Customer Reviews

Tower of Ruin

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

 

 

William Kooiker's Tower of Ruin tells the story of a small group of mercenaries sent to investigate the frontier town of Oester. Many refugees have appeared in neighboring towns unable to speak of the horrors that caused them to flee, but when one family arrives in Calas, the King's capital city, the mercenaries decide to take action. By petitioning the king for permission to discover what happened the mercenaries set out to uncover an evil festering in Oester.

The story follows six heroes as they seek answers to the questions the refugees refuse to answer. Cadwan, the acknowledged leader and most capable warrior of the troupe, guides his companions Kyligan, the reticent ranger, Dorin, a warrior-priest, Alazar, the group's mysterious mage, and Cora, a jovial rogue halfling. As part of the deal to investigate Prince Calien, the heir to the throne of Calas, joins the mercenaries in order to seek adventure and learn more of the lands he is hold kingship over.

Overall, the story is well written and fluid. The storyline and plot are solid and enjoyable, the setting is rather vivid bringing to life the World of Whitethorn without inundating the reader with the minutiae of this new world. Descriptions of the scenes and the overall pace was well maintained, keeping the reader involved and interested in this story. The characters were believable and underwent considerable growth throughout the story. Prince Calien was notable in the details of his experience coming from the sheltered life of a prince to the capable member of the adventuring party.

The dialogue was the hard to get used to though. Written in a high, proper fantasy speak - none of the characters would be caught dead saying `don't' or `I'd' instead of `do not' or `I would' - it took a little effort to actually accept this and continue with the story. The prince and maybe the wizard could've gotten away with such a voice but in all the characters the dialogue was a little strained. There were a couple moments in the book where the characters revealed thoughts in dialogue that was difficult to believe they would actually reveal such private moments.

This book was a good read once the dialogue issue was accepted, and it certainly kept the interest throughout the entire book. Scenes where not much going on still maintained a level of involvement that kept the reader turning the page for more. The backstory engaged the reader as well, uncovering the truth of the situation throughout the entire book as the mercenaries uncovered bits of lore that the reader was somewhat privy to at the beginning.

I recommend this book as an easy read for a weekend escape. A very solid first novel by this attentive author.

Tower of Ruin by William A. Kooiker- Tower of Ruin is the first book that the author has written. So far it's a stand-alone novel that is set in the World of Whitethorn. I personally never have heard of this setting, but I assume it's a role-playing game setting. William A. Kooiker has written another book entitled Knight of the Dove, but it doesn't have anything to do with this story.

A group of five adventures are meeting each other in the city of Calas. We are slowly introduced to each character throughout the story with a little background information. The first person of the original group is a ranger named Kyligan, who is plagued by nightmares. He comes across a family in peril, and comes to their aid. The next morning, Kyligan and the father of the family meet up with the other four group members. The father kind of tells a tale of the horrors he has witnessed in his hometown of Oester, but doesn't really give much information on the matter. The group then decides to approach the king of Calas in order to sway him to send an investigation to the town. The king refuses but allows the group to go investigate for him, while the kings son, Calien, persuades his father to allow him to accompany the group. The story then follows the groups travel to the town of Oester and the adventures and dangers they come across before reaching the horrors that await them in Oester.

Negatives:
1) Slow. The books pacing is a little slow, and at times, I felt, it hinders the readers pacing. It's not really bad, more like annoying. The beginning, when we first meet of heroes and when they begin on their journey, it just felt like it took forever. Then, every once in a while, the story picks the pace up, only to suddenly come to a crawl and it really distracted me and threw me off. But, it really doesn't effect the overall story.
2) Convenience. This is what was really mind-boggling and a little silly is that there was this one scene later in the story that our heroes are fleeing from an 'army' of orcs, and conveniently, we had a person show up and 'save' the group. It just didn't make much sense to have a random, unmentioned character come to the aid of the group for no better reason other than she really hates orcs. Then a little later, an innkeeper does pretty much the same thing but with ghouls. However, the innkeeper was much more understandable. I only bring this up because it just didn't fit. I just didn't understand it.
3) Cora. The character of Cora the halfling wasn't really that compelling or interesting. It just felt like she was there and every once in a while she'd pop back up to remind you that she's still there. This is the case for about two thirds of the story, were she is just there. She does become more present towards the end, but she just didn't really feel all that important. This is really the only main character that really had this problem. I just didn't find her that interesting.

