Triumph of the Darksword

Rating:
Summary: Don't get your hopes up with this book
Review: I'm a fantasy reader, and I believe that this book shouldn't be put under the fantasy section. The first to were great fantasy novels, but this is science fiction. They could have ended it in a better way.

Rating:
Summary: Dude, Where's my Ending?
Review: I'm not going to complain, as others have, that they mixed Fantasy and SF in the same book; that's fine.

But what others call a "refreshing twist" is, IMHO, committing one of the cardinal sins of poor writing. A good author resolves a plot - characters' motivations get worked out, events progress to some natural conclusion, happy, sad, neutral, disturbing, or otherwise. Questions, at least some of them, get answered.

Weak authors build up piles of tension and intrigue then discover they've planned no way out. So instead of resolving plots and characters, they bring in new material that simply makes the previous thousand pages irrelevant.

Nations stand at the brink of war. Our hero is caught and conflicted, feeling responsible for the impending havoc. Each side thinks the other posesses the secret weapon. The motivations, hopes, and dreams of a few dozen supporting characters are balanced on the proverbial knife. The reader is on seats' edge, wondering which noble hearts will receive an unjust end, and whether villains will prosper or bleed out on the end of a white knight's sword.

When all of a sudden, a nameless, faceless force (farce?) with no logical motivation and with whom the reader has no relationship shows up and slaughters everyone. Can't figure out how to resolve that military hero, dear author? One blink of a tank's laser iris, and your conundrum vanishes - along with your reader's sense of resolution.

The series' most entertaining character and biggest enigma, Simkin, simply vanishes, with no explanation whatsoever except for some unsatisfactory handwaving in a weak and aimless epilogue.

Fun story, interesting characters throughout the trilogy. The ending, ashes and emptiness, sans denouement. The hovertanks were like the film melting in the projector just as Dirty Harry becomes trapped in a Mexican standoff, ten minutes before the credits roll.

"They all got run over by a truck. The end." I wish I knew what REALLY happened!

Rating:
Summary: Everything just crumble
Review: In the middle of chaos, a greater chaos is born. Technology and magic crash with deadly accuracy. The pace never slow down in this final book. In fact, there are some scenes where I wanted to jump into the book and help the magi. But it lacks some explanation on a couple of things: like Saryon close encounter with "someone or something" and the identity of Simkin, the last will burrow in my mind for the rest of my life. Shame on Margaret and Tracy for that. Joram's old character returned too forcefully, helping the trama go along. Oh well, I suppose some endings are set before the characters has anything to say about it.

Rating:
Summary: Very good, but had it's faults.
Review: It was good in most ways. The characters were very good, and the first thing I always look for in a book is good characters. The story was good except I resent it running like a science fiction novel. There were some really deep ideas in it, but at other times it could be light and funny. I thought the ending was really good except that it was not explained thoughly enough and was rather confusing to be the last book in the series.It was very origanal from other fantasy books I have read. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a good fantasy book to read because I could not put it down.

Rating:
Summary: THE MYSTERIES OF LIFE AND DEATH
Review: MAGIC.LIFE.ONE IN THE SAME. IMAGINE LIFE AND DEATH ON TOTALLY NEW TERMS. WHAT WOULD IT BE LIKE TO BE BORN DEAD, AND YET STILL BREATHING, HAVING WARM BLOOD BEING PUMPED THROUGH YOUR BODY BY A POWERFUL HEART, AND YET STILL, YOU ARE CONSIDERED DEAD. A FREAK, AND DANGEROUS SORCERER, YET YOU HAVE NO MAGIC THAT OTHERS CALL 'LIFE'. READ 'TRIUMPH OF THE DARK SWORD' AND YOU CAN FOLLOW JORAM, HIS WIFE GWENDOWLYN AND HIS LOYAL FRIENDS, AS HE RETURNS FROM DEATH, LIKE THE PHOENIX FROM IT'S ASHES, FOR THE SECOND TIME, TO DEFEAT OR FULFILL THE PROPHECY THAT HE HAS BEEN DESTINED TO MEET. JORAM ONCE SENTENCED TO 'THE TURNING' WALKS ONCE MORE THROUGH THE MIST SHROUDED BARRIER FOLLOWED BY THE SORCERERS OF THE NINETH ART THAT HAD ONCE BEEN THOUGHT FOREVER BANISHED. THE TECHNOLOGY THAT WAS BANISHED IS NOW THE TOOL THAT THE MAGIC OF LIFE MUST NOW FACE. IF YOU LIKE THE SOUND OF A ONCE SORCERER TRYING TO CONTROL ALL 'LIFE' BEING STOOD AGAINST BY A MAN TRYING TO SAVE THE WORLD THAT DENIED HIM HIS EXISTENCE, A CATALYST TRYING TO FIND PEACE WITHIN HIMSELF, AND A ENIGMA OF A MAN THAT GETS UPTO ALL SORTS OF MISCHIEF, THEN I RECOMMEND 'TRIUMPH OF THE DARKSWORD' AS AN EXTREMELY ENTERTAINING READ. BUT.........YOU NEED TO READ IT'S PREQUEL'S FOR TRUE ENJOYMENT.....SWORDS, SORCERY, TECHNOLOGY BEYOND OUR ABILITY, LOVE AND A MYSTERY MAN WHO JUST DOESN'T KNOW WHEN TO QUIT. IT HAS IT ALL. TURN DOWN THE LIGHTS, TURN ON SOME MUSIC AND LET THE ADVENTURE LEAD THE WAY. HAPPY READING.

