Rating: 
Summary: What was the plot again?
Review: The only thing that made me finish this book is that I was in the middle of nowhere with no alternative fiction available.Drake truly stunned me with his ability to write an entire book of which I have yet to figure out the plot. The story lacks depth and complexity; very little actually happens in this book, although there are many adventures. Unlike some of the critics, I did not think there was much orginality here; not even in the writing. It felt, and read, more like a children's adventure story than a true fantasy novel. In addition, the characters are sadly lacking in depth, although I grudgingly have to admit I liked Cashel as the very normal country boy with unusual wizard talent (Nellie the sidekick sprite, on the other hand, got up my nose). Cashel begs to be explored more deeply, and perhaps this is done in the sequels. He is kind, thinks clearly (albeit slowly) and the reader can sympathise with his dispositions. "Lord of the Isles", however, is missing an irresistable hero (or heroine) that the reader can commit to regardless of character flaws. In fact, characters with personalities is something that Drake omitted altogether. I finished the book, which is about as much as I can say about it. I have no idea why the rest of the trilogy was written, let alone why anyone would want to read it. In truth, I don't even know why this book was printed. Perhaps Drake has a better reputation for his other books; unfortunately for him, this is the only one I've read.
Rating: 
Summary: What are all these people THINKING?
Review: Perhaps I'm simply biased because David Drake is one of my favorite authors, but I cannot comprehend all the single star ratings I've seen. Instead of having a Dragonlance (or various and sundry other TSR novels) plot in which the ending of the book is an absolute certainty once the first chapter is read, Drake created a very open ended plot. But for a few basics, the only paralells that can be drawn between this book and any other are some similarities to characters in Drake's other novels. Were a poll taken, I rather doubt many readers at all guessed the ending with any accuracy. How much better could he have developed his characters? The main (good) characters were utterly likable. The book was full of Drake's vivid description I love so much. I can think of little else I could want for from this novel...besides lots of sequals.
Rating: 
Summary: Good read!
Review: While perhaps not "great," I thought this was a good first book in a fantasy series. Despite what others here say, I found the main characters likable and I cared about them. In general, the writing seemed well done, with the structure and descriptions well crafted and the style refreshingly direct. I admit the heroes seem a bit old-fashioned in that they actually do things, rather than sitting around whining or wrestling internal demons. I suspect I found this especially endearing after wading through so much of the glacial Wheel of Time series by Jordan. The plot moved forward quickly and was full of some surprises. I would have liked more background information on the world Drake has created here, and the ultimate goal of the story is illusive. Still, this works for me because I find myself identifying more with the main characters as they try to fathom what is happening to them. Looking forward to the sequels.
Rating: 
Summary: Extremely well-plotted, but lacking in depth and wit
Review: By no means the best fantasy novel I've ever read, this first installment of a proposed trilogy features an innovative plot, with surprising twists and unexpected encounters in just about every chapter. That is the book's strength: Drake has quite an imagination, and he kept me guessing throughout. Although I found the main characters likable, the heroes are, sadly, from the same mold you find in too many fantasy adventures these days--well-honed bodies, invincible powers, preordained destinies--and they are notable for a lack of introspection (except in their ability to compare the outside world constantly to the way things were back in their rural village). Even worse is the sprite Mellie, Drake's attempt at creating a cute little Disney-style sidekick a la Thumper or Flounder; instead he conjures an annoying creature that is as appealing as Jar Jar. (A very typical line: " 'You're so strong, Cashel!' Mellie cooed as she cuddled his ear.") Drake is much better when developing the characters of misguided protagonists (like the jealous Ilna) and irredeemable wrongdoers--particularly the magician Meder, whose heinousness completely stunned even a jaded fantasy reader like me. Drake's writing style throughout the book never rises above utilitarian. He excels at describing the adventures of his characters in a journalistic tone that is always clear and usually concise, carrying the reader along in page-turning anticipation from one episode to the next. What his prose boasts in clarity, however, it lacks in lyricism and wit. There is nary a well-turned phrase, and the lack of comic moments is remarkable for a writer with such an incredible imagination. If Drake were able to inject more humor into his prose and add depth to his heroes, he could produce a fantasy masterpiece.
Rating:
Summary: It truly is one of the best fantasies of the decade.
Review: Lord of the Isles is an engrossing book that you will not be able to put down until you read it from cover to cover. The Sumerian backround is an interesting twist to a genre filled with Tolkien copy cats. Buy it now!
Rating: 
Summary: Too much work
Review: I have tried several times to read this book. I even bought it on tape to listen to on the way to work. It is long and if your a fan of fantasy, you've seen it all before. The tapes were especially annoying. I didn't realize until tape three that you had to reajust the speakers to listen to that tape again. It was frustratuing, and the action was confusing. Sorry, I gave it my best. Try David Drakes "Dragon Lord" instead.
Rating:
Summary: You're kidding me!!!
Review: I bought this book because no other fiction was available... and I did not read the review in amazon.com....BIIIIG MISTAKE!
I threw the book away after reading the first 2 chapters. I don't know what David Drake is trying to write down in this book, but I think it is definitely CRIMINAL for the editor to let this book go on print!
Do not buy it, buy David Eddings, buy Tolkien, anything anything ANYHTING but this confused series of writing by Drake... ughhhhhhh! I would like to put no star to this review but amazon.com's system only allow from 1-5 stars.
