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23 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the BEST of the current crop of Epic Fantasy series., June 15, 2000
I've been reading fantasy for decades, so it takes something a bit more intriguing and innovative to catch my attention. The magic system, integral to the plot and motivations and theme, manages to put this book above the ordinary. The cost of using these Runes is immediate and devistatingly obvious. It highlights what is implied in other books, that there is a cost to magic, or power of any kind; whether it's the power a leader has over his men, or the power man has over nature. This adds immensely to the meaning of all the action. --And the action is great. The story is fast-paced and the author doesn't play about with the reader, providing many confrontations between the protagonist and antagonist, and lively scenes with the supporting characters. The writing is self-assured and straight-forward, the characters are a little nebulous but show great promise of growth, the world seems vast and fascinating with well-developed and intriguing cultures. I will eagerly look forward to reading more in this series.
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23 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An epic and satisfying read, February 12, 2000
Having read most of the reviews of this book I feel I have to make my own comment. No this is not a new Tolkien and one here compared it to junk food, which in a way is true if you do see Tolkien as a gourmet meal. But I have to say after reading this through that I became involved in this book, because it had a fast moving and somewhat complex plot, some spectacular scenarios but foremost it was epic. I love epic books such as A Song of Ice and Fire and Magician by Raymond E. Feist because they are larger than life, through them you can get lost in something out of this world. This book delivers on that part and it is an involving fantasy world and his magic system is thought through and there are enormous battles and tragic fates for many characters. One of the things that I was intrigued most by in this book is how everyone is not just made demigods without losing anything but how they truly do suffer and lose people, friends and family. There is one truly heartbreaking scene where a soldier, one of the good guys, has to kill a small, innocent and mute eight year old girl because she is his enemy's servant. Farland really makes us feel how a part of this soldier's soul dies with him when he has to do this monstrous deed. The thing that I think most people don't like with the Runelords is its simplistic writing, because it is simple in many ways, it only covers in detail the important and epic events, not how the leaves in the green forest look, which might be a turn off for some who like Tolkien writing but not for others who want the book to progress into the important, "cool" stuff. Comparing this to junk food is in a way the right thing to do, it tastes good and its not healthy getting too much of it, because you won't have much of a life to go back to and you'll keep on coming back for more. I recommend it to those who may want more quantity in fantasy and yet do want that bit of quality. This is not a book for nitpicking, no fantasy books ever hold when you start nitpicking, just enjoy it.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
It would make a good computer game... Definately different., June 22, 2000
Every now and then, a new authour (new to fantasy, if not to sci-fi..) enters the Fantasy playing field with novel and welcome concepts. Farland has brought with him a new magic system, based on the Vampiric concept of draining attributes (sight, speed, strength, etc) from one being and transferring them to another, thus making the receiver a formidable opponent, especially when the recipient of many such "endowments". The Sum of All Men refers to just that - a being with endowments from so many people that he becomes almost omnipotent. His only weakness being his reliance on those providing him with their attributes, and the need to balance all of his attributes evenly, in order to eliminate any weak links (for example someone who has the speed of many people must have the stamina to survive the ordeal). I would actually rather give this book 3.5 stars, for a couple of reasons. Although Farland does not bend to a formula and his world is novel, complex and relatively believable, I don't find the characters particularly well-rounded, and the plot is a little thin. I'm an avid fan of complex interweaving, and Farland just doesn't do it for me. Six hundred and thirteen pages are by no means a "small" novel, and I'd expected a little more to happen in that span - in short, I found it a little slow moving and not justifiably so. But maybe that's just me. Lastly, I found the book a little too "psychological" for my tastes - his emphasis on body language and people's private domains was a little too overt for my liking, I prefer a little more subtlety. Then again, I suppose that for someone with enhanced senses, nothing is subtle anymore...
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