Customer Reviews

The Sunset Warrior (The Sunset Warrior Cycle, Book 1)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Lustbader takes his readers on a disturbing ride through the hellish nightmare of a dieing civilization where lies, deception, and violence are the only true virtues. One man must decide to follow a path forced upon him or look for the truth of a past and a future that might not exist. Lustbader is great at developing a dark forbidding world were nothing is as it seems. The characters are complex and mysterious with overtones of a society were duty is place above all else. This book is exciting, violet, sensual, and disturbing. Together with the Sunset Warrior Cycle it is one of the best books I have read.

Eric Van Lustbader turns samurai fiction on its ear in this SF-tinged sword and sorcery tale. We follow the adventures of Ronin, a gifted, self-conflicted warrior, trapped in a decaying underground community that has been cut off from the rest of the world. With advanced technology increasingly falling into disrepair, conflicts in the Freehold are settled by swordplay, which makes dueling experts like Ronin valuable to the powers that be. The Sunset Warrior is an entertaining mix of political intrigue, love, loss, betrayal and vividly described battle scenes. It's a bit uneven in places, and Ronin is not as sympathetic a character as some readers might like, but these minor complaints aside, this is a fun, fast, exciting read, highly recommended to fans of escapist fiction.

Eric Van Lustbader writes a great fantasy novel!

The premise of "the Sunset Warrior" (and the trilogy in general) is based on the idea that some great ecological disaster has taken place. People have been driven underground, but so long ago that those that are left have lost the history and reason why they have left the face of the planet. The technology that has supported the peoples of the "freehold" is beginning to shut down and the people have split into a feudal, caste system similar to 16th century Japan. There are none left that completely understand how their technology works (not far from where we are today).

Enter Ronin, a highly skilled warrior and free thinker and he begins to ask questions.

This novel is so very human: it questions the mores and attitudes that most of us just accept as reality. It is about the sacrifice that each of us must make in order to "fit in" and in contrast, the sacrifices that we make to be genuinely ourselves. "Sunset Warrior" is a wonderful metaphor for questioning the "machine" that we all live in today.

An orginal fantasy that is definitely worth reading.

If only they made more books like this one. It's very creative and imaginative. A definate entertainer! I can't wait to read the rest of the Sunset Warrior Cycle.

The author creates an interesting and unique world for this novel. The post apoclayptic world that this story takes place in is a combination of a feudalistic society and a one where "big brother is watching". The protaganist, Ronin, is a brooding anti-hero who I found a little difficult to like, but I guess that's always the case with anti-heroes. Regardless, I really enjoyed this book, but for most part it was laying the groundwork for the rest of the series. I'll reserve judgement until I read the rest of the books

I loved this book, it's the best action book I have ever read. This is one of my favorite books. It's filled with hardcore action and a simple but exciting, climactic story. No book has ever made me want to read the sequel so badly. Wonderful. Near the end I was reading about 5 pages per minute, while before in the story I was reading about maybe at the most 2 pages per minute. Read it and love it. Can't wait to read the sequels.

To me this is one of my favorite books ever, it's flavor is of a futuristic Samurai, Budo Code, I really enjoyed this book, and the complete Sunset Warrior Cycle series.

I had never read this type of book before but after reading this ,I was simply hooked on.The content is very imaginative,the story very gripping and one can not help but dream about such a world.I had to make a lot of efforts in finding the other two volumes of the trilogy since they were not widely available in India but now I have read most of the Lust Bader books.A must for fantasy readers.

Maybe THE SUNSET WARRIOR's title alludes to the sun is setting on the land of the rising sun, athough there's not a single reference to it throughout this book. It is the first in a dark fantasy trilogy Lustbader wrote before his early mainstream book THE NINJA went on to become a bestseller and he ceased writing record reviews in Rolling Stone. The second of the trilogy, SHALLOWS OF NIGHT, is a strong follow-up. The protagonist, Ronin, flees the claustrophobic subterranean cylinder world of this novel and winds up in a pseudo-Edo. The feudal politics, well-portrayed Japanese culture and new cast members are an interesting shift of gears. Unfortunately the trilogy stalls in the rushed and shabbily edited third volume DAI SAN. When, halfway through the book, Lustbader discards Ronin's name and begins identifying the character as the Sunset Warrior the series dies before the lengthy, predictable battle scene climax.

SUNSET WARRIOR is the best of the three and could be read as a standalone novel even though some of the bad guys survive. The ultra-violent martial arts combat is vivid, jumping off the page. The original characters and novel premise coupled with Lustbader's stylistic writing (mostly his employment of sentence fragments) all combine to make for a good action adventure tale with an inventive twist. And a clever ending.

This book is a pleasing mix of hardcore science fantasy and simple writing which makes it a quick and enjoyable read. If only all books were this comfortable, perhaps more people would read science fantasy.