Rating: 
Summary: The Fights Just Keep Coming
Review: Ballas is a drunk, brutish vagrant. He's not much more than a killing machine. Somehow though, I sort of liked him. Ian Graham's debut novel is not for the feint-hearted. Violence is it's mainstay. Despite this, the story is engaging. That Ballas survives the unimaginable odds stacked against him time after time, pulls you onward. That he stole something that makes The Church seek him so ruthlessly means something. It makes a story that keeps you reading. It's not an over ambitious, portentious epic want-to-be. It just a story about a brute with the bad luck to get in so far over his head that all he can do is run for his life and hope for a good end somehow. I like Monument because it didn't try to be something it wasn't. It was a fast-paced solid first novel that gave me fun entertainment with out burdening me with heavey hidden meaning or fancy themes. We all need that once in a while and I was glad Ian was there to provide it to me. I will happily read more of his work. I fully expect him to get better if given the chance.
Rating: 
Summary: One of the most impressive fantasy novels I've ever read
Review: Ballas is a shifty, ill-mannered, incorrigible, self-interested, perpetually drunk brute of a man with basically no morals and a natural dislike of every other living person on earth. If you think I'm describing the villain of this novel, you are quite mistaken. Ballas is actually the "hero" - or, to be precise, anti-hero, of Ian Graham's absolutely captivating debut fantasy novel. Fantasy as a genre suffers from repetition of themes and outlines more than any other genre (just think of all the Lord of the Rings clones out there), so it is quite refreshing indeed to come across a story that eschews all traditional approaches to the subject at hand. Of course, courageous risk such as that displayed by Ian Graham carries with it possible consequences -namely, some readers may find the main character so roguish and unlikable that they will not consider reading the novel, put it down in disgust after a chapter or two, or grudgingly finish the book in order to tell everyone just how unenjoyable it was. On the other hand, this type of unusual approach, distilled through the talents of an undeniably gifted author, can make for a most memorable experience, one sure to deeply impress many fantasy readers.
Ballas is a thief who roams from village to village in the land of Druine stealing anything he can get his hands on in order to support his drinking habit. He is a big, ugly brute of a man who looks as if he has been on the wrong side of many physical confrontations - and he has. This pattern continues, as Ballas is beaten to a pulp on a regular basis (but not without leaving a path of human destruction in his own wake). A young priest takes Ballas in, but our "hero," once he is recovered, betrays his protector and makes off with a most unusual of trinkets bearing a mysterious blue jewel surrounded by four red rubies. This object, he soon discovers, seems to have magical qualities when exposed to moonlight, and on one occasion he witnesses a vision of a member of a dead alien race (the Lektivin) seemingly trying to speak to him. His crime (which includes murder) makes Ballas a wanted man, and leaders of the Church send out Wardens to apprehend him. His ordained fate is to have his head nailed up on the Penance Oak (sans body, of course) as a message to all sinners and unbelievers. The occasion of his execution is a truly memorable one, marked as much by what he witnesses as by the fact that he somehow manages to escape.
On the run, Ballas begins to develop a deep-seated desire to escape across the mountains to a legendary land beyond; certainly, he needs to leave Druine because the Church and its Wardens are quickly on his tail, desperate to eliminate this outlaw, but the land beyond the mountains - if it even exists - is an almost impossible goal. Ballas has no qualms about killing and sacrificing others in his mad dash for escape and safety, yet he does take on temporary companions and finds a number of unexpected allies in his cause, including a priest who follows the Law rather than the orders of the present-day Church. The character development of Ballas is masterful; whenever you think he has shown a soft spot for someone or backed down from his normal attitude of hatred and contempt for the human race, he does something despicable. The secrets of his past and future are not revealed until the very end, making it hard, I would imagine, for some readers to sympathize with him at all on the course of his flight to safety. Still, I felt drawn to this character, and certainly he was a compelling anti-hero who drew increasing amounts of my fascination and interest. The Church and its minions are far from heroic or praiseworthy themselves, and this helps make Ballas a character who won a good measure of my allegiance if not sympathy. I wanted him to succeed in his impossible but passionate mission, despite all of his many, many faults - other readers may wish him to be destroyed as soon as possible, but even they cannot but feel compelled to follow Ballas' plight.
