Rating: 
Summary: Mindless "entertainment" if you've nothing else to do.
Review: I picked up a hardcover copy off of a bargain table, so the story was worth the $ it cost. If you're looking for something to read other than the back of a cereal box, this book fits the bill. Besides the characters being incredibly underdeveloped, the storyline did little to pique my interest and the question of magic (origin, rules for use, etc.) was never fully addressed. If your looking for a writer like Terry Goodkind and Robert Jordan, keep looking.
Rating:
Summary: Lord of the Bile
Review: The book had a decent plot but I just could not get into it. I did not sense any threat to the HOODED ONE nor any threat to the characters except for the random creatures that attack them out of nowhere. This is a problem for me since I thought the main thrust of the book was the battle against... the HOODED ONE and I just could not take him seriously. The main thing I did not like was the characters. For some reason they came about as really snotty, and obnoxious even the never-made-any-mistakes-always-saves-the-day Nonas. I really spent a majority of the book hoping for them to encounter something that they might find even remotely challenging but again there is no sense of threat, they beat the odds all the time with little or no difficulty (except when Nonas was there to spring them). They all seemed a little too holier than thou to me, always saying how discusting this guy is or that guy is. I really wanted all the characters to die and die horribly. there were a few interesting points in the story though they were far and few between. The wizard chants were interesting. I planned to memorize them and chant them to annoy people but I returned the book.
Rating: 
Summary: in a word: garbage
Review: where to begin? heavyhanded, completely unskilled character development. relies entirely on bad grammar to give "style" and "voice" to the characters. the book jumps from one dull, unconvincing storyline to another, soon i found myself rooting for the monsters, hoping they would just go ahead and kill those blithering idiots. drake has no sense of drama or even appropriateness. he spends several pages hyping a meeting between Big Dumb Lunk with a Heart of Gold and Secret Magical Powers character and the Horrific Demon, yet when Dumb Lunk Who Loves Sheep Way Too Much meets said demon, the demon's first words are, "Hoo! Hoo! Hoo!" good going, drake.
Rating: 
Summary: Original story with HEROES, not wimps....
Review: I am sick and tired of the pages and pages of boring garbage some fantasy writers fill their books with. The "Hero" of the story sit and whines and complains about the task given to him/her by fate and refuses to use the "gift" given to them. The heroes in "The Lord Of The Isles" are good old fashioned hack and slash type who spend more time doing heroic deeds than thinking about them. They accept who they are and what they are without pages of pseudo psycho claptrap. The people who claim this makes them one dimensional are too rigid in their thinking. The plot is rich with sub stories that will make you want to read the second installment as quick as possible. Action all the way through. You don't have to wade through 700 pages of nothing to reach 20 pages of action like Jordan's books. I like all sort of sci-fi and fantasy, Anybody who wants real heroes will enjoy this book!
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Summary: Epic hero's in a not quite epic setting..still a great read!
Review: Tired of spineless hero's whining "why me?" or worried about actually using some of the "awesome powers" they control because they're afraid to hurt somebody. Then come read a really good book filled with real hero's. Strong Male and Female characters stride through the story with clearly understood purpose and ability lending the needed suspension of disbelief necessary to propel the book to near epic status. I definitely enjoyed this book, it had an Andre Nortonesque quality that I haven't seen done well in quite some time. Bravo to David Drake!
Rating: 
Summary: A good fantasy with lots of action
Review: After reading some other reviewers' comments, I had to stop and think about their criticisms of the book. While I agree with their comments concerning character development, I found this book to be one of the more enjoyable fantasies I've read in a good while, and I've read quite a few including Jordan's Wheel of Time, Edding's Belgariad/Mallorean, Feist's Magician: series, Goodkind's Sword of Truth, Hambly's Darwath Trilogy, Reichert's Last of the Renshai and J V Jone's Book of Words series, all of which I recommend. Lord of the Isles is a quick read with relatively short chapters, each with a nice little punch at the end. When the characters split up and have separate adventures, the chapters rotate to follow each story simultaneously. I had no trouble following the story or keeping track of who's who. The chapters are often left as cliffhangers, but all the plots are excellent and the shorter chapters don't leave you hanging a long time to find out "what happened to..?". There is very little fat or excess commentary in this book. The magic is pretty mundane in theory and practice, but the narration of effects usually make up for it. If you are looking for a deep, thought provoking book you might want to skip this one, but if you are looking for a page turner with some neat variations to the usual encounters in fantasy, I highly recommend it.
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Summary: Stimluates the mind but not any empathy
Review: For the most part, I agree with previous comments made on the characters being pathetically flat. Liane seems to have absolutely no purpose but to meander about. The main point I have to make is that no one is the slightest bit curious. Garric takes anything and everything Tenoctris says as the simple fact and never questions. Magic seems to be convenient to plot. There are no rules and no consistancy. One moment Tenoctris can't do a thing without some type of twig, next thing we know she is taking Garric to another dimension without having to chant as previously required. These could all be accepted if someone would simply question. Does Garric, some sort of scholar as a child, hold absolutely no curiosity? Furthermore, it seems that Mr Drake wrote the last twenty pages, and then wrote backwards to get his charcter there. I understand Mr Drake is an excellent Sci-Fi author, but I believe his concepts of fantasy do need sharpening.
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Summary: Flat and fake characters
Review: I must say that the story line is very good. However, this book is totally devoid of character developement. The characters are unrealistic and flat. I'm not asking for Mr. Drake to write another Moby Dick, I just like the people I'm reading about to have substance. For those of you that are considering reading it, pick it up first and read a few chapters. Then, look at each character and ask yourself "Do people really act like this? Does any of this make sense?" If your answer is "yes" then go ahead and buy it. You would probably find well thought out literature boring, so you might as well enjoy yourself. I also definately recomend this book to young people that have not yet had a decent English class and simply don't know what to expect from a book. As for the authors that comment on the cover of the book, three of which I have read something by, you would like their books too. For those of you that want to read something that is still going to be on the shelves in a few years, I would recommend Hyperion, by Dan Simmons. The only reason I gave this book two stars instead of one is that Mr. Drake may have been trying to write his book like he did. I know that many authors are quite capable of writing very good works, but don't simply because it is easier to write ones of lower calaber that will still sell.
Rating:
Summary: Could use some work but is still good
Review: I had tried reading this book three times without succeding. I still had Robert Jordan and Terry Goodkind on my mind. That always makes it hard to go into another story when your mind already has so many other stories (some unfinished) bouncing around in it. Anyway, after completing A Game of Thrones, another excellent book, I decided to give Lord of the Isles another go. I had never gotten past the first chapter until recently. Picking the book up early in the morning, I had it finished later that afternoon. I found that while I liked the book, the story seemed almost half thought out. It seemed that Mr. Drake did put a lot of thought into the history of the world or into any real depth. I don't know, maybe it is because I've read so many books recently that have stories rapped up within the larger story, and the writer gave those worlds a tremendous history (i.e. The Wheel of Time, A Song of Ice and Fire) that I look for those qualities without realizing it. It is a good book nonetheless and I recommend it to all fantasy lovers out there.
Rating:
Summary: excellent and ambitious story
Review: The characters are well thought out. I enjoyed seeing how they coped with different situations. I hope that there is a second installment which would provide as much entertainment as this book did. Because it jumped from chapter to chapter, I wanted to read on to put it all together. I did enjoy this book, and I hope you do too.
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