Rating:
Summary: If You Want Big, Fat Fantasy, Spend Your $ on Robert Jordan
Review: Lord of the Isles and subsequent volumes (which I'm still not sure why I bought) read like those old D&D "pick an adventure" stories, where if you want the hero to rescue the maiden, turn to page 24. Trees died to make the paper for this book and its sequels. Their sacrifice was in vain. If you like big, fat, sprawling fantasies, spend your money on Robert Jordan instead.
Rating:
Summary: Tor Fantasy: The Axis of Awful
Review: Some books reviews call for subtlety, but in this case I think I'll cut directly to the chase. "Lord of the Isles" is one of the worst pieces of nonsensical drivel ever written. David Drake's writing is confusing, silly, and immature all at once. The book is filled with grammar errors. This was, apparently, another case of the editor being out to lunch on a major fantasy novel. There are times when it seems like he's simply throwing words together at random with zero thought. For instance, he uses the phrase "waxen darkness". How on earth is it possible for darkness to be waxen? This happens several times per page, not just once in a while. Drake's inability to keep track of what he's written is enough to drive you insane. For example, there's one scene where a character remarks that she's never even heard of a particular city before. Half a page later she starts lecturing somebody else about the history of that city. Gaping plot holes and flaws in the story's logic, choppy writing with chapters that are only two or three pages long, and random appearances of new characters and concepts without any explanation are all apparent throughout the book. Characterization is all but nonexistent. If young people living in a tiny isolated village suddenly had their lives turned upside down by strangers and were forced to undertake dangerous journeys, there are certain feelings that you'd expect them to have: surprise, fear, loneliness, homesickness, and so forth. In "Lord of the Isles", most of the characters don't experience any emotions whatsoever. They drift through the book witnessing astonishing and frightening events without even the slightest reaction. Unbelievable stupidity is about the only defining characteristic of every person. For example, when a group gets shipwrecked in territory that they now is controlled by hostile forces who want them dead, they don't make any attempt to hide or protect themselves, but instead walk right into the clutches of the bad guys. Their captor knows that one of them is a powerful wizard, but doesn't even try to stop the wizard from using magic to free them, and so forth. Drake devotes almost zero space to descriptive writing, making it nearly impossible to visualize what is happening during the action scenes that occur roughly once every five pages. The fight scenes themselves are laughable. I've complained before about how many fantasy novels have cheesy, unrealistic depictions of fighting, but this book tops them all. I lost track of how many times one of the naive farmers just picked up a weapon and beat the stuffing out of an entire mob of well-trained soldiers. "Lord of the Isles" suffers from the worst case of lack of plot continuity I've ever seen. At one point a group of characters are on a raft near an island called Tegma. The next time that we see them, the raft has suddenly moved hundreds of miles north, apparently crossing an area of dry land in the process, and there's no explanation for how it happened. I could go on listing problems, but I think that you get the point by now, so I'll conclude with a few words about Tor Fantasy, the company that published this stinker. Fifteen years ago, Tor was just one of the many companies struggling along in the fantasy field. In 1989, however, they hit pay dirt with Robert Jordan's "Wheel of Time" series. Since then, they seem to have decided that the fastest way to money is simply to find authors whose only 'talent' is the ability to copy down the Wheel of Time while changing the names and a few minor details. Here are just a few of the similarities between "The Eye of the World" and "Lord of the Isles": Both books focus on and are told from the perspective of four people in their upper teens who live in a quaint, isolated village, but who are forced to take a journey to somewhere else and get caught up in larger events. In both books, the action begins when a well-dressed older woman arrives from out of town. In both cases, the woman turns out to be a powerful wizard, although we don't learn the true extent of her magical power until much later. In "The Eye of the world", the archvillain is 'The Dark One'. In "Lord of the Isles", it's 'The Hooded One'. In both cases, this very bad person is making a second go-round at conquering the world because his first attempt failed several thousand years ago. In both cases, the hero of the book turns out to be a resurrected version of the ancient leader who defeated the bad guy way back then. Likewise, Drake copies Jordan's inept dialogue, overwritten dream sequences, inability to create a female character who isn't bossy and arrogant, etc... I could gripe further, but what's the point? Tor will continue to support these copy artists until the audience finally wises up and stops buying their work. Until then, those of us who want originality and intelligence will just have to seek out other publishing houses.
Rating:
Summary: Good ideas dragged down
Review: I read this book when I was bored at work. While it served to fill the time, a bunch of good ideas somehow just don't gel together well in the final story. The magic system is really interesting, it has a good setting (being on a bunch of islands), and a good backstory setup. Then why do I rate it just average? Well, the main drawback for me was the characters. There's two classes of characterization here: slim and none. All of them seem one dimentional at best, and some of the characters that get the most page time fall into the 'none' catigory. Hundreds of pages were devoted to these characters, and not once did the author ever show what was going on inside their heads. Also, this book has by far the highest body count of any fantasy book I've read. It seems that characters are introduced, and then offed a few chapters later. One of the characters starts the story taking off on a sea voyage with about 400 sailors and various others, and she's the only one alive by the end of the book. And almost every single bit character introduced outside the main ones are really, well, vile. Loathsome and disgusting people, really. I'll agree with others who have said that there's a lot of unconnected adventures in it. While adventures aren't bad in and of themselves, it seems like in this case they were stuck in merely to lengthen the book with no purpose or character development going on. Still, most of the adventures are exciting. It's not horribly bad, nor is it famously good. It's just... average.
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