Graham does a masterful job keeping the suspense and mystery ratcheted up from beginning to end, making it all but impossible to figure out what exactly will happen if and when Ballas makes it across the mountains. As the story progresses, the reader accumulates fascinating facts about the Church and its founding, the "extinct" Lektivin race of aliens, and Ballas' own past, but it's impossible to tie all of this disparate information together without the insights Graham offers in the final pages. The ending itself feels exactly right, as well - with an anti-hero such as Ballas, you can't really expect a happy ending, of course, and Graham does not commit the cardinal sin of letting his readers down at the last minute by somehow allowing all of the characters to live happily ever after - the gritty realism of Monument extends all the way to the final period on the last page. In all honesty, Monument is one of the most distinctive, memorable, and impressive debut fantasy novels I have ever read.
Rating: 
Summary: New Definition of Anti-Hero
Review: Far from being an expert in the literary realm of Fantasy I could not resist reviewing this tome. It is rare enough that I read fantasy this title virtually leaped out at me.
Fantasy as a genre is almost synonomous with myth, typically it is penned with a population of elves, humans, perhaps dragons and other real and surreal denizens. Often the main character is therefore almost mythologically heroic (why since most myths are based on all too human anti-heroes including their Gods is beyond my ken). Of course the whole statement above depends on two elements for any to agree with me, one that you believe their is mythlogical roots to most fantasies and two Heroes of fantasies are almost too lily white good.
Both premises are tossed out the window in this novel at least so far as Ballas is the plot's focus. Ballas is charitably drawn as a noggodnik, bum and vagrant with violent habits, many vices and few virtues. Ballas steals a gem-studded disc and proceeds to run for his life from the theocratic rulers of the land as a result.
Monument is not neccessarily a 21st century morality tale as it is the grittiest fantasy I have read. Almost a fantasy-nior as opposed to crime-noir but Graham's writing is strong and he allows Ballas to evolve enough over the course of his adventure without bailing out on the basic dark essence of who Ballas is, a very nasty little title that I suspect has already influenced the field of fantasy infusing fresh blood (literaly and figuratively) into a genre that has at least in my opinion started to become almost redundant in plots, this is indeed very fresh indeed.
Rating:
Summary: Different but good fantasy
Review: He is a slothful thief who does not care that he is homeless, smells like a pig and has a beer belly so huge that it bounces. Ballas has no friends and kills without mercy. In a tavern he steals the purse of a store mason but is caught and beaten almost to death. A priest takes him into his home and when he is well asks him to perform an errand at the museum. Ballas spots an artifact consisting of a big blue stone surrounded by red ones that brighten up a room when a light is put under it. He steals it hoping to sell it to a collector. Instead the church, which rules the kingdom of Druine, wants him dead. The chief hunter is from a magical race of mages long thought gone. Ballas leaves dead bodies in his wake and forces reluctant allies to help him find the mystical city of Belthiran over the unexplored Garsbracks Mountains because he knows he can never return to Druine. This is not the typical fantasy novel because Ballas is an antagonist with very few redeeming qualities. Those he does have he does his best to sublimate preferring to treat other people as if they were things to be discarded when he has no use for them. Readers can't helped but be drawn to this character in spite of themselves because of a fascination with such a nasty soul or because he has the raw potential to do good deeds in spite of himself. Ian Graham has plenty of talent and the courage to write a book that is totally different than any recent work in the fantasy genre. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: Different but good fantasy
Review: He is a slothful thief who does not care that he is homeless, smells like a pig and has a beer belly so huge that it bounces. Ballas has no friends and kills without mercy. In a tavern he steals the purse of a store mason but is caught and beaten almost to death. A priest takes him into his home and when he is well asks him to perform an errand at the museum. Ballas spots an artifact consisting of a big blue stone surrounded by red ones that brighten up a room when a light is put under it. He steals it hoping to sell it to a collector. Instead the church, which rules the kingdom of Druine, wants him dead. The chief hunter is from a magical race of mages long thought gone. Ballas leaves dead bodies in his wake and forces reluctant allies to help him find the mystical city of Belthiran over the unexplored Garsbracks Mountains because he knows he can never return to Druine. This is not the typical fantasy novel because Ballas is an antagonist with very few redeeming qualities. Those he does have he does his best to sublimate preferring to treat other people as if they were things to be discarded when he has no use for them. Readers can't helped but be drawn to this character in spite of themselves because of a fascination with such a nasty soul or because he has the raw potential to do good deeds in spite of himself. Ian Graham has plenty of talent and the courage to write a book that is totally different than any recent work in the fantasy genre. Harriet Klausner
Rating: 
Summary: Howee, another stabber!
