Customer Reviews

The Wyrmling Horde: The Seventh Book of the Runelords

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The eighth book of well-done Runelords series, Wyrmling Horde just came out, and I was excited. Despite the fact that Tor set a word-count restriction on the author, resulting in a much smaller book starting with the previous Worldbinder (which resulted in a truncated feel to that ending), the series has been a good, solid read. So i delved in.

A few chapters in, I was horrified. The recap from book seven was contrived and forced. Very disappointing was the questionable cast of characters asked to carry the story. Fallion, by far the strongest character of an already weak cast is left sidelined, which may have been forgivable if his comrades took up the challenge and blossomed. Not only did they fail to do so, they backlogged an already floundering plot with chance run-in's, a cheesy romance, and another encore of the all-too-convenient magic system that hasn't evolved or deepened since Book One.

The plot, the plot! Wyrmling Horde is a lisping fraction of a novel, only 1/6th of actual story content compared to the earlier books. Which is simple to understand; starting with Worldbinder, the remainder of the plot is spread over the last books, scraped thin and unsatisfying. If you read the back of book blurb, you have read the entire story; Fallion is captured by Lord Despair and his friends try to rescue him. (Insert a few unbelievable and distracted attempts for rescue). By the merciful end of the book, our characters are in the same exact situation as at the very beginning. Unless someone accidentally runs smack into a facilitator in the beginning of the next book, who happens to be holding some ready-to-use endowments (recycling the all-too-familiar magic system... which is entirely plausible), everyone is going to die and there will be no characters left to carry the story. The hard, bitter truth is that absolutely Nothing happened in this book.

Most disturbing was the level of disinterest within the writing itself. Horde choked full of word repeation, halting dialogue, unnecessary and ill-timed descriptions, and half-hearted try-fail cycles. I found myself increasingly confused, flipping to the cover page every paragraph or so, disbelieving whose name was on the cover. It was like the author had asked some of his more dubious college writing students to collaborate their amateur hands at the manuscript, then sent it unread and unedited to the publisher. I was a bitter reader, bitter at having paid $14 for the book that didn't deliver. Before the halfway point was even reached, I was gnashing my teeth, demanding a refund, but still torturing myself with the read, like staying on a bad amusement park ride to just to see how jolty the end would be.

It was jolty, obliterating any last shreds of respect like a resounding fart after being booed for a bad speech.

Conclusion: There's a reason Tor put a word-count limit on the rest of the Runelords series. Bookshelf space is an earned commodity these days; if your editor is cutting your word limit, it means you're not selling well enough to warrant bookstore space.

All in all, Wyrmling Horde reads like a thin half-cooked soup with a random carrot floating by if you were vigilant enough to spoon it. What a disappointment. You have been warned: Read at your own risk.

After bringing together two of the millions of millions of world into which the one true world splintered, Fallion is captured by the man who would have been his father--but whose brain is controlled by Lord Despair--the immortal responsible for the true world's disintegration. Despair wants the power to bring the worlds together--but only under his control. Unfortunately for Fallion, Despair seems fully capable of doing just that, especially as his Earth King abilities provide him ample warning of any threat.

Fallion is not without friends and this new world has an abundance of the blood-metal used to become a Runelord, to borrow attributes from one person or being and give them to another. Fallion's friends are able to gain control of thousands of runesticks and a small group are named, given hundreds of attributes (intelligence, speed, stamina, brawn, sight, beauty) for their assault on Despair. Meanwhile, Despair has come up with a new torture. Rather than use the runes to transfer ability, he uses them to transfer pain--vectoring dozens of tortures to Fallion. Even if the rescue is successful, what will the heroes find?

Author David Farland continues his intriguing RUNELORDS series with a story that's clearly transitional. Fallion, the main protagonist for the last several books, becomes a bit player as a pair of women and the alter-ego of a man who was the great evil on Fallion's original version of Earth combine forces in their attempt to save him. In earlier books, Farland dealt with the moral issues in taking attributes--essentially snuffing out a part of the life of the dedicates from whom these attributes are taken. Here, Farland touches lightly on this, having his characters justify their decision as necessity.

I really enjoyed the concept of Despair as an Earth King--something his alternate self showed from the other side. I also appreciated Farland's decision to show that extreme violence does not always offer the best path, and that the ends cannot always justify any means. And Farland's capable writing kept me involved in the story.

While still enjoyable enough, I find myself disappointed as this series continues. A large part is that Farland simply isn't convincing me to care about his characters. I think he has trouble believing in them, especially the women characters, so they are rather thin and cardboard.

His magic system needs to be expanded upon as well. In the first Runelord books it was original, but it hasn't grown or changed at all. He has even abandoned the moral debate of whether it is right for powerful people to use those more vulnerable for their own ends. It has devolved to a purely "the ends justify the means" mentality. And I have to question whether with the changes in the world WHY the magic has really not changed beyond having added the ability to cause pain.

At the same time, although this could have used a slightly firmer hand in editing because of repeated words and a few line-level glitches, it is an enjoyable read. Farland is a good enough writer that he probably couldn't write a BAD book if he tried.

"The Wyrmling Horde", the seventh book of "The Runelords", supplies nothing of real significance in the failing saga with bland characters regardless of the editor enforced word count. Evil's brutality has evolved to a new level along with brief adult themes not suitable for young readers. The terrible editing diminishes the quality, I got confused when in Chapter 24 a group is chased south then head east but look east instead of west to find they are still being followed.

