Customer Reviews

Mystic Warrior (The Bronze Canticles, Book 1)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

Tracey Hickman and dragons go together...well, almost as well as Margaret Weis and Dragons. So it's no surprise that one of the co-creators of the Dragonlance Chronicles has written another book involving dragons. In this case, Mystic Warrior is also book one in yet another fantasy series (doesn't anybody write stand-alones anymore?). The trick to making these series interesting is to have a world that the reader enjoys entering and learning more about. Does that happen in this case? I'm happy to say that Hickman, and his wife, Laura, have created a novel world using some standard fantasy tropes and turning them on their side a bit. While some clichés are still used (dwarves live underground, dragons are mean and nasty), they add just enough new stuff to make a fascinating first book.

Mystic Warrior is a tale of three different worlds. All of them occupy the same space, but on a different plane, and communication between these worlds is only possible for certain people through what appear to be dreams. On the faerie world, the inhabitants are under attack from hordes of satyrs and centaurs as their way of life is threatened. On another, goblins scour the countryside looking for ancient machines that can be made to work, especially signs of the old Titans who inhabited the land before goblinkind.

On the human dominated world, Galen is a master ironworker along with the dwarf Cephas, who runs the forge. Each year, the local religion runs what they call an "election," where people who have some form of insanity are magically brought out and taken away. Galen has had objects talking to him for years, but he has managed to avoid being present for the Election and has thus been passed over. Not this year, however. Taken away from his loving wife and his livelihood, he is forced into a war between five dragons who have marshaled their forces for 400 years, fighting insignificant battles over nothing. But Galen discovers that the "insanity" that made him one of the elect is actually a form of magic, a magic linking all the worlds together, allowing one of the faeries, the "winged woman" of his supposed dreams, to aid him. But will he survive long enough to learn what this magic is?

I loved the concept of these three linked worlds, especially when images are taken from one of the worlds and seen by other characters who have no idea how to interpret them. Dwynwyn, who happens to be the winged woman Galen sees, has her own problems in the faerie realm dealing with her people's problems. However, she and Galen are linked in some mysterious way, and they end up helping each other even though they don't understand what it is that they are seeing. The main goblin character, Mimic, is also involved in some other, more obscure way. The other characters never see him, but the war between the mechanical beings that he sets up for his ruler, the Dong Mehaj-Megong, to enjoy bears a striking resemblance to the war that Galen is currently fighting in.

The story takes us along the three storylines, jumping back and forth between them as we see the rise of Mimic from a lowly 4th class engineer to much higher in the goblin social structure. We see Dwynwyn's attempts to safeguard her charge, the princess Aislynn from the onrushing hordes and a forced marriage to cement an alliance that would bring her people to the point of oblivion. The Hickmans slowly start to merge the storylines as the book wears on. At first, each story has its own chapter, using the chapter breaks to jump to something else. As things become more tightly entwined, the breaks are more frenetic, jumping three or four times per chapter and ramping up the tension. This effectively darkens the mood as we come closer to understanding how everything links together. The pacing of the book is really nicely done in that sense.

This caused me to read the last half of the book at an accelerated rate, as I wanted to find out what happened next. Unfortunately, the first part of the book dragged at times. I wasn't as interested in the characters as I could have been, especially Mimic and the Goblins. The Goblin world is given short shrift in the beginning of the book, and thus the scenes that take place there aren't as interesting as the other two worlds. It would have been nice to learn a little bit more about Goblin culture aside from the acquisition of mechanical artifacts and how possession of these is the ultimate status symbol.

The other problem is with some of the characterization. It wasn't necessarily bad, but it wasn't that interesting either. Galen tended to whine a lot right after he was selected, and while that may be understandable in real life, it's not that interesting to read about. Tragget, the Inquisitor of one of the dragon's religions, and the person who saw Galen in his dreams, is a bit more intriguing, but the political fighting within the church just became boring. It picks up when we start to learn the secret behind the religions, especially how all of the dragons interact. After that, the book grabs you and doesn't let you go.

It's a shame that the beginning is such a struggle, as Mystic Warrior would be a first-rate book otherwise, and one I would recommend whole-heartedly. Instead, it's just a very good book. It will be interesting to see where the Hickmans go with this. If the more boring set-up at the beginning of this book becomes necessary in subsequent books, I'll stand corrected. That doesn't mean that it couldn't have been made more appealing, though.

David Roy

I was a tad disappointed with this book. For me, the beginning dragged a bit. I enjoy the writing of Hickman, and the concept of 3 parallel worlds is interesting enough. But something was missing, it didn't hold my interest like it should have. As the stories of Galen the human smith, Dwynwyn the fairy seeker, and Mimic the goblin engineer unfolded and started coming together toward the end, things were a little more interesting. I found Galen to be the most interesting of the characters, which is good since he seems to be the focal point of the tale. Mimic was the least interesting, and seemed to serve as comic relief. If the next installment starts the way this one ends, then I can recommend the series. If not, then there are much better things to read out there.

