The Baker's Boy (The Book of Words, Book 1)

Rating:
Summary: Immortal Longings? For this book, yes!
Review: Author J. V. Jones proves her worth in this, the first of the Book of Words trilogy. Serious fantasy sporadically interrupted by comedic moments. Tolkein this is not, but fans across the world are finding true love with this series. Well-written characters amuse and engage the reader as often humorous plot twists keep the story fun and exciting. Jones has proven that she can write a compelling story that's a real page-turner. Young readers beware: this book contains some sexual content that may not be suitable for immature individuals.

Rating:
Summary: Good Book, But have to buy the trilogy
Review: The Book starts out strong.. the first book, the baker's boy is totally cool, it suprizes you,then you have to get the second.. that book is good too, but the third book, makes the series all too predictable.

Rating:
Summary: Pretty good really
Review: A good storyline with an intricate plot with a bit more realism that is usual in some author's work. A realism that appears to have upset some readers. But anyway the plot is generally familiar in this genre but the still has enough suprises to be a good read. Enjoyed the tales of the two soliders especially and wish that some of the other characterisation could have been as good instead of jumping quite so quickly between characters. Overall worth the cash.

Rating:
Summary: Can't wait
Review: Totally intrigued! Hero characters, hard to recognize at first, still not 100% sure (love it), are well written, given stregth and emotions, backgrounds you can feel. Little flat in some characters, can drag in some places, makes you want to jump ahead, don't. Two men at arms provide some comic relief and a few insights to going-ons (and women) that can't be missed. Many things are left open, thus the "can't wait", and some are unclear. Overall, a good, enjoyable read, especially if you are looking for something longer, that makes you want to get back to it.

Rating:
Summary: Leaves a bad taste
Review: This books starts off rather gripping in the first few pages, then degenerates into a horrible mess. The characters are dull and insipid. There's hardly any intersting facets to their characters. The basic plot is that a peasant boy who has a magical power is infatuated with a noble girl. Some villians. A knight on a quest. The characters are dull. The girl Mellisande needs to be shaken and possibly stirred with lots of honey to make her palatable for readers. Jack the Baker's boy in the story needs to be fleshed out more. Honestly, this book is really bad. The pacing of the story was really poor as well.One gets the feeling that violence and sex was added to titillate the reader to continue with the book and the series. Don't bother picking this up.

Rating:
Summary: Great New Author
Review: JV Jones is a great new author, the Book of Words is her first trilogy. She has constructed a detailed and tidy plot, which (unlike many in the fantasy genre notorious for multi-volumed epics) does not give the impression of being written on the hoof. The best part of her writing is her characterisation, all her characters have depth, but her baddies are particularly interesting; they positively revel in their own evil. Luckily, she appears to be a swift writer, I look forward to more from her. A great book with characters that are more than mere description.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Book
Review: This was one of the first fantasy books i've read and i loved it. The day i finished reading it i went to the library and checked out the next in the series. It kept me interested throughout the whole book and i never put it down. I am definitely planning on reading other novels by J.V. Jones. Feel free to e-mail me about this book or others you think i might be interested in.

Rating:
Summary: Forget it!
Review: Flat, boring, cartoon stereotyped characters - hackneyed plots - embarrassingly bad writing.

Rating:
Summary: Bad reviews are way off
Review: I have read all the reviews of this book and find the majority of the bad reviews to be way off base. Alot claim that sadism and rape abound in this book which they simply do not. I think you should go to your local library, check it out and decide if you like the style before you pay for it. I enjoyed it, I liked the characters and the political intrigue. Somethings little things bothered me but show me any author who can write a book that everyone loves thoroughly. I recommend that you give J.V. Jones a chance, read her Barbed Coil, and Cavern of Black Ice books and check out her website.

Rating:
Summary: I enjoyed it, but...
Review: This novel had a typical story, that of a common kitchen boy who discovers he has magical powers and reasons out that for everyone's good he must run away from home. A noble girl's escape from the castle coincides with his, and they flee together. Meanwhile, both an evil sorceror and the girl's father are sending out mercenaries and soldiers to find them, and far away a knight is sent out to find the boy and thus fulfill an ancient prophecy. This was a very fast paced book, never dwelling on a given character more than three or four pages before switching to the next POV. It doesn't spend huge amounts of time on every little detail like some other authors, yet somehow the story doesn't seem to progress that much over the 552 pages. Also, there is a large amount of rape and sadism, especially towards women, which surprised me, considering the author is herself a woman. This dissapointed me a little, because even though it is not a children's book, I know that many youngsters do pick up fantasy novels to read; I was among them. (Maybe there should be some kind of rating system for books like on computer games and movies and cds) However, there was no real strong language. I really don't have that much to say...to sum up, if you want a sex-riddled but fast paced and decently fun book, pick this one up. Don't be expecting large amounts of sword and sworcery though, as you won't find them. The characters are pretty believable, although they don't grow much.

P.S. -- I almost forgot about the archbishop! An excellent character. Always sampling some new and exotic food, torturing his servant with tedious tasks, and concocting new schemes and plots to get him ahead in the world. A wonderful character. Also look out for Bodger and Grift.