Rating: 
Summary: The best new fantasy author ever...6 Stars
Review: The Last Rune Series is beyond a doubt the most compelling, well-written series to come along in many moons. The concept of extra-dimensional travel, and co-existing worlds, was a fascinating concept in King & Straub,s "Territories" novels, but Anthony takes this idea, fuels it with a richness of contemporary characters, feeds it steroids, and crafts stories with a seldom-seen technical proficiency. These books are gems, the writing is a joy, and the author just can't produce them fast enough for me. Well Done indeed!!..
Rating:
Summary: Great Fantasy adventure
Review: This book was a great read. I normally read Fantasy novels and they are all fighting monsters and casting spells. This one had some of that but lots more to it. The idea of conspirasies was great along with the idea of making a bit of a mystery to make the reader think about who it could be and try to find some clues of their own. Personally I kept turning back pages to try and see if anything fit to gether to find out who was in the Colt of the Raven. I recommend it to anyone that likes a good adventure read and doesn't mind 620 pages of it. I can't wait until #3 comes out. I hope it becomes a great hit everywhere.
Rating:
Summary: GREAT! truly great!
Review: This book was a wonderful read. for anyone who likes fantasy fiction, this book is for you. BEtter than Terry Brooks's the Sword Of Shannara, and better than tamora pierce's series The song of the Lioness, this novel includes symbolism, along with all other fine literary elements found in so many works of fiction, which are usually left out of fantasy. This novel, not only is a great work of literature, but it has a massive plot, which is bound together very wonderfully. Congradulations Marrk Anthony, this book is my favorite. And I have read hundreds. This book is a model, and being a writer myself, a must read. I can't wait for the next in the series (I hope there is one! ) to come out.
Rating:
Summary: A good fantasy/mystery
Review: This book was recomended to me by a stranger in a book store, and I was glad i took his advice. At the outset, it has all the elements of a good fantay and a little more. The portrayal of the nobility is very realistic(don't let that deter you)and it has some very interesting and unique magic. What really made me like it is at the end, you will realizes the mysterie that was always there, and you probably won't be able to figure out who the conspirator is.... A good first book, can't wait to read the next one.
Rating: 
Summary: Not bad
Review: This is a fun book to read as Anthony has a great voice. But the story is nothing new and in fact is told better by such authors as Eddings, Goodkind and Tad Williams. Its not nearly as epic as any of these and, after finishing the book, you'll look back and realize that not much really happened. Despite that, its a fun trip if you're not expecting all that much. If you're looking for a Tolkein-esque epic, look elsewhere.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent book
Review: This is a quality book. I picked it up thinking it was just another real life character to fantasy world book, which have generally been disapointing. I was only half way through when I ordered the reamining 3 books in the series. These are great... very well done!!!
Rating:
Summary: A Captivating Tale of Knights, Witches, & Other Worlds
Review: This is a tale that will pull you in, and keep you reading. I am currently almost finished with the third book; and am excited to see that there will be a fourth. The story involving present Earth and the medieval "past" that is actually another world is amazingly told. The first book tells the story of two people from Earth (separate, and unknowing of each other), being pulled into the parallel world of Eldh. Once there Travis and Grace learn about and start to develop magic skills. The way that Anthony keeps secrets from you as well as from the characters in the book is both frustrating and captivating; creating an erg to read more, and dig deeper to learn the secrets. This book also bends some of the beliefs of the classic "hero kills the villain and gets the girl" mentality (and bends it even further in the second and third book). In the second book a couple of the characters from Eldh are featured more. Travis travels back to Earth, and discovers the difference in the magic of Earth and of Eldh. Two new factions are introduced, both from Earth and trying to learn of Eldh, one aggressively and one passively. Some secrets are revealed, but more are kept. In the third book there is again added focus on some of the Eldh characters. Both Travis and Grace have gone back to Earth along with a friend from Eldh. A new character from Eldh is introduced and more answers are given. Anyone interested in magic, medieval, and alternate world will find this a real catch.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant start to a new series.
Review: This was bought as a gift for me and what a prezzie it turned out to be. This first book in the 'Last Rune' series starts in a backwater town in Colorado where Travis Wilder runs a bar. Everything in his life is humdrum and normal but that is about to change with the arrival of a strange travelling show, headed by Brother Cy. At the same time there is a parallel story about a young doctor, Grace Beckett who feels there is something lacking in her life. She is about to find out what.
Mark Anthony has produced an excellent introduction to a series that moves between Earth and Eldh (a medieval type world). He creates an atmospheric tale that manages to be original and engrossing. His characters have depth and facets to them that make the reader care about them. Highly recommended for any fantasy fan or lover of a good story.
Rating:
Summary: Better than I could possibly have hoped...
Review: Usually when I start reading a fantasy novel where the protagonists are Earth to Fantasy World transplants I expect things to go from cliched to trite to too terrible to read another volume...ie The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant for example - though I stomached both series of him out of an obsession for completeness. However Mark Anthony's debut novel blew me away. Travis and Grace are great, imperfect heroes and I found both believable and human...especially Travis - I have suspicions about Grace that I'm sure later volumes will confirm.
Anyway the underlying story of this book is a fantasy staple - Save the World from the Lord of Evil. Its classic. However with a cast of characters that at least in this first novel can occasionally be only two dimensional it can get a little too predictable...however from Travis at least layers can be seen. Grace's layers are a bit more story driven than the insecure fears we can see in Travis. Underlying connotations regarding the Cult of Vathris add depth to what seems at first to be a fairly typical fantasy world...it becomes believable that it could be real - in ones imagination at least, heightening the sense of immersion into the story.
