Gideon's Wall

Rating:
Summary: Heroic Fantasy at its Best
Review: This novel from Mr. Kurzawa is an excellent combination of reality, mythos, and alter-history...without any of the cliché wizards or pointy-eared waifs. The gritty and detailed descriptions of the desert and Bedouin-like tribes are fascinating and romantic. He shows an uncanny sense of detail from the din of the ever-present wind, to the smell of the camels, to the taste of the brackish water from the trade-route wells. If this were not fiction, it could be a primer to life in the desert. HOWEVER, the story is NOT bogged down by detail. He keeps a steady pace building an epic story of a humble soldier's rise from sergeant to the last bastion of hope for a dying civilization. His characters are down-to-earth, complete with dignity, humorous flaws and self-serving interests. Greg expects his audience to be intelligent and refrains from the typical dissertations of mysterious creatures or tribal rituals. He draws you in and lets you use your own imagination, making the story more appealing. Beautiful descriptions, epic struggles, intriguing characters, and an engrossing storyline made this book a welcome addition my library. If this is Kurzawa's first novel, I think we are seeing the birth of a new star and a fresh vision for the genre.

Rating:
Summary: Dune meets Laurence of Arabia
Review: This novel from Mr. Kurzawa is an excellent combination of reality, mythos, and alter-history...without any of the cliché wizards or pointy-eared waifs. The gritty and detailed descriptions of the desert and Bedouin-like tribes are fascinating and romantic. He shows an uncanny sense of detail from the din of the ever-present wind, to the smell of the camels, to the taste of the brackish water from the trade-route wells. If this were not fiction, it could be a primer to life in the desert. HOWEVER, the story is NOT bogged down by detail. He keeps a steady pace building an epic story of a humble soldier's rise from sergeant to the last bastion of hope for a dying civilization. His characters are down-to-earth, complete with dignity, humorous flaws and self-serving interests. Greg expects his audience to be intelligent and refrains from the typical dissertations of mysterious creatures or tribal rituals. He draws you in and lets you use your own imagination, making the story more appealing. Beautiful descriptions, epic struggles, intriguing characters, and an engrossing storyline made this book a welcome addition my library. If this is Kurzawa's first novel, I think we are seeing the birth of a new star and a fresh vision for the genre.