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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
What to Do When the Script is Real,
By Marc Ruby™ "The Noh Hare™" (Warren, MI USA) - See all my reviews (VINE VOICE) (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)
This review is from: The Warslayer (Mass Market Paperback)
I'm not sure what I expected when I picked this book out. Rosemary Edghill is best known to me as the author of three excellent mystery stories, starring a witch named Bast, set in contemporary New York. These are some of my favorite mysteries. Edghill has also written some fantasy and romance, that I liked a bit less. 'Warslayer' is something else entirely, the story of what happens when a gymnast turned television Buffy clone is kidnapped and transported to a world where evil is winning, and where the people have no idea how to defend themselves.At first I thought Edghill was completely serious about the Buffy/Xena clone called Vixen the Slayer, whose real name is Gloria McArdle. Fortunately, Gloria has no illusions about her ability to rescue the Allimir. However, while Gloria is unfit to take on the blackhearted Warmother, the Allimir are truly incompetent in conflict. As a result, an entire world of people has been reduced to 400 individuals who spend most of their time fleeing from badness. When Gloria is inadvertently shanghaied by three wizards (Belegir, Englor, and Helevrin), she realizes that, if she does nothing, the world of Erchane will end with her in it. Gloria (aka Glory) does better than expected, coping with bear-rats, magic swords and invisible things that burn down cities. As she progresses from unwilling visitor to very angry defender of the Allimir, she matures as a person, coming to question some of her old values. Unlike Buffy and Xena who change only reluctantly, Glory is willing to learn and adapt without any excess theater. I may have started out wondering if I was going to be able to stand this jock with the dyed red hair, but in the end, I was a fan. Glory is a hero because she doesn't try to be one. Edghill, who has been a bit off-stride for the past few years, seems to have regained her powers. Perhaps it is the return to first person narrative and the use of interior monologue. Her writing is smooth and comfortable, and the tale told with a light, humorous touch. I would have liked to see a bit more development in the characters around Glory, but the book holds much promise. I have hopes that Edghill will follow through with more titles in this series. I think you will feel the same way.
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Familiar Themes Done With Humor,
By
This review is from: The Warslayer (Mass Market Paperback)
I've enjoyed every book I've read so far by Rosemary Edghill, and this one is no exception.As others have mentioned, this lead character in this book, Gloria (Glory) McArdle, is an amalgam of the lead characters of "Xena, Warrior Princess" and "Galaxy Quest", and plays the TV role of a ninja vampire slayer known as Vixen the Slayer. What makes this a fun book is that Glory tries to make it perfectly clear to the three mages (who inadvertently abduct her during their search for a hero to save their people) that she is not the hero they are looking for, she only plays one on TV. She doesn't try to disguise her lack of heroic capability, which is a refreshing change of pace. She's a woman who knows her limitations but who is put in an extrodinary situation, where she can either choose to rise to the challenge or walk away. This book is a fast, funny and enjoyable read. There are many tongue-in-cheek pop culture references, and Glory has a wry sense of humor, especially when it comes to her Vixen costume and the importance of a sidekick. This book isn't going to reveal the secrets of the universe or dramatically change your life. It will, however, provide a few hours of good entertainment. Hopefully, it'll become a series. I, for one, want to read more about Glory's adventures
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
NOT BAD FOR LIGHT BEER,
By John R. Deakins (Harrison, AR USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Warslayer (Mass Market Paperback)
This was a "fun" book, even if it wasn't deepliterature. An Australian actress/gymnast becomes a worldwide cult icon playing an Elizabethan nemesis to evil, a ninja "Zena" in tights and leather armor. She is accidently drafted by desperate emissaries from a magical dimension to be the prophesied hero who saves their people. (All the other heroes, wisely, turned them down.) _Zena_ meets _Galaxy Quest_ as a not-especially-talented actress levers herself into becoming the hero she has been portraying. At least magic really works in her new realm, but the rules behind it are intentionally murky. Her clients, the Allimir, are pathetically accepting and almost neurotically passivistic. Their enemy and her vicious minions are the nastiest of villains. Everything that bothers our hero Glory/Vixen, bothers her several times, so that we will understand the problem when we bump into it later. Very little will surprise a thoughtful reader here, except the details of the Allimir's hidden past. Ms. Edghill telegraphs her moves well in advance. She even wedges the ending's door slightly open for a possible sequel. (Doesn't anybody write just _one_ book anymore?) Nevertheless, for all its lack of literary heights, _The Warslayer_ also never sinks into the depths of hack fiction. It is a comfortably entertaining story throughout. Enjoy it on a couple of evenings when you decided to go to bed early anyway.
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