Rating:
Summary: Reader's Review
Review: Ok, first of all, I believe I have an answer to a question that I see pop up over and over. In the book 'Darksword Adventures", a role-playing game rulebook for Thimhallan, it explains exactly who Simkin is. I believe that what is said in the rulebook is true, as it is also written by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. Pg. 393 "Simkin is the embodiment of magic. As such, his magical abilities have no limits. Simkin is immortal. Simkin was around when the prophecy was given following the Iron Wars." This may not explain to the fullest who he is, but it does shed some light on the subject. Back to the review. Ok, in this book the prophecy is fulfilled. Everyone knows that. However, some confusion does occur. Why did the technologists come? What was their motivation? Also, the ending. I think that it was the perfect ending for this book. Most of the major characters are taken with the technologists, but Joram and Gwendolyn stay behind. Saryon finds faith in his god, the end. Yes, some questions were left unanswered, but a good book should, IMHO, leave some mystery behind. What happened to them? What happened with Thimhallan? Both good questions, it leaves it open for you to imagine what YOU think happened. I would highly recommend this series, if you read any one of the three books you will fall in love with them.

Rating:
Summary: Wait, what the heck just happened?
Review: Okay, let me be fair...the first two books were pretty good. Actually, when Garald taught Joram how to fence in Doom of the Darksword, I found that to be one of the greatest scenes in fantasy I've read lately. HOWEVER...what the heck happened? It's like, Joram leaves and then comes back and they don't explain it and why the heck is he friends with the military and who is Menju and what's wrong with Gwen, and, we all want to know, who the heck is Simkin? This book is lame lame lame lame!!! I read fantasy to escape from the toils of life (lol) and man, there was like Desert Storm happening in this book. Honestly, I expected Stormin' Norman to show up and save the day. This book is like a bad dream. It's awful too since the first two were so great!!! Read the first two, and like one of the other reviewers said, make up your own ending. Oh yeah, and they never explained why the people procreate like they do...

Rating:
Summary: I regret persisting through this trilogy
Review: One year after Joram cast himself Beyond, he returns from the mists, his wife Gwendolyn joining him. Ten years have passed for them Beyond. In Thimhallan, Prince Garald of Sharakan prepares for war with Emporer Xavier of Merilon. The battlefield is prepared, but something nameless rages over it, killing indiscriminately members of each side; the people from whom the ancients of Thimhallan fled centuries ago have crossed the Borders into the realm of magic, bringing with them the deadly tools and machines of Technology. Banding together, the people of Thimhallan must combine their magic with the Dark Arts to overcome the other-world intruders and save their world. Meeting at the Temple of the Necromancers, Joram, Saryon, and Gwen must battle both worlds, being betrayed by each -- it seems the only course of action is for Joram to return to the earth what he took from it.

I've re-read the entire trilogy in the span of the past six days, it being difficult to do anything else. Weis and Hickman, with their writing genius, know how to draw a person into a new world and keep them there. While more military in nature than magical, this book and its events conclude the Prophecy that bound them all together, drawing everything to a close in an unexpected way, but is still tinged with hope. Included in this final book is an appendix describing the game of tarok.

Rating:
Summary: "...And when he returns..."
Review: One year after Joram cast himself Beyond, he returns from the mists, his wife Gwendolyn joining him. Ten years have passed for them Beyond. In Thimhallan, Prince Garald of Sharakan prepares for war with Emporer Xavier of Merilon. The battlefield is prepared, but something nameless rages over it, killing indiscriminately members of each side; the people from whom the ancients of Thimhallan fled centuries ago have crossed the Borders into the realm of magic, bringing with them the deadly tools and machines of Technology. Banding together, the people of Thimhallan must combine their magic with the Dark Arts to overcome the other-world intruders and save their world. Meeting at the Temple of the Necromancers, Joram, Saryon, and Gwen must battle both worlds, being betrayed by each -- it seems the only course of action is for Joram to return to the earth what he took from it.

I've re-read the entire trilogy in the span of the past six days, it being difficult to do anything else. Weis and Hickman, with their writing genius, know how to draw a person into a new world and keep them there. While more military in nature than magical, this book and its events conclude the Prophecy that bound them all together, drawing everything to a close in an unexpected way, but is still tinged with hope. Included in this final book is an appendix describing the game of tarok.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent conclusion
Review: Others have critized the way this trilogy ended, with some things left unanswered.. like, who Simkin is, and Joram's friendship with the military, but I found it to be a refreshing change from the usual sappy endings.

I don't care what others say, I highly recommend this series.