Mystic Warrior is an excellent story about three worlds that were actually the same world. The intricate plot follows the fortunes of an avatar on each of the three worlds, tying them together in a magical convergence where they learn to master the powers that connect the three worlds. As politics, war, and intrigue engulf the heroes, they must let go of all they think they understand about their world or be swept under by the tide of advancing magic.

Mystic Warrior is a deep, fascinating story set on interesting worlds. The plotting is intricate and the politics are real. I can see why many people don't get this story. There are layers to it that defy a casual reading. It may be going a bit far to say this is the next Tolkien or Jorden, but it has that epic feel to it.

Read and enjoy.

Well I just hit page 428 and I think Galen, our hero, has finally stopped his [...]and moan'n. The book is more or less OK. At least the plot is not driven by his stupidity, as is often the case with these miserable hero types. It simply goes on with him whining in the background, (or foreground as the case may be.)

I simply do not understand why otherwise talented authors feel the need to impose these endlessly whiny heroes on us poor readers. Is it really necessary for the protaganist to be such a blind jerk? The book is really quite interesting and has a lot of potential ... especially when any of the other major characters take the forefront. But I find myself shuddering when it is once again Galen's turn to come forward and whine.

The idea behind this novel is great: three worlds which are somehow linked together by dreams and each dreamer is a unique personality (and race). But I found the beginning of Mystic Warrior to be almost unbearable. The story progresses slower than a snail. The only reason you keep reading is because the chapters are so small (about 5 pages) that you find it an incredibly easy read. But it takes nearly 200 pages before the story really beings to progress to anything interesting. Honestly, I just recommend saving your money and buying another book.

I thoroughly enjoyed Mystic Warrior. The different worlds are distinct and unique and the characters are clearly differentiated. Lots of action. Cool plot. Thought-provoking struggle between good and evil. It's easy to see that there will be enough story for the trilogy, but the authors don't leave you hanging at the end of the first book without some sort of wrap-up. Can't wait for the next one. Way to go Tracy and Laura.

The Bronze Canticles rested within my "to be read" stack for several months, before I picked it up last week.

Before going further, I should state that I am, in general, a tremendous fan of Tracy Hickman. Besides his well known "Dragonlance" series (co-authored with Margaret Weiss), I also found his solo novel "The Immortals" to be a tremendous effort. However, I never "clicked" with this novel.

I found Galen, one of the 3-4 protagonists, to be "whiny". I found Mimic to be aptly named (a positive) and insufficiently detailed. Additionally, Dwynnwyn, the faery portent, was (initially) stoically presented. By the end, she's running roughshod (albeit through means not of her own) over the humoursly recalcitrant Xian.

And perhaps that is the gist of it: the book is ~420 pages. It has 3 (again, at least) protagonists, large (easily readable) typeface, and, as a result, none of them are fleshed out. While each viewpoint, ala George RR Martins A Sword of Fire and Ice series, drives the plot forward, there are still great, inexplicable "gaps" in the storyline.

To whit: if Galen is "unaware" of his "mystic power" and "Deep Magic", how does he facilitate the end game (of book 1)?

I suppose, in reading this critique, it may be asked why the book didn't garner "*" versus "***". At least that part is easily explainable:
(a) I like the author(s), and am more than willing to cede at least one extra point for that alone and
(b) the last portion of the book, "Warriors", rised substantially above the muck (but not dreck) that precedes it. A "****" quadrant to conclude the book.

And perhaps that's the summary: Disappoingtly average muck that rises substantially at the end; enough so that I, at the least, will read volume 2.

I've enjoyed many of the books I've read where Tracy Hickman has collaborated with Margaret Weis. So I was really eager to read the first book in the Bronze Canticles when it first came out in hardcover. When I finally got to reading it, even though I really liked the world, I found his writing style to be way too clunky and overwritten.

A couple examples of what I mean. He says, "Bertika's hair was a brown nimbus..." which I find to be a bit too odd of a description. When describing a window, he finishes by talking about the world "beyond its glazing." This is just in the first few pages. Personally, I find that kind of writing difficult to wade through, and a little pretentious, as if the authors are trying to show just how many words they know.

I'll be looking forward to other things Tracy Hickman and his wife are involved in, but I just can't recommend this book due to the difficult to slog through writing.

I don't know where all these reviewers came from, but they do not know what they are talking about. It is a great Book, I enjoyed every minute of it and I can't wait till the next one. Any one know when the next one is? I would definitely recommend it!

While the Hickmans' writing style and world building in itself is nice, this novel mainly consisted of a whole lot of nothing. I read all the way until the final eight chapters, then stopped. I realized I had read nearly the entire thing and had very little to show for it. The characters themselves were bland. The three different plots dragged along. Galen has no real personality, and the same could be said of Rhea. I couldn't tell you a single thing about her other than she loves her husband...because that's all she ever talked about.

I did enjoy Mimic's story though, as it was the only part that really stood out to me. The goblin world was very interesting, and I wish there had been more of it. Too bad it wasn't given more attention.

I can't seem to formulate a true opinion of the author, because this is the first Hickman story I've ever read. I will say however, that it's not making me want to jump in and read anything else under this name. I think I'll check some other Fantasy authors out and maybe come back to Hickman later.