Rating: 
Summary: Renewed my faith in fantasy adventure
Review: This book has brought me back to the fantasy adventure genre. Tiring of the typical Forgotten Realms/Dungeons and Dragons cookie cutter books and not finding anything in the last few years to stir my interest like The Raymond E. Feist Midkemia books, I had all but abandoned the genre that had so intensely awakened my love of reading 24 years ago. With this book, I'm back. Stackpole's use of characters (that seemingly start out hackneyed and trite before developing beyond normal archetypes) against an epic background theme spanning hundreds, maybe even thousands, of years is thoroughly engaging. The villains are refreshing in their makeup and the new races and creatures introduced outstrip those I've found in other fantasy novels, especially the ur 'Zethi race. As I've read in other reviews, some parts of the story were predictable but Stackpole's writing style and prose make them enjoyable. The final, shocking twist completely blindsided me and I'm near to salivating as I wait for the next book in the series to come into print. All Hail Mr. Stackpole, he has produced a truly superior work in a field oft endangered of tired stagnation.
Rating:
Summary: Wow! Original well written Fantasy!
Review: I started reading Mike Stackpole's Star Wars books, and have since branched out into his original fantasy works. I have found all of his books to be quite good, and this one is no exception, in fact it is one of his best. It starts with the coming of age celebration of young Tarrent Hawkins. It ends many months (and battles) later, with everything we expect from Stackpole (and more), in between. We get to know Hawkins very well, as the story is told in the first person. Stackpole puts this device to good use, giving us his every thought on the characters and events, along with some heavy foreshadowing from the 'older' narrator. This really gives a sense of impending doom to the whole book, there is a LOT of tension here, for you can see from the first few chapters, that no character is safe, this is the real world here. As a result of this, the suspense and the enjoyment are really high. Another great thing is the originality of the work. Most Fantasy books are a rework of 5 or 6 different themes, most LOTR based. While this does 'borrow' some theme's and idea's from Tolkien's masterpiece, it is in a very reverential way. This is not ripping off genius, it is honoring it. Do not expect this to be Middle Earth, it is a VERY original world, entirely of Stackpole's own creation. While the customs and history are entirely new, everything is given to the reader in a way that we have enough information to be able to know what is going on, while not being overloaded. This corrects one of the problems in Eyes of Silver, which while a great book, was not one you understood up to the 150th page. I think the 1st person really helps in that regard. While we are treated to all the elements of first class fantasy, strange creatures and locals, adventure adventure adventure, we also get Stackpole's trademark style, friendship, laughs, and a bit of romance. Notice, that this is the lead book of a group, and as such not all is wrapped up. There is one big loose end at the last few chapters, and the last page is enough to give me the chills. The tension level is high, and anybody that reads this will not be able to help picking up the next one. I am quite confident that the rest of the books will live true to the high mark set here. This is really and truly first class fantay, highest recomendation. 5/5 stars.
Rating: 
Summary: I wanted to like this book.
