Is This Apocalypse Necessary?

Rating:
Summary: Best Yet!
Review: A very strong conclusion to the Daimbert series - in some ways this is the best yet from this fine fantasy writer.

Rating:
Summary: Great ending to a great series of books!!
Review: Brittain brings Daimbert and his story line to an excellent conclusion! I first picked up A Bad Spell In Yurt and have been hooked on the Daimbert books ever since. Have read each a number of times. They all have fairly intriguing plots that keep you guessing. This finale is no exception! Tightly written and well thought out. I have read that Brittain is working on Yurt the next generation, and I can't wait until it is here!!!

Rating:
Summary: Great ending to a great series of books!!
Review: Brittain brings Daimbert and his story line to an excellent conclusion! I first picked up A Bad Spell In Yurt and have been hooked on the Daimbert books ever since. Have read each a number of times. They all have fairly intriguing plots that keep you guessing. This finale is no exception! Tightly written and well thought out. I have read that Brittain is working on Yurt the next generation, and I can't wait until it is here!!!

Rating:
Summary: End of a Great Series?
Review: Don't worry, nothing written below should ruin the book's surprises--and there are plenty!

A fresh voice in humorous fantasy, Brittain's "Daimbert the Wizard" series has carefully kept an overarching note of seriousness that all great comedies contain. Unlike some novels that jump from one unlikely situation to another, Brittain builds his situations slowly and carefully until they reach unlikely heights, then fall apart showing how crazy they are. He populates his stories with straight men, and serious issues, so that the amusing elements stand out all the better.

The main character, Daimbert, has a fabulous imagination, and his impetuous acts based on his amusing musings lead to unexpected results. His bent for wild conspiracy theories shows up in the first book "A Bad Spell in Yurt", where his ultimate conspiracy theory is found to be, against all odds, correct.

The series is a sort of macro-cosm of the first book, in that Daimbert is given fresh facts for an overarching conspiracy theory in each story, and although each of his theories is in turn proven wrong, in the end the pieces of the puzzle fit into place.

"Is This Apocalypse Necessary" is a fitting end to the series of Daimbert the mage, hoever, it needn't be the finale. Loads of strong personalities abound in this carefully wrought story land, and other peoples' stories beg to be told. I expect we will see return novels in the future--at least I hope so!

Brittain has two major skills as a writer: strong characterization, and tight plotting. Together they make this series more than just a succession of amusing and fairly unrelated novels. The people he writes about age, grow, and change in acceptable and believable ways. Much the same way, the overall plot changes, matures, and ultimately ends in a satisfying manner that every reader will enjoy.

Rating:
Summary: Good but getting a little tired
Review: Firstly it has a *dreadful* cover! Whatever were you thinking of, Mrs. B? The Baen ones conveyed the right atmosphere! General book manufacture is much better than the Baen ones, some of which fell apart as I read them.

The Yurt series is always readable. Daimbert and his friends (and enemies) are a cheerful lot, and their adventures are plotted without too much self-examination, which is very welcome. In this volume, Brittain reprises many of the locations from earlier books, as Daimbert travels around, finally wrapping up most of the loose ends from earlier series. Many characters make another appearance.

In Yurt-5 the series was showing signs of becoming tired - plot-material from earlier books was reworked, and although the result was readable enough, I felt doubts. The same problem affects this volume, but much more so. The final volume in many series tends to be a let-down, as the author simply ties up the knots. I fear the same has happened here, although it's quite readable. Various threads *have* been left open, and we can perhaps expect more books sometime.

Much as I would like to read more about Daimbert and Yurt, the author would be very well advised to give the series a rest. It's a pity that the Count Scar volume has not sold better, as I'd like a sequel to this.

Rating:
Summary: I only wish it wasn't over!
Review: I started this book Tuesday night and finished it Thursday. It was a well-crafted ending to a wonderful series.

I first picked up A Bad Spell in Yurt while visiting a sick relative. From page one I was hooked and devoured the entire series in less than a month. It was a great distraction from the constant trips to the hospital.

Daimbert is someone that anyone would be grateful to have as a friend. I appreciated the time taken with character development, that was careful not to show cariacatures of good and evil, but the complex gray areas we mere mortals dabble in as well.

This last book was highly entertaining and riveting. I am hoping the author will take pity on us all and continue the series through the following generation.

But, how can you possbly top a trip through Hell?

Rating:
Summary: A Real Grand Finale for a Delightful Series!
Review: I waited a LONG TIME for this book, and I have to say that it has lived up to my greatest hopes. It is the most satisfying book of the whole marvelous Yurt series. It tied up loose ends that I'd forgotten even existed, and I thoroughly enjoyed the reappearance of characters from earlier books. I also relished the outcome of the Daimbert/Elerius competition. Now, if C. Dale Brittain will only do a Yurt--The Next Generation, so I can see how Antonia turns out!

Rating:
Summary: The boffo climax of the Royal Wizard of Yurt series
Review: With "Is This Apocalypse Necessary?" we reach the boffo climax of the adventures of Daimbert, royal wizard of Yurt. I have become very fond of Daimbert over the last ten years. He isn't me--he's both more easy-going and more reckless--but he has my sense of humor. Even though this book ties together themes from the rest of the series, it should still be possible to enjoy it without having read the previous books.