Rating: 
Summary: WOW!!!
Review: "The Gilded Chain" was one of my Amazon.com recommendations. ... It was the first Dave Duncan book I've ever read, and I am very, very impressed. This book would make a spectacular animé, I think (and I don't even like animé!). "The Gilded Chain" just has this wonderful spirit about it that makes the images jump off the page. Mr. Duncan's characterization was wonderful as well. The characters were very well-rounded and REAL. The magic system--particularly the binding ceremony--was unlike any I have encountered before. Very original. I was also really surprised (and pleased) that rather than following Durendal's journey through the desert, a quick synopsis of his terrible trip was given. Most authors would have stuck the additional 150 pages in there as filler. Also, Mr. Duncan allows the story to tell itself, almost as if he was just the medium through which these legends were put on paper. His writing style is wonderful. The only thing I wish is that Mr. Duncan had provided for more of a demarcation between chapters featuring young Durendal and Roland--maybe title pages or headers listing the year, like Katherine Kerr does in her Deverry series. I got a little confused as the time periods jumped around. I've already bought and devoured "Lord of the Fire Lands" and I intend to continue the series. I heartily recommend this book to any fantasy lover.
Rating:
Summary: My first Dave Duncan book...
Review: but definitely not my last. I usually don't read Sci/Fi or Fantasy but I can say I do now. I really liked this book and this author. I liked the story and the characters. None of them were predictable at all. After finishing this book I wanted more and got Paragon Lost, Lord of the Fire Lands, which I just finished (didn't like either one as much as Gilded Chains) and am just starting Sky of Swords. I also ran out and read The Reluctant Swordsmen trilogy by Duncan and loved those too.
Rating:
Summary: Clearly good fantasy
Review: This book is lighter than Tolkein, Jordan, or Martin. Duncan has a straight forward style that is very intelligent. Duncan's stories have a lot of grab and come off well organized and believable. He will not bury you in detail. His plots flow quickly. I feel Duncan and RR Martin have waxed as other fantasy authors (Feist,Brooks,Jordan) have waned. Duncan has been on my "hit list" for many years now. Every Duncan book I have found (most of them) has been a good read. Some like this one, Man of his Word, and West of January stand out.
Rating:
Summary: great book
Review: Im not really a fantasy reader and being that I could not get through the first book in
Lord of The Rings without being bored, I was a bit skeptical on reading another
fantasy story. Let me say, this was one of the most exciting books Ive ever read. This
book is packed with adventure, mystery, magic, and horror. Well written and fast
paced. I cant say enough about this. Hopefully my interest in the series will continue
through the next three books, which Im glad seem to be totally different stories.
Rating: 
Summary: Musketeers on speed
Review: Fantasy books can be like beverages: you have your exquisitely aged wines (The Lord of the Rings, Mists of Avalon); your rich ports and liquors (the works of Guy Kay and Patricia McKillip); your searingly clear vodka (A Song of Ice and Fire); your boxed wines (The Wheel of Time, The Sword of Truth); and your panoply of Bud, Coors, Schlitz and so on. This novel, the first in Duncan's King's Blades series, is the Jolt Cola of the fantasy canon: for those who love page-turning, caffeine-burning, sword-and-sorcery sugar, this is one for you. The King's Blades are master swordsmen trained from youth in Ironhall. The senior trainee, when called upon by the king, endures a magical ritual in which a sword is driven through his heart by his ward. If the trainee survives, he becomes a bound blade, a bodyguard with magically enhanced strength, speed and stamina, one of the greatest swordsmen in the land: a musketeer on speed, whose first priority is always his ward's safety. The Gilded Chain chronicles the life of Durendal, perhaps the greatest of all Blades, from his beginning as the Ironhall Brat, through his fabled career as Blade, adventurer, captain of the guard, and so on. Duncan tells the story at breakneck speed with a minimum of commentary or description, spinning off a huge yarn of adventure and intrigue in a land reminiscent of 16-17th century England. (There is the minister of this and that, Parliament, the Exchequer, and so on; and with armor largely obsolete due to new conjurations, rapiers are the weapon of choice.) The overall feel certainly recalls Dumas's musketeers and the episodic French tales of Gargantua and Pantagruel and Candide. This is not to say that the writing itself is especially elegant or refined. Certainly there are better-written works rotting in the slush pile of every publishing house. It doesn't help that the first chapter after the prologue can only be understood hundreds of pages later or that women have almost no presence whatsoever (with the possible exception of Durendal's wife), except when they're mentioned in the running gag about how the Blades' superhuman stamina doesn't require them to sleep at night ... Fun, fast, furious, potentially addictive--The Gilded Chain is best obtained as a library loan. Unless you really love this kind of thing, there's no need to 'jolt' your wallet or reserve a special place in your cellar.
Rating:
Summary: AWESOME
Review: I have read EVERY Dave Duncan book and have not read one book of his that I haven't liked. Duncan's books are never the same and never formulaic. They all have intriguing stories that make you think. Dave Duncan is by far my favorite author. The Gilded Chain is the first book in an interesting, suspenseful, and surprising series.
Rating:
Summary: Bravo!
Review: An intriguing tale full of heroes, villains, and great sword-play. This may not be world-building on the scale of Martin or Jordan, but then again, who cares! It's a great fantasy novel that will keep you turning pages as fast as you can read them. Get it and read it; you won't be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best humanity has seen
Review: It has adventure, honor, mystery... It has everything.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing!!!!
Review: If you loved the works of Dumas or the Aurthurian myths,then make The Gilded Chain the next book you read. Full of adventure,magic and murder,there's never a dull moment.From the honorable Durrendai to the treacherous Kromman,all the characters inspire interest and exitment.
Rating: 
Summary: An interesting tale
Review: A terrific tale rich in detail! The story moves along well and there's a lot going on. I enjoyed this.
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