Rating: 
Summary: Amazing!
Review: Simply an amazing series, the battles are described in amazing detail, and the charecter developement is wonderful. My only complaint is that the author goes a bit overboard with the endowments... I can't really remember if so and so has 500 endowments of metabolism.
Rating:
Summary: This entire series is among the best.
Review: I picked this series up out of desperation between Robert Jordan and George R. R. Martin books. The quality and flow of the entire series blew me away! The story is exciting and completely original. The bad guys are written so well that you actually fear for the heroes (Who are the best written I have read in recent years!) I have to say, when the next Jordan book comes out, it will be considered a "Between Farland" book! PS. A warning I would give to any reader is, don't judge this by the first 20 pages. I almost put it down thinking it was another one of those D & D wanna be books. Anyone who has read D & D or DragonLance will understand what I mean. It is far from it.
Rating: 
Summary: New magic, Interesting Plot - but some stupidity
Review: For starters I'd like to say that this book offers a refreshing take on the fantasy genre. Forget about Dungeons and Dragons type spells, here magic is summed up as more of a commodity. There a certain traits or attributes that people can bestow upon another (but at great cost as those who bestow such powers loose their own abilities) so instead of casting spells and such, people gift to others their powers of wit, stamina, brawn, sights, hearing, smell, etc... The people who receive these gifts, they become superhuman. Those who gift others become deaf, blind, or even vegetables at worst. This magical aspect of the world I really liked. Also, as far as this being a gripping book, I'd say it is. Save the first 50 or so pages, once I got sucked into the plot I found myself too curious to see what was going to happen next to put the book down. Character development is adequate, the main characters are interesting, and the antagonist is pretty fascinating too. There are however a couple big negatives: I know its fantasy, but some of the laws of the land in this book are so unrealistic and naïve it's turned me off. I'm not giving anything major away here, but to say that executing or even imprisoning an assassin is against the law, and not challenging this concept, well that's just foolish. Also, the love story began in such a way it makes you think the protagonist is a fool. Which after he falls in love you see he's not. So the start of the love plotline is disappointing to say the least. The above two statement made me loose a lot of credibility in this world. But save those two major errors it was a very enjoyable read. Despite my objections I'd still recommend this as a refreshing novel for the fantasy genre.
Rating:
Summary: Great fun to read
Review: A typical fantasy story complete with powerful, well developed good and evil characters. I've read the first two books and can't wait for the third.
Rating:
Summary: The Runelords
Review: Ok, first off, this book is so good, i put down reading the Lord of The Rings series and picked this one up. The ideas are new, and apeal to a wide range of people. The charecters have such a depth that it feels as though your part of the story. Overall this is an amazing series, my compliments to Mr. Farland for creating such a captivating novel/series. Im sure to buy the third book from the series, WizardBorn, when i get the chance. All in all, this is an amazing peice of Fantasy.
Rating:
Summary: A decent fantasy story with some interesting ideas.
Review: Imagine a world where there exists a magic process that allows you to transfer all of one of your traits to another person. All of your strength, or wit, or stamina, moved from your own body into that of your Lord.
Such is the world of the Runelords. Men and women who can have the strength of many, the wit of many, the metabolism of multiple men, the Runelords are somewhat complacent, their kingdoms rubbing with a friction born of internal intrigues, and entirely unprepared for the battle that is coming.
A Runelord from the south is coming, a man who seeks to be "the Sum of All Men," by taking so many traits from others that he becomes invincible. His attacks are merciless, and only the rising of a new Earth King can possibly stop him - and even this is not assured.
Farlane's world is one full of interesting ideas. Wizards fit one of the four elements (Air, Earth, Water, and Fire) in a new way that I found interesting, and the process of the transfer of traits from one to another was a fresh idea. Unfortunately, those who transfer all their strength, for example, end up so crippled they cannot even lift themself. If they die or are killed, the trait they would offer to their runelord also vanishes - or if the runelord dies, the "Dedicate" (the one who gave up the trait) gets the trait back.
Too much of the book was about the murder of Dedicates - the easiest way to disarm the runelord who has multiple traits. While the book had some interesting segues, it could have been more interesting without the constant repeat of this theme of killing dedicates.
The next book in the series is "The Brotherhood of the Wolf," and I'm going to give it a try. If you're interested in a fresh new fantasy world with a unique twist, then you might enjoy "the Runelords." It's not on par with George R.R. Martin, but it would likely satisfy fans of Robert Jordan.
'Nathan
Rating:
Summary: Wow!! Fast paced
Review: I came across this book by accident and decided to read it while I am waiting for the next Wheel of Time addition. I must say that I was pleasantly surprised. The pace of this book is incredible, leaving me eager to turn the next page. I could not put the book down. This tale is well written and does not suffer from some of the lulls that I have found in Wheel of Time series or even Lord of the Rings. I would highly recomend this interesting book to anyone that is a fan of the genre. My hope is that the second book of the series "The Brotherhood of the Wolf" can keep up the dizzying plot started by "Runelords." Let you know when I am done...
Rating:
Summary: Original read in a copy cat genre
Review: I have read a huge amount of fantasy, and i recently added the runelord series to my bookshelf. For the most part I enjoyed and found the characters quite good. The whole story is also refreshingly original. My only real complaint was that the male main character suffers from Rand-ism (lots of power used weakly). This is common in fantasy and is getting annoying.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderfuly enchanting
Review: This book brings you to another world, full of clashes of might, magic, dragons, damsels, wizards and witches. Where men acuire runes of power that give them enhanced abilities and the power to do superhuman feats of strength. It takes place in the kingdoms of Rofenhaven, which the evil Wolf Lord tries to add to the empires he has already conqured. But the kingdoms are ready and the stage is set for the battle of the runelords!
Rating:
Summary: A good story, but much deeper than that...
Review: The philosophical implications of David Farland's works are much deeper than many might initially give them credit for. It is a great oversimplification to say that the hero in the end just accepts the idea of taking endowments and that the whole system, being oppressive, makes the book one promoting something morally evil - in fact, just the opposite is being presented, if one only has the insight to see it. Also, the idea that there are racial undertones in this book (as stated in another review) are totally false - all characters in the book are fully rounded, complete with both goodness in flaws, regardless of which culture they come from. Even many of those on the supposed 'good' side have an all too human fatal flaw, if not more than one. This book, and indeed the entire series, is an honest look at human nature, sparing no-one, not even the heros of the story, and the philosphy is on a much higher plane than most of the regurgitated fantasy books I have read. The fact that he is able to combine this with an excellent reading story and great action is amazing. As a very wide-read and long-time reader of fantasy, this was the first book in many years that I found keeping me up late hours of the night. I have now read every book in the series and am impatiently waiting for the next to come out.
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