Customer Reviews

Mystic Quest (Bronze Canticles, Book 2)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The first book, Mystic Warrior, ended with a fledgling rebellion (human), a victory over a massive invasion (faerie), and radical regime change (goblin). Its sequel, Mystic Quest, takes place some two decades later where the original characters are placed in peripheral roles. The human protagonist in the first book, Galen Arvad, now the perfunctory leader of the rebellion against the Pir and their dragon masters, has two sons (from different women) who quest for a mythical safe haven for Arad's people. Dwynwyn, the faery, is now queen of the dead and gives her former charge, Aislynn, a quest to return a similarly lost land. Our intrepid goblin king, Mimic, being threatened by his conniving wife and likeminded daughter, sends his new boss mechanic Thux on a mission that will save both their lives.

As in the first book, the three protagonists face similar goals and challenges and encounter comparable metaphorical dreams as their predecessors did. However, the rift in time between the two books in addition to the new primary characters also insures that MQ suffers from the same thing that MW did - a dreadfully slow start.

Not surprisingly, given the intervening years that separate the two books and the new main characters, we're forced to play catch-up for the first hundred or so pages as we discover: what happened to Bikrita, how did Dwynwyn get to be Queen, what has Mimic been doing for the last 20 years? And so on and so forth.

Add to the slow start, you have some very poorly described events. At the end of one chapter, Arvad and his company are swept away in an avalanche. The chapter ends with him finding five of his cohorts and the melodramatic, "The Mists of Arvad (the name of the expedition) were no more..." However in the very next chapter new survivors seem to pop up with every new paragraph to the point where we are left wondering, how bad was this accident?

And finally, the finale - a convoluted jumble of events that was a complete let down. Instead of ending with a bang, it ended in a sigh, a wheeze, and a gasp.

Well, I was hoping against hope that this the second book of The Bronze Canticles would be better than the first, after all the world was now established, the characters were set and ready to go... yet, what is in this bookis more drivel and a stalled storyline that leaves the reader ready to abandon the book all together. Don't get me wrong, that's not to say that there aren't a couple good points to this book, but in this novel they are few and far between. Which, is rather disappointing considering the great things Hickman was able to do in the Dragonlance world.

I really wish I could say something positive about this book, but in the end I just can't do it. While it's not the worst book I have ever read, it is surely not the best either... far from the best actually...

Three different dimensions, three different worlds all linked so that the fate of one is the fate of all. It is twenty-three years since the events of Mystic Warrior took place and the sons and daughters get out on their own adventures, hoping to find salvation and a place to call home.

The dragons on the human world are not just killing the mystics but are after the priests who worship them and the peasants who have no say in what the leaders do. Galen's son and his priest half brother are moving south to the lost city of Calgandria if they can find it. The mystics will have a homeland free of persecution but the two brothers have opposing goals on the quest and once it is completed a choice that will mean life or death for humanity will be made.

On the goblin world, King Mimic and the wizard Thux share a dream in which the wizard goes south to the ogre city to find out the relationships between the titans (robots) and the books that make them work. His wife is held hostage to control him, but when he finds a library full of books, he wants Mimic's plan to fail while the ogre king believe that his side will prevail.

In the world of faery, the Kree are going to see if there is a chance they can return to their homeland after the catastrophe destroyed their city. A representative of each of the domains in fairy accompanies the Kree on their expedition. However, a traitor is among them with plans that do not include the Kree or faery; it is up to a deposed princess to stop the villain from carrying out his diabolical plan.

Three different worlds, three heroes who all have dreams to go south and a magical artifact is the deciding factor on the success or failure of the missions that demonstrates that these worlds are definitely linked. Tracey and Laura Hickman have written an enthralling fantasy novel with plenty of action and fully developed characters. MYSTIC QUEST is fantasy at its very best.

Harriet Klausner

I enjoyed this story very much. I recommend it to others. I believe others will enjoy it also. I look forward to other stories from this author.

I am a big fan of Tracy Hickman's writing. I have read many Dragon Lance Series books. Unfortunately this series has been hard for me to get into. Hopefully that will change after reading this book. SO far, the story is slow going, but we shall see.

I read the first three books before writing a review.

This book moves to the next generation. It sets in motion three different quests in the three worlds (man, faerie, goblin). Again the goblin world gets short work. The world of man is the most interesting. It is worth going through this book.

I really not sure what is happening in the faerie world. All sorts of things happen that really don't seem to have any set up.

Okay so I was dumb enough to wander into the third book.

This book left me confused. Some points were really well made, but overall it was hard to follow. I expected better after reading the first one.

If you like books like this one, might I suggest another I've recently come across. The Unsuspecting Mage by Brian S. Pratt. It's another fantasy adventure sure to please. I highly recommend it. It's available in e-Book too and far better than this one!!

Usually I can follow a jump in time. This however was a bit much without some kind of prelude or a chapter interlude. I enjoy the authors writting style except for this point, which I found difficult to overcome and still enjoy the book.

Joe