Positives:
1) Characters. The other main characters really were great. They felt alive and were really likable. Each had a distinct personality and way of looking at things. Cadwan, the groups leader, was what you expect out of a leader. He was pretty much to the point and had a sense of justice and honor about him. The everyday leader type. He wasn't really remarkable, but he had a presence that you couldn't ignore. Kyligan was the socially awkward one of the group. He didn't really say much, but he really was one of the main focuses of the story. What really makes him interesting is his nightmares and sense of righteousness. Calien, the prince, was one of the best characters of the other solid ones. He comes off as the naive, sheltered to the worlds horrors and it really was amazing to see how he handled himself throughout the trials the group faced. He really grew in the story. Darin, the groups emissary, was the another interesting character. Darin is a dwarf priest who pretty much talked for the group. The reason why he is interesting is what happens to him later in the story and you really feel bad and sorry for what he had to go through. Finally you have the most mysterious character of the group, Alazar. Not much is really said about him and it works perfectly fine. You know he is the magic user, but his background is really a mystery. You find out a little about him later, but for almost the whole story, not much is said about him. His personality is really distinctive. While most of the group is noble-minded, he comes off as 'cruel' in a way. Not by actions, but with what he says. All in all, the characters are all really well written and really do make you like them.
2) Progression. I really do like how the story progresses. Usually stories skip a lot, with having the group leaving one town and suddenly appearing in the next one. Here, it happens once. The other times, you really follow the groups movements and how they get from point A to B. It's different and really builds up the characters by showing them doing mundane things.
3) Ending. While, like always, I'm not going to give out the ending... I really enjoyed the last few chapters. The searching of the tower and the final battle were really done well. You wouldn't think that searching a tower would be exciting but somehow William Kooiker makes it so. It was almost like playing the game Clue. The group is gather all this information and 'loot', which really builds up to the final fight. Speaking of which, the fight is done wonderfully. I will say, the fighting early on was a little lacking in some regards, but the final battle really makes up for it. It's just done beautifully. There isn't any other way to put it. It was just amazing.

Side Notes:
1) Second Book? A lot was left up in the air. Mostly having to do with Calien's brother and what happens with the group. I really do believe that there need to be a sequel. It feels like I'm missing some closure.
2) Hetnar/ Geran Subplot. This subplot was just kind of forgotten, only to reemerge at the end. Yes, I know it was supposed to be forgotten after a certain scene, but it just felt like it was drop for no reason.
3) Cover Art. I really like the simplicity of just having a tower in the background and it does look ominous. It's a little dark with the colors but it works pretty well.

Overall: 4/5
Final Thoughts:
The story is really good. William Kooiker really does bring his characters to life. They are what really made this story. The plot was interesting. It was simple, but good in it's simplicity. There wasn't a need to had an overblown epic storyline. The only problem I had was that it was a little slow at times.

Tower of Ruin by William Kooiker is a novel set in the world of Whitethorn. On the author's website he tries to tell people that while he is proud of this book it is nothing to blow you away and that it is not an epic novel. It's a self contained character driven novel. After reading this book, I think the author is a very humble person and has written a very solid novel.

The first thing that a reader needs to know is that while this book may be set in the world of Whitethorn - which I believe is an RPG setting. You do not need any previous knowledge of the setting at all to enjoy this book. I knew nothing about it and enjoyed this story a great deal.

The plot of this book is solid and concise. There is the main plot that of the weird circumstances happening in the remote village of Oester. Yet, there are also a couple sub-plots woven into the story as well. These sub-plots do not take away from the overall story, in fact they help humanize the story and add more depth to the characters. The overall story of this book is well told with just enough description to give the reader a mental picture of the scene and character, but not enough description to bog the reader down with unneeded descriptions of things. This allows the reader to fly through the pages and be immersed in the story. I would say more about the story and plot, but I hate it when reviews spoil things in the book.

The characters in this book are wonderfully crafted and add tremendously to this novel. All the characters, from the six heroes to the minor characters are well thought out and each behaves how one would expect them to behave. There is the enigmatic Kyligan to the brash Alazar. All the characters served a purpose and added much to the book. With any book that is predominately character driven, the author needs to add subtle pieces of back-story into the book to get us to care (or hate) each character. Mr. Kooiker does this very well, while he adds pieces of back-story he doesn't do it in such a way that the reader feels it is being shoved down their throat. I honestly hope tat these characters will be written about in future books as they were very fun to read about.

