Customer Reviews

Runelords 2: Brotherhood of the Wolf

5 star:		(35)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

This book is much better than the last book, and it is developing into a true epic unlike some other series (*cough Goodkind cough*).

I have to say though, the whole concept of endowments and such grew tiresome halfway thorugh the first book. While it is a novel concept, Mr. Farland seems to be using it like a gimmic and I wish he would focus on it a bit less.

I have to congratulate the author for avoiding the trap of the caricature fantasy novel characters in his books. I like the fact that Geborn is an ordinary person, but he is a little hard to sympathize with, I found him a little two dimensional. Raj Ahten is much more interesting, hopefully the promising development of his character we saw in the second book will continue in the future installments.

Another thing I like about this series is the non traditional enemy, mainly in the form of Reavers, the battle between the reavers and humans is very interesting and adds to the already impressive depth of the series, hopefully Mr. Farland will provide more clarification on Duskin and Toth history in future books. Unfortunately, Mr. Farland has chosen to follow the unfortunate tradition established by Tolkien and Lewis of polarizing his world into the good being represented by the Northern (read caucasian) regions and evil being concentrated in the south (by the darker skinned races) this trend in fantasy of representing evil by the eastern and southern races is unfortunately ubiquitous, so I can hardly be upset with David Farland, but it is a little disappointing nonetheless, I'm not sure if anyone else has noticed this trend, but perhaps I'm a little more sensitive to this phenomenon being of an asian origin. However, Mr. Farland, if you are reading this, I would like to congratulate you on an excellent series so far and keep up the good work!

First off, I absolutely loved this book. It has all the basic necessary elements of fantasy: magic, heroes, evil wizards, and terrible monsters, and each one of these elements is presented in a new and unique way. The magic is limited in an ingenious way, the heroes are faced with horrible and blatantly unfair obstacles, the evil is practically unbeatable, and never does the story truly lose its believability.

Secondly, the plot is very good, and many times is completely unpredictable, and even the least unique aspects of the plot, the environment, and the characters are presented in a method which makes them not only enjoyable, but thought provoking.

Finally, despite the incredibly entertaining storyline and great writing style, the novel communicates a commentary on basic human emotion, life, and death. In the novel there is many degrees of good and evil, there are characters of greatly varying degrees of morality, from characters who believe they are moral but are evil, to characters who are neither good nor evil, to characters who are morally neutral but also definitely evil.

So, whether you read books for enjoyment and entertainment, or to discover new ways of looking at life, or a little of both, like me, Brotherhood of the Wolf is an excellent choice. I bought this book, started reading it, and didn't stop until I finished it at 2:00 in the mourning on Sunday night.

Novelty was a key positive for the first book of Farland's series (Runelords) and obviously this novelty of the endowments concept is no longer there for the second book (Brotherhood). To that extent, book 2 drops in pace and the series shifts closer to the run of the mill variety. In fact, the magic of the elements is more to the forefront in this book, than endowments, despite some half-hearted attempts to debate the issue. The battle scenes are surprisingly well done, especially the climactic fight between humans and reavers before the walls of Carris. But Farland seems to be going the Jordan way with exploding sub-plots, large gaps in the story line and pathetic excuses for maps. We have no real idea of the reavers and their motivation (why did they emerge suddenly now? What do they want?) but now out of nowhere, the child skyrider Averan develops an understanding by eating their brains - sheesh. The green woman was obviously the wylde, but where was she between her creation and now? Why was she falling from the heavens? And where do the "world-worms" fit in all this? For that matter, Farland never clearly outlines what drives Raj Ahten to his excesses and the motivation of most of the characters is extremely vague. I had feared while reading Runelords that Farland would be tempted to extol his philosophy instead of letting it flow with the story and my fears seem to have come true. By the end, if Gaborn and the Earth both seem confused as to what he is expected to do, the reader is no less bemused. It still is a book with promise and hence the 3 stars, but I do hope Farland knows where he is heading; I for one am not sure at all and considering the way he started, that is a shame.

Unlike some of the other reviewers, I did not find that Farland dwells too much in his second Runelords novel on his fascinating idea of endowments given from vassals to lords. If anything, the focus has begun to shift towards the other form of magic in Farland's world: the elemental. If the notion of endowments continues to pervade Farland's writing, it is only because it is so central to the lives of the main characters.

That said, Brotherhood of the Wolf is not quite as strong a novel as the Runelords, though it is still entertaining. Some of the novelty has worn off, and the increasing role of elemental magic means that the story treads closer to more well-trodden ground. Even so, Farland certainly hasn't spent all his creative energies yet, as this novel succeeds in capturing the imagination.

In fact, my strongest criticism wouldn't concern the fantasy aspect of the story so much as the human. Though Farland adds some new and interesting characters to the mix, all of his characters come off a little flat. One occasionally suspects that they are merely vehicles for the author's fantastical ideas. But they are intriguing ideas. I appreciate most the moral uncertainty surrounding both the practice of taking endowments from one's subjects and of Gaborn's task as the Earth King. I hope Farland continues to address both issues in the future, and I look forward to reading what he has to offer.

While Farland's latest work is no boring read, there are still many problems that distract the reader. First and foremost was the entire beginning of the book, I felt as if I had missed an entire section in the previous book. An ancient Duskin city is mentionned, and we are told that are heros visited it and killed reavers, however the action is never described, not even by other characters. The other major issue is that of the plot. As yet Fraland does not seem to have developped a clear direction of where he's going, we still don't know what the Earth King's eventual goal is, and it seems he doesn't either!

