The Bloody Eye

Rating:
Summary: More "brain candy" from Lain for D&D Devotees
Review: T.H. Lain has been crafting a series out of the iconic character written for the 3rd Edition release of Dungeons and Dragons, and Lain's latest, "The Bloody Eye," is a bit more gruesome than the previous offerings. Featuring Alhandra (the paladin), Jozan (the cleric), Krusk (the barbarian) and... a scullery maid... this one involves the plot of Jozan's former teacher to release an avatar of Gruumsh (think big bad evil one-eyed orc god) onto the land. Twisted beasts, gorey eye-mutilations, hack-n-slash, and, of course, a dungeon crawl make this one of the solid 'brain candy' works of D&D fiction that is just the right size to eat up and enjoy in the space of an afternoon or a long bus ride.

Can the heroes defeat the foul evil, and reclaim the land for goodness? Of course they can. Duh. But the fun is watching, not in guessing if they can...

What is frustrating is the 181 page length for the hefty $7.99 Canadian price - I'd rather the books be released in one volume of three tales for a higher price, if that means it would be of a more worthy length. Regardless, as far as brain-candy reading goes, this is a good quick reading experience.

'Nathan

Rating:
Summary: Bloody Eye is Bloody Good
Review: T.H. Lain seems to improve with each new book in this series. The action sequences with the Half-Orc barbarian were some of the best I have ever read.

Though I know it is Dungeons and Dragons, the story seemed a bit magic heavy. It seemed as if every creature used magic the way some modern day folks use cell phones. After a bit, the creature summoning, telekinetic-type magic was just a bit silly. Even the scullery maid was emulating Obi Wan Kenobi's force tricks.

Still, the novel proved to work on more than one level. On one level, an action story that was paced quickly. On another, a theological allegory as one of the bad guys sought to determine why his god had forsaken him. The book was at its best when it struggled with some of life's most realistic theological dilemas.

T.H. Lain reaches into his bag of tricks and writes a darn good story that reaches a mountain top level of greatness, narrowly missing the summit, but providing the reader with an exhilarting ride.

Rating:
Summary: Black Eye for the Series
Review: This novel regresses to the level of the very poor first novel The Savage Caves. The writing is at times cringe inducing in its triteness, particularly the paragraph where Yddith swoons over Krusk.

In this book we have one new character as a hero, Yddith the tavern wench with a lot of moxy and an amazing talent for sorcery despite no real training. Jozan the cleric from the Savage Caves returns, and is relatively unchanged. Alhandra returns from the previous book and has changed from a compassionate, caring leader into a self-righteous black/white/no shades of grey prig of a paladin. She then whiplashes back and forth between being a prig and compassionate. Her back-story is "developed" with the lousy cliched tale of being wronged by her love. Krusk, the half-orc barbarian, returns from the previous book also. He now has been given a big i.q. upgrade and substantial leadership abilities.

Calmet, the main point of view character for the forces of badness is Jozan's old teacher and provides the most depth of the book as he wonders why his god Pelor abandoned him. Still though it is paper thin religious philosophy he thinks of and only deep in comparison to the awful portrayal that this "T.H. Lain" gives to the heroes.

The Black Carnival, a travelling show populated by the undead is also a high point, a neat idea that isn't given much play.

The dungeon crawl is average, but the horrible changes to the characters as well as Yddith's amazing magic abilities make this at best a 2 out of 5 stars.

A shame, the series was looking to develop quite well just 2 books ago.