Customer Reviews

Reavers of the Blood Sea (Dragonlance Chaos War, Vol. 4)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Knaak has always been one of my favorite Dragonlance authors ever since I read the Legend of Huma. His latest tale of the minotaurs does not feature Kaz but his descendent Aryx. Aryx is an impressive character, but instead of developing, he constantly acted as the reluctant hero. This was a little annoying. Also there are a few parts that really drag. But what I liked was that Knaak unlike other authors in the series, he gives us new creatures. The crustacean creatures are very cool and interesting. I was glad when I found out it wasn't just going to be another book where the heroes would fight fire dragons and shadow wraiths(That was getting boring after four books of it). Other authors should learn from Knaak's creativity. Instead of sticking to the same formula, Dragonlance authors should expand their imagination in the world of Krynn. Knaak is truly one of the best, keep um comming Richard.

Richard Knaak is a great storyteller. He knows how to keep the reader glued to the story and Reavers of the Blood Sea is a great example.

The characters are well fleshed out, and you can really understand why they feel the way they do when peculiar events take place.

The hero of the story, Aryx, is happy being a hired hand on a minotaur ship when he suddenly finds himself wrapped up with dark knights, Gods, war, political unrest, ominous horrors, and the possible destruction of his planet. What's a minotaur to do?

This book is not for the faint of heart. Unlike other Dragonlance novels, the battle scenes here are numerous and as graphic as they can get. I was reminded of Saving Private Ryan, but this book goes even further.

The portrayal of Sargonnas alone makes this book a worthy read. This is a good book, with a thrilling climax. Brace yourself for battle, and top notch adventure.

When I first saw this book I thought it wasn't going to be that good but there wasn't a moment when I thought it was boring. I couldn't put it down and I almost read the entire book straight. If you're looking for a good dragonlance book then this is definetly it.

As with any book about minotaurs, there's plenty of honor & violence which isn't a bad thing in such cases.

This novel has many strengths: a believeable plot twist to get thing rolling(how else did you thing Takhisis would bring these prideful beasts into line without major bloodshed?), great battle scenes(including one involving a god) & memorable characters.

I only found 2 flaws: The KOT were a little crueler than portrayed in other books & the length of the book. WOW! While page wise it's no longer than most DL books, there were a LOT of words crammed on them pages. It took me 2 & ½ days of HARD reading to finish it.

This book is the best of a great series and I don't say that lightly. I will even include Dragons of the Summer Flame. Although it would face competition from The Doom Brigade, DoSF, and perhaps even Mt. Nevermind (maybe) this book beats them all and more. If you like minotaurs you could say it is the best DL book ever. It is very good (keep in mind Aryx didn't know what he was talking about when he said Raistlin couln't do what Sargonnas did in that circus.

Sargonnas lives!

I thought this book was an awesome addition to the DragonLance series. It was cool that Aryx was a descendant of Kaz, one of my alltime favorite characters other than Tas or Tanis. I also thought it was nice to add another Choas mutation and the sword of tears. Overall, this book rocks!!!!!

This is the first book I've read of the series and I am definatly going to buy more! It had everything a sci-fi action fan could want! It was so engrossing I yelled at the charactors actions that I did'nt agree with! My only complaint is that sometimes it was kinda cheesy (God of Just Causes and Father of All and Nothing.)Over all exellent reading and worth any and all credit!

This book was definately a "Must Read"!

I have read probably 20 DL novels, and this was in the top 10. This story centers on "Ayrx", direct descendant from the legandary "Kaz", during the chaos war.

This book was a page turner, with some amazing battles, in fact, lots, and lots, of battles. The minotaurs as usual fought with themselves over the virtues of Honor, and Bravery, and as usual, there is another group trying to control them as slave solders..this time that group being the Knights of Tahkisis.

The Minotaurs are fighting to save their homeland from (1) The Knights of Tahkisis , and (2) The Chaos Creatures, and at the center of all of the fighting, and conquering, and politcs, is Aryx, the reluctant Hero thrust into a situation he doesn't want any part of, but The Gods "Sargonnas", and "Kiri-Jolith", simply won't have it without him.

The Pros:
(1)Sargonnas Appears in Mortal Flesh for quite some time, accompanied by the treacherous "Sword of Tears"
(2)Kaz Makes Several Appearences
(3)Kiri-Jolith Makes one appearance in mortal flesh, and one in a dream.
(4)There are some awesome battles
(5)Some very Memorable Characters

The Cons:
(1)Sargonnas seems a bit like a tired wimp, who leaves more questions than he answers
(2)Kiri-Jolith leaves more questions than he answers
(3)Kaz leaves more questions than he answers
(4)Doesn't it seem that gods, and the spirits of legends couldn't give a straight answer if they wanted to?

(5)Several Characters who you grow attached to throughout the story die.
(6)Throughought the book the Knights of Tahkisis keep speaking about a "Great Vision", and it is never really explained.
(7)The Minotaurs and knights keep battling the chaos creaturs, and never really win.

This is the second best in the series after Doom Brigade (so far), and Knaak's technique is good, much better than the previous three, but... Of course there is a but. It's too slow, it drags on and on without much happening. The battles are carnages, really and they get boring after the second one. These cruscateans really feel like mass-generated for massacre (which is on purpose, i suppose) but there is no tension other than "oh, boy, when will *this* battle end?" Somehow the monsters feel like the bugs in Starship Troopers without the dynamics. 20% less of everything would have been enough, because this pace is just too slow - nothing really interesting happens between two conflicts (or rather, nothing interesting *enough*).

The characters are good, though, all cliché but good, especially Rand and Aryx - the human priest with a potential and the bitter minotaur warrior. The best motif of the story is the unwilling, reluctant hero, who pretty much hates being there at the right place at the right time. Kinda destroys the whole ultra-heroic myth of its genre, and feel especially cynical in the Dragonlance setting, where previous heroes were ultra-mega-heroic. I liked this anti-heroic touch very much, especially the bitter and disturbing happy end.

Still, it's too slow at most places, so I would be hard pressed to read this book a second time.

I've always loved Knaak's minotaur books, and this is no exception. Sargonnas is one of the few powerful gods in Dragonlance that hasn't ever gotten a good portrayal. I never understood how he could be truly honorable and evil before, but now I do. Great job all around!