Review: I wanted to like this book. Someone had recommended the DragonCrown War Cycle as a fantasy series similar to George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire, which I thoroughly enjoyed. So I thought I would check out the prequel.It started out well enough: A coming-of-age story involving four young men in a village. The details were intimate, different, descriptive. It intrigued me. That's about where my enjoyment of it ended. The author is a game designer, and it shows. The book is written as if the protagonists were the characters in a fantasy role-playing game. That is, everything is black-and-white; magic and healing are simply taken for granted as tools that exist for use; there are various races that exist for no specific reason; there are endless battles without much plotting or characterization to go along with it; and there's a single distant enemy who is the core of all evil. Being a former player of Dungeons and Dragons, I could almost see the author thinking, "Okay, after THIS battle these guys will get more experience points and gain a level." The problem is: I hate novels that work this way. The stories that work best for me are the ones that truly explore the meaning of the experience, that explore characters and motivations, ethical twists and interpersonal conflicts. I'm not talking about dry philosophy or moralizing; I'm just talking about a little introspection and interplay. The characters are very flat, the plotting is juvenile, the worldbuilding is derivative. Early in the book, for instance, the main characters survive an attack by various sinister creatures and are lauded for doing so despite their innocence and inexperience. After that there is absolutely zero exploration of their feelings, their reactions, how this has changed them. Instead they are herded from one event to another, so quickly and without any deeper meaning that it is very difficult to see this as anything other than the narration of someone's role-playing game. Within a few chapters they have come military heroes. The existence of the different races and the treatment of magic are similarly superficial. So you've got these different races, and ok they look different, and either there's some racism among the "good guy" races, or there are a bunch of "bad guy" races that exist only to attack the good guys. Riiiight. That's pretty juvenile. It's like the stereotypical role-playing scenario of stumbling into a dungeon room, filled with treasure, sealed for thousands of years, and there's a dragon there defending it ... Why would any living being exist only for the purpose of attacking the good guys? And magic: I don't mind the use of magic. But I feel that any description of it should be handled with sophistication -- perhaps a hint of a mythic tone or mysterious quality, to emphasize the fact that forces exist in the world beyond one's ken, or a sense of background or underlying meaning to it all. But here, as in so many derivative fantasies, it is reduced to plot points. I will say that I enjoyed the character development and tension and twists scattered here and there, but it occurred mostly at the beginning and the end. For the rest of it, there was surprisingly little real tension. Even sex scenes lacked any flavor of reality. One last complaint: The language. Highly inconsistent: At times he uses high, formalistic language, sounding like he's trying to do a proper medieval fantasy; at other times he'll say, for instance, that the summer was a "scorcher," which is a very modern slang term. It makes for a rather jolting read at times. My verdict: The beginning is nice, the ending is very interesting. Most of it goes nowhere. There's no *meaning*. It's just a big dumb hero-boy fantasy.
Rating:
Summary: GREAT!!!!!!!!
Review: If you like action, suspense, fantacy, and a lot of bloody war battles this is the book for you! This book has everything in it like the stuff I mentioned above pluss a great story and even a little romance, but don't let that discourage you, it doesn't take away from the book at all. If anything it makes it better. This book has a lot of great action and suspense that never stops through out the book. The characters are great and the story is fantastic. To me the ending is good and bad at the same time, which is definetly what Stackpole wanted. The ending is good because of being good and bad at the same time. That's the only way to explain it without giving anything away. Anyway like the ending or not there is a sequel coming out that will start a whole new series by Stackpole that I look forward to. I already pre orderd the sequel I like this one so much. So after all that if your a fantasy or Stackpole fan why would you not read this book?
Rating: 
Summary: good prelude to what might be a decent series [no spoilers]
Review: 'The Dark Glory War" is the prelude novel in The DragonCrown War Cycle series. It is an entertaining book filled with creative battles and entertaining people. The characters are reasonably believable and the environment descriptions are detailed. Although the mask that certain cultures wear is an unusual concept, I am not fond of it since a good smack could dislodge the mask to blind the person during combat. Various monsters seem to be hybrid or typical fantasy creatures with different classifications. Also, there are some moments where a physical description is challenging to envision. Aside from the above aggravations, overall the book was good and I would recommend it. The ending was a shock. I look forward to continuing the series. Thank you.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Stackpole book (and that is saying something)
Review: The Dark Glory War is the best piece of fantasy that Michael Stackpole has written. From the first page I was engrossed in the story line. Stackpole's first person style lends a different element to his work. The main character (Hawkins) is likeable from the start and you are rooting for him as the story proceeds. Readers be warned...the title is accurate. This book is Dark. If the saga of Hawkins ended with this novel you would be very, very disappointed. Luckily Hawkins' story continues in the DragonCrown War Cycle trilogy. Read them all.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Read
Review: This is the first Stackpole novel I have had the pleasure of reading, from opening the first page to touching keys on this review was about 3 hours. I couldnt stop reading. The vivid detail Stackpole has packed into such a short novel is nothing short of amazing... Upon reading some of the other reviews I noticed a tread in some that hint at similarities with LOTR. I saw it but not so much similarities but "style" I guess it would be called. With this in mind, please think about Tolkien, he was the GOD of fantasy, everything fantasy revolves around LOTR in some way, everything from Jordan's "Wheel of Time" to Goodkind's "Sword of Truth" they all find their roots in Tolkien's Masterpiece. I think Stackpole has made his own work with this one, The way its written makes you believe Hawkins is there writting his tales down as you look over his shoulder, you can almost see the smile on his face at times or see the quiver of pain at others. I would have loved for the book to be a little longer but what was there was a truly great read...
