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Rating: 
Summary: Different certainly, but wretched dialogue
Review: = Refreshingly good
Reviewer: JFC007 from Hamden, CT USA
I have been a reader of fantasy for many many years and just recently happened upon John Marco's excellent Tyrant and Kings series. I must say that I am very impressed. For the most part Marco avoids calling upon the "standard" fare for fantasty novels/series.
The "hero" is a man conflicted. His path (unlike many fantasy heros) is not a clear one. His decisions arent always correct..the man has faults...Our "hero" faces conflict, choice, loneliness, failure and occasional joy. This book takes the readers on a fascinating and often dark journey with many interesting and unexpected twists and turns. Upon completing this book i strongly suggest re-reading the first twenty or so pages, this will serve as a wonderful reminder as to just how far you and Richius (the main character) have come...its quite a ride...Magic is handled sparingly and in an intersting manner. The use of "technology" is refreshingly well done and realtively new to the genre.. I certainly place Marco among the ranks of Rawn, Feist, Moon, Brooks(today)..give him another series and he will be spoken of in the same manner as Brooks (of old), Jordan or Eddings...Well done
Rating: 
Summary: A five for fantasy fans!!
Review: = Refreshingly good
Reviewer: JFC007 from Hamden, CT USA
I have been a reader of fantasy for many many years and just recently happened upon John Marco's excellent Tyrant and Kings series. I must say that I am very impressed. For the most part Marco avoids calling upon the "standard" fare for fantasty novels/series.
The "hero" is a man conflicted. His path (unlike many fantasy heros) is not a clear one. His decisions arent always correct..the man has faults...Our "hero" faces conflict, choice, loneliness, failure and occasional joy. This book takes the readers on a fascinating and often dark journey with many interesting and unexpected twists and turns. Upon completing this book i strongly suggest re-reading the first twenty or so pages, this will serve as a wonderful reminder as to just how far you and Richius (the main character) have come...its quite a ride... Magic is handled sparingly and in an intersting manner. The use of "technology" is refreshingly well done and realtively new to the genre.. I certainly place Marco among the ranks of Rawn, Feist, Moon, Brooks(today)..give him another series and he will be spoken of in the same manner as Brooks (of old), Jordan or Eddings...Well done
Rating: 
Summary: A wealth of missed chances
Review: A book brimming with interesting ideas and characters, sadly very little of this potential is realized. Marco has a good grasp of the basics of telling a great fantasy story but he constantly hamstrings himself with failures of logics. He tends to create characters and plot threads that are fascinating and then suddenly cuts them off before they can fully develop.
It remains an enjoyable book to read but it could have been incredible.
Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Military Fantasy
Review: Admittedly, this is my first military fantasy novel, but I had trouble putting it down. With strong characters, clever and exciting stories, and relatable undertones, the book will captivate any who pick it up. His insertion of magic into the realms of old-style battle and more primitive life is a wonderful plot element that made the story all the more intriguing. The passion, danger, and true sense of adventure that Marco packed into this novel are some of the most strongly conveyed elements I've ever read in a story. I look forward to my next Marco purchase!
Rating: 
Summary: Refreshingly good
Review: I have been a reader of fantasy for many many years and just recently happened upon John Marco's excellent Tyrant and Kings series. I must say that I am very impressed. For the most part Marco avoids calling upon the "standard" fare for fantasty novels/series. The "hero" is a man conflicted. His path (unlike many fantasy heros) is not a clear one. His decisions arent always correct..the man has faults...Our "hero" faces conflict, choice, loneliness, failure and occasional joy. This book takes the readers on a fascinating and often dark journey with many interesting and unexpected twists and turns. Upon completing this book i strongly suggest re-reading the first twenty or so pages, this will serve as a wonderful reminder as to just how far you and Richius (the main character) have come...its quite a ride... Magic is handled sparingly and in an intersting manner. The use of "technology" is refreshingly well done and realtively new to the genre.. I certainly place Marco among the ranks of Rawn, Feist, Moon, Brooks(today)..give him another series and he will be spoken of in the same manner as Brooks (of old), Jordan or Eddings...Well done!!
