Rating: 
Summary: One fo the Worst - Unimaginative story telling
Review: This is one of the worse books I have read. I had all I could do to finish it. Great fantasy should seem real -- this seems like all contrived by an unskilled writer.The heart of the problem is the main character, Tristan, who is weak, spineless and willful. His refusal to obey the Sr. Wizard Wigg is the plot contrivance used by the author to extend the story. Havina a weak central character is simply poor plotting and design. You can foresee every plot incident along the way -- it screams outloud what will happen next. I honestly don't see how any reputable publisher could publish such trash. The only appealing character in the book is Wigg - the rest are boring, uninteresing stereotypes. The fantasy world constructed by the author is as trivial as his writing.
Rating: 
Summary: Did someone else understand this?
Review: Okay, I disliked the book. I don't have a problem with the chauvanism(since Tolkien ignores women and Jordan, while having some strong female characters, often depicts men as much more reasonable). I have no problem with the unnecessary dominatrix sex; it was meant to show the depravity of the sorceresses, which it did, but I think it was mainly an attempt to get attention, which it has, instead of a misogynist's fantasies(Martin was able to show the depravity of the Lannisters so much more easily). I can ignore the writing, mostly, because this is a new author(I can enjoy Brust's dialogue in his Khaavren stories because it's meant to be long-winded). But I feel Newcomb never explained an important point.(Spoilers!) Why did the war between the sorceresses and the wizards start? At first, I thought they became insane from using the Vagaries, but Wigg says they never discovered the Tome until late in the war. The Tome taught them about the Vigors and the Vagaries; before they read the Tome they practiced some unspecified "craft." Supposedly the incomplete knowledge of the Vagaries drove the sorceresses insane, since Faegan stayed quite sane. So why did the sorceresses suddenly get up and start a war?
Rating:
Summary: Terrible novel from a hack writer and a shill publisher.
Review: "The Fifth Sorceress" is boring, cliched, sensationalist, and worst of all, horribly written. Newcomb's narrative is a clinic of things writers should avoid: exposition dumps, overuse of adverbs, and repetitive use of identical descriptive phrases. The point-of-view awkwardly veers from character to character in the same scenes, and sometimes in the same paragraphs. Ponderous inner monologues blurt out each character's feelings like comic-book thought bubbles, achieving characterization only at a cartoonish level. The lands and cultures of Eutracia and Parthalon show no trace of originality beyond the Klingon-esque "dreggar" sword. The harshly demarcated gender roles, with the graphic lust of the aggressive female antagonists, is a worn plot device. Frank Herbert handled it well in "Heretics of Dune," but Newcomb's weak writing leaves it feeling like Conan-esque softcore bondage porn. Del Ray, the largest publisher in the fantasy genre, should be embarrassed for publishing this awful novel, let alone their shameless advertising campaign. However, given Del Ray's deliberate publishing of poorly written Tolkein clones like Terry Brooks in the 70s, the only surprise in them shilling a poorly written Robert Jordan clone in 2002 is what took them so long.
Rating: 
Summary: Loved it, anyone who says its bad...is wrong
Review: One of the greatest books ever written. In terms of character Newcomb's done it, he has come up with one of the best character lines up ever in a single book. Men = Good Woman = Bad is an entirely new concept that works very well. The actual plot itself is vivid, he leaves no stone unturned and keesp you wanting more. Im no speed reader but this was a page turner, finished the whole thing (what, 700 ish pages?) in around 3 days.. considering I can read a clancy novel in 2 weeks thats amazingly fast. Great book, if you have even the slightest or smallest idea of getting this book, dont let the idiots who wrote bad reviews spoil an amazing adventure, BUY THIS BOOK!
Rating:
Summary: Wonderfully non-politically correct ADULT fantasy
Review: Truly unique fantasy book. Finally a fantasy work that is not a Tolkien/Arthurian re-hash. Has very thought provoking dominance/submission sexual undercurrents (prudes should look elsewhere)and a fresh take on magic. The author has a true understanding of man's eternal struggle to deal with real women and their usually domineering nature.
