Uther

Rating:
Summary: Well done, yet again.
Review: After adjusting to the new point of view that this book is written from, I became immersed in Uther Pendragon's world and life. At least twice while reading Jack's series, I have become emotionally affected by scenes depicted in his writing. Jack is an amazing writer, though I missed the personal narrative style that had been in his other books.

Uther's life is harsh, unforgiving and troubling at times. Stark contrast to the life of his cousin, Merlyn. It answers many of the questions left in the reader's mind by 'Eagles Brood'. I'm on the edge of my chair to snatch up the next installments of the series. I almost can't read anything else, for feeling like I am somehow betraying Camulod!

Rating:
Summary: Alternative historical fiction. . .
Review: After finishing the first six books of the Camulod Chronicles, I was both delighted and confused to see that the publication of a seventh book was imminent. Delighted because I regard Jack Whyte's Camulod Chronicles to be one of the best retellings of the Arthurian legend, confused because the title was "Uther". By the end of book 6, "The Sorcerer: Metamorphosis", Uther is long dead and his son Arthur just installed as High King of all of Britain. I ignored the anachronism and ordered the book anyway.

My faith in Jack Whyte was rewarded as "Uther" turned out to be one of the crowning jewels (sick pun intended) of the Camulod Chronicles. In the time line, "Uther" covers the same period as book 3 of the series, "The Eagle's Brood". Where "The Eagle's Brood" was told from the point of view of Merlyn, "Uther" is told from the point of view of. . . Uther. I suppose this book can be considered an alternative historical fiction, but I won't go there. . .

This book continues in the same sweeping, luxurious style of the others in the series with the only difference being in narration. The first two books were narrated by Publius Varrus, the next four my Merlyn himself. The all-seeing, all-knowing author narrates "Uther", and I feel that this point of view offers a nice change of pace in the series and works well. Although this book covers the same time period as a previous installment, the overlap of actual events is minimal. In "The Eagle's Brood", Merlyn regards Uther as a pariah. In "Uther", we are given the balancing story in which some of the major mysteries from earlier in the Chronicles are solved.

Overall, the whole series is different from most in its handling of Uther. In the original Mallory and all of the retellings I had read up to this one, the character of Uther is not a particularly well-developed one. He appears as almost an incidental character who co-incidentally sired Arthur. If he is given any ink, as in Mary Stewart's Merlin Trilogy, it is to describe him as a brusque, brutal, and lustful creature with no redeeming qualities other than his great physical strength and prowess as a warrior. Mr. Whyte has made Uther into a man of high nobility, deserving of our respect, admiration, and sympathy. And, this is only fitting if we are to consider that his son Arthur was renown for his nobility, personal strength, and sense of justice. Although Arthur never knew Uther as an adult, we all grow up hearing that the fruit seldom falls far from the tree.

I have read dozens of retellings of the Arthurian saga, and am nowhere near having my fill. I regard the Camulod Chronicles as one of the best. I look forward to reading book 8 of the chronicles as soon as it is written.

Rating:
Summary: Good, but get on with it!
Review: At seven volumes, Whyte's Camulod Chronicles are already well fleshed-out, and the young Arthur Pendragon has just become king. While I hope that we will have another seven volumes on Arthur's reign, I found myself underwhelmed by Whyte's latest offering, Uther. Uther follows the plot structure of The Eagles' Brood, though it fails to live up to the greatness that was that work for a few reasons. First, most readers know the plot already. This novel merely fills in the gaps (Deidre's fate, how Uther gets to know Ygraine, the war against Lot, and Lot's fate) that were left to speculation. Second, we are without Merlyn's wondrously analytical mind, and are forced to endure Uther's less inquisitive action-oriented thoughts, which are nowhere near as deep. Had I been able to read this novel immediately prior to Eagles' Brood, I probably would have been far more impressed, though at this point, I want to hear the continuing story of Arthur's world, not of Merlyn and Uther's, which after The Sorcerer is essentially wiped away forever.

Rating:
Summary: Uther: Wrong Place, Wrong Time
Review: Having waited for months for the finale of Mr. Whyte's spendid series, I was extremely disappointed with this volume. Instead of picking up with Arthur's reign, we are transported back to volume 3-The Eagle's Brood-to get Uther's view. While this novel does complete several missing pieces from volume 3, it was too late and much too wordy. It should have been edited to about 2/3 its size and released as volume 4. Newcomers to the Camulod Chronicles should read this volume right after The Eagle's Brood before going on to The Saxon Shore, The Fort at River's Bend, and Sorceror:Metamorphesis. Or skip it altogether.

Rating:
Summary: Fresh and Unique Novel from Jack Whyte
Review: I am a die-hard fan of Jack Whyte, and love his books to peices. The point of views expressed in novels, the characters, the dialogue, the landscape, the history (presented in a none-too-boring way), the romance (and yes, even the very skanky sex) make his books both rewarding for the reader and inspiring. 'Uther' is startling different then his other Camulod Chronicle novels.

