Rating: 
Summary: Whew! hang on! Another great one!!
Review: Rich charactors, and excellant storytelling will make you call in to work sick and stay in bed reading the whole series.. exciting.
Rating: 
Summary: My second book.
Review: The Outlanders is my second novel, the middle installment of a trilogy called The LonTobyn Chronicle. The events described in The Outlanders take place approximately four years after those described in Children of Amarid, my first book. I took some chances in this book. I brought together two cultures, one of them devoid of technology but possessing magic, and the other devoid of magic but steeped in technology, and tried to make sense of what might result from their interaction. Writing this book was tremendously challenging, but it was also a great deal of fun. And I hope you enjoy the result.
Rating:
Summary: One of my all time favorite sequils
Review: The Outlanders is one of the best books I've ever read, it's outstanding! Jaryd, Baden, they're all back to fight, or alli, the strange people from another world. Coe uses the perfect words at the perfect times to put you in the setting, he makes you part of the story. If you loved the first book, I garuntee you'll like the continuation just as much!
Rating: 
Summary: Good but it could be better...
Review: The second book of the Lon Tobyn Chronicle is fairly good. It disappointed me somewhat. I believe by adding the "Industrial terrors" kind of destroyed the presence of this eye catching chronicle. I was expecting it to branch more deeper into the logic's of the first book. I believe the role of Meylor and her men that she commanded was a space filler in this 2nd book. The book could of flowed more smoothly if the story was focused more on/in/around Tobyn-ser. This story is good and kept me occupied. I look forward to reading the 3rd book of this Chronicle.stray1760@yahoo.com
Rating: 
Summary: Stinks as bad as the first
Review: This book is a significant improvement over the first one. Some of the criticisms I leveled at Children of Amarid were smoothed over a little. The familiars showed more character than the cardboard cutouts of Book 1, and I was particularly impressed with the way Mr. Coe changed the focus from Jaryd to Orris. Not that I had anything against the former character, but I was pleased to see how smoothly the author was able to swing the spotlight and discuss the thoughts of someone else. True, the first book gave us the thoughts of multiple characters, but I always felt that it was Jaryd who was intended to hold the plot together. Now we know that the story line is more firmly anchored across at least _two_ strongly developed characters. In Tobyn-Ser, the political fracturing of the Order of Amarid was spectacular. The character of Erland was better presented than any of the political enemies of the first book, and yet his humanity was preserved; I even felt a certain amount of sympathy for him when he was thinking in his garden. The presentation of Bragor-Nal was astoundingly well done. I could picture each scene as it unfolded, and feel the Sword-of-Damocles effect that anyone living in the Nal must experience...always having to watch your back for fear that the person next to you may strike you down and take what you have. Having said all of that, I _did_ have a few problems with this novel. First of all, Mr. Coe continues to present the development of intense relationships between characters as abrupt phenomena. They happen so fast that they're just unbelievable. Take Melyor, for example. Through the entire first part of the book, she is a ruthless, hardened woman willing to eliminate anyone who stands in her path to greatness. Yet, in the span of 3-4 pages (the meeting between she, Orris, and Cedrych), she has this almost religious conversion, deciding "she wanted the sorcerer to succeed." There is little previous buildup to this sudden change of heart. In a few moments, she has changed alliances, and is hunted by assassins with the same gusto as Orris, et.al. Another problem I had was the streets of the Nal. We are told repeatedly that they are overcrowded and that the majority of the people are just normal, hardworking folk trying to earn a living and feed their families. But where _are_ these folk? They are almost never described, except maybe as drivers on the Upper. I felt, most of the time that the characters were running through miles and miles of empty streets in this so-called metroplex. One would think no one walked around the quads except break-laws. Could two men fall to their deaths in New York or Chicago, and no one notice? No one gather around? No law-enforcers? Or does this just happen all the time in the Nal, and no one cares? Finally, there is the impact of Orris on Bragor-Nal. In the first book, 14-15 Outlanders are capable of destroying whole towns in Tobyn-Ser. Yet we are expected to believe that _one_ sorcerer is a threat to the Nal. How can this be? Limited by eventual exhaustion, and the need for three elements (self, ceryll, bird), how could a mage possibly create such a panic in the mind of powerful individuals such as the Overlord? Given how much trouble the Order had subduing less than a score of Outlanders, I find it hard to believe one sorcerer is going to threaten thousands of break-laws. Overall, I was pleased with the improvements in plot features and writing style of this book. Mr. Coe has won my respect, and I am already reading the third book in the series.
Rating: 
Summary: Encouraging maturation of the first book...well received!
