Customer Reviews

Rose of the Prophet Trilogy (Weis Fiction)

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

 

 

I remember reading this trilogy around the same time I read the Darksword Trilogy and the Death Gate Cycle septology back in the mid 1990's. I'm glad it has been reprinted, unfortunately it is still in paperback and personally I prefer hardcover. Great storyline based partly on Arabian mythology. I recommend those that are frustrated with Weis and Hickman's newer work, to revisit this older story. I give it a 4 because honestly a trilogy should never be bound in one large paperback because they wear very quickly. Would have given 5 stars if it was hardcover.

One of the absolute best trilogy's of all time....but it did need to be in hardcover..because you will read this one over and over again. requires a bit more thought then the D&D books they wrote...but thats what made it nice.

The Rose of the Prophet is one of the best stories I have ever read, rivaled only by The Deathgate Cycle, Darksword Trilogy, and other of Weis and Hickman's works. The Arabian theme is a bit of a stretch for these masters of fantasy, but it's a nice respite from enchanted forests and elves. The story is rich and colorful, with pleasant curveballs. The ever present religous basis is there but with a slight twist: instead of a clumsy, forgetful character turning out to be a god, this story introduces us to jinn, angels, and 'emreets. My one complaint is the character of brother John. He has such a short and insignificant role before he is beheaded that he should never have been introduced. An incredible and classic adventure with just the perfect amount of comedy and creepiness.

Too often heroic fantasy is burdened by Tolkeinesque trappings. Readers rarely are offered adventure outside a cliche quasi-Western European setting. So this trilogy is a rarity, especially considering its age.

The world- and cosmic-building are both rich and yet simple. For gamers, the notion that everything is based on a d20 is a wink and a nod. Yet there is plenty of meat in these three books to satisfy non-gamers. We have passion, romance, excitement and plenty of comedic wit.

One of the other reasons I so enjoy this series is that it was one of the first in the genre to present a gay character in a positive light. Yes, yes, there is plenty of angst -- perhaps if written today, Weiss and Hickman would have permitted the character of Matthew more romantic fulfillment. That aside, the interpersonal relationships, the character arcs, of the three leads is both moving and engaging.

A must read in my book.

I recall reading this trilogy a couple of years ago. It seemed to me like the Lord of the Rings grown adult with insights into the nature of emotional conversion and brainwashing mixed in with wondrous tales of genii, gods and devils. I admit there were a few obvious flaws that the authors should have noticed before sending it out to the publishers. For example, how did we come to know that an iron dwelling cannot be penetrated by a super-genii? No foreshadowing for this or similar information, I'm sorry to say. Yet despite the kinds of flaws I cannot see in Lord of the Rings, the Rose of the Prophet is so joyous, so adult and fun, that I feel I must give it a 5 star rating. No other fantasy approaches it, I'm sorry to say.

I came across the first and third parts of this trilogy in the library a number of years ago and was unable to find the middle book anywhere, so I bought this as a set.

Like most Weis and Hickman stories, the main and support characters are quite well developed and the world itself has a lot of details to make it satisfying. The plot itself is somewhat predictable, but the storytelling is good enough that the you'll keep turning the pages.

My only criticism is that the second book felt weak compared to both its predecessor and successor. Having read the trilogy somewhat out of order, I had expected something more from the middle instalment from the lead up in the first and the reflections in the third and was left somewhat disappointed.

The book itself is quite heavy, so not good for travelling but it is good for when you just want to relax with some hot chocolate and a few hours of peace and quiet with a book.

Fantastic Series. Creative and Imaginative with a wonderful though realistic look at a blending of cultures. The pantheon itself is one of the better, more logical efforts put forth by any fantasy authors.

The story was good, exactly what you'd expect from Weiss and Hickman, but the re-printing of the book has a lot of mispellings. SERIOUS ones. It almost became laughable toward the end of the book when every other page had major characters names mispelled or very common words like 'the'.

The story id give a 4 star. The book is bound and holds together well, but the mispellings are pretty sad. I am not unhappy with the purchase for this, however.

OK, I had read this trilogy back in the early nineties from my school library, lost track of the titles for some years, then found them again in a used book store and snapped them up. I loved the story and the fact that all three books had awesome interior art!!! That is a rare thing in teen/adult fantasy and sci-fi books and I cherished them all the more for that. I happened to stumble upon this reprint recently. The blurb above states that there is restored interior art. Great, I thought, I'll get this to see what might be new and what got restored by comparing this book with my three originals, and I'll have a extra copy of the story. Alas, most of the awesome art is NOT in this reprint. The maps, yes. The symbol designs at the beginning of each chapter (ie dagger, gong, jewel etc.) are there. The full page art at the beginning of each inside book is not!! Example: One page would have the title of The Book Of The Gods, next we'd see a picture of the god Akhran and two of his immortal genies bowing before him. Why are all of these pics cut out of the reprint??? To me, these are what made the whole trilogy special and unique. So quite the letdown for me, which is why I gave it three stars. They need to rephrase the product description, saying that Larry Elmore only did new COVER art, and that the restored interior art only includes the maps and chapter symbols/designs.
However, for new readers who have never seen the original books, this story is a good read. For the story alone I'd give it five stars.

I read this book a couple of years back, and thought it was okay. Fairly interesting world, and a rather fun story. It's a shame it's so forgettable though! I can't remember a thing about the plot or characters.

What I do remember most about this book, unfortunately, is the excessive amount of grammar and spelling errors. The book is totally riddled with them, to such an extent that it spoils the overal story. I seriously had to ask whether this book had even been through an editor, because it certainly didn't seem like someone had even bothered to give it even a basic proof read in places. Some of the errors were so bad that they made things jarring and sometimes even difficult to understand. Admittedly, the problems seem to decrease as the book goes on, but the issue was so bad that I'm sorry to say it is the only thing I remember about this book some years after having read it. Maybe another version has less errors, but certainly my edition was quite awful.