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Summary: wonderful great amazing all words for this book
Review: I think this book was amazing. It is the best book ever written. I have read it over and over. I think that David Farland is a great writer. One of the best in the world.
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Summary: Magic, action, adventure, drama, all in this great book!!!!!
Review: This book was great. It kept me into it through the whole thing. The characters seem real and you can practically feel what they are feeling. One thing that I really liked about this book was the use of magic. Be prepared for a complicated and engrossing novel. I thought Farland did a great job on this piece of work.
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Summary: good book
Review: I really liked this book it kept me at the edge of my seat the whole time I read it. I strongley suggest others to read it.
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Summary: The Runelords is easily one of the best books I've ever read
Review: The Runelords is easily one of the best books I have ever read. I loved the characters, the superb pacing, and especially, the amazing magic. Not only is this book an exciting read, but also it teaches a valuable moral lesson, and yet questions many of our beliefs held today. The Prince Gaborn must decide between his own personal beliefs, or the good of his kingdom. In the end, he must choose to defend his kingdom, but in the process, he loses himself. The main villian of the story, a Runelord named Raj Ahten, is also the most interesting villain since Darken Rahl, who some of you might remember from Terry Goodkind's spectacular Sword of Truth series. I don't want to give away too much of the story, because I feel that this book should be read without having any prior knowledge of it, because that makes it twice as good. At any rate, The Runelords, by David Farland, is an extremely emotional and fast-paced story that can't fail to draw in even the most cynical readers.
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Summary: Interesting magic,terrible editing. High-school plot,people.
Review: David Farland has potential but he needs to learn how to write a grammatical sentence, or at least get an editor that knows how. His characters don't always act realistically - several have frank multiple personality disorder. One can only suppose Mr. Farland meant their sudden rages or other inexplicabilities to be gripping, when they're really just the opposite. Plus there are many times he simply botches character development or plot devices. This reader rolled his eyes too many times at _The Runelords_ to want to read the sequel. Poor grammar, poor plot structure, poor pacing. Farland's interesting notion of granting endowments by runes is far outweighed by this book's over-abundant flaws. One guesses that the author dusted off something he wrote in high school and sent it to Tor, who published it because it's lengthy.
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Summary: Completely and Truly Magical! Unbelievable!!
Review: I didn't know what to expect when I read the back of the book. But when I got into it, I was unable to set the book down. I was wound up in the exceptional web of fantasy that David Farland had woven. Now, waiting unpatienly for the 3rd book, I am unable to find any other book that matches the Runelords in its superb action and detail.
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Summary: This... book... is... so... slow....... Great for insomniacs
Review: It took 54 pages for the lead character to meet a girl in a marketplace, and he was already there! Something like 4 paragraphs to drink a glass of wine... We get a description of the bottle, the berries, where they come from, etc... Give me a break! I feel the writer has something to say, but he needs an editor. I enjoy fantasy, but it has to move along. Plodding epics by Jordan, Goodkind, and now Farland put me to sleep. If you agree, check out David Gemmell, Weis/Hickman, Raymond Feist, and similar authors, and leave this book alone.
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Summary: Uneven Story Perversely Endowed
Review: This book was a mixed bag. Despite a rather riveting andclimactic battle, the rest of the story rarely captured my attentionand failed to draw me in, despite some original and potentially intriguing use of lore and sorcery. While the author's intent is obviously serious, most of this tale does not succeed in surpassing ordinary sword and sorcery fantasy. Though I might give the next book a try, it'll have to wait on my long list. Coupled with the uneven story is - for me - a problematic and morally abhorrent system of magic sustaining the nobility of this realm, which the main hero and heroine participate in. Government and power is based upon the ruling class, or Runelords, obtaining "endowments", either by means of force, purchase, or contribution from their subjects. Through the use of magical blood metal "forcibles" the Runelords are able to transfer qualities, such as brawn, stamina, wit, sight, hearing, etc. from their individual citizenry, or a captured foe. And since forcibles are expensive, only the wealthy can afford them. While exceedingly pleasurable for the Runelord, giving them beauty and superhuman powers, the process is equally agonizing for the subject, leaving them permanently maimed and debilitated. So much for noblesse oblige! For a time it appears that an opposing, more benign alternative will be offered by the author through a life affirming magic of the Earth. In the early portion of the book the noble hero and heroine - prince and princess - question the right of this practice, and seem poised to oppose and reject the monstrous custom of obtaining endowments by means of what can only be seen as a form of human sacrifice. Yet in the end, to oppose the villain to this tale, the hero readily accepts the practice of endowments. And while he magnanimously draws the line at using force or the purchase of these "gifts" from the poor or oppressed, he nonetheless is willing to ignore the moral implications so long as the endowment is "freely" given. Sophistical in nature, this stance seems completely at odds with his earlier moral struggles, as well as his ensuing assumption of the role of the Earth King reborn, with its magical and philosophical tenets. His position instead devolves into the old fight fire with fire mentality, or, in this case, evil with evil. I'm not a prude, nor do I require a book's main character's to be all sunshine and light. But the hypocrisy assumed here is disturbing. Orson Scott Card, in the frontispiece to this work, claims his experience at the conclusion of this book was an "epiphany." In an age of moral relativism I suppose one can find divine experience in anything: Afterall, beliefs are open to changing interpretation.
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Summary: Now this is how you begin a fantasy epic
Review: Runelords is good. Very good. David Farland has crafted an interesting, unique system of magic, but he doesn't stop there. His novel touches upon some of the deeper ramifications and consequences of this idea of giving endowments, making Runelords more than just another fantasy adventure. His protagonists are not purely good; his antagonists not pure evil. Yet Farland also succeeds in making this a true fantasy epic. He captures the grandeur of sweeping events, the awe of a truly formidable villain, the power of ancient magic, and the promise of more to come. Highly recommended.
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Summary: good book; realistic
Review: I first set this book down, because I felt that I had already discovered the plot. In the first chapter, it states that the earth king had leaves around his head. If you look at the cover, so does this fellow. It didn't take much to know that lead character was going to be the earth king. So, I set it down. As the evening went on, I decided to give it a try anyways. I was shocked. Wonderfully refreshing. I cannot give out to much, because it would ruin the book, but for anyone who's tired of the typical storyline, this is the book for you.
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