Rating: 
Summary: Better than you might think...but don't prejudge
Review: My kids are the ones who got me reading these books. I went in not expecting much and got about 1000 times more than I expected in my wildest dream. Why? It's a fun read, a very, very fun read. Other reviewers have been right on saying it has a lot of action, intrigue and mystery. WHAT DID I LIKE MOST? The characters are great! If you let them the people in this book will become your new best friends. I loved Vilmos! He's got a lot of spunk like my own children. Adrina, Emel and Seth are other strong characters. HOW IS THE PLOT? I enjoyed the book's plot twists. Don't let the straightforward, easy to read prose fool you. There's a lot going on in this story. IS IT TOLKIEN? I would liken the experience to Tolkien's The Hobbit more than Lord of the Rings. Its an epic quest with 3 bands of heroes who eventually come together to battle a great evil. As a first in a series, it's a strong start, and a good start on what may be a wonderful fantasy series for readers of all ages. IS IT THE STAR WARS OF FANTASY? My kids call it this, their friends do to. It has to do with the amount of action scenes and the good pacing. The book has plenty of battles and action for the patient reader. I like the fact that there are separate adult and children's versions. My sons have rarely finished books but they finished The Kingdoms & The Elves of the Reaches books 1 and 2 in a few days. DO I RECOMMEND THIS? Yes, very much so. But everyone has different tastes. If you don't like it your kids or someone else you know surely will. I also find it wonderful that this book is from a small press. The little guy gets squashed too often by big corporate publishers, so it is great to see the little guy get a leg up. Great to see a BIG book from a small press.
Rating:
Summary: Extraordinary author and book
Review: I am a huge fan of fantasy and have read dozens of books from many authors but after reading the same cliched plots time after time, I gave up on the genre for a long time--until I discovered Ruin Mist. I was immediately enchanted by the fantastic world and its characters. The world isn't filled with archectypical characters (ie boy wonders, missing heirs, heroes trudging off against a dark lord) and definitely doesn't follow the formulaic/cliched/overworked standard fantasy plotlines.
WHY READ RUIN MIST CHRONICLES: 1. THIS ISN'T YOUNG CHILD GROWS TO GOOD GUY BEATS DARK LORD AND MARRIES BEAUTIFUL PRINCESS. In the typical fantasy, that's what happens and all the good guys live while defeating hords of enemies. I may be exaggerating a bit BUT you get the idea. After reading this type of story over and over that plot cliche gets old. 2. YOU ARE TIRED OF HEROES WHO WALK ON WATER AND CAN'T DIE EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE IN CONSTANT DANGER. Hey in real life, heroes die and magic DOESN'T bring them back either. So why do all the heroes live forever? Heroes in real life have failings/bad habbits and so do Stanek's characters. 3. MYSTERY AND INTRIGUE. You are tired of the entrenched lines of good guys and bad guys with stupid villains. You are tired of ONE SIDED bad guys who are PURE EVIL. Life isn't that way, often the nicest people are the worst and the people who seem bad are really good. You want a bit of mystery in your fantasy and Robert Stanek definitely DELIVERS! 4. MULTIPLE VIEWPOINTS. Hey, what one person thinks is bad may be quite the contrary to another. So why shouldn't it be this way in fantasy? If characters have different backgrounds, religions and beliefs they may see good and evil in very different ways. Robert has even created an alternate reality for his alternate reality. 5. LEGENDS OF YORE. Why should the best characters be the ones that are in the here and now? Why can't some of the best characters be in the past? History and legends give the story texture and make it real and exciting! 6. PLOTS & LAYERS Books that end tidily with all plotlines carefully tidied up aren't very realistic, so why do most fantasy books end this way? Real life doesn't end when the fireman saves the child from the burning building--it only begins. RUIN MIST has many plots and subplots, and lots of layers that make it a wildly interesting place to visit. And best of all, you don't always get closure at the end of every book. Some stories are resolved. Some are evolving. 7. CHARACTERIZATION. No matter how rich the fantasy setting, its the characters that we ultimately fall in love with. But in most fantasies characters follow specific archetypes that are easy to read. It like there's this big dividing line between the good guys and the bad guys. Stanek's characters aren't like that, they're gritty, deep, dark and we learn many different things that help us see characters in new/different light. 8. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. I could go on and on but in the end, you'll have to make the decision. I believe it is worthwhile.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent start to the series
Review: This is easily some of the best fantasy in many years. Keeper Martin's Tale is a very well written, and a fabulous opening book. This is actually very original, something that makes it especially compelling considering how many humdrum fantasy epics out there right now. The first book, Keeper Martin's Tale, and third book, Kingdom Alliance, are very strong. The second is a bit weak becaus its not a true continaution more like the Alias episode from last week when you see the other side of events as well as Vaugn and Sidney's account of events. Plus the series just keeps getting better and better. The many great subplots and twists will take you by surprise. A lot of things don't grab you until a second reading when you can piece everything together. Without giving away too mich it isn't gritty but it is very realistic. Characters don't always survive, events don't always happen the way you expect, many twists are complet surprises. Every aspect of this wonderful novel is carefully drawn by the author. I would recommend it as great read. It is very fresh and new.
