Rating: 
Summary: A Thrilling Non-stop Series
Review: J.V. Jones has created a wonderful series around a wide variety of characters. All are three-dimensional, there are no stereotypes. She also keeps you moving between them to prevent boredom with one and dying curiousity about another. The action, intrigue, and possibilities holds you until the very end. I think this is a fantastic novel and I applaud her
Rating:
Summary: An excellent fantasy adventure!
Review: The Baker's Boy is an intricate novel with as many twists and turns as Castle Harvel itself! J. V. Jones has written a fast paced tale of excitement and adventure. Her unique style of melding multiple plot lines together makes it terribly difficult to put The Baker's Boy down. I finished reading it in less than two days, and had to immediately go and buy A Man Betrayed
Rating:
Summary: A great fantasy novel, highly recommended. . .
Review: J. V. Jones has created a large colorful world with many interesting characters and lots going on. She presents a plethora of carefully described characters. From the lowly Grift and Bodger with thier odd outlooks on life, to the gluttonous Archbishop of Rorn, this book has every kind of character that can be imagined. Aside from the characters, there is always something going on too. There are plots within plots, and action galore. Not only that, but there is a propheshy mentioned in the story that fortells more action to come. The only problem that this story does have, is it's organization. The author only spends two or three pages on a character before jumping to another. Mrs. Jones needs to spend an entire chapter with one or two characters instead of cramming all the character's seperate story lines into one chapter. This is the only reason I didn't give the novel a ten
Rating: 
Summary: Imaginetive, This book pulls you into the hero's world
Review: The emotions of the heros' and the plotting of the villans makes this book one of the most spell-binding book since "The Lord of the Rings".
Full of action, regret, love, and hate, J.V.Jones is soon to be (if not already) one of the best writers of fantasy today. If you haven't read it yet, pick it up today and
do so!
Rating:
Summary: Good story, good characters, but irritating writing style
Review: The author's writing style detracts from an otherwise excellent effort. Well designed
characters and an interesting story suffer as the author skips from character to character, spending no more than two or three pages before jumping to another character. The book, obviously one of a series, needs a resolution of its own.
Rating:
Summary: Wow !
Review: New author, Jones has created a deep, intricate plot that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Being the first book in the Book of Words trilogy, The Baker's Boy introduces a suspensful storyline along with unforgettable characters. Jack, a baker's boy, finds out that he has the dreaded power of sorcery. Meanwhile, Melli, daughter of Lord Maybor, is about to be married to evil Prince Kylock against her wishes. Jack and Melli, both deciding to run away from the castle, meet each other during their journey. And so, the fufillment of Marod's prophecy begins.
I recommend this book to anyone looking for a great adventure, a thickening plot, and unforgettable reading experience
Rating:
Summary: GRIPPING EPIC FANTASY
Review: BAKER'S BOY IS A START OF A GREAT SERIES. JONES CREATES
A GRITTY MEDIEVAL WORLD OF MAGIC, PROPHECY AND SINISTER
INTRIGUE. JONES CREATES SOME THE MOST MEMORABLE VILLIANS
IN RECENT FICTION. JONES IS NOT AFRAID OF SHOWING VIOLENCE
AND HER SCENES SHOW IT.
Rating: 
Summary: Didn't live up to the hype...
