Rating: 
Summary: Stackpole at his best
Review: The author certainly wastes no time in getting to the meat of the story. To begin, we meet the three main characters, friends all going through a rite of passage at the same time, one a noble, another the son of a military man, the third a commoner. Their passage to adulthood is interrupted by a monumental event, an invasion from an enemy of old from the north. Having been in the right place at the right time, all three are thrust into an odyssey across their continent. This serves the purpose of introducing the reader both to the varied cultures in this fantasy world, and to the varied races in this world. Among the goodly races are humans, elves of a type to give a refreshing view of them, and a race of shapeshifters. The evil races are headed by an evil sorceress, who controls gibberers, temeryces (feathered, sickle-toed fast running horrors), and giants. The evil has lain dormant for a long time, choosing now to strike, when the populace has grown complacent.Stackpole, as per his usual, deals with the politics of the various regions in regard to one another. Character development is also very well done. The three young men truly become the heroes of their generation. Their journey takes them through many battles, all captured in exquisite detail. While the good guys fare well, there are many extenuating circumstances that conspire to make them pyrrhic victories at best. The story, told by one of the three as a memoir of sorts, ends with extensive setup for the upcoming trilogy, as it is intended. This book has all the elements one might seek from a fantasy novel: action, intrigue, suspense, magic, even romance. Stackpole as much as any other author can create characters that you just truly HATE, and others that you love like your own sibling. If you like fantasy novels and would like something of a change of pace from the tried and true material that is already moldering out there, give this one a try. You won't be sorry.
Rating:
Summary: Simply GREAT!!
Review: I have read all of Michael Stackpole's STARWARS novels and Luved them .. This is actually the first of his other novels that i've read .. I couldn't put it down! I sacrificed sleep to finish this book! Read it again and agian .. Now I want to read ALL his books .. I figure they should all be Wonderful coz Mr Stackpole has never disappointed me before .. I recommend all who are just starting out reading sci-fi to read a Michael Stackpole novel .. Starting with this one would be a Real Good choice.
Rating:
Summary: A Good Beginning
Review: I reccomend that all those that have read Stackpole's Star Wars works read this novel. The Dark Glory War is an excellent prelude to what promises to be a fabulous story. It follows Tarrant Hawkins as he becomes a man. He is a special man that naturally finds himself in trouble very early and very often. The stories will draw you into the story and wrap you up. Even though the tone is dark at points, it sets this story up for a great conclusion. After all, you can't have a great climax without some adversity at the beginning. So, if you liked Stackpole's Star Wars novels, like I did, you will love this story.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Military Book, No plot.
Review: The first thing I've noticed was that this book has contains lots of Artistic steals and stereotypes. Stackpole steals from Tolkien (Like many before him), and even steals from himself. Lot's of the Ideas presented in the book can be found in the FASA novels. I don't think this is too bad. I myself like the immortal Elves, Black lord Evil all powerful mage, Orcs (Gibberers), Black lord champions (Ring Wraiths, sullincari, etc..) kind of pattern. I don't mind fantasy stereotypes. It's just that if you are expecting to find here something new and revolutionized, you are going to get disappointed.
The book itself is a series of military encounters, described with great skill. The battles are imaginative and realistic, Stackpole focuses on individual skirmishes but never forgets the whole picture. While the battle is raging, like a good CNN reporter, he gives us news from the entire scene. This adds excitement and realism. As for the battles themselves, I am sure Stackpole did some homework there. He focuses on both strategy and logistic, while doing it so very nimbly as not to become too technical and boring. So far so good.
The downside of the book is the plot.
1) Almost no background is given for our story (Villains and Good Guys).
2) The main characters are one dimensional. The worst problem is that they don't develop through the entire book (especially our hero). They remain the Naïve boys who started the journey, Yet who are born with military knowledge of a 50 years old veteran (so nothing to develop there). The boys actually remind me characters in a computer quest who gain magic Items and experience levels as they advance, but lack any depth.
3) The love affair of the main character looks like it was taken from some other book and glued without much thought to certain parts of the story.
4) At some point the plot looks like something our writer tried to stitch in between battles.
To sum it up, if you are a fan of military strategy, read this book, you are allowed to skip pages and get to the battles (nothing much happens between anyway). If you are looking for more depth, avoid it.
Rating: 
Summary: Good setup for the series
Review: Well, reading this book certainly got me in the mood to read the series when it comes out. I felt the cover was kind of misleading in that this wasn't about 4 young boys becoming men...it was about the story of 1 guy and how his story began. The rest of the cast felt like supporting characters in his world.
