Home :: Books :: Science Fiction & Fantasy  

Arts & Photography
Audio CDs
Audiocassettes
Biographies & Memoirs
Business & Investing
Children's Books
Christianity
Comics & Graphic Novels
Computers & Internet
Cooking, Food & Wine
Entertainment
Gay & Lesbian
Health, Mind & Body
History
Home & Garden
Horror
Literature & Fiction
Mystery & Thrillers
Nonfiction
Outdoors & Nature
Parenting & Families
Professional & Technical
Reference
Religion & Spirituality
Romance
Science
Science Fiction & Fantasy

Sports
Teens
Travel
Women's Fiction
Tales of Mithgar

Tales of Mithgar

List Price: $8.95
Your Price: $8.95
Product Info Reviews

<< 1 2 >>

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Tales From The One-Eyed Crow
Review: "Tales of Mithgar," though the first collection of short stories in McKiernan's Mithgarian sagas, is an essential to the collection for any fan of this series. Though many readers may pass up this book of "small" tales in favor of one of the epic novels - I highly advise you give it a second glance.

The long awaited first three encounters of Baron Stoke by Tomlin, Petal, Riatha, and Urus are included in the collection; so if you're a fan of his masterpiece "The Eye of the Hunter" - perhaps McKiernan's most definative creative piece - then this prequel to that adventure is a must.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Tales From The One-Eyed Crow
Review: "Tales of Mithgar," though the first collection of short stories in McKiernan's Mithgarian sagas, is an essential to the collection for any fan of this series. Though many readers may pass up this book of "small" tales in favor of one of the epic novels - I highly advise you give it a second glance.

The long awaited first three encounters of Baron Stoke by Tomlin, Petal, Riatha, and Urus are included in the collection; so if you're a fan of his masterpiece "The Eye of the Hunter" - perhaps McKiernan's most definative creative piece - then this prequel to that adventure is a must.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great
Review: For anyone that has not read many of McKiernan's books based on Mithgar, this is the book to buy. You will get the flavor of what it is like to be in Mithgar and if you love it you'll know you should read more of his novels. If you're already accustomed to the world of Mithgar, there are at least 2 wonderful stories in here that you should read.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great
Review: For anyone that has not read many of McKiernan's books based on Mithgar, this is the book to buy. You will get the flavor of what it is like to be in Mithgar and if you love it you'll know you should read more of his novels. If you're already accustomed to the world of Mithgar, there are at least 2 wonderful stories in here that you should read.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Hmm...
Review: I disliked McKiernan's "Silver Call" duology and Iron Tower trilogy. But I was pleasantly surprised by this collection of short stories -- they tended to be tighter, better-written and often funny or cute. And even if I didn't dislike them, they didn't annoy me as much. (Methinks McKiernan's talents are better suited to small, personal stories rather than epic sagas)

This series of stories opens in the One Eyed Crow, a Warrow pub, during a really horrible blizzard. As a result, the people in it end up telling stories to each other to pass the time and occupy their minds. Among the first is "The Thornwalker and the Wolf", a nice little story about a Warrow who ends up in a wolf den during a snowstorm. "Trout of the Rillmix" is touching, but telling any more would ruin it. "Ruffian and the Giant" is amusing in places, but overall feels kind of strained and hard to follow. "Agron's Army" has three things going for it -- tight plotting, an intriguing conclusion, and some passages from the POV of one of Modru's Hloks. "The Helborne Drum" was something I didn't understand at all. "The Transformation of Beau Darby" was very, very cute, especially for the people who liked the "Hel's Crucible" duology. "The Dammsel" is sad and sweet. "For Want Of A Copper Coin" is also cute, a nice little story about a Warrow competing with a Man.

What's the problem? Well, interspersed through these stories are three interconnected tales that lead up to "Eye of the Hunter." (I haven't read it, but I know what it's about) This follows an Elf lady (I refuse to use the term "Elfess") named Riatha, a shapeshifting Baeran named Urus, and a pair of Warrows named Tomlin and Petal as they hunt the horrifying Baron Stoke, a psychotic sorcerer who has killed loved ones of each one of them.

Despite the unfortunately tendency of Mr. McKiernan to give us dull travelling details, I enjoyed these stories until I started recognizing details from them. If you've read tales about J.R.R. Tolkien's Huan, Luthien and their showdown with Sauron (who also appears as a werewolf, then in bat form, was keeping a love interest captive), you'll see some striking similarities to events in those three stories. That sort of spoiled them for me. And I felt the epilogue was a little too much.

The writing varies from story to story. Some are nearly impeccable, some are pretty awful; the heavy-handed message of "Thornwalker" was a little much. He does get points for finally giving us a Warrow romance that I can stomach, I actually thought Petal and Tomlin were kinda cute. Fans of this book series will also like seeing their old favorites -- some are lead characters from the novel-length books, some are background characters, like Gaffer Tom.

