Amazon.com: Sons of the Oak (Runelords): David Farland: Books

Review

Praise for The Lair of Bones

“A resounding climax. . . . The suspense is real, the action is nonstop, and the characterizations continue to convince. . . . [this is] a series that has put Farland on high-fantasy readers’ maps.”—Booklist

“The Runelords Saga comes to a gripping conclusion in David Farland’s The Lair of Bones. . . . Fans of Robert Jordan and Terry Goodkind will enjoy Farland’s Runelords.”—Romantic Times

“Sometimes truly terrifying, sometimes impossibly sweet, The Lair of Bones is a tale sure to entrance any reader. This is a superb story with deeply empathetic characters.”—Sara Douglass

"David Farland's Runelords books are among the best fantasies on the market today."
-- Kevin J. Anderson, New York Times bestselling author of A Forest Of Stars and Dune: The Machine Crusade.

Product Description

Certain works of fantasy are immediately recognizable as monuments, towering above the rest of the category. Authors of those works, such as Stephen R. Donaldson, Robert Jordan and Terry Goodkind, come immediately to mind. Add to that list David Farland, whose epic fantasy series continues now.

The story picks up eight years after the events of Lair of Bones and begins a new chapter in the Runelords saga focusing on Gaborn's son, Fallion. Gaborn, the Earth King, has been traveling far from his home, to strange and unknown places. While beyond the edge of the earth, he finally succumbs to the accelerated aging that comes from all of the endowments he has taken. His death is the signal for a revolution, an attack from the supernatural realms by immensely powerful immortal beings.

These forces have discovered that Gaborn's son is the resurrection of an immortal, one whose potential power is so great that he might be able to reorder the entire universe. Fallion's enemies have decided that they must control him, and failing that, destroy him. He is only a child, but he is the heir to Gaborn's kingdom, and so must flee to the ends of the earth to avoid the destruction of all that Gaborn accomplished.

One of the mightiest of contemporary fantasy epics continues.

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Product Details

Hardcover: 384 pages
Publisher: Tor Books (November 14, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0765301776
ISBN-13: 978-0765301772
Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6 x 1.3 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (19 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #285,477 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Inside This Book (learn more)

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
stonewood trees, cape pin, taken endowments, sea ape, master rune, drawing runes, blood metal, many endowments, scurvy fellow

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Captain Stalker, Earth King, Sir Borenson, Bright Ones, Garion's Port, Hearthmaster Waggit, Castle Coorm, Raj Ahten, Courts of Tide, Gaborn Val Orden, One True Master, Shadoath's Dedicates, Chancellor Waggit, Duke Paldane, Earth Powers, Fallion the Bold, Gwardeen Wood, Toth Queen's Hideout, Castle Sylvarresta, Chancellor Westhaven, Deever Blythe, One True World, Celinor Anders, Could Fallion, Erden Geboren

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Citations (learn more)

This book cites 3 books:

The Lair of Bones (Runelords) by David Farland in Front Matter
Brotherhood of the Wolf by David Farland in Front Matter
Brotherhood of the Wolf (The Runelords, Book Two) by David Farland in Front Matter

Books on Related Topics (learn more)

Brotherhood of the Wolf by David Farland

Discusses:

Wizardborn by David Farland

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The Sum of All Men by David Farland

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The Lair of Bones by David Farland

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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

	75% buy the item featured on this page: Sons of the Oak (Runelords) 3.6 out of 5 stars (19) $20.40
	7% buy The Lair of Bones (Runelords) 3.3 out of 5 stars (41) $7.99
	7% buy Brotherhood of the Wolf (The Runelords, Book Two) 3.7 out of 5 stars (82) $7.99
	6% buy Worldbinder: The Sixth Book of the Runelords 4.0 out of 5 stars (14) $7.99

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Customer Reviews

19 Reviews

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

Average Customer Review

3.6 out of 5 stars (19 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Ideas - Sub-par writing, November 20, 2006

By	Craig Daniels (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I guess I feel compelled at times to buy books that I know aren't going to be that good. But with some of these fantasy series, if you have invested 1000+ pages (usually even more) into a series you have an interest in seeing what is going to happen next. I should have remembered how poorly the Lair of Bones ended and not wasted my money on this book.

I think it needs to be said - David Farland is not a great writer. I think he has survived through the superior "runelord" idea thus far, but the glamor of that has ended (for me at least) with this book. We pick up with Gaborn's progeny, some type of evil universe plot and the eldest son is found to be an old soul reincarnated to save the world.

