Rating: 
Summary: Too Much Padding!
Review: The first book of this series, The Sky Stone, was original, well constructed, with amazingly clear detail on life in 5th century Britian. The main characters were well drawn and each, the heroes and the villans, held my interest. The second book, The Singing Sword, was almost as good but there was a little padding going on. The Eagles Brood, the third of the series is a wonderful 300 page book - padded into a 600 page book. The story line follows the previous books, but it is too much of a good thing. The details of life during that time were well and exhustingly explained in the first two books. We don't need the detail all over again. The book is over populated with insidental characters that are presented as major figures who then are quickly killed off or just left out of the ensueing narrative. Minor characters, with important messages, just seem to pop up here and there in order to pull the stoey line back on track and help move it along. Frankly, towards the end of this book I was just waiting for it to end. Enough is enough!
Rating: 
Summary: Britain descends into chaos!
Review: The Romans have withdrawn from Britain. Without their law and their trading network, towns crumble, and people war on their neighbors just to stay alive. Through this difficult time, Merlyn and his cousin Uther reach maturity, as defenders of Camulod and as leaders of their people. Uther eventually loses sight of what's best for Camulod, and loses most of his men in one massacre after another. Meanwhile, Merlyn recovers his memory after having had amnesia for two years, and discovers that the common people now regard Uther as little more than another villain. Merlyn tracks Uther down, only to find he and Ygraine are dead, and he senses their child Arthur will become the great unifying leader his people need. During the book, an interesting means is found to have King Vortigern of Northumbria relate his rationale for inviting Saxons to defend his holdings, a fact which will doubtless lead to difficulties in the next volume. The author also creates a couple of ! ! the most uniquely drawn and oily villians I have ever encountered...their specialty is assasination, and their skills are simply amazing. On the minus side, I found some of the coincidences a bit of a stretch (Lady Ygraine turns out to be the sister of a man Merlyn has taken captive, who turns out to be the brother of the mute girl Merlyn has married, and they are all the children of the High King of Ireland, etc.) There are also a couple of continuity lapses, but they don't affect the storyline. In general, a thumbs up on another volume in a very entertaining series!
Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful read - couldn't put it down!
Review: There is one horrifying thing about this book - that is the year or so we'll probably have to wait for the fourth (and final?) volume of the cycle. "Eagles' Brood" brings the whole Arthurian legend to light, filling in the gaps, providing fascinating details and characters you can't help but care about. Added to the mix are compelling sub-plots on theological struggles in the early Christian church, innovations in weaponry and warfare, and life in a self-contained community. I have loved the whole series so far, and highly recommend it (and as a personal note the the Author... PLEASE, write more, and soon!)
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful read - couldn't put it down!
Review: There is one horrifying thing about this book - that is the year or so we'll probably have to wait for the fourth (and final?) volume of the cycle. "Eagles' Brood" brings the whole Arthurian legend to light, filling in the gaps, providing fascinating details and characters you can't help but care about. Added to the mix are compelling sub-plots on theological struggles in the early Christian church, innovations in weaponry and warfare, and life in a self-contained community. I have loved the whole series so far, and highly recommend it (and as a personal note the the Author... PLEASE, write more, and soon!)
Rating:
Summary: interesting ties
Review: This book (#3) in the series is a good tie in from the Roman occupation of Britian and the establishment of all characters that lead the factions to gain control of it. The fictional story examines the origins of Camelot, Merlyn and eventually Arthur. It does it with a realism without magic and sorcery that makes the story possible. A very good series and a good book.
Rating:
Summary: Mary Stewart didn't need pronography: Why does Jack Whyte?
Review: This book is enjoyable for the same reason that Mary Stewart's _Crystal Cave_ was. It presents Merlin as a real person, not a shadowy magician, and explores an estimation of the _real_ environment of King Arthur's world from Merlin's perspective. The first person narrative copies Stewart's approach, and works as well. Impressive historical setting and the rich description of late Roman Britain gives the story a depth not often found in the fantasy genre. The detailed ironmongery and militarist/feudal bent of the era are well captured, though a sense of how an agrarian economy supported all of these horsemen and warriors is missing. The book's major shortcoming is the pornographic detail of some wenching scenes. It is one thing to explain how carnal appetites were approached with both pre-Christian casualness and great gusto by young Brito-Roman aristocrats-- it is entirely unnecessary to the story to go into genital approach angles and a detailed accounting of who was licking whom. In contrast, a very tender erotic scene was drawn where Merlin and Cassandra first become intimate, and it was done without using pornographic detail. Perhaps by using the extreme contrast Whyte was illustrating with heavy quill the difference between lust and love. And there was a bit of psychobabble thrown in where Merlin goes into a four page digression that amounts to measuring manhood, literally, with Uther. Again, a far too heavy handed, and basically unnecessary tool for showing the differences in temperament between Uther and Merlin. Those weaknesses aside, the story is very readable, though only suitable for adult readers, due to the adult content of about fifteen pages of material. Better editing and less graphic language woud have made this a four or five star book. Of course, I will contiue enjoying the series, because old Britain fairly jumps off of the page and into my living room when I read it.