Like most short-story collections, this varies from story to story. A nice read if you want some variety or if you're a fan of the series. But I really do think that McKiernan needs to write shorter, smaller-scale, more interpersonal books. If he had the literary success of some of the the stories in here, I'd read it all.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Hmm...
Review: I disliked McKiernan's "Silver Call" duology and Iron Tower trilogy. But I was pleasantly surprised by this collection of short stories -- they tended to be tighter, better-written and often funny or cute. And even if I didn't dislike them, they didn't annoy me as much. (Methinks McKiernan's talents are better suited to small, personal stories rather than epic sagas)

This series of stories opens in the One Eyed Crow, a Warrow pub, during a really horrible blizzard. As a result, the people in it end up telling stories to each other to pass the time and occupy their minds. Among the first is "The Thornwalker and the Wolf", a nice little story about a Warrow who ends up in a wolf den during a snowstorm. "Trout of the Rillmix" is touching, but telling any more would ruin it. "Ruffian and the Giant" is amusing in places, but overall feels kind of strained and hard to follow. "Agron's Army" has three things going for it -- tight plotting, an intriguing conclusion, and some passages from the POV of one of Modru's Hloks. "The Helborne Drum" was something I didn't understand at all. "The Transformation of Beau Darby" was very, very cute, especially for the people who liked the "Hel's Crucible" duology. "The Dammsel" is sad and sweet. "For Want Of A Copper Coin" is also cute, a nice little story about a Warrow competing with a Man.

What's the problem? Well, interspersed through these stories are three interconnected tales that lead up to "Eye of the Hunter." (I haven't read it, but I know what it's about) This follows an Elf lady (I refuse to use the term "Elfess") named Riatha, a shapeshifting Baeran named Urus, and a pair of Warrows named Tomlin and Petal as they hunt the horrifying Baron Stoke, a psychotic sorcerer who has killed loved ones of each one of them.

Despite the unfortunately tendency of Mr. McKiernan to give us dull travelling details, I enjoyed these stories until I started recognizing details from them. If you've read tales about J.R.R. Tolkien's Huan, Luthien and their showdown with Sauron (who also appears as a werewolf, then in bat form, was keeping a love interest captive), you'll see some striking similarities to events in those three stories. That sort of spoiled them for me. And I felt the epilogue was a little too much.

The writing varies from story to story. Some are nearly impeccable, some are pretty awful; the heavy-handed message of "Thornwalker" was a little much. He does get points for finally giving us a Warrow romance that I can stomach, I actually thought Petal and Tomlin were kinda cute. Fans of this book series will also like seeing their old favorites -- some are lead characters from the novel-length books, some are background characters, like Gaffer Tom.

Like most short-story collections, this varies from story to story. A nice read if you want some variety or if you're a fan of the series. But I really do think that McKiernan needs to write shorter, smaller-scale, more interpersonal books. If he had the literary success of some of the the stories in here, I'd read it all.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Some Good Stories
Review: I liked this book the best stories were the one that is about Baron Stoke and the one where the older man and the young boy had to gurad that outpost that story was very touching and it really opens your eyes to the horrors of war. There is also a suprisingly good story about life and fishing and a king sized trout,I am an avid fisherman so I quite enjoyed that story. If you are a McKiernan fan I reccommend this book.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Tales of Mithgar
Review: It's strange that this is out of print, but anyways. I first read these short stories when I was a teenager and I could picture everything that was being described and could connect to the characters, thanks to McKiernan's writing skills (though a bit heavy-handed at times now that I've read them again recently). There's times when McKiernan gets a bit sappy but overall his writing is tight and endearing. The characters act logically and have personality. The blizzard setting was a good touch as well and the switching between tales and the present was done rather smoothly. Definitely worth checking out for those who haven't read them, a great collection of stories. I wouldn't pay $50 for it though (the current asking price if you want it used on Amazon.com)...

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Even his short-stories are great
Review: Nice cover work. Other than that, nothing good to be said. The author tries to connect eleven short stories into one work and pass it off as a real novella, but fails to do so. Even in short stories, the characters should at least be interesting. Most of the characters here were found to be 2-dimensional and rather plain. The action sequences left a lot to be desired as well. The story ideas, by themselves, are good. However, it seemed as if the author was more interested in fitting the stories into an allotted number of pages than fully developing a plot.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Not even for $3.99
Review: Nice cover work. Other than that, nothing good to be said. The author tries to connect eleven short stories into one work and pass it off as a real novella, but fails to do so. Even in short stories, the characters should at least be interesting. Most of the characters here were found to be 2-dimensional and rather plain. The action sequences left a lot to be desired as well. The story ideas, by themselves, are good. However, it seemed as if the author was more interested in fitting the stories into an allotted number of pages than fully developing a plot.


<< 1 2 >>

© 2004, ReviewFocus or its affiliates