There are some blatant ripoffs that are, whilst noticeable, in noway diminish this book. Melia reads like MANY of fantasy fiction's unmortal dark haired sorceresses (ie Polgara, Sephrenia for example), and the obvious suspicions about this "mysterious regal woman" are quite easy to presume correct.
This was a great book. Unlike later volumes, this first part can stand alone alot more readily, so enjoy it as a single novel, or be prepared for five more.
Rating:
Summary: More like a great first draft than a fully realised novel
Review: Well I finished and I'm writing this as a follow-up to the initial review that I had written after reading the first 79 pages. I still think it is pretty derivitave but after awhile you do get sucked into the plot. The initial similarities of the female heroine, Grace, to characters in both Stephen R. Donaldson's and Anne Rice's works faded into the background once Grace leaves the world of the Denver ER and enters Eldh. However, after several chapters another influence became glaringly apparent; Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series which also features a sometimes confusing array of characters and POV. My biggest complaint with this novel is its sketchiness. I also have a few bones to pick.When Grace and Travis ride off on a spying expedition Grace, who has never ridden or horse, manages to mount a STALLION, no less, with only a 'small degree of difficulty'. She manages this dubious feat while wearing a heavy woolen gown. Anyone who has ever ridden knows that mounting a horse with ease takes practice. Especially in a non-Western saddle. If the stirrups are in proper riding position they are quite high. You mount facing the back of the horse so you have to place your foot into a stirrup which can easily be at your mid-chest level and swing yourself forward and around into the saddle. Most people need a boost or a stool the first few times and even then it isn't easy. Anthony wants us to believe that Grace, by sheer power of a noble demeanor, is able to control not just any horse, a STALLION! There is a reason geldings exist. It is because a stallion can be a very willful and difficult to control animal except under the most skillful and competent hands.
When I was 13 I spent a summer working at a stable where the owner kept a stallion that was used only for stud services. The other horses in the stable were either geldings and mares this included the two race horses. The stallions stall was completely enclosed for the safety of the nearby horses and any passers-by. He was let out into a pasteure of his own, away from the other horses. I was not allowed to go anywhere near him, nor did I have any desire too. If Grace has some kind of magical power over animals Anthony should have shown that earlier. Instead he waits for this scene to make a passing comment that Grace has always had more of a rapport with animals than people. Than why didn't she become a vet? Why doesn't she have a cat or a dog in her apartment? There is absolutely no evidence given that Grace has even an ounce of feeling for animals until this scene. It's just another example of the laziness of the writing. Anthony seems to have forgotten the golden rule, "A writer shows, not tells." At times he is like child playing Cops and Robbers, making things up as he goes along. Remember when you were a kid and said stuff like, "You didn't kill me just then 'cuz I was wearing a bullet-proof vest." ? It is really bad when I writer resorts to that type of plot-convenience. I could almost excpet the idea of Travis, whose last riding experience had been a pony ride, doing all the riding he did with no mention of difficulty except a little soreness. He was riding a gentle and easygoing gelding who could easily have been just following the Falken and Melia's horses. Of course that reasoning doesn't hold up to to scrutiny when you consider that they spent a good deal of time trotting and galloping. Riding isn't just a matter of sitting in the saddle and holding on. You have to maintain a good seat or else you will be flopping around in the saddle like a sack of potatoes. You can't just saw on the reins in the direction you want to the horse to go. Most of the guidance is done with the knees and the reins should only be given the most gentle twitch with your fingers. I realize this is nitpicking but most fantasy writers seem to do at least some research about horses if riding is going to be a factor in the story. If he didn't want to spend much time in showing Travis learning to ride, he could have easily made Travis an experienced rider. Since Grace was raised in an orphanage and then went onto college and medical school it would be less plausible that she had ever had time to learn to ride but surely Travis could have spent some time pleasure riding considering he had been living in a Western town for the past seven years. I know this is nitpicking but it is details like this that can make the difference between a skillfuly written novel and one written by a talented amateur. From my understanding, Anthony is not an amateur so this type of laziness is inexusable. One of the other peeves I had with the novel was the total lameness of the names and the magic. "Beltan" sounds like a cheesy 50's robot. For that matter, so does "Kron", the rune for fire which features early on in the novel. Without going into detail about the magic, let's just say, neither did Anthony. It was as if he couldn't be bothered spending the time to create a believable system of magic and spells. The character of Grace has an annoying tendency toward inner histrionics at the least little social foible. I find very little about her I like. Anthony needs to work on crafting a more believable female character. He gives us no real evidence of Grace's 'noble' character. He just shows the other characters falling all over themselves in awe of her without much more proof other than physical beauty. And yet, about a third of the way through, there is a scene in which an outwardly beautiful character does something cruel and unkind and Grace meditates on the incongruency of this. He is a little more adept with the male characters in this novel. Or at least he seems to like them more. Travis is a far less annoying character, albeit a bit whiney. There could have been more written about his friendship with Beltan. Beltan is obviously attracted to him but we aren't given very many clues why. There aren't really enough scenes that flesh out this friendship but it's pretty obvious to any savvy reader where it's leading. My final complaint is with the big 'mysteries' of Travis' and Grace's backgrounds. Anyone with a brain can figure out, almost from the beginning, the secrets that Anthony waits until the last few chapters to reveal in very awkward inner dialogue sequences. I'm not giving anything away when I mention that dyslexia is far more complex than just having a tendency to reverse letters and numbers. All that being said, there is some real entertainment to be found in the pages of this book. It is surprisingly funny at times. There are some interesting sattelite characters. I just wish Anthony had spent more time fleshing out his ideas. The book at times reads more like an outline or first draft.
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