Rating: 
Summary: Gonna be a great book!
Review: The first two books were superb, so I'm sure this one will rock! The storyline is exiting, the battle scenes are well-written, and the characters are very interesting and complex. Read it, and enjoy!
Rating: 
Summary: Better Than "Queen of Demons"
Review: The third book in the series, "Servant of the Dragon" is better than the previous "Queen of Demons." I especially liked the ring-demon Krias, and his journey with Cashel. There were numerous spiritual and social underpinnings to many things that Krias said; the statements he made had great applications to having a meaningful life. Although "Lord of the Isles" pales in comparison to "The Wheel of Time" it is nonetheless worth reading, and I await the arrival of the next book in the series.
Rating: 
Summary: Large scope in minuscule
Review: This series (is it done now, or is there more to come?) is a rousing good yarn, with an interesting setting and characters you grow to like. I can't compare it to similar works by Jordan or Goodkind, which I haven't worked up the stamina to tackle yet, but George R R Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series is something against which to measure it. And Drake's fails in comparison. Here are my complaints: (1) The plot structure is based on alternating the adventures of three or four sets of protagonists who get separated, told in short doses (easily manageable on a subway ride on the way to work, say), and this is distracting, especially since each episode ends with a cliffhanger and by the time you get back to that strand it has lost interest -- like the old Flash Gordon serials, for example, the dire peril then turns out not to be so (they were falling into an abyss, but it turns out there was a ledge right underneath them). (2) As if this island world does not provide enough scope, the characters are constantly being transported by magic into 'other worlds', but unfortunately they all seem to be distinguished by simple precepts: arid desert, dismal swamp, green sky, etc., and the dangers tend to be Burroughsian races of lizard men, ape men, trolls, what have you. (3) Style: One doesn't expect great prose (and granted the author is very witty in places), but why do his good people just grin all the time? (not smile -- are they chimpanzees?). And my pet peeve, once encountered becoming more intrusive, like biting that thing on the inside of your cheek, was his coining of the word 'minusculely', as in 'so-and-so nodded her head minusculely' -- minuscule means small print although by extension it has come to mean tiny. If Drake writes on a word processor, he should globally change that word to 'minutely' (a similar word but more acceptable in the sense he means).
Rating:
Summary: Good series!
Review: This series so far has been pretty good. A decent mix of characters and he has created interesting world and magic system. There are a few cliche's, the adventure party is made up of a big muscle bound guy, who isnt as slow as people think, the standard reluctant but capable hero guy, mysterious magic using female a few love interests ect. But while some repeated phrases get a little tired, the story flows well and the character remain interesting.
Rating:
Summary: Repition does not make perfect
Review: To start, I have to say that the Lord of the Isles series has kept me company on many otherwise boring and lonely nights. I enjoy the characters and their abilities, and I have to admit Tenoctris' constant modesty over her abilities and lack of power gets a chuckle out of me, particularly as she always seems to have just enough ability to do what is needed. None of the main characters ever fail in Drakes world. Well, it is fantasy. However, the series' attempt to be just that, a series, while also trying make each book a standalone, simply isn't working. Halfway through Servant of the Dragon, the constant backfill and reminders of a character's particulars became very annoying as I found myself saying out loud "Yes, I know, I know!" And the structure of the plot is also repetitive, as many have indicated. The reader can use more insight into the characters' darker side, as we have with Ilna, easily my favorite character. Everyone else is just a little too perfect. I would love to see Ilna lose out to the dark side of her persona, perhaps due to her jealousy of Liane, or have the others wonder that Garric is talking to himself maybe just a little too much. Garric needs to stop being so accommodating to his ancestral spirit Carus, and Tenoctris' spells need to fail significantly and at the wrong time. Maybe Cashel needs to realize what a powerful wizard he really is, perhaps too powerful. The possibilities for storylines and conflict are great given the character's current development. I hope in the future Drake may stray from his formula.That said, I read fantasy to be entertained, and I like the characters the author has created. Overall it works for me, especially on those boring rainy snowy nights and long subway rides.
Rating:
Summary: Repition does not make perfect
Review: To start, I have to say that the Lord of the Isles series has kept me company on many otherwise boring and lonely nights. I enjoy the characters and their abilities, and I have to admit Tenoctris' constant modesty over her abilities and lack of power gets a chuckle out of me, particularly as she always seems to have just enough ability to do what is needed. None of the main characters ever fail in Drakes world. Well, it is fantasy. However, the series' attempt to be just that, a series, while also trying make each book a standalone, simply isn't working. Halfway through Servant of the Dragon, the constant backfill and reminders of a character's particulars became very annoying as I found myself saying out loud "Yes, I know, I know!" And the structure of the plot is also repetitive, as many have indicated. The reader can use more insight into the characters' darker side, as we have with Ilna, easily my favorite character. Everyone else is just a little too perfect. I would love to see Ilna lose out to the dark side of her persona, perhaps due to her jealousy of Liane, or have the others wonder that Garric is talking to himself maybe just a little too much. Garric needs to stop being so accommodating to his ancestral spirit Carus, and Tenoctris' spells need to fail significantly and at the wrong time. Maybe Cashel needs to realize what a powerful wizard he really is, perhaps too powerful. The possibilities for storylines and conflict are great given the character's current development. I hope in the future Drake may stray from his formula. That said, I read fantasy to be entertained, and I like the characters the author has created. Overall it works for me, especially on those boring rainy snowy nights and long subway rides.
Rating:
Summary: How Can He Talk With His Tongue That Far In His Cheek?
Review: When i first read "Lord of the Isles", first book in this series, i was convinced that Drake had decided to see if he could out-Jordan Robert Jordan. And there are some similarities. But Drake has a more mordant approach and wit than Jordan, and isn't afraid to have a little fun with the conventions of the quest-fantasy genre... and he does. As before, he takes his core group of adventurers -- Garric, Cashel, Ilna, Sharina, Tenoctris and company -- and sends them by ones and twos on separate quests of hair-raising difficulty and (in many cases) grusomeness. But all of them (even the grim and apparently humorless Ilna) find occasional causes for humor, gallows-style or otherwise, and for moments of beauty and happiness among the violence and dangers. Of the bunch, i'd say that Ilna -- who's had the hardest life of the adventurers so far -- ends up the best off in terms of Good Stuff accumulated in her quest. The various quests -- Cashel's to find the sorcerously-abducted Sharina, Ilna's to find a way home after being marooned with companions, Garric and Tenoctris's to lay to rest a magical menace to the Kingdom if the Isles -- all SEEM unrelated, and have a habit of suddenly turning into something other than we thought they were, but looks can be deceiving in this sort of fiction, and the grand finale when Everything (almost) Is Revealed is quite satisfactory. I want to make it clear that following is a High Compliment from me, reading this story was in many ways like playing one of the best-constructed of the old text-only computer games; everything dovetails nicely, and an apparently-unimportant action taken or not taken on one quest may have a huge effect on all of the other players' efforts, and one important clue missed anywhere could mean ultimate and horrible failure.
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