Rating: 
Summary: Awful
Review: I couldn't stand it. I put this book on my wish list because of recommendations here, and I honestly cannot understand why anyone would like it. I'm not the kind of guy who needs everything spelled out for me, in fact I love that aura of mystery when plots and characters are revealed slowly, but Stanek's attempt to create such an aura seems to involve simply omitting context and detail at random. It's like trying to hear someone on a really bad phone connection. The characters are painfully one-dimensional, the plot is hopelessly derivative...I could go on, but why bother?(...)
Rating: 
Summary: Great from start to finish
Review: Smart story that kept me engaged from start to finish. Excellent book! Its a wonderful, moving, entrancing book that I was unable to put down- easily the best book I've read in the last year. The story is totally engaging and I have yet to stop talking about this book and raving about it to friends. Equal to anything George R.R. Martin, Terry Brooks, or Robert Jordan have written and, in some ways better. If you're a fantasy lover who's never read Robert Stanek before or a non-fantasy reader who thinks fantasy books are too unrealistic do yourself a solid and read "Keeper Martin's Tale" and its sequal "Kingdom Alliance" right now. Really, it's that much fun. I liked the way character's past have a way of coming back to haunt, and the many emotionally devastating consequences. Adrina's past sometimes leads her to make mistakes but ultimately helps her see the light. Vilmos is another who trials (or more aptly mistrials) with magic haunt his waking days. Everyone and everything has depth. I'd recommend buying this book. I give it 5 stars.
Rating:
Summary: It felt like I was there
Review: I started reading this on a crowded bus. Not the ideal setting for getting into a new fantasy novel, you might say. And I have to admit that at first, I found it hard to get into. But Stanek is so good at painting the picture of the kingdoms, and the reaches without using long descriptions, that once you DO get into it (which took me all of two chapters) you cant put it down. The characters are all so real, and Stanek has paid attention to every detail of the world he created. The history is meticulously worked out, and I got to the point where I not only Could imagine myself there, but I wanted to be there! It keeps you reading largely in the way that it jumped form character to character and you wanted to know what was going on with the character you just left! When Stanek does this, his writing style changed to suit the character he was telling the story through. To begin with, I Thought this was very effective but takes some getting used to. It may be just me, but I can safely say that at no point was the plot predictable. Every twist and turn made perfect sense, yet I didnt see it coming. It has Great Characters like Emel, who Id love to have as a friend or something. Adrina, one of the main character, is created perfectly. You get to know her so well thoroughout the book, and you even get angry at her sometimes. It is really hard to say much about this book, because there are so many twists that to say anything about the plot would be to give something away. I am half way through Kingdom Alliance at the moment, and that is equally brilliant. The Best part is that there is so much truth in what Stanek writes. The whole series is a must for any fantasy fan or newbie!
Rating:
Summary: #1 in Ruin Mist Chronicles
Review: Any author's first book needs to be better than good. This is terrific! One of the best fantasy books I've read and right up there with the best of Robert Jordan, Terry Goodkind and Terry Brooks. As other reviewers have already stated, this book grips you right from the beginning. The characters are extremely well drawn and really manage to make you care about what happens to them. Stanek has the easy to read style of a truely great story-teller. I for one can't wait to read the third one! I've already ordered it!
Rating:
Summary: A GREAT new series
Review: I was reluctant to buy this book because I had never read anything by the author before but as the saying goes, "You've got to start somewhere." This book kept me reading for hours on end. I would read one hundred pages or more at a time and still have a really hard time putting it down. Stanek has intricately woven his characters and their stories into a fascinating epic. It has layers upon layers of story and plot. Unlike Robert Jordan, he doesn't leave tons of loose ends flapping and his world represented in the text is very believable. Seldom have I read such a great book! My only complaint is that I will have to wait for the fourth and following books in the series to be completed but the good is that the next books are even better than this one.
Rating:
Summary: Slow start to great series
Review: It is a great book and worth it. This book starts one of the greatest series I have ever read. It is very inteligently written and thought out. Robert Stanek gives readers a very highly complex fantasy realm that most writers do not, or cannot give. Keeper Martin's Tale sets the ground floor for one of the GREATEST ever fantasy series. It by far surpasses that of many other contemporary fantasy writers.
Rating:
Summary: Magical and Enchanting
Review: This book was recommended to me by a work coleague of mine,and i thank her everyday for recommending it! It is undeniably one of my favourites! I never thought I could enjoy any fantasy as much as I enjoyed the Hobbit and the Lord of the rings, but I was wrong. Although it is a lot different it takes you to a magical place and you lose yourself there and cannot put the book down. When you finally have to because you can not spend the whole day or night reading it you can't wait to get back to it. It is filled with action, you feel characters fear, desire, pain. You wish you were there with them. Vilmos, Galan, Seth, Adrina, Emel are the main characters, learning about the world around them. Anyone who likes fantasy should read this.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome
Review: Keeper Martin's Tale is fresh, new, and exciting. It contains many classic element and adds its own unique twist. A new world is being opened up and explored and I am thrilled to read this again and again. I HIGHLY recommend Keeper Martin's Tale to nyone who enjoys fantasy.
