Customer Reviews

Wizard's Bane: Book one of the Sojourn Chronicles

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

 

 

A classical style fantasy novel that draws its influences from many recognizable sources, Wizard's Bane captures the reader's attention and draws them into the pages. In the opening paragraphs that are vaguely reminiscent of the start of Terminator: The Movie we meet Dale, a man from a technologically superior world who finds himself marooned in a land of magic. Dale has a penchant for attracting a rag-tag band of followers that, not surprisingly, ultimately end up matching the character profiles found in the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons.

This group of misfits sets out on a multi-focal quest to restore Dale's missing powers, discover the truth about themselves, and what good fantasy novel would omit - save the world from sure destruction at the hand of otherworldly invaders. The pacing of the story takes a backseat to character development in this book, so not much progress is made towards the fulfillment of their quest, a good thing in this case as all of the characters possess strong but likeable personalities making it difficult to choose a favorite.

As this is book one in a series, the ending is very much a cliffhanger, since it ends rather abruptly right before they reach their first of many goals. Fortunately books two and three, Villenspell: City of Wizards (2005) and Wizards and Wanderers: Book Three of the Sojourn Chronicles (2006) are already available, and books four through six are written but not yet published according to the author's website.

A few minor flaws: the proof-reading isn't perfect, leaving behind a few errors that wouldn't be caught by a spell-checker. The layout style is a little odd and takes a little getting accustomed to as there are an abundance of new paragraphs, the majority of which are only one sentence long.

Crystalwizard is a storyteller of considerable ability. Some people aspire to be good writers; my own belief is that the art of weaving a good story is a prerequisite to the craft of putting that story onto paper (or computer screen). Others will doubtless disagree. But, if I aspire to anything as a writer, it is to become a good story teller. Crystalwizard is a good story teller.

Though I have only read the first book of the Sojourn Chronicles, it is clearly an epic tale of Tolkien proportions. The characters are believable, in a fantastic sort of way, and there is both a noble goal (that spans books) and immediate challenges and dangers for the hero, Dale, to overcome. Dale has a mission to accomplish, though he only slowly becomes aware of its scope while struggling to survive on the world into which he has been thrust. His survival is accompanied by his gathering a strange assortment of misfits on his journey to the "city of wizards".

There were some nice touches in the story. I was tickled by the idea of programming as 'magic' (a spell got stuck in a 'for ... next loop')which reminded me of Arthur C Clarke's quotation "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

In one sense, I was disappointed in the way that book one ended; there was less of a climax than I would have liked. But in another sense, this is part of the epic genre; how do you end a story that is a part of a much larger story? If you read Wizard's Bane, then be prepared to read book two (and book three, and ...)

Also be prepared to encounter the odd misplaced word on the way through. These things didn't bother me, but I did notice them. If you are pedantically inclined, then don't let this spoil an otherwise great read.

All in all, I consider this to be a read that shouldn't be missed, and I will be reading the second book very soon.

Dale is a man in trouble, stranded, lost and seriously out of place - transported through a galactic space warp and marooned on Earth by means and enemies unknown! He is worried to discover that his sophisticated, technologically advanced tools and weaponry, normally capable of modifying and controlling the people and the environment around him are now undependable, inconsistent and frequently out of commission entirely. But the tools that he does have and his charismatic force of personality are sufficient to gather around him a ragtag collection of misfits that seem to have also lost their place in the world - a thief bent on reform and self-improvement, an "animal-whisperer" who dropped out of the local wizard's college, the spoiled son of a baron, a demon held in thrall by a sorcerer's spell who can't seem to stay out of trouble and the runaway pacifist son of a cutthroat murderer.

As Dale and his strange fellowship fight for their lives against Gorgs that, time and again, materialize out of nowhere to attack them, (think really mean, really ugly and really powerful ogres - big brutes with a serious attitude problem) they come to the realization that the entire world is under attack by a magical force that survived the Wizard's War thought to have ended over fifty thousand years earlier. The world's only hope for survival against an impending all-out attack rests with Dale's technological know-how reaching the city of Villenspell and enlisting the magical aid of the City of Wizards!