Review: Howee, I just had to write again, those commie stabbers are closing in!!! Ouch! Ouch! Geddoff! Monument is ace!!! I use it to lather my body! I enjoy you, Ian Graham, I enjoy you a lot! Please get in touch so I can enjoy you some more! Buy monument, it give you much stabbing pleasure!
Rating:
Summary: one of the best
Review: i have read many fantasy books, and this one sure is different. about 90 percent of fantasy heroes have the highest morals u can imagine. they will alwais help others, alwais be there for their friends, and alwais place themselves lest. not this one. Ballas is the perfect anti-hero. he thinks only of himself, he loves violence, and wont hasitate stabing a guy or two in the back to get what he wants. on the other hand, it's not the only side of Ballas. throughout the book u learn more and more about how complicated and deep his character realy is.
the world in this story is also fasinating. its a land ruled by priests and their soldiers, where anyone who goes against it is being put to death in the most horoble of ways. u can understand how Ballas became the way he is, for it was the only chance for him to survive. the action scences are exellent, in a dirty, painfull and non-honorable kind of way. also the interactions between Ballas and the rest of the characters are great and help u to learn more about Ballas and his way of thinking. in short, this book is one of the best i have ever read. its very unuseul and refreshing (especiely after reading 9 of drizzt books) and if u dont mind your hero isn't the perfect gantleman, i'm sure u'll love it
Rating:
Summary: Hooweeee! What a stabber!
Review: Now, as you know, I'm not some kind of pussy homosexual liberal commie. I'm a BAD commie. And, being a BAD commie, I like my "fantasy" books to have real heroes. Not some kind of retarded mongoloid diarrhetic weasel henpecked homicidal do-gooders. But the GOOD kind of hero. A Hero that goes around drunk, stabbing and cursing and getting beaten within an inch of his life. A Hero that murders communist thieves on sight. A Hero that steals and cheats and STABS commies right in the gut! A BAD COMMIE HERO! Ian Graham delivers! In addition to an excellent fantasy plot line, we get a HUMAN hero. Not a hero who is a retarded communist homosexual liberal from Mars. A REAL MAN! WITH LICE IN HIS BEARD AND A BROKEN NOSE! I DEMAND MORE! MORE MORE MORE!
Rating: 
Summary: I Hate It
Review: The blurb on the back sounded good so I picked up a copy of this book. Boy, am I sorry I did. I hate it. I liked the idea of an anti-hero, and I didn't mind if he was a little disagreeable, but good grief. I hated this character so much I didn't make it more than 20 pages into the book. He's a nasty, drunken, theiving pig. The descriptions of his stench, stupidity and his visiting the [prostitutes] turned my stomach. I couldn't read this book.
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Rating:
Summary: Not the usual adventure...
Review: This book does a very good job at drawing you into the story. This is not the average story where the hero saves the world, gets the girl, and everyone lives happily ever after. This book is blunt, to the point, and bloody. This book, unlike many other fantasies, makes use of such things as prostitution, using the bathroom, and bad language as story props and to remind us that such things do exist. The use of such real-world events go a long way toward making this story more believable. What also gives this book a great since of realness is that not all characters have a happy ending. Here, you are not allowed to expect the run of the mill happy ending where everyone lives. I believe that this is a mistake that many stories continue to make. Aside from the story's dark and gritty side, there is suspense and mysticism as well as a real since of adventure. Not all the characters are likable but you do tend to feel for them. I look forward to reading more from this author.
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