Rating:
Summary: Copycat Kingdom
Review: Before you read the book, turn it to its backside where you'll find the (ficticious) comment (by whom???) "probably one of the best writers in the world": this sets the pace for this abominable book quite right. (...) Not ONE original thought, character or line of action in there. The further you read the more annoyed you feel by the guy's chuzpa to just repeat the above mentionned author's books content: haughty blahblah (where Jordan takes his time to reasonably develop a personality Stanek just just brags and pretends), ridiciulous names for places and characters (e.g. one of the male Aes Sedai dying somewhere in the book is called Everrelle and some kind of monster creature is named Wormerrelle... like it was a cuddly kind of toy). And on and on like this. Pretense, copying, faking, make-believe - you name it. Just nothing worth a penny in this guy's writing. Better stick with the original stuff!magining it but I have been staring at the cover for awhile. The credits say that Robert designed the cover as well which I found pretty incredible. Out of all the places in the book the Great Kingdom is my favorite to visit. I love when Adrina daydreams and you get swept away with her thoughts of far off places. The travel through the bottom of the world swamps gave me goosebumps. I also liked the trek through Vangar forest. Robert's world is richly imagined beyond a doubt. For characters I really identified with Vilmos the most. His character is deep and he is very likeable. I enjoyed his travels with Xith. The story of Emel and Adrina is also excellent. Adrina has a lot of pain and she's very real in my mind. I liked the part where she's standing atop the walls staring out at the city. I could see the wind blowing her hair in my mind. The elves and elven society as Robert envisions it is also terribly interesting. This whole brotherhood that is introduced is very deep and I can't wait to read the next books to learn more. The plot is also well done. The twists and turns are unexpected and you certainly can't say this is your standard fantasy. I enjoyed how this all came together especially when I started putting the pieces together.
Rating: 
Summary: The bad about a (mostly) good book
Review: As others have noted, Stanek's work is fairly original but not completely so. Unlike Brooks and Jordan, he doesn't attemtp to imitate Tolkien. The book has powerful moments, such as Adrina's encounter with the lady of the forest, Vilmos' encounters in under-earth, The escape from the wolmerelle and others. But these are moments and only fleeting moments. There are many odd clues under the surface to the deeper story but these only show up on a second reading. I praise Stanek for being able to plant these in such a way that they aren't readily apparent at first but can be picked up in later readers, yet condemn him for making it so damn difficult. I appreciate that if you're a speedreader and/or someone who likes to skim, you will miss out because of the economy of words. Sparse details make the story move and give it life and rapid pace. Unlike many other authors, Stanek doesn't repeat or use repetitious events. Some of the story though is lackluster and for those who have said this work is up there with Tolkien's masterwork Lord of the Rings, I can only be appalled at their stupidity... Detail, foreshadowing and original plot are the good. I enjoyed also the hints about other characters and things to come. The book will almost certainly have appeal to fans of George RR Martin, but I for one am not a fan of Stanek or Martin. Fantasy needs rules. I would rather read a story that is similar to others and follows standard fantasy plot lines. I read fantasy to be enchanted, to know for certain the good guys will win. In short, this is for the less sophisticated, the less critical, th less discerning fantasy reader. Read this if you want a change of pace or need something different. If you are looking to be swept away by a great quest for glory or classic, epic battles of good vs evil, look elsewhere. It will seem overly long and not worth the effort. I liked Adrina's determination, the sadness of her spirit, Vilmos's innocence, eagerness, and growing fascination with magic despite the consequences. But many of the other characters didn't impress me much. Even Emel, after his initial dramatic moments, comes off dryly and Xith just appears to be an irritation. Why can't he just tell Vilmos what is happnening and get on with it? The ending is good as far as drama and battle, but a battle is not the *war* that was hinted of. The book is weak on villains. Just who exactly are the villians? Sure we hear about King Jarome but why don't we see him? We hear about the coming darkness, the change that is taking place. We see some of it but there is a lot that is left gray, not explained at least not to my satisfaction. I had way too many questions and wanted to know so much more than was given. A loath gray characters. I want clear cut good and evil. Tolkien handles this enormously well. You know who is evil and who is good from the start. You know everyone's alignment and where they all stand, for the most part. Tolkien's heroes act like heroes and show they're worthy of being heroes. Stanek's do not.
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