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant introduction
Review: I just finished reading this book last night and I couldn't wait to go order the rest of the series. Michael Stackpole continues to shine in my eyes as one of the preeminent authors in the last 20 years. Mastering science fiction with his BattleTech and Star Wars novels and continuing into fantasy, Stackpole has continued to build solid stories by focusing on the most important aspect, the characters. Watching Tarrant Hawkins grow from a boy to a man over the course of a month was amazing and the detail of all the other characters that influenced him are equally amazing. Stackpole is a master of high fantasy and writes about strong characters tat change the world in good ways. You can read these stories and just enjoy the adventure but if you're like me, you will picture yourself in every scene wishing you could be like young Tarrant. Do not miss out on this book!
Rating:
Summary: One of Stackpole's best works..
Review: WARNING: This review DOES contain spoilers for the book.. That being said, let me get on with my review. I started reading Mike Stackpole's work back during his run on the X-Wing series, and have since followed up on his more recent stuff like the 2 "Dark Tide" books from the New Jedi Order and his older material like the "Blood of Kerensky" trilogy in Battletech. He has excellent narrative techniques in his books, particularly with his main characters, and of course they never lack as far as action is concerned. More than once I've sacrificed valuable hours of sleep in order to see just what happens to that one particular character. His recent entries into the fantasy genre (and by recent I mean all the books in the series, since I just finished The Grand Crusade)are a proud continuation of the high quality storytelling that I've come to associate with Stackpole's name. The story of Tarrant Hawkins, the Norringtons, and the evil Chytrine (or basically the good guys vs. distant, life-threatening menace) may not be anything new, but it has elements that let it stand out. I refer particularly to the ending of this prequel novel. The Dark Glory War diverts from the typical beginnings of grand sagas that end with some kind of victory. We see two things: the apparent framing and damning of the main character (Hawkins) and the seduction of the world's heroes into the enemy camp. In reading the subsequent novels, I've always kept a keen eye out for details on what happened to these involved people after the ending of this book. What did Hawkins do in the immediate aftermath of his exile? What exactly became of the doomed heroes after accepting Chytrine's offers, and how did their respective countrymen take the news? Questions like these have kept me turning pages. This series has let Mike work some newer, more complex themes into his stories (and it has been extremely entertaining, in my opinion). The only thing keeping me from giving this book a full five stars was the length. It was WAY too short. I'd have liked it if Stackpole had worked a lot more description of his world in this book. More information on Kirun! Or the secret societies! And again, referring to the ending, why were some of the heroes Chytrine turned into dark lancers the so-called "champions" of the world? Mike gives us a picture of more than a dozen different countries of men in the beginning, so how could a small score of people (excluding the Norringtons) be the cream of the crop? Sure, a page is given in describing each one, but is that it? In a nutshell, this book could easily have given the biggest Wheel of Time novel a run for its money in page length. (and, despite how much I like the Wheel of Time as a whole, still remained interesting!) Overall, though, a great read. I'd recommend this to anyone just starting into fantasy.
Rating:
Summary: Could'nt put it down!
Review: I did find the beginnning a bit slow. Although I had my armor up regarding any formulaic story I didnt not find it here. The story drew me in regardless of awkward moments. Nothing turned out as I predicted which kept the pages turning. Do yourself a favor and pick up this book. Yes its simple to the degree that it doesnt have a million characters to keep track of. It does have good vs. evil, betrayal and battles and battles. When I finished it, I ran for the sequel.
|
