Customer Reviews

Origin Scroll (Targa Trilogy, Book 1)

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

 

 

I've read many of Tuttle's fantasy novels and this is my fave so far. If you are trying to figure which one to purchase first, get this one. It will awaken you to a whole new world ... Tuttle's world ... He will keep you on the edge of your seat while he intrigues you with mystery and a fantasy like you've never dreamed before!
Once read, you will never forget this book.

Are the first three reviewers friends of the author? I'm glad this was free for my Kindle because I didn't try to finish it and didn't keep it long. Stiff, unfleshed out characters (and clueless--why hadn't the main kid character never once heard of the mean fox-things, when his friends had? Had no one in his small village ever talked to this kid before?), stiffer, wooden dialogue. Definite overuse of all thesaurus words possible for one simple action, and used without regard for context. 2D characters quip when they're not saying anything funny and saunter when the situation implies that they're meant to be hurrying. The robotic dialogue was funnier when I turned the Speech thing on. Contractions were rare enough to be startling, so either use them or do not! Typos and homonym misspellings put me off too. Custom's hut and custom's inspectors, really? Maybe the author had to be his own editor because no professional could get through it. What a painful ugh of a read.

Edited to add: this was for the Kindle, not the paperback, if the Speech thing wasn't enough of a clue. Though it would be kind of cool if paperbacks had a Speech thing. But I guess that's part of the charm of the Kindle! :-)

Origin Scroll by Richard S Tuttle was another fun fantasy quest story and the beginning of the Targa Trilogy. I managed to snag this one during the short time that it was free on Amazon, and just couldn't stop myself from buying the next two after reading it. Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Mages, Unicorns, Trolls, and other fantasy creatures abound. This engrossing trilogy is actually the first part of the larger Alcea Collection. The 7-part Swords Of Heaven series and the 7-part Demonstone Chronicles round out the full collection.

This book has an amazing story and you can feel the characters throughout the book. It is very well written, you never know what will happen next as you read this book. This book is great for ANY fantasy reader!

I discovered Richard Tuttle on a podcast and have been listening to Origin Scroll. I enjoy his reading so much that I have decided to purchase this book in written format also.

First, I love rags-to-riches and adventure stories, and I felt this did both very well. Without giving too much away... The story introduces three young people at inflection points in their lives. Circumstances back each up against a wall, and each chooses to try his or her odds against the world. We then get to watch each one develop into a true hero: a warrior, a wizard, and the medieval equivalent of a Wall Street genius -- that then combine their skills to try to rescue their world from evil.

The book is a quick read, with simple prose, but a compelling story, great characters, and fun twists.

Strengths: Excellent character development, witty dialog, solid plot.
Weaknesses: Writing is not as literary as it is pure story telling, beginning is a little slow.

Enjoyed this a lot and am right off to the next one... Hope Dark Quest picks right up where this one leaves off!

An evil sorcerer searches for the origin scroll and stops at nothing to find it, unleashing beasts and war on the land. Caught in the action are three teenagers, Alex, the fighter, Oscar, the merchant/strategist and Jenneva the magic-user who each discover and start to develop their abilities.

If this book was meant for adult readers, it deserves half a star, if that much. The plot is simple, the characters one dimensional and very young. I was annoyed right from the beginning when the fate of the village is left to fifteen year old Alex. Why ? None of the women are mature or strong enough to take the lead ? It was patently ridiculous.

But, if the target market is the 9 to 14 young reader, then I understand better why all the protagonists are fifteen and the adults take second chair. It would also make sense to keep the story uncomplicated.

Personnally, I didn't like the book, expecting the plots to be more challenging and complex. However, I would not hesitate to recommend it to a younger reader.

When I began to read this book by Tuttle, I was a little unsure of it partly due to the cover (I know...don't judge a book by its cover) and because even though there was action at the beginning, I did not yet feel connected to the characters to be concerned for their safety. When I finished the book, I had these thoughts: wow, that actually turned out to be a pretty good story overall; what the heck?!; and it was free :)

The story is full of Alex doing heroic things and accomplishing a tremendous amount, I'll try not to spoil anything because it is worth reading. Even though Alex experienced great loss, it happened so early in the story that it did not have much emotional pull on me. Had something tragic happened later in the story after he had achieved things, I would have felt sorry for him. The story starts low and then builds up and keeps going up - with everything being overall positive rather than fluctuating.

The "what the heck" comment mostly came at the end (no spoilers!). Twists in the story occurred at a time when they didn't make sense. Yes, they were explained later but it was so out of the blue that it was more frustrating to the story than surprising. Looking back, you see that Tuttle tried to give hints but they were so bland its like the twist came out of no where.

And then of course, I got this book for Kindle when it was free. You can't beat the price of free. Now that it is $6, I'm not sure I'd recommend it at that price. Maybe if you could get if for 3 or 4.

Overall, its an enjoyable story with likable characters but the story itself has too much heroism and easiness for the some of the main characters to advance in their lives that it lacks the struggle that I expected from the environment they lived in. It didn't seem like they struggled to survive as Tuttle tried to describe their lives.

I liked the story. I wish it didn't feel like I was reading an outline or first draft. I never felt like I was in the story. I don't think I will read the series. I just don't care what happenens to the characters.

I finished reading the Forgotten Legacy series by Tuttle and absolutely loved it. It is now one of my all time favourites alongside Fiest, Eddings, Kate Elliot etc. I then moved onto his next series, the Targa Trilogy.

I feel that the overall storyline is good, however it was so rushed that you don't get a chance to take the story in and really enjoy it. The whole way through, it feels like the author was quickly trying to get to the final climax and publish the book, with sentances not flowing, characters not developed well and very little depth.

The difference between writing styles of the Forgotton Legacy and this book is so different that you would not pick them as being by the same author. I am about to get the second book for this reason - I am hoping that this book was just a slight hiccup in his writing as the Forgotton Legacy left a great positive lasting impression.