Review: This book is a significant improvement over the first one. Some of the criticisms I leveled at Children of Amarid were smoothed over a little. The familiars showed more character than the cardboard cutouts of Book 1, and I was particularly impressed with the way Mr. Coe changed the focus from Jaryd to Orris. Not that I had anything against the former character, but I was pleased to see how smoothly the author was able to swing the spotlight and discuss the thoughts of someone else. True, the first book gave us the thoughts of multiple characters, but I always felt that it was Jaryd who was intended to hold the plot together. Now we know that the story line is more firmly anchored across at least _two_ strongly developed characters. In Tobyn-Ser, the political fracturing of the Order of Amarid was spectacular. The character of Erland was better presented than any of the political enemies of the first book, and yet his humanity was preserved; I even felt a certain amount of sympathy for him when he was thinking in his garden. The presentation of Bragor-Nal was astoundingly well done. I could picture each scene as it unfolded, and feel the Sword-of-Damocles effect that anyone living in the Nal must experience...always having to watch your back for fear that the person next to you may strike you down and take what you have. Having said all of that, I _did_ have a few problems with this novel. First of all, Mr. Coe continues to present the development of intense relationships between characters as abrupt phenomena. They happen so fast that they're just unbelievable. Take Melyor, for example. Through the entire first part of the book, she is a ruthless, hardened woman willing to eliminate anyone who stands in her path to greatness. Yet, in the span of 3-4 pages (the meeting between she, Orris, and Cedrych), she has this almost religious conversion, deciding "she wanted the sorcerer to succeed." There is little previous buildup to this sudden change of heart. In a few moments, she has changed alliances, and is hunted by assassins with the same gusto as Orris, et.al. Another problem I had was the streets of the Nal. We are told repeatedly that they are overcrowded and that the majority of the people are just normal, hardworking folk trying to earn a living and feed their families. But where _are_ these folk? They are almost never described, except maybe as drivers on the Upper. I felt, most of the time that the characters were running through miles and miles of empty streets in this so-called metroplex. One would think no one walked around the quads except break-laws. Could two men fall to their deaths in New York or Chicago, and no one notice? No one gather around? No law-enforcers? Or does this just happen all the time in the Nal, and no one cares? Finally, there is the impact of Orris on Bragor-Nal. In the first book, 14-15 Outlanders are capable of destroying whole towns in Tobyn-Ser. Yet we are expected to believe that _one_ sorcerer is a threat to the Nal. How can this be? Limited by eventual exhaustion, and the need for three elements (self, ceryll, bird), how could a mage possibly create such a panic in the mind of powerful individuals such as the Overlord? Given how much trouble the Order had subduing less than a score of Outlanders, I find it hard to believe one sorcerer is going to threaten thousands of break-laws. Overall, I was pleased with the improvements in plot features and writing style of this book. Mr. Coe has won my respect, and I am already reading the third book in the series.
Rating:
Summary: Great book!
Review: This book is elegantly crafted and absolutely gripping. I could not put it down. The characters are engaging and the wonderful world they move through is brought to life by Coe's skillful writing.
Rating:
Summary: Strong sequel
Review: This book was more tedious than the first one and in a sense harder to read. The point of view jumped back and forth between almost every chapter and it seemed to me that there was no real imanent danger to the lives of the people in the book. But nonetheless, this book was a very good story and Coe's world takes from many other's but is still very original and magnificant. All in all, this book was a very good sequel (if not as good as the original) and I have already bought the third book because it left me wanting more. I won't say "Go out and buy this book and read it right now!" but I would recommend this book and series to anyone who wants to find a well written story. But make sure you read the first book Children of Amarid first because even though this book is not one of my favorites, the Children of Amarid is in the top three and if you don't read its sequels, you definately must read CoA.
Rating:
Summary: Strong sequel
Review: This book was more tedious than the first one and in a sense harder to read. The point of view jumped back and forth between almost every chapter and it seemed to me that there was no real imanent danger to the lives of the people in the book. But nonetheless, this book was a very good story and Coe's world takes from many other's but is still very original and magnificant. All in all, this book was a very good sequel (if not as good as the original) and I have already bought the third book because it left me wanting more. I won't say "Go out and buy this book and read it right now!" but I would recommend this book and series to anyone who wants to find a well written story. But make sure you read the first book Children of Amarid first because even though this book is not one of my favorites, the Children of Amarid is in the top three and if you don't read its sequels, you definately must read CoA.
Rating:
Summary: Good but it could be better...
Review: This books is awesome. He has exceptional characterisation and great world building. I found myself drawn into the intriquies of both tobyn ser and lon ser. He makes the characters real and they pop out of the pages embracing the whole world giving it color and life. I loved reading every word of it. Quest fantasies usually follow a couple of themes and this one is no different but what makes it uniquie is how the heros accomplish what they want to accomplish and the different sub plots that add to the dynamic and colorfull tapestry of this world.
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