Rating:
Summary: The BEST new fantasy series I've found
Review: I read "Keeper Martin's Tale" before I had read anything else of Robert Staneks. I have never read "Magic Lands" or any of the others. However, I really thought these books were amazing. I really love the theme, and could happily read a dozen books based on it. The best bits were the characters, and I kept wishing we would see more of the world. I highly recomend this to anyone who likes fantasy or a good book. Undeniably, these novels are some of the best works of fiction written since a certain Rowling wrote about Harry Potter. Robert Stanek's Ruin Mist books are epic fantasy and we, the reader, have never been privileged to reading books in this style before, or have read anything remotely similar to it, before. It is an extremely well-developed work of fiction following from his masterful other novels. These are easily Stanek's best work, and his protagonists are so real that one can actually visualize what type of person they'd be in reality, what category they'd fall in: in brief, their certainly not the stereotypic, so-called "heroes". Stanek writes in clear, concise prose, the pace is fast and he turns some highly memorable scenese. He writes novels which feature unencountered motifs; novels which are hugely original, and often controversial. His books are masterful and well plotted.
All characters Stanek breathes life into are flesh and blood, true people. On their expansive journeys, Vilmos/Xith, Adrina/Emel, Seth/Galan will encounter bizarre beasts, strange peoples and the destinies that awaits them. These are the best novels in years; engrossing, original, unforgettable. They draw the reader into an otherworld of wonder. Unmistakably, these are must reads.
Rating:
Summary: Spellbinding! Enchanting! Fantastic!
Review: Robert Stanek knows how to deepen the plots and create an amazing world. I can't say it was the best book I ever read, but it is certainly one of the top 10. The really good news is that this is just the beginning. This book sets the stage for everything that is coming in Keeper Martin's Tale Part II: Kingdom Alliance. My friends and I have been reading and reading this. I'm on my eighth or nineth reading. The realness of the characters is amazing, once I start this book I can't put it down. I definatly recommend this. Robert Stanek has created a believable fantasy world with just the right amount of detail. The peoples of each nation have their own unique look at the world. The characters all have different personality. If you enjoy fantasy stories you will almost certainly enjoy the RMC. I certainly I wish I could be there along with Vilmos and Xith as they fight Wolmerelle or with Emel and Adrina as they discover the secret of Alderan.
Rating:
Summary: Two thumbs up!!!
Review: I met Robert Stanek at a book signing, amazed by two things: the crowd and the books. I couldn't believe the number of people that turned out and was surprised to see how many signed editions sold in a single afternoon. After talking with Robert for over an hour, I went home and started reading Keeper Martin's Tale. I finished it the next day and sent Robert an email with my first impression. "It wasn't good. Essentially I hated the story; it doesn't compare to J.R.R. Tolkien, Isaac Asimov or some of the other all time great sci-fi writers I had in mind." Robert wrote back: "Good, print that. It's not supposed to." That got me thinking. I went back and read the book a second time. My second reading, less judgmental and more focused, was a very different experience. I must admit that I did enjoy the story when I wasn't trying to judge or compare it to some predetermined notion. I now understand the line and why genuine fans were so excited. Read it to whittle away the hours on a lazy afternoon. Come to think of it, that's why I originally read Tolkien and Asimov and it was only in later years that I started looking for deeper meaning and cosmic revelations. I think Robert may have tapped into something very special. I recommend this warmly. As to the story, I say Robert's world can be brilliant and magical but you must be willing to believe. "Open your eyes and be willing to believe," that's what Robert said once during the interview. I guess I do now, but I also understand where the book's critics are coming from. The characters are ultimately more memorable and likeable than Robert's world of Ruin Mist. It's not that I couldn't imagine visiting, rather it's that I could and still preferred the characters. Vilmos, Xith, Emel, and Adrina are interesting and likeable. They have backgrounds that fit well with the history of the world Robert creates. Now the elves, I'm not so sure about. Maybe we weren't supposed to understand them as well, or maybe we're discovering them as much as they're discovering the world around them. As to plot, I say Robert uses situations more than plot. Underneath it all, the plot is okay but the situations Robert places the characters in, now that's something else entirely. Through the intertwined stories, we are seeing the transformation of an entire world: a great shadow of darkness is coming to the land. The central characters surely have a great part in this, perhaps to stop it, or perhaps to shift it in some other direction. Robert does have good pacing to move the plot along. In the end, while I do believe Keeper Martin's Tale has wide appeal, I'm not sure that this is a story for everyone. I do, however, believe that you won't know until you try.