Rating:
Summary: Oh, Spare Me...
Review: The number of reviewers here claiming that this book is well-written confirms my belief that this country's educational system has gone completely to pot. Let's put aside for the moment the derivative plot. Put aside the infantile sexual stereo-typing. Put aside the relentless arrogance and self-pitying introspection by the characters whom you are supposed to admire/identify with. Put aside the howling logical errors (a 'symetrical' three-winged lark, Tristan mentioning death enchantments, only to be 'stunned' at hearing Wig mention them just TWO pages later). Where was the editor who was supposed to read this book prior to publication? The author fails to display better than rudimentary skills in the area of writing mechanics. He beats you to death with certain words (if I ever read the term 'endowed' again, I'm going to scream) and certain phrases ('Tristan was stunned at what he next saw'; 'What Tristan next saw would remain with him for ever'; 'Tristan's mind reeled at what he beheld'). He constantly misuses words. He takes everything to the superlative, and overwhelms the reader with adjectives/adverbs. Sentence structure is unvarying, paragraph structure is unvarying, and his working vocabulary isn't broad enough to give his writing a fresh, interesting tone. (...) I know that this isn't supposed to be literature, but when you are marketing a book as a great epic and charging people a not-inconsiderable price for it, I feel that the reader is, at the least, entitled to a casual nod toward quality from the publisher. Since being introduced to SF/Fantasy through Asimov and Anne McCaffery 20+ years ago, it has always been my opinion that as a genre (or two) it has generally maintained a higher standard in the area of basic writing quality than other entertainment genres (mystery, suspense, romance, etc.). The pomp and hype with which this book was released makes it a sharp and obvious break from that standard. Even with all of its other glaring flaws it could have provided a few hours of simple, mindless entertainment (...)
Rating:
Summary: Stop your crying!
Review: This is a great book, read it for enjoyment, get over the controversial parts. This is a page turner; this is a book that will keep you up at nights. The writing is better than most and I had no problems understanding what was happening. READ IT FOR THE GREAT STORY LINE, you will enjoy it.
Rating: 
Summary: Male=good, Female=bad.....need I say more?
Review: ...which is QUITE a leap, might I say, as well as being just ridiculous in the extreme. Of course, that's why this book falls into the fantasy category, because nobody could try to pull a stunt like that off in a reality based world!! just look at the crime numbers, male to female, wars, and pillaging throughout history....and who comes up more often as bloodthirsty on matters of gender? that's right, MEN.
...which is not to say that the man cannot write, because he has a flowery prose and is very exacting in detail. For this reason, i gave it 3 stars.
Rating:
Summary: My Endowed Contempt Knows No Bounds
Review: At first, I thought it was interesting, if a little shlocky. (Let's see: four women, so one has to be brunette, one blonde, one a red head, and let's thow in someone Asian just to round it out. Cue the canned soft-porn music!) But by the end of the second chapter, I began to realize that I had something especially bad here. This man is, simply put, a bad writer. A really, really, bad writer. It doesn't matter if it's Fantasy, mystery, non-fiction, what have you: poor grammar, misused words, and plain miserable logic (the symmetry and simplicity of a 3-winged bird?) become nothing short of agonizing. I've read some low-class, derivative SF&F before, but this may well be the worst ever. Perhaps the worst book regardless of genre. I can't even say nice try, Newcomb, 'cause my endowed blood won't permit it. Geez!
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting Story
Review: I just finished this book a few nights ago and I was rather pleased. I have read most of the reviews out there and was actually a little shocked at how strongly opionated some people were. I really do not understand the intense hatred some folks seem to have for this book. Although the writing was not perfect, the story and characters were well executed. I think the dark aspects of the story lend to making it more interesting. I would definitely say that this is fantasy for adults and not for children. If you are thinking of purchasing it, I would give it a try. I have the next book in the story and an looking forward to reading it as soon as I complete Terry Brooks' newest book Jarka Ruus.
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