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

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Summary: Hail To The Queen, Baby!
Review: The Bakers Boy Trilogy renewed my interest in Fantasy. Not since the Hobit, have I read a fantasy novel that has held my attention as the Bakers Boy did. It is a stay up late and drag your but to work the next morning book! Thumb's up!

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Summary: One of the best books I have ever read
Review: This is a great book. I don't know what you guys who gave it a 1 were thinking. I recommend this book to everyone even if you aren't a big fan of fantasy.

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Summary: RUBBISH
Review: HAVE YOU ALL BEEN READING THE SAME BOOK THAT I DID. IMPOSSIBLE. IT MUST BE THE ONLY BOOK YOU'VE READ IN THIS GENRE. IT IS SO BAD IT'S ALMOST UNREAL.

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Summary: ABC to Fantasy Writing
Review: I picked this book up primarily because I wanted to see what the fuss was about and partly becuase I'm a sucker for glossy covers. Drawing on almost every fantasy cliche and with dialogue that a four year old would comprehend this is really fantasy writing at its worst. Since the late eighties we have seen a glut of new writers jumping on the fantasy bandwagon. Few, very few are any good. For a novice to the genre I suppose this would be a good starting point as it is easy reading, but my advice is to stick to Jordan, Goodkind or even better Guy Gavriel Kay. Throw this one in the bin along with Eddings and the rest of the no hopers

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Summary: A must read! Every fantasy lover's dream!
Review: J.V. Jones is a genius. The Book of Words trilogy is a thrilling, suspenseful, complicated masterpiece. Her characters range from evil gluttons to innocent children to drunken guardsmen. No one is unimportant. Every detail is imaginatively woven together in this kingdom-spanning tale which changes the fate of the world, and fulfills the prophecy of the ages. This is a must-read! I couldn't put it down. The only problem I had was waiting for the third book to come out. That was pure torture! Buy The Baker's Boy now, and tomorrow you'll be back for the other two, no question!

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Summary: Great entertainment!
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed Jones' trilogy, The Book of Words. The story line moves quickly, the characters are interesting (not too complex nor simple), and I found it hard to find a stopping point.

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Summary: Good book/series - ending is total crap
Review: Ok, where do I start... 98% of this series is 10-rated material. I think the reviews below summarize how I feel about how great this first book is. I wanted to warn everyone of the MAJOR letdown you will be receiving when you reach the ending of the 3rd book (and conclusion to the story). Quite simply, it is the worst ending to a series that I have ever read. This had the potential of being one of my favorite series' of all time. Can an ending really ruin a series that badly? In this case, it can. I felt extremely angry and cheated when I reached it. It is pure cheese, feels totally rushed, and does the entire series a great injustice. I have no problems with happy endings, but this goes overboard. There were also quite a few significant plotlines that were not properly concluded at the end of the series as well. In fact, one fairly major one received a one paragraph conclusion! I only had one other major complaint about the series: Mellie. At first she was an interesting character who I liked. By the third book, I got so sick of her whining and prissy attitude that I was hoping with every page that she'd finally get killed or worse. To sum it up, I find it hard to recommend this book because of the ending of the series. Other than that, it was wonderful. (although there are a few particular events that are so absurd that they just make me want to scream in agony!) So read it, love it, finish it, hate it.

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Summary: What crap! Is it a female thing?
Review: I am amazed. Obviously tons of people bought this book and the reviews I read are all good. I found the book dreadful. After a promising start it is all repitition! One of the main villains (the archbishop) receives a message, thinks about something really awful to do, sends his hired help to do it and then insults the helper. The creative effort is mostly in the new insult. This is a book for readers 10 to 14! The sex scenes are weird too. All the bad guys are pedophiles. The worst scene of the book is when the sentence "he saved her from rape and now she is in a dungeon so he can not really leave her" (or something like that) appears. Not only is the motivation questionable, but also the weltbild of the author is (in my eyes) a little off. I suffered through this book during a 9-hour flight (no choice) and then threw it out. I guess I am so angry because some ideas were really good, but something is seriously wrong here. The heroin behaves like a total idiot, but all male heroes love it! Strange. I wonder if this is a male / female thing. I would like to know if those good reviews came from predominantly female readers. Please advise.

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Summary: A exellent book-One of my favotites
Review: Julie Jones is a wonderful author. In the Baker's Boy, she has woven a web of great mystery and intrigue. She focuses not just on the plot lines themselves, but on character content and on making the characters "grow" emotionally. Jack, for instance, is widly afraid of his powers at the beginning of the novel. By the end, however, he seems to have at least come to terms with them and has accepted them. This book is one of my favorites, and the Book of Words is my favorite series. This is a wonderful book that no fantasy lover should miss!

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Summary: bakers boy cooks up a great tale
Review: I truly loved tyhe Baker's boy as well as the other two of jones' trilogy the book of words. the development of the evil Baralis kept me reading well into the night. Kylock's insanity drew me in and took hold of my mind's eye. Kudos to J.V. Jones