The obvious themes of "fellowship", "quest" and "world survival" beg for the reader to compare "Wizard's Bane" to Tolkien's classic "Lord of the Rings". I wouldn't presume to make such a grandiose comparison but it is clear that Crystalwizard has succeeded admirably in drawing on the work of the giants before her while still injecting a dose of originality that is at once charming, thrilling, humorous, moving and unique in its own right! As the first novel of a six-part epic, "Wizard's Bane" focuses primarily on the character development of the "fellowship" and the realization of the extent of the trouble the world is really in as it comes under attack from the Gorg army. In a manner reminiscent of Clifford Simak's warm pastoral style of writing, Crystalwizard's characters are realistic, personable, down-home and easy for any reader to identify with and care about. Her credible, completely natural dialogue flows easily and there are plenty of light moments that will cause a chuckle or a wry smile. That "Wizard's Bane" barely gets revved up on the plot can be forgiven on the understanding that there are five novels left for the now eager reader to enjoy.

Where "Wizard's Bane" creatively departs from the standard medieval based sword fantasy is Crystalwizard's unique marriage of sci-fi and creative technology with good old-fashioned wizardry and magic - the science even touches quite clearly on relativistic concepts of time dilation and space warping!

Highly recommended for lovers of both sci-fi and fantasy! In fact, I can't think of a better book to introduce devoted readers of one genre to the joys of the other! I think I'll head off to the bookstore to look up a copy of "Villenspell - City of Wizards".

Paul Weiss

Other reviewers have compared it to Tolkien but I think it's more Simak. The story starts with Dale arriving on a planet, a place he's never been before and some of his technology seems not to be working quite right. He decides to go in search of some answers and as the power in this world seems to be in the hands of the Magicians then to the college of magicians is where he goes. Along the way he enlists and co-opts help from several people, many of whom are quite young and he becomes a father figure for them.

The Gorg that are hunting him are interesting, and part of the quest is to find out why. I enjoyed some of the characters and how they developed over the story, though Dale sometimes seemed to be a little to much of the "My way or the highway" school of management.

This is the first book in a series of (apparently) 6, and it does end quite abruptly, leaving me wanting more. For a quest novel it's not bad and the blend of magic, psionics and technology is interesting, sometimes though it does drag, though a lot of the drag is in getting to know the characters more.

I look forward to reading more in this series.

The characters in this novel are three dimensional and likeable, and make the reader care about them. The world is colorful, filled with magic and mystery. I particularly admired the way the author handled the appearance of a dragon and the forest filled with magical folk, such as fairies, sprites, gnomes, and the like. Their guardian, a powerful, godlike female spirit, was depicted with intelligence and imagination.

The mixture of science fiction and fantasy in this novel is handled with creativity and adds to the reading experience. The plotting is well done and the characters' hopes and goals are believable. I found myself turning the pages with a sense of anticipation, and was very satisfied at the end of the read.

A fun book. I'm so glad I already have the sequel.

I just finished the "Wizard's Bane" by Kelly Christiansen and loved it. This is a classic sword and sorcery tale with a dash of science fiction for spice. Anyone who likes a mixture of technology and magic will enjoy reading the adventures of Dale and his unlikely band of adventurers as they try to save Medieval Earth from a nefarious wizard. I don't want to give away too much of the story so I will leave it at that, but Wizard's Bane is a very good read and I can't wait to pick up on the rest of the series. Enjoy.

I enjoy just certain fantasy or scifi stories. Crystalwizard weaves an interesting story, so spellbinding that I don't worry or care about the genre. Her characters are well-rounded, the plot intriging, and the material well-written.

I stayed up all night reading because I could not wait to see what happened next.

Wizard's Bane is fantastic. I could not put it down and read it within 2 days. The main character takes the role of a leader dealing with the different personalities with each addition to his traveling troupe and must guide this mix matched group to a place, yet to be revealed. As a mystery reader I found it challenging. As a parent I am excited to be able to share it with my children. I look forward to the rest of the series.

Wizard's Bane is very hard to put down once you
read the first chapter. I showed the book to my
friends who couldn't wait for me to finish my copy
to barrow it! I read the book late into the night
and had it finished in 3 days!
I really like the main character and how he deals
with the situations he gets into! Some of the book
just makes me laugh so hard and other parts are scary.
The second book is a must and I'm anxious to get
the rest in the series!
MLM

Great fun!!! Kept me reading late into the night and I couldn't wait to read the next book.