However, despite this the bookis an interesting read, and Farland's ideas shine through, the re-apparition of the wylde is very interesting, as is the introduction of the skyrider. The battle of Carris is done well, not too much dwelling on the actual fighting, and he has it end before it becomes annoying (a remarkable feat in fantasy!), despite this though there are some loose ends flapping in the wind. What happened to the world-worm??

I think that the bvook suffered from an over-zealous editor than a negligent Farland, but the book maintains the series at an interesting level. A good read.

I have read most of the reviews of the first book and they all seem disappointed. Farland does a good job with innovating new ideas, but doesn't execute well. Comments are made about the characters being flat, and the world under developed.

The Second book works towards fixing a lot of the issues that made the first book OK, but not great. While I would still rank Farland below the talent of George Martin, Robert Jordan, etc... he has improved his concept in Brotherhood of the wolf enough to merit a positive review.

His characters seem more defined, and more real. The most improved being the knight the young prince sends out into the world on an impossible mission. The world is more richly detailed, although there is still room to improve here.

The good news is that what Farland did right in the first book he does again in this one. If you managed to make it through the first book, I would recommend reading the second.

I expected this series wouldn't go anywhere. I was right (this book is more repetitive than the first) and wrong (nevertheless, here is book 2)in the same breath. Once again we have a device that baffles, with a new twist; PETA will be thrilled.

I have serious objections to writers who treat everyone not central to their plot as hapless and empty (though they are, eventually anyway, especially in these books) NPCs. Talk about a control freak's dream. The real problem is that the writer has less regard for his atmosphere people than the ruthless characters do. He should find some fawning but talented writer to endow him with the ability to tie up loose ends and make you care that all this blood is shed. I expect that the only people left more drained and wanting than these victims are his readers.

He gets one star for the battle scenes, otherwise, you'll find this book empty.

When I picked up this second book in Farland's Runelord's series, I wasn't sure what to expect--would it be as good as his last book in the series? Well, as I quickly discovered, it was... and it perhaps even surpassed the first book. The action is heartpounding and unpredictable; I found myself holding my breath in the battle with the Darkling Glory, and unable to put the book down during the reaver attack at Carris and the battle for the Seal. However, Farland also manages to focus on interesting character development, such as Gaborn's attempts at understanding what he must do with his power and Myrrima's much greater role in this book than the last. Raj Ahten continues to develop in interesting ways as well... I am curious as to what Farland will do with him in the future. And I must say I especially like the idea of reavers--they are certainly some of the most interesting creatures I have encountered in fantasy in a long time. The ending was fantastic--the last 150 pages were incredible. I find that I enjoy the Runelords books more now than I enjoy much of Robert Jordan's work... it remains to be seen if Farland can continue this level of fantasy. An excellent read.

Some reviewers have said this book is far better than the first in this series, The Runelords. Others have derided David Farland's entire endeavor here as too slow-paced or lacking in sufficient detail.

As for me, I'm not really sure how I feel--but I suppose ambivalence is not what authors want readers to feel.

To his credit, Farland continues to elaborate on his cunningly devised system of magic and to emphasize the social aspects of that system (wherein an individual's traits, like strength, beauty and intelligence can be passed to another). The taking of such attributes from animals is a major point here, as well as the source of the book's title, and is handled well. I also appreciate that Farland sticks to his fairly straightforward set of rules and conventions regarding this magic system, rather than continuing to nuance and augment the system with previously undisclosed limitations or abilities.

For those who enjoyed the breakneck pacing of the first book, Farland moves from event to event quickly in Brotherhood of the Wolf as he did in The Runelords, but spreads his story over a larger number of characters, which slows the pace. This is the trend now in epic-fantast series, and while it helps flesh out the world in which the stories are set, I worry for Farland about the kind of character bloat seen recently from Robert Jordan.

As in the previous book, the characters, and especially Gaborn, the lead, spend a great deal of time in their own heads, debating and torturing themselves over their problems. Gaborn's centers on his inability to protect everyone. Iome and Myrrima worry about taking endowments from animals. Borenson worries first about atoning for the murder of Sylvarresta and then about how to be close to Raj Ahten's consort. This also slows the pace considerably. Raj Ahten's obsessions, however, seem to fit with his character, as Farland shows him to be increasingly mad and vain.

The inexorable reavers make an extended appearance here, and they live up to their billing in the previous volume as ferocious and terrible.

There are several wrenching, graphic details--especially one at the end--that turned my stomach. While this may upset some and seem to detract from the book as I initially thought it did, I think it adds an edge to the story that raises the stakes for all of the characters.

All in all, a solid read if you enjoyed The Runelords, though not nearly as compelling or as well executed.

After reading The Runelords, I wasn't sure I was going to continue on to the next book in the series or not. The writing was so-so, and the plot left something to be desired. But I was sucked into the extremely unique ideas Farland was developing, so I went ahead and read Brotherhood anyway, and was pleasantly surprised. The writing has improved, and the characters begin to take some real dimension. The unique ideas of the first book are built upon as well - making this a much more fascinating read. If you enjoyed the premise of The Runelords, and wasn't turned off by the writing, then I recommend giving this one a shot. At least it's not the same-old fantasy story that turns up in most books.