Rating:
Summary: Mary Stewart didn't need pronography: Why does Jack Whyte?
Review: This book is enjoyable for the same reason that Mary Stewart's _Crystal Cave_ was. It presents Merlin as a real person, not a shadowy magician, and explores an estimation of the _real_ environment of King Arthur's world from Merlin's perspective. The first person narrative copies Stewart's approach, and works as well. Impressive historical setting and the rich description of late Roman Britain gives the story a depth not often found in the fantasy genre. The detailed ironmongery and militarist/feudal bent of the era are well captured, though a sense of how an agrarian economy supported all of these horsemen and warriors is missing. The book's major shortcoming is the pornographic detail of some wenching scenes. It is one thing to explain how carnal appetites were approached with both pre-Christian casualness and great gusto by young Brito-Roman aristocrats-- it is entirely unnecessary to the story to go into genital approach angles and a detailed accounting of who was licking whom. In contrast, a very tender erotic scene was drawn where Merlin and Cassandra first become intimate, and it was done without using pornographic detail. Perhaps by using the extreme contrast Whyte was illustrating with heavy quill the difference between lust and love. And there was a bit of psychobabble thrown in where Merlin goes into a four page digression that amounts to measuring manhood, literally, with Uther. Again, a far too heavy handed, and basically unnecessary tool for showing the differences in temperament between Uther and Merlin. Those weaknesses aside, the story is very readable, though only suitable for adult readers, due to the adult content of about fifteen pages of material. Better editing and less graphic language woud have made this a four or five star book. Of course, I will contiue enjoying the series, because old Britain fairly jumps off of the page and into my living room when I read it.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic Arthurian Legend
Review: This is a very interesting mix of historical facts and legend. Both combined fire the imagination. You follow Britain emerging from the ruins of the Roman Empire to find a unique identity. Characters that we are familiar with gain a depth before unknown. Jack Whyte is a superb writer that creates a world that very well could have been 1500 years ago. And you feel like you are there! Another fine addition to the Camulod Chronicles.
Rating:
Summary: Continuing an excellent series
Review: This is the third volume of a superb series about the life and times of King Arthur from a historical perspective. Whyte's narration and writing style continue to be excellent. Was this the way things really happened? Did Merlyn (using Whyte's spelling) and Uther actually exist, and really live their lives as Whyte describes? We'll probably never know for sure, but Whyte certainly made me believe they could have. All of his characters are three-dimensional, flesh-and-blood people - and though I know how the story had to turn out (this is, after all, the story of Arthur), there were quite a few moments in this volume that took my breath away. At some points I honestly believed that Whyte was going to play some kind of dirty trick on me and veer off into an alternate universe. Along the way Whyte gives us several lessons in history and the religion of the time. I'm not enough of a scholar to know whether or not a debate such as the one he describes actually took place, but I certainly believed in his description of it. And he presents both sides of several religious arguments in a way such that any layman could understand them, without his (Whyte's) obviously taking one side or the other. My only complaint with this particular entry in the series is that Whyte doesn't really dig into the life, history, or personality of Lot of Cornwall. What little description he does give makes Lot out to be evil personified, but I really would have liked to learn more about what made this man tick. Unlike the first two, there is a little bit of "magic" in this volume, if you can call dreams magic. It seems that Whyte's Merlyn has a bit of precognition - his dreams accurately predict several events in the story. But there is no overt magic - nobody turns into a newt or anything else. I'm eagerly looking forward to volume four.
Rating:
Summary: Continuing an excellent series
Review: This is the third volume of a superb series about the life and times of King Arthur from a historical perspective. Whyte's narration and writing style continue to be excellent. Was this the way things really happened? Did Merlyn (using Whyte's spelling) and Uther actually exist, and really live their lives as Whyte describes? We'll probably never know for sure, but Whyte certainly made me believe they could have. All of his characters are three-dimensional, flesh-and-blood people - and though I know how the story had to turn out (this is, after all, the story of Arthur), there were quite a few moments in this volume that took my breath away. At some points I honestly believed that Whyte was going to play some kind of dirty trick on me and veer off into an alternate universe. Along the way Whyte gives us several lessons in history and the religion of the time. I'm not enough of a scholar to know whether or not a debate such as the one he describes actually took place, but I certainly believed in his description of it. And he presents both sides of several religious arguments in a way such that any layman could understand them, without his (Whyte's) obviously taking one side or the other. My only complaint with this particular entry in the series is that Whyte doesn't really dig into the life, history, or personality of Lot of Cornwall. What little description he does give makes Lot out to be evil personified, but I really would have liked to learn more about what made this man tick. Unlike the first two, there is a little bit of "magic" in this volume, if you can call dreams magic. It seems that Whyte's Merlyn has a bit of precognition - his dreams accurately predict several events in the story. But there is no overt magic - nobody turns into a newt or anything else. I'm eagerly looking forward to volume four.
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