Some minor criticisms of this book are that at times the dialog between the characters seemed a little forced and contrived. Almost to the point where the author needed to get something accomplished and `forced' the characters into that position. This didn't happen often, nor was it glaring, but it is present. The other criticism I have is there was at least one point in the book where it almost appeared the author forgot about a character and didn't write about them for several pages causing me to wonder where that character went.

However, with all that said, I still must say I really enjoyed this book. The author is right in that this is by no means an epic story in terms of plot, characters, or scale. However, this is a very solid fantasy novel from a new author. No, it does not pave new ground for the fantasy genre, but honestly, how many books truly pave the way? If you are looking for a nice, succinct fantasy book that you will not need to spend a great deal of time digesting consider this book. If you are new to the fantasy genre give this novel a shot to wet your feet. If you are well read in the fantasy genre and need a break from the Martin type books jump into this one for a few hours of reprieve. I can certainly see myself recommending this book to others. A very solid novel.

Tower of Ruin was an entertaining read. I received a review copy from the author who had seen another review of mine.

Overall, I thought it was a solid, well-written book. Kooiker's prose was easy to digest and, while the author was confined to the parameters of the world he was writing in, still managed to create an interesting story.

The Good:
As I said previously, the prose was very approachable, and didn't require any re-reading to understand what was going on. The interaction between characters was fairly well-written, and each one was uniquely crafted. Chapters flowed smoothly and the proofreading was very good. The story itself was fun, and Kooiker's action scenes are well-described and a pleasure to read.

The Bad:
While the characters were enjoyable, they were a bit two-dimensional. The prose continually implied there was more to each person, but we really only scratch the surface. The novel left me wanting more answers than were provided by the story. Since there is no sequel (that I know of) it causes the story to feel unfinished. Also, there were two characters that suddenly appear to make things interesting, but no explaination as to where they came from or why they're present in the first place (beyond a convenience to the story). These "mystery" characters made the story events around them feel contrived, and was probably the biggest let-down of the book. There were also a couple of odd story decisions by the author (which, in order to comment on would spoil some of the end scenes) that were a bit disappointing as well, but none of these hamper the book overmuch.

All-in-all I liked the author's style and would like to see more.

I first came across William A. Kooiker when I read a short story of his (A Dove Before Dawn) in the anthology Time Intertwined. The story was excellent, and when I discovered he had also written a full-length novel, I was very much looking forward to it. I didn't raise my expectations overly high, but I did expect a solidly written novel. I wasn't disappointed.

What makes this novel so gripping is not the plot itself. In fact, if I rated the plot alone, it'd only deserve two or three stars. However, this is completely a character driven novel, and it's the characters that make this such a fun read. They are all well thought out, masterfully carved, and hold importance to the story arc. Kooiker avoids annoying characterisms that can often make a reader roll his eyes, such as silly spoken phrases or choices that make no sense. He is a skilled writer, and carries the tale with just the right amount of prose and dialogue.

The premise of Tower of Ruin is quite simple. There are strange events rumored to be occurring in a remote village of the kingdom, and the crown, unwilling to send a contingent of soldiers to investigate mere rumors, hires a group of mercenaries to investigate the situation prior to any crown inspired military initiative. The story is primarily carried by the exploits of these mercenaries as they make their way to the village, and then discover what horrors have actually taken place. I found myself worrying over which character(s) would not survive, and that was a strong lure to keep me reading because I liked all the characters for different reasons. The ending left me very satisfied. There is a strong sense of closure, and yet there are several interesting paths left open to sequels if the author so choose.

Other than the lack of "heavy" plot, I really didn't find any weaknesses in this book. It certainly doesn't compare in scope to George R.R. Martin or other writers of such an epic style, but Tower of Ruin is a light read that still holds strong entertainment value. I would recommend it to anyone, and I hope Mr. Kooiker will continue with these characters, as I feel there is much potential left ahead.

Although the book started slowly, overall I enjoyed the book, which details the journey of adventurers to an abandoned settlement. I was quite impressed with some of the character development, especially that of the prince, who didn't come across as too competent or too incompetent, but someone who is learning to use what he learned in safety to the real world.

All and all, an enjoyable read.