Readers grow almost to hate Uther in books such as 'The Eagle's Brood' and 'The Saxon Shore', due to the often mistaken and harsh judgements of his infamous cousin Merlyn, from whose eyes the books are portrayed. Upon delving into 'Uther', however, I found myself not only loving his character, but approaching the other books with a new understanding. The plot is simple, unlike the other books, and instead of focusing on future plans and dreams of its characters it seems to just naturally go with the flow, following Uther's exciting, sexy, and violent life as it unfolds. Overwhelming pity is at times the strongest emotion when reading this book, as the man Jack Whyte is portraying is misunderstood and seems slighted by destiny. In all, a fabulous read. I couldn't help but read it cover to cover in one sitting, litterally not putting it down. It's a grabber.

Rating:
Summary: Well Done
Review: I feel Jack Whyte did and excellent job on this book. He had the almost impossible task of making a story out of something already covered pretty well in The Eagles Brood. He also does something alot of writers fail to do, he makes the characters human. They have strengths and weaknesses, they make mistakes and act on impulse. Not everyone on the good side is a champion and not everyone on the opposing side is horrible. Take Nemo, she is a rather unintelligent girl who worships Uther. She makes all her decisions good or bad because of how SHE percieves things. This dissapoints alot of people because the characters do things that go against the "typical" behaviour of the group or person. This make the book exciting, you never have a real idea of what could happen although you know the inevitable ending. I think that what was the real hard thing to accept. The author spends all of the book making you like Uther more and more, and to know what happens makes it that much more painful. Despite that I think the book was well written, and I believe he will continue to impress us with his writing in the future.

Rating:
Summary: Worse than you can imagine
Review: I find the praise for this book contained in many of these reviews to be absolutely inexplicable. I don't care whether it was historically accurate--Arthur is a legend, after all. I actually like sex and violence, so I have no problem with that. What I don't like are cardboard characters, lame story-lines, hackneyed plots. To me it doesn't matter whether Whyte knows how swords were made in late Roman Britain. What matters is that he should convince me that he knows. He fails utterly.

This is a hodgepodge of lame action sequences and a tedious Horatio Alger story--the veteran protagonist conveniently discovers whatever he needs buried somewhere whenever he needs it...mixed with a bit of weird survivalist myth which presumably foreshadows the dark ages to come. The central love relationship of the book is so simplistic and poorly imagined as to be insulting to the reader.

What kind of writing are this books fans used to reading? Weekly World News? I'm not saying that this couldn't make decent entertainment for early teens, but compared to solid and entertaining Arthurian stuff like Bradley's Mists of Avalon or Attanasio's series or Gillian Bradshaw's series? Or several others?

In no way does Whyte breathe life into the characters or the era which he so thinly imagines. About the only thing you can say good about this book is that you can get through it in a few hours, typical of books with such poor derivative prose and hackneyed story lines. A good thing it's a quick read--about the only thing about Arthur that's even hinted at in this book is the ORE which may be used to make Excalibur.

Great suggestion that because Whyte skips magic--funny since magic always seemed kind of important in Arthur legends--this should be treated as historical fiction. Big deal. He's just as pathetic in comparison to great historical fiction like Patrick O'Brien, Dorothy Dunnett, or Alfred Duggan as he is in comparison to great or even just decent fantasy writers(Duggan actually did a much more sophisticated and thoroughly imagined real-historical-Arthur novel).

If you are over 13 and/or read a book a month, you should stay away from this shlock.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing Addition to Series
Review: I have enjoyed reading the other books in Jack Whyte's Camulod series, but this book, although fairly well-written, is just pure fluff. Whyte takes you back to 'The Eagles Brood' book, and mirrors Uther's youth as he did Merlyn's in the first book. Had the contents of this book been combined with that book the result would have been exceptional, but this book is nothing more than a scheme to squeeze more money from the golden goose without getting closer to the finish. I found myself drifting in the text waiting for something new to happen. It didn't and there were few surprises, since I already knew then ending.

I would be less apt to purchase any more books of this series if Mr Whyte is going to rehash old ground without more substance.

Rating:
Summary: Dreck
Review: I loved Jack Whytes first 2 books. This was horrible. I majored in journalism and creative writing and this book seemed almost as if it was written by someone else....perhaps a 15 y.o. who's been spending too many hours pouring through Penthouse. Anyway, what a disappointment. I was ready to recommend this series to my son but cannot now. I also notice some other negative reviews that have been submitted, (which I should have heeded) have been removed so buyer beware. Perhaps Amazon is removing negative reviews to sell more of this garbage.

Rating:
Summary: Not as good as the rest
Review: I was disappointed in this book. I have enjoyed all the other books in the series, and have gotten many members of my family hooked on them. This one, however, fell short.

I don't know if I should blame the author, the editor, or both. There were many contradictions in the book that were very noticeable and distracting.

On the plus side, many loose ends from The Eagles Brood are tied up. Not very elegantly or neatly, but done.

I look forward to the future books and hope the writing style goes back to the first person narratives the first several books in the series were written in.