away from Rovas, Magra, and Tarissa physically but not mentally, and is taken up by a sorcerer, who is the opposite of Baralis. He helps Jack learn to control his powers after what happened in A Man Betrayed, but Jack now distrusts everyone. Once he feels he is being lied to he leaves and heads towards Bren. In Bren he finally meets up with Tawl, and the start of their journey to oppose Baralis and Kylock begins.

Melli and Tawl, over the corse of Melli's engagement to the Duke of Bren, have fallen in love. They are now in hiding after the Duke of Bren's murder and the blame is being laid on Tawl by Baralis. The marriage was supposedly never completed, so Melli has no claim on the realm of Bren. Tawl is still dealing with his past, but finally discovers the root of it all and takes action.

The claim for Bren is given to Catherine, but it isn't long before Kylock takes over that title, unexpectedly. Larn is giving more and more help to Baralis, and needs to be eliminated or else Kylock will conquer both the north and the south easily.

The book comes to a stunning conclusion with most of the loose ends tied up, and enough mystery left to create another series with the characters. The only problem I found with this book was that I never got any explanation as to why some of the characters were included, like the archbishop of Rorn and the prostitute, Megan. I thought their importance would be explained in the end, but they never were. Otherwise I enjoyed Master and Fool and the Book of Words trilogy, and look forward to reading more from J.V. Jones.

Following the other two books in the series, this was a bit of a disapointment. As a whole, the book of words trilogy is a good read but in the final book, Jones falls down; the ending is brief and the build up is too much. However, eventhough this book may not be up to the standard of the others, it does have good points and it is still a good read.

It is clear in this book that JV Jones is still finding her feet, resulting in some unevenness in the overall quality of the book. But she shows great promise in her story telling ability, keeping the reader engaged with some interesting twists in the plot and visceral action (one might say a bit too visceral, as if she is trying to negate any aspertions people may cast on her abilities because of her gender).

At first glance it seems to be caricature fantasy plot of the Orphan Boy who discovers his destiny is something more than he had expected. Also, Jones does not spend much time developing the background of the world the characters inhabit. But the reader will forget these minor shortcomings for the fresh and lively characters who inhabit these worlds, the gritty reality of their quest stands in contrast to the more sanitized world of Jordan. Jones also spends quite some time developing the magic system of her world, and manages to keep it believable (forgive the oxymoron).

All in all, Jones shows great promise in her first trilogy, while it may not completely deserve all the praise it has garnered, it is still worth your while to read this trilogy not only because it is a very readable saga, but it is also your opportunity to see a very talented writer coming into bloom.

As a whole, this was a fantastic series. It was fresh, absorbing, and filled with excitement. I would rate the series and this book as well, as a 10 if it wasn't for the last 80 pages of the book (and the ending to the series.) Quite simply, this was the worst ending I think I've ever read. It almost seemed as if the author just got tired of writing or being creative and decided to end it. As a whole, the series was filled with dark overtones and a overbearing sense of awaiting doom. Without ruining the ending, I'll just say that it is pure cheese. It left me feeling angry and cheated. Having loved the series so much, I was so so tempted to write up an alternate ending of the way things SHOULD have ended. But in the end, I just wanted to forget about the whole sad affair. I was looking forward to Jones' new books, but after this piece of crap ending, I no longer am. It might seem as if I'm being overdramatic, but after getting so involved with a great story, it is such a major letdown to have about 10 pure-luck coincidences occur within 50 pages to pull out a perfect, happy, everything-works-out-for-good-in-the-end ending when it deserved so much more. Maybe after I cool off for a bit I'll feel better...