Rating:
Summary: What's not to like?
Review: I loved this! Keeper Martin's Tale is a strong start to what looks to be a spectacular series. Stanek breaths life into Ruin Mist and its inhabitants. You'll find loveable characters, strong plot, action intrigue, mystery and magic. You feel everything the characters do. I often found myself worrying about whether they're making the right choices and I love them deeply despite their very real flaws. I cared for Vilmos, Adrina and their friends from the start. I felt horrible for Adrina's predicament, terrible when Vilmos succumbs to darkness and sad for Seth and the elves. The book starts with the story of Adrina from Great Kingdom, telling of a great change coming to her dying land. Her story is intertwined with the story of Vilmos and the elves. Stanek's creature creations are wonderful--the stuff of dreams and nightmares. I loved the wolmerrelles in this book and Edward the troant in Elf Queen's Quest. The book flows well and the writing is solid. Stanek manages to take an innovative fantasy setting and gives new twists to a genre that can become tedious. I recommend this book to anyone who loves fantasy or anyone who just loves a good story. Elf Queen is just as good, if not better than the first. Stanek's book is like the perfect marriage of Tolkien's Rings and Rowlings Potter. You get a simple story with lots of complexities, deep if you want to go there, but you don't have to you can just read to have a rip-roarign good time. You get a fun, creative, inventive, thoughtful setting that's as fun to visit as Hogwarts and as magical as Middle Earth. You get characters that you think about long after you finish the book. This is firstclass entertainment. I highly recommend this book and any of Stanek's others. I just bought his Magic Lands and Others!
Rating: 
Summary: A Remarkable Lack of Depth
Review: It is difficult to find something positive to say about this book: one hates to discourage a self-published author, but the bland plot line, lack of depth, and total disregard for English punctuation and grammar make it difficult to do otherwise. Well-known publishers with high standards offer so many exciting, imaginative series - why settle for less?
Rating:
Summary: Great, Great, Great
Review: Well, when i read Keeper Martin's Tale, I was very impressed with it. As for Kingdom Alliance the true sequel I was completely engulfed in the story. My school work sure didn't get done while I had that book near me. Although I have read some very good books, Ruin Mist Chronicles is NUMBER ONE all the way. I am reading them for the third time, and i am enjoying it even more than before. I love all the characters, from faithful Emel to mysterious Xith, to the strange and bad Erravane. The books are unpredictable with readers holding our breaths turningthe pages.
Rating:
Summary: Extraordinary book
Review: Once I began this extraordinary book, I could not put it down. Keeper Martin's Tale is so much more than a gripping fantasy. Robert Stanek takes us beyond the main plot and leads us on a quest of self-discovery. Mr. Stanek introduces us to characters we love and lets them grow and mature before our eyes all the while discovering a new world around them at the same time we are discovering it. The book has a central mystery, or mysteries, they take us through Great Kingdom, the Reaches and far back in time and to other darker realms of Under Earth. We learn about the secret of magic and the return of legendary figure of the past, the change coming to their world. Of course, we also learn how and why the various characters who start out by themselves are all being drawn together. If there are flaws in the plot, I was too busy flipping pages to discover any. That is probably the sign of a terrific book! The writing is excellent and the characters are terrific. Read it and enjoy!
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