Customer Reviews

The Will of the Wanderer (Rose of the Prophet, Vol. 1)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Yet another unique and creative world is created by Weis and Hickman in this trilogy from the authors of the Dragonlance Chronicles trilogy. In the Rose of the Prophet trilogy, a divided world ruled by separate gods, each jealous of the others, is the scene for a dramatic story of love, pride, and deciet. While the plot and the characters took a while to fully develop, by the end of this first book the reader is totally absorbed in a world in which nearly everything is possible. The characters are well defined and likeable, and the story has potential to be a truly great fantasy trilogy.

While there are obvious parallels between this new world and our own world (especially comparing modern religions with the psuedoreligions of the story) and some of the characters seem a little mold-fitting, the story and the realm are both original in the extreme. Weis and Hickman are masters at creating new and unique settings and they have proved it once again in this trilogy.

This book managed to be what few heroic fantasy novels try to be and what even fewer succeed at. It was funny and exciting at the same time. This is so much better than the lousy Darksword books. I did have a couple of problems. First of all, since this was one of the first times we saw a gay character in a mainstream fantasy novel, I with they had not made him so effeminate. Also, the whole set-up with the gods having three aspects (reality, greed and law, for example) seemed kind of forced. We still wound up with the same times, a god of money, a god of thieves, a warrior god, etc. Still that would only take off half a point, and since there is not rating of 4 1/2 I'm going to round up to a five. I'd recomend to anyone that they track this trilogy down and read it.

This story develops in a different setting from all other Weis/Hickman books (think Al-Qadim). It's their very early stages of writing and it is fascinating. It is easy reading. Downfall~ Not overly packed with action. Upside~ It's filled with juicy & intricate plot. Having just enough romance to not bore the guys and totally entertain the ladies. If, like myself, you're a "lass" with a taste for fantasy, this is a must read trilogy.

What a wonderful tale of Desert dwelling Nomadic people, who are high spirited and easily excitable, they live in a world where there Gods are arrogant, petty and pious, who interact with their devoted worshipers (I use that word loosely) through less powerful beings such as dijins (genies), and angel type creatures. The Gods are having some serious technical difficulties, calling on there devoted servants to find out what is going on, which gives us our main heros (Sorry heropeople), what follows is an absolute riot of high adventure told, by a couple of masterful storytellers.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book finding all the characters captivating, there is so much to tell and so little space to share the series high points. I guess you'll have to find out for yourself, by buying or borrowing a copy. If you like to laugh and appreciate a story about stubborn people (and I mean Stubborn!), unrequited love, powerful magic (in the hands of incompetents! ) Hilarious situations (too many to name here), high drama, Cross dressing! , betrayal, action, and of course Romance (a marriage ceremony with a difference! ) then this book, no this series (part of a trilogy) is for you, enjoy sit back, relax, and prepare your face for an aerobics workout!

In This book Weis and Hickman live up to their title as the masters of modern fantisy. Set in a harsh desert enviroment, populated with feirce Tribal nomads and non steriotypical djin. The gods are at war and it is up to a few unlikely mortals and their immortal servants to restore the balance between good and evil. The character development is first class and you will find yourself wanting to return to this world again and again. It's a shame this series is often overshadowed by Weis and Hichman's better known works such as Dragonlance and Death gate. This series is every bit as good as those if not better. Amust read.

What I disliked most about this plot was the artificial
tension between the two main characters Zohra and Khardan.
I also didn't like the cliff hanger ending.
The alternate reality based on an Arab type world
( without Mohamed) in a world of 20 gods at war
is well thought out. The artificial pantheon is actually
more ordered than the Japanese, Hindu, or Greek.
In that it is more like intelligent design than religion?
The plot reuses elements from our own reality
in language as well as the nomad desert culture.
I give it three stars as I doubt that I would go out of my way to find book two in the series. I think this book was contract written for a market in order to sell books.
The art and maps are actually very well done.

Will of the wanderer is a wonderful piece by Weis & Hickman. It takes you on a fantasy journey in the desert and a world where several deities control each of their sections of the existing world and -of course- battle for power. The human realm is loitered by immortals and the story balances between human war and heaven struggles. The descriptions of the desert and the AD&D-ish world setting made this book very appealing. I give it 5 stars b/c the story flows so dang well! I guarantee that whoever reads this, won't be disappointed.

This book gives you a view on one of the most fascinating worlds of fantasy. A world that resamble our on but also so diffrent from it. The story of the wars between poepls and between gods ,the secrets that hide in the desert make you want to know more ,to see it all if only you could. If you ever get to read this book you'll see I was right

I found this book to be very good but very slow at the same time. Being the first book in a series, it tended to have a lot of character development. Although it picks up towards the end it isn't quite up to the same level as some of the authors other works i.e...Dragonlanc Chronicles. The plot involves several main characters who all have serious flaws in their very human personalities. While i appreciated this more real envisionment of the proposed "heroes" it also seemed to repel my interest being that there are no particularly likeable characters. The palet for this story is the background of a hostile desert with nomadic camel riding tribes and scimitars. If you make your way through this volume i am sure that the next will satiate you.

This series is really well written. It pulls you in, yells at you and than slowly throws you to the desert :) ... a must read in my book collection.