The Night Parade (The Harpers, No. 4)

Rating:
Summary: An unfortunate choice for fans of The Harpers series
Review: First of all, if a book is going to be part of a series involving a society, shouldn't the story be about one of the members? The only true Harpers throughout the novel were slaughtered in pointless melodrama. The phrasing and paragraph structure was redundant and slow and the only really moving scenes had nothing at all to do with the plot, if you consider being told that people were making noble gestures, as opposed to having the gesture described, moving. There was poinless slaughter, unfounded, unrealistic romanticized acts of self-sacrifice and so so many encounters that did nothing for the plot that half of the text could have been struck out for being irrelevant (except to explain why there were no Harpers in the novel). And since there was so much material that had nothing to do with the plot, the story dragged on beyond the bareable limits. This novel was an exercise in pain tolerance. All in all, The Night Parade has to be the worst novel that I can recall ever having read. A true and regretable waste of time.

Rating:
Summary: An unfortunate choice for fans of The Harpers series
Review: First of all, if a book is going to be part of a series involving a society, shouldn't the story be about one of the members? The only true Harpers throughout the novel were slaughtered in pointless melodrama. The phrasing and paragraph structure was redundant and slow and the only really moving scenes had nothing at all to do with the plot, if you consider being told that people were making noble gestures, as opposed to having the gesture described, moving. There was poinless slaughter, unfounded, unrealistic romanticized acts of self-sacrifice and so so many encounters that did nothing for the plot that half of the text could have been struck out for being irrelevant (except to explain why there were no Harpers in the novel). And since there was so much material that had nothing to do with the plot, the story dragged on beyond the bareable limits. This novel was an exercise in pain tolerance. All in all, The Night Parade has to be the worst novel that I can recall ever having read. A true and regretable waste of time.

Rating:
Summary: An exceptional novel in an excellent series.
Review: For those of you who enjoy reading Forgotten Realms Novels, then this book is a must. The intriguing plot is enough to entertain even the most critical of readers. If you aren't a fan of the Forgotten Realms, or if you have never read a single novel, then this book would be a good starting point. The story takes place mainly in Calimsham, a city of intrigue. However, even the most die-hard fantasy reader would never be prepared for what takes place in the city at night. Myrmeen Lhal, the seductive ruler of Arabel, has made it her quest, along with some Harper friends (the semi-secret organization of good in the Realms), to eradicate the evil that stalks the shadows of the city. If you are into fantasy literature, or the Forgotten Realms, then this book is a must for your shopping cart.

Rating:
Summary: An exceptional novel in an excellent series.
Review: For those of you who enjoy reading Forgotten Realms Novels, then this book is a must. The intriguing plot is enough to entertain even the most critical of readers. If you aren't a fan of the Forgotten Realms, or if you have never read a single novel, then this book would be a good starting point. The story takes place mainly in Calimsham, a city of intrigue. However, even the most die-hard fantasy reader would never be prepared for what takes place in the city at night. Myrmeen Lhal, the seductive ruler of Arabel, has made it her quest, along with some Harper friends (the semi-secret organization of good in the Realms), to eradicate the evil that stalks the shadows of the city. If you are into fantasy literature, or the Forgotten Realms, then this book is a must for your shopping cart.

Rating:
Summary: Not bad
Review: I enjoyed this book, fast paced high adventure type stories never fail to entertain. Gory? Compared to the genre's classics, stories about characters like Conan, Elric, Bilbo, Thomas Covenant etc... It beats the heck out of the watered down politically correct ... that passes for sword and sorcery fiction these days. This book is not a classic. But it's a good way to [pass] a few hours waiting for a bus or something.

Rating:
Summary: Not one of the better FR books to date...
Review: I found this book to be lacking in numerous areas. Primarily, it seemed hard to follow and somewhat irrelevant to the Harper series. The main character, although she had a lot of depth, didn't stike me as very interesting and most of the supporting characters met untimely ends too frequently thoughout the story, making it more like a bad horror movie. The writing style was okay. I wouldn't recommend this book.

Rating:
Summary: Night Parade: The Evil Awaits
Review: If Amazon had a "-5/Gouge Your Eyes out before reading" rating, I would have used it. Unfortunately, I'm compelled by the system to give it a "1" -- which is a far higher rating than this book deserves.

I keep this book for two reasons. It's nice to have a benchmark for "most horrible book". Other than a college statistics textbook, it's the only written material in my bathroom thus ensuring that people flee as soon as possible. If I had to use one word besides "horrible" to describe this book, I would use "wooden". The plot could have been interesting, however the characterization, dialog, plot transitions, writing, and literary devices are so pathetic that any potential the storyline had is crushed.

I'm very familiar with the Forgotten Realms series. I'm not expecting top-notch writing. I'm expecting an easy, entertaining read, though. I don't expect to end up with a book that I'm embarrassed to own.

"Lord Sixx" -- the evil genius in the book -- has a supposedly horrific appearance primarily focused on the number of human eyes embedded in his body. (Something that Laurell Hamilton managed to pull off -- if not well -- at least better in Obsidian Butterfly). Mr. Ciencin makes a reference to the supposed-to-be-horrifying "Eyes of Domination" in Lord Sixx's chest. You can tell that the author has some horrifying soundtrack from a Stephen King movie playing in his mind. He manages to convey nothing but sheer cheese.

I have been tempted to quote from the book to provide graphic illustrations of everything I've pointed out as a flaw in this book. Randomly flipping pages, I've started typing only to realize that I can't find a place to stop. The book is so terrible that if I started to provide an example of things done wrong, I would have to continue typing until the entire book was included in my review -- the horror of reading Night Parade increases continually -- the sheer awefullness of the writing builds page after page until you will beg forgiveness for ever having bought, borrowed or read this book.

Rating:
Summary: Not one of the better FR books to date...
Review: If you've never read a Realms book before, then don't read this as a starter! This book is written so differently from other Realms books that it comes as a shock to fans - they either hate it or love it for its uniquness. It is extremely gory and descriptive, but what else should we expect from a book based on nightmares? There is adventure and plenty of mystery - not as fine-tuned as "Azure Bonds" but keeps readers on their toes. The plot and enemies are all-new showing us a very different side to the realms, staying out of the safe, well-run tracks of many FR novels. The Night Parade instead breaches boundaries into a side of the Realms you never dreamed you'd see. If you don't like change or "different", then perhaps you better work your way up to this book but if you embrace books that are often the odd one out, then this is a must-read.

Rating:
Summary: Extreme Realms
Review: If you've never read a Realms book before, then don't read this as a starter! This book is written so differently from other Realms books that it comes as a shock to fans - they either hate it or love it for its uniquness. It is extremely gory and descriptive, but what else should we expect from a book based on nightmares? There is adventure and plenty of mystery - not as fine-tuned as "Azure Bonds" but keeps readers on their toes. The plot and enemies are all-new showing us a very different side to the realms, staying out of the safe, well-run tracks of many FR novels. The Night Parade instead breaches boundaries into a side of the Realms you never dreamed you'd see. If you don't like change or "different", then perhaps you better work your way up to this book but if you embrace books that are often the odd one out, then this is a must-read.

Rating:
Summary: A must read thriller unlike any other Realms novel.
Review: Scott Ciencin (Author of Shadowdale & Tantras of the Avatar Trilogy) leads the reader away from the high fantasy of other Realms novels, and draws you into the nightmare world that is The Night Parade. This is a must read for those that enjoy abundant plot twists. You'll never guess how the book ends!