Customer Reviews

Wizards & the Warriors (Chronicles of Age of Darkness) (Chronicles of An Age of Darkness 1)

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is one of the best I've ever read in my life. It's definitely the best piece of fantasy out there, apart from the other volumes of the 'Chronicles of an Age of Darkness' Series, especially the 4th and 10th. If You're bored by all the regular fantasy novels from various authors i won't mention here, where everything is black or white and the structure and course of action are so clear that You know everything in advance, this will genuinely cheer You up again! The characters don't seem to be constructed and are vivid and realistic. Things happen as if by random, which makes the book so thrilling to read. However the plot doesn't end up in total chaos, but always leads to certain crucial events in the history of the world. It is seen from a different point of view in each of the 10 volumes and the stories may entwine. The different heroes interact: They meet and talk to each other, they fight each other or join in a common cause for a while. So a person who appears only shortly in a former volume may be the hero in the next, or former main characters casually appear in a later volume. This fascinating feature can not be found in any other fantasy series I know of. It really makes me sad that the series seems to end with the 10th volume. I'd give a year of my life to read more of it (especially about the south searcher plot and the Skull of The Deep South). So if you ever happen to read this, Hugh, write more! Or if You're a reader and know Hugh or his email address, pester him with pleas for more ;)

Despite the name (which is effectively 'Generic Fantasy number one'), this book is an excellent read and the introduction to what is possibly the best fantasy series yet written. If you're tired of the typical cliched rubbish (I mention no names but take a bow 'The Belgariad'), you will really enjoy this. (By the way, if anyone else in the world has noticed that there are actually NINE types of wizard, please confirm that it's not just my imagination). In conclusion, silly name but great book. Just read the first few pages and you'll be hooked -

'It was Phyphor's birthday. He was 5736(?) years old. He saw no cause to celebrate.....'

For more, read the next 500 odd pages.

Because it's so tough to find Hugh Cook's books in America, I've pursued this series in an awkward order, reading the second, third, and fourth books before getting to this one. This may perhaps give me a unique experience, since I some of the key events in "The Wizards and the Warriors" before I read the first page. Nevertheless I found this novel a treat, packed with action, bizarre magic, larger-than-life characters, and conflicts to match. I wouldn't praise it to the moon; it has its ups and downs just like all of Cook's novels. But ultimately I think this is his best work so far.

I'll cover the downs first. Hugh Cook is a poor world-builder. He doesn't flesh out the various locales or the societies we encounter along the way. Every city seems more or less like every other. The pacing is very unbalanced, as we may spend twenty pages hunting crabs for food and then rush through some vitally important developments in a few paragraphs. And there are some highly likeable and engaging characters who just drift out of the story, never to be seen again.

On the up side, we have, well, quite a lot. "The Wizards and the Warriors" is a story of awesome scope, and the sequence of major events is developed with great creativity. You never know what will come next. Of particular note are an epic journey on an underground river, and the final encounter with the Orders of Wizards at the Castle of Controlling Power. Cook breaks the standard rules of narratives, bravely disposing of important characters at unexpected moments. The magic is another high point. I desperately want a magic green bottle of my own.

The characters steal the show, however. Cooks eye for human nature is keen. He understands well how a person's behavior changes in extreme circumstances, often in unpredictable and illogical ways. To that end, "The Wizards and the Warriors" is filled with oddball turns of events. The central character, Morgan Hearst, passes through many stages on his journey, from brave and foolish, to brave and ruthless, and finally to true heroism at the end.

Brilliant.

Proof that a fantasy series doesn't need to be populated be characters that are too morally predictable to be believable. These books won't please everybody (the evidence is in the sales sadly), but for those wanting a three dimensional fantasy world, you will be hard pressed to a find better storyteller.

It was with some trepidation thet I embarked upon reading this tome, the title sounding too close to a generic "swords and sorcery" type volume. But after reading a few chapters I was hooked, not one sign of the cliches I was expecting. Instead realistic 'heroes' with realistic motivations trying to survive in an intricately detailes world. Unfortunatley this and the other nine books in the series are very hard to find, but I wholeheartedly reccomend this book and all it's sequels. Go find them, buy them read them, and above all enjoy them.

Instead of production-line, good vs evil plots and tedious, clean-cut 'heroes' you dearly wish to see stomped, Hugh Cook delivers realistically motivated, complex characters, drawn (usually against their will and better judgement) into sweeping, epic tales. The setting for all ten stories is a vividly detailed world, whose origins are tantalisingly, never fully revealed throughout the series. There are one or two disappointments in the ten-book series, but books one, four and ten are among the most entertaining and absorbing fiction I have enjoyed.

This guy is hilarious. Volume 4 is far and away the funniest, but all are great. Read, chuckle and enjoy.
Ps. Don't expect cliched (tired and dull) sword and sorcery rubbish; this stuff is far more bizarre, interesting and novel. The story lines are complex and enjoyable but are in essence a vehicle for Cook's wicked sense of humour. I say: read Tolkien, read Cook, read Donaldson then sack the genre. :-)

A friend of mine lent me these books to read ages ago, when I was living in Sweden. They caught me by surprise - I so rarely read fantasy because most of it is boring, repetitive, unimaginative, and not worth the time or money. These books are different. I wish that they were all still in print (since I've moved away from my only source!). Even after 5 years, these plots ands characters remain vivid in my mind. I keep wondering what happened at the end. If you find a way to read these, I recommend it heartily!

Absolutely the most enjoyable non-Tolkein fantasy series I've ever read. Character's and events are as unpredictable as real life, and the environment in constantly surprising. One of the few series' I will read again and again. Read this series - you won't regret it!

This is the first book of an excellent series.

The characters are complex and facinating, the plots complex yet enthralling and believable. The humor and deviousness of the situations and characters created by Cook are unmatched by any other fantasy author I have read, except perhaps Fritz Lieber. The world in which the series is set slowly unfolds like a detailed tapestry as the ten book series continues.

In an interesting twist, the plot lines of the books intersect and the characters cross one another's paths throughout the series, yet each book contains a separate story.

I whole-heartedly recommend this book and the remainder of the series. (This book and the fourth and tenth books in the series, are anchors of the series.)