Rating:
Summary: Refreshingly good
Review: I have been a reader of fantasy for many many years and just recently happened upon John Marco's excellent Tyrant and Kings series. I must say that I am very impressed. For the most part Marco avoids calling upon the "standard" fare for fantasty novels/series. The "hero" is a man conflicted. His path (unlike many fantasy heros) is not a clear one. His decisions arent always correct..the man has faults...Our "hero" faces conflict, choice, loneliness, failure and occasional joy. This book takes the readers on a fascinating and often dark journey with many interesting and unexpected twists and turns. Upon completing this book i strongly suggest re-reading the first twenty or so pages, this will serve as a wonderful reminder as to just how far you and Richius (the main character) have come...its quite a ride... Magic is handled sparingly and in an intersting manner. The use of "technology" is refreshingly well done and realtively new to the genre.. I certainly place Marco among the ranks of Rawn, Feist, Moon, Brooks(today)..give him another series and he will be spoken of in the same manner as Brooks (of old), Jordan or Eddings...Well done!!
Rating: 
Summary: read something else
Review: I will admit that I did not read the second and third books but I was disappointed with this one. I think what makes a book interesting is when the characters behave believably in incredible circumstances and a story is one that makes you want to read on. Neither were in this book for me. The setting is interesting enough and I'm sure this book could adapt well into a RPG but as for literature it was unconvincing. THIS BOOK IS NOT MILITARY FANTASY. There are sections in the story where there are battle scenes but they are not explored enough and the result is usually killing off main characters for no special reason. This happens in real life you say? Yes, but don't introduce characters in depth and then kill them off, you are wasting my time. People seem to accept the fact that a first book is week because the author is trying to lay out the scene for you, introduce characters ,motivations of characters and villians and in the case of fantasy novels, building worlds. But the truth of the matter is publishers want to sell three books minimum to a series and this results in the watering down of a story. I hope that people realise this trap and are more selective in their purchases. Hey Marcos ,what about pathos? The main character is annoying and consistently behaves foolishly. I find it hard to believe that in war, a military commander would fight hand to hand with the enemy, isn't he more useful to devise military strategy? What happens if your commander gets killed? Who then makes the decisions? There are other holes in the story and I could go on, but read something else will ya? If you are interested in military stories read the Sharpe novels(this is historical fiction however). Raymond Feist writes some intersting military scenes in a fantasy setting but the books have become a little monotonous.Try reading his books spread out with other books in between. George Martin's Fire and Ice novels have good military elements and a good story but the series is not finished yet.
Rating:
Summary: Decently done first novel
Review: This book is pretty darn good. Its Marco's first novel so i won't fault him for the clumsiness of his style in the first third of the book which is smoothed out for the most part
in the latter parts of the book though it still shows that he's definitly new. The book is good though its more action-driven then it should be in the beginning and too boring in the middle. There is not alot of magic which is not a bad thing though there is none of the mysticism that gets you really into a fantasy novel. Also the characters are not spectacular: the hero, Richius is kind of stupid in his do-gooderness, his love intrest Dyana was great in the begining but after a long hiatus she reemerges quite boring and his rival Blackwood Gayle is so incrediably two-dimensional as a villian i can't stand scences with him in it. On the other side of the coin, Count biago is quite well driven as an evil man driven by his lusts and the fact that he's bisexual blew me away because of the rareness of any form of homosexuality in fantasy. Its always a good omen for a writer who is willing to make such bold moves. I haven't read the whole series yet but it can only get better from here. Jackal of Nar is not the best first novel i have ever read but its still really good.
Rating:
Summary: The Jackal of Prose
Review: With all of the crap out in the fantasy world, Marco's twist on combat (land and naval) is nice! This books are not classics, but they are solid well told stories. Nothing boring here! Read the whole series.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent world making, pretty interesting characters!
Review: With all of the crap out in the fantasy world, Marco's twist on combat (land and naval) is nice! This books are not classics, but they are solid well told stories. Nothing boring here! Read the whole series.
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