The book overall is disjointed, rambling, and unbelievable. Just as an example of the poor craftmanship of the book - 5 years pass at the start of one chapter with a line something like "5 years passed quickly". What kind of writing is that?

I like the runelord idea and sort of wish David Farland would license that out to good writers to take the idea further than he is able to with his talents. I definitely do not recommend this book in hardcover and would be hardpressed to recommend the book in softcover whenever that comes out.

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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars the story needs glamour endowments [no spoilers], January 20, 2007

By	Oscar "DaRK KNighT" (St. Louis, MO) - See all my reviews

"Sons of the Oak" revives the "The Runelords" saga as a new generation of characters emerges due to the hastened life cycle from metabolic endowments in the middle of a mass character cleansing via abruptly brutal deaths. The novel begins rapidly and continues the accelerated pace throughout supplying occasional paragraphs of beautifully written descriptions.

However, the storyline contains several evident flaws ranging from unreasonable encounters between Runelords in positions of power (where it would be simple to force endowments) to minimal individual development. The rarity of blood metal to create forcibles helped reduce overpowered individuals in the series but doesn't necessarily diminish the power behind existing and new characters.

It is difficult to stir any attachment or emotion towards almost all of the characters. Crucial events with Earth King Gaborn are rushed. Humphrey the Ferrin attempts to be cute and funny ends up annoying. Averan and Baron Waggit, strong characters in previous novels, receive only a brief mention. I relished Captain Stalker aggressive temperment and Rhianna's freshness but the mediocre management of their behavior and conclusion damages the plot's finale, which is quite surreal.

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

Thank you.

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable, August 18, 2007

By	Jay Traylor - See all my reviews

The writing of the book is far, far below that of the first two or three books, and the ideas introduced are less compelling, but it was still a fun read. It really picks up the pace in the last half and manages to flesh out the characters. I'll continue to read the Runelords, but I hope he returns to the ideas and the kind of writing that made the first two books such a blast to read. Less stereotypical shadow villains, more Raj Atin badassery.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally a worthy master-piece!
I have been looking for years for a new epic saga to interest me. I have read all of Tolkien, Jordan, Eddings, Feist, Martin, Goodkind, Salvatore, etc. Read more

Published 7 months ago by L. Little

3.0 out of 5 stars David Farland Has Written Another Compelling Chapter in the Ruinlord Saga
For Starters, I just want to say that I absolutely lOve the Ruinlord series. I think David (yeah Dave and I are on a first name basis) has a keen eye for writing combat that I... Read more

Published 11 months ago by VanessaJ

2.0 out of 5 stars ...not so great to say the least...
The first 3 books in the series were great. The 4th left me disappointed. And now this one makes me wish he had stopped at 4. Read more

Published 15 months ago by Darren C. Barnes

3.0 out of 5 stars Needed some more work, but still good
This novel is a bit sparse compared to Farland's earlier entries in the Runelords Saga. The story is enjoyable, if cliche, but it does suffer from its brevity. Read more

Published 15 months ago by Lee E. Foster

4.0 out of 5 stars Fun quick read.
This book is a fun quick read. It was definitely worth the price of a paperback.

Published 17 months ago by James Hayes

5.0 out of 5 stars Much Better Than Expected
I found the story easy to follow and parts of it felt better than earlier books.

I will certainly be getting the next book in the series.

Published 18 months ago by Richard J. Morgan

2.0 out of 5 stars who knew that runemasters could be so boring?
Do not buy this book if you want believable stories, character development or suspense.

I liked the first couple of books of this series a lot, but the author seems... Read more

Published 20 months ago by RB

5.0 out of 5 stars Another triumph for Mr. Farland
I tend to be reading several books at once at any given time. A new David Farland novel, however causes me to immediately drop what I am doing and read it exclusively. Read more

Published 21 months ago by Boffo the Sane

1.0 out of 5 stars Not just disappointing, but bewildering
I have always been a big fan of the Runelord series. In a genre that sometimes suffers from a lack of originality, the concept of characters literally sucking the attributes... Read more

Published 21 months ago by Coleman

4.0 out of 5 stars Obviously this series isn't for everyone...but I still enjoyed it...
The older I get, the more I seem to add to my list of "Life's Certainties" such as Death & Taxes...one of them I have learned by coming to this site often and reading reviews is... Read more

Published 22 months ago by Jeff Edwards

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