Rating:
Summary: Dark Prequel
Review: Though I am a fan of Mister Stackpole, I must admit this novel threw me. I was expecting an entertain read, but this dark epic blew away my expectations with a riviting narrative that took me into the heart of a fresh and dangerous fantasy world. It follows the adventures of Tarrant Hawkins, a young warrior who soon sees more action than those twice his age. He plays a pivotal role that first is observer, hero, and final, witness to the final tragedy that ends this novel. Though some points are hammered home, vivid characters and good sense of the horrors of warfare interact with a world that deserves more exploration. When the next book of the DragonCrown saga hits NZ bookshelves, I certainly while be grabbing it. Of note, I will mention a certain apprenhension about the ending, which unfortunately feels artifical and does not fit the characters involved (the villianess of the piece gives reasons, but they too are artifical and unconvincing.) I am not complaining about the darkness, as the downbeat fit perfectly to the tone of the story, but a little more foreshadowing would have helped (especially involving Seethe.) Otherwise, Stackpole has proven himself a fantasy author to watch out for.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Astonishing!
Review: There isnt much more i can say about it. this book was wonderful. I loved it. cant wait for the series.
Rating:
Summary: Good .. if only
Review: Like most Stackpole books, this one is great. The dialogue is believeable, and the situations intense. Unfortunately, since Random House is an AAP member, I won't be spending any money on the sequels...but I will definitely check each and every one out of the libraries that they so dispise.
Rating:
Summary: READ THIS!!
Review: Tired of Pug saving the universe... again? Do you just want to strangle (insert Wheel of Time character here)?? How many times do Richard and Kahlan have to get beaten/separated/almost raped/ betrayed before Mr. Goodkind realizes he has been writing the same book over and over??? ARGH I CAN'T READ THIS TRASH ANYMORE! I know some of you are nodding you heads' any probably more of you have your fists' in the air yelling "Preach on Brother!" It seems sometimes that the masses aren't reading any good books. Where does that leave us Fantasy Bookworms? Well I will tell you. Waiting for the next book from Martin, Wolfe, or Stackpole. Or in extreme cases like me: visiting Michael Stackpole's website religiously every morning to see if he has posted the first chapter in the sequel to Dark Glory Wars. Now there are plenty of decent fantasy writers out there, and while every once in a while they write something awesome they don't do it as often as Stackpole does. Unlike Fiest, Jordon, Goodkind, and countless other authors he doesn't bleed his series dry. Stackpole is interested in improving himself as a writer and that means that he has to switch gears and write something different. The thing that is great about Dark Glory War (and all of his other books) is Stackpole's ability to really connect the reader to the characters. Each character has a great personality and they fit and contract with each other in a way that seems very real. In fact, I would consider Stackpole's character development to be very close to Martin's ability. Often times while reading DGW I found myself wishing I could jump into the book and beat the stuffing out of some character that was pissing me off, or perchance help out the hero and fix things that have gone wrong. This is what I consider to be good writing. Often times I read fantasy books and I find myself wishing I could beat the stuffing out of the author. So if you like fantasy and you have never heard of Michael Stackpole then you owe it to yourself to buy this book. And if you know about Stackpole and you have only read a couple of his books then make sure you read the rest of them! Which are my favorite of his? Ummm that's a hard question but would probably be a tie between Dark Glory War, Talion: Revenant, and Wolf & Raven. Stop wiping your butt with that Mercedes Lackey book and go buy a novel you won't be embarrassed about!
Rating:
Summary: An awesome read
Review: This is a wonderful book -- It takes the typical "boy becoming a warrior/hero" pattern and runs. Instead of focussing on one main character to the exclusion of all others, Stackpole has managed to develop several. Although, I was disappointed to find that only 2 of the 4 "main characters" mentioned on the back cover were actually main characters in the book. (Maybe this will be addressed in the series proper.) The writing in this book has that perfect balance of detail -- it reads quickly without making the reader wade through pages of detail about a castle but there is plenty of information provided so that the reader gets to know the characters and environment. Overall, the action/plot/characters were all great. I could barely put the book down and I can't wait to read the 1st book in the series proper. (And for those squeamish of cliff-hangers, this one wasn't too bad. The "story" presented in this book does feel mostly complete so I am definitely anxious for the next book but I don't feel cheated by this one.)
|