Review: Okay, so if you were snooping around in the fantasy circles circa 1995, you are indubitably aware that this trilogy generated an enormous buzz. That in itself was surprising, since The Baker's Boy was Mrs. Jones' very first novel. In addition, it was published by Aspect (Warner Books), an imprint not particularly renowned for publishing bestsellers.In any event, to a certain extent taking the market by storm, the series was an instant success. The three volumes were all national bestsellers, which is quite unusual. They all topped the Locus Bestseller List. Okay, so it's not the New York Times, but it is still quite an accomplishment for a new author. Like a lot of people, I bought the books when they came out. Unlike many, I didn't read them yet. The hype was too strong, and I didn't want it to influence me when I read the series. Of course, I didn't really expect to wait nearly 9 years before reading them, either! For some reason, even though Mrs. Jones wrote 3 more novels since the publication of Master and Fool, she never did create waves the way The Book of Words trilogy initially did. Now was the time for me to see what the buzz had been about. . . As is usually the case, the series did not live up to the expectations the buzz had created within me. Hence, I'm happy to have waited before reading the novels. Otherwise, I would probably have been VERY disappointed by this series. With the enormous number of books I've read over the years, I'm afraid that I have become definitely hard to please. . . But although the trilogy suffers from several shortcomings, in all objectivity I must admit that it is still a relatively good read. My main problem with the series is the fact that it appears to be aimed at a younger crowd. In my mind, it seems to be aimed at readers who are under 18. Being 30 (yes, I AM getting old!), I couldn't quite get into it. But I am persuaded that if I had read the series when I was 16 years of age, I would probably have loved it. There is a certain innocence inherent to the characters and their views of love, honor, obligation, etc, that makes the whole thing not ring true to my "adult" perspective. The biggest shortcoming of the series, however, is the fact that the characters are far from being three-dimensional. As a matter of fact, they are not "real." The author fell into a popular trap, namely creating "cliché" characters: the innocent boy with immense potential, the beautiful and spoiled young woman who turns out to be stronger and more courageous than she believed herself to be, the evil mage, the power-hungry prince, etc. And some characters are just caricatures, case in point being the Archbishop Tavalisk. And yet, having said that about the characters, they are still a likeable bunch. Which, in the end, helps you enjoy the books. Several plotlines had a lot of potential (the knights of Valdis, the Seers of Larn, Jake's parentage, etc), but they were not exploited to their fullest. Had they been, this series would have been much better. Mrs. Jones took the easy road instead. . . In light of all this, I have to admit that I nevertheless like J. V. Jones' writing style. She has a witty way to write, which I truly enjoyed. I think that she must challenge herself a little more with her storylines, and explore a bit more those concepts that she creates. It would certainly give ner novels more depth, which in turn would make them more enjoyable. I believe that J. V. Jones shows great promise and could be a bright voice in the fantasy genre. Hopefully her other novels will show just how much potential she truly possesses. . .:-) Check out my blog: www.fantasyhotlist.blogspot.com
Rating:
Summary: A semi-convert
Review: More like 3.5/3.75 stars. I really really loathed this book when I started it & was resentful of having to shell out the dough to obtain the other two installments of the book. However, in retrospect, the images & incidents in this series stayed with me. The Seers of Larn linger in one's imagination. And it strikes you later how complex the political system is which Jones created. It is not the best written, nor does it have the most complicated characters in the history of fantasy, but if you are a fantasy fan, then it is certainly worth your time to see some of Jones' intriguing devices & ideas.
Rating:
Summary: great, except for the ending
Review: J.V. Jones knows how to give the character's depth, which was shown quite well in The Baker's Boy. I was able to relate to and enjoy some of the characters, thus allowing me to feel their pain, sorrow, happiness, and every other emotion expressed.
Jack is an apprentice to a baker. He has grown up with little knowledge of his parents, and is treated, by the people he works with, with disdain. His journey does not begin until he turns back time, catching the eye of an evil sorcerer, Baralis.
Tawl is a knight with a distressing past. He has obtained two of the three circles needed to become a full Knight of Valdis. The two are tatooed on his arm with an interesting mark through them. To obtain the third circle, he is sent to a wise man who needs to find a boy, an unusual boy.
Melli is the daughter of the richest noble in the Four Kingdoms and has been arranged to marry Prince Kylock of the Four Kingdoms. Although, there is something about him that she does not like and decides to run away.
Melli and Jack meet up once they have both run away and become two extremely close friends through all of their trials and tribulations. J.V. Jones writes from all perspectives, both good and bad, so you are allowed some insight into the evil sorcerer's mind, along with Tawl's, Jack's, and Melli's.
The only problem I found with the book was that there was no ending. The book felt like it just stopped without any big bang and some hint towards the future. I probably wouldn't have read this book if it wasn't for the fact that the other two in the series were so highly praised. So, if you can get through this one then you will be pleasantly suprised with the next two.
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