Despite of the horrific vectoring with extreme endowments, I question why any endowment should work across shadow worlds where Dedicates remain on a world while the Runelord travels to other worlds. Although the magic makes sense, the author needs to provide limitations for a power that will further unbalance the dominating Runelords.

Whether following Rhianna, Talon, or Fallion Orden, I have no attachment with any protagonists. Meanwhile it is hard to not hope Great Wyrm Despair or Death Lord Vulgnash annihilate any chance of further adventures. Unfortunately my compulsive desire to read a series through the end forces me to suffer the series downfall.

A detailed map of the significant terrains and comprehensive appendix would have been useful.

Thank you.

The Runelords saga delves into an interesting world full of vibrantly detailed characters, landscapes, and battles. Every book is well written, and draws you in. Each book builds on the last, and The Wyrmling Horde is no exception. If you read book six, this is book seven. Read it, you'll not regret it.

The book itself is of good quality, after being read three times it shows no signs of strain or stress in binding or ink adherence to the pages.

I originally purchased this item because, through the magics of the internet, it was cheaper than the paperback and cheaper than any available store copy with shipping included. I would purchase the book again for the same value if I did not already have a copy.

The Wyrmling Horde: the 7th book of the Runelords. The second series of 4 Runeload books by David Farland are all much shorter in length than the 4 four books of the first series. Also, the second set of four books do not have any types of maps in the front to help orient the readers as the first series of four did. Still a rousing yarn. While the characters are a little less developed in the second series, the character development is adequate for the tale.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001652HRM/ref=cm_cr_rev_prod_img

The old world had reavers. The new world, which has melded with the old world, has wyrmlings--humans who have chosen to be inhabited by savage worm-like beings that take over their thought process; it also has living dead and living near-dead warriors that can fly.

Feeling guilty, Fallion feels he must solve the problem. Several others insist on going with him to help. The story moves back and forth among other sets of characters, following one for a while and then another for a while. You have to stay alert to avoid getting confused. But your work to keep things straight is worthwhile, because the whole story is a lesson in responsibility and what it REALLY means to--correcting the misuse of politicians' favorite worlds--to take the responsibility for a problem. It doesn't mean sitting back and making a long face to show hypocritical guilt; it means going out and risking one's life to solve the problem.

What happens next? Well, you have to go to the next book to figure that out.

The Wyrmling Horde is a fascinating book. In this volume, Farland reveals much more about the nature of the wyrmlings and their culture, as well as beginning to flesh out the Bright Ones. While this book is good, it follows the trend that began with Sons of Oak. The plot and characters are spread thin, and lack the epic quality and excitement of the first four books. Much of Wyrmling Horde is spent purely on planning escape and rescue. Most of the book deals solely with Rianna, Talan, the Emir, and Daylan securing enough endowments to attempt to rescue Fallion. Even though events and action are a bit spread thin, there are many moments of revelation and characterization to sate the reader's interest and understanding of Farland's world. But as much as the first three quarters of the book drags, the last segment flies! The end of this book, while in some ways returning the characters to where they began, is rife with action and surprises. It brings some plot lines to their conclusion offering some satisfaction, before yielding new mysteries for coming novels.

While debates rage over this series, I have been a fan since I picked up a copy of The Runelords several years ago, and on a whim, actually wrote to David Farland wanting to know just WHY I should read his book...I was shocked when he responded a couple hours later in my In-Box. At first I wasn't even sure if I had been just seeing things, but there it was...a genuine response to my inquiry.

I figured if he would take the time out to respond to me, at the very least I should give his novel a chance. As it turns out, I have felt that the Runelord novels have been a very worthwhile gamble. I cannot recall a Fantasy novel in which the usage of Magic is even remotely as original as it is within these books. Utterly original--and that is definitely saying something in a genre that is getting increasingly stale these days.

The Wyrmling Horde picks up as we are left in the (literal) cliff-hanger from Worldbinder, and while some novels take pages upon chapters to finally get a plot moving, Wyrmling does NOT suffer from that whatsoever. In fact, the rubber hits the pavement (so-to-speak) rather quickly and almost never let's up. Making the daring rescue of Fallion Orden from the world of his own making (literally by melding two different realities) held captive of Lord Despair, has what I believe most Fantasy fans will all enjoy: Magic, battles (and OH are they good) and, well more magic. The battles are bloody good (heavy emphasis on bloody) and well orchestrated, too.

In all, if you have been a constant fan of The Runelord novels thus far, I believe you will find MUCH to entertain you here...conversely, if you weren't a fan, this book will either bring you back, or push you further away I would guess. It isn't going to be much of an exciting read however if you haven't read the previous books in this 2nd Quartet (or the original 4 books for that matter, but I suppose you could muddle your way through if you had to). Honestly, The Wyrmling Horde is as good--for me anyway--as ANY of the previous Runelord books. I say give it a gamble and hopefully it'll pay off for you as well. David Farland has an incredible imagination, and he exercises it in the extreme here--with great results. Recommended.

Overall enjoyable read... not sure about the (continued) direction of the joined worlds though it was handled in a way where the book series didn't jump the shark. Fresh characters, nicely paced. A few interesting twists. Not Farland's finest book of the series, but good enough to keep me coming back for more.