The Ring of Winter (The Harpers Series, 5)

Rating:
Summary: Indiana eat your heart out!
Review: Artus Cimber is the classic do gooder, followed by trusted friends who meet tragic ends. His supposed guardian is turned against him and all seems lost until he finds the ring of winter. Hello! this is the best relic i have read about in awhile. When all this was said and done I applaud Mr Lauder on a job well done. And for the guy who wrote about Kelemvor Lyonsbane... well this is Artus Cimber's story and we don't need a flash back to the God of the Dead all right. Now that Artus has the ring he is a god. metalcam says great book and read it with an open mind not closed.

Rating:
Summary: Indiana eat your heart out!
Review: Artus Cimber is the classic do gooder, followed by trusted friends who meet tragic ends. His supposed guardian is turned against him and all seems lost until he finds the ring of winter. Hello! this is the best relic i have read about in awhile. When all this was said and done I applaud Mr Lauder on a job well done. And for the guy who wrote about Kelemvor Lyonsbane... well this is Artus Cimber's story and we don't need a flash back to the God of the Dead all right. Now that Artus has the ring he is a god. metalcam says great book and read it with an open mind not closed.

Rating:
Summary: A Little Far Fetched
Review: I know fantasy books are suppossed to be in the realm of fantasy. However, I think this one took it a little too far. I mean talking wombats? Not to mention the fact that the books hero "Artus Cimber" always seems to get saved just in the nick of time, no matter what predicament he is in. I know that the main character is not suppossed to die, but he he just doens't seem to be that tough, and merit the respect that everyone gives him. Basically this book is like a lot of fantasy books, where the heroes seem to get through impossible odds without barely breaking a sweat. It is somewhat entertaining, and gave me a little more knowledge about the lands of chult, but if you can't buy it used, don't buy it at all.

Rating:
Summary: A Little Far Fetched
Review: I know fantasy books are suppossed to be in the realm of fantasy. However, I think this one took it a little too far. I mean talking wombats? Not to mention the fact that the books hero "Artus Cimber" always seems to get saved just in the nick of time, no matter what predicament he is in. I know that the main character is not suppossed to die, but he he just doens't seem to be that tough, and merit the respect that everyone gives him. Basically this book is like a lot of fantasy books, where the heroes seem to get through impossible odds without barely breaking a sweat. It is somewhat entertaining, and gave me a little more knowledge about the lands of chult, but if you can't buy it used, don't buy it at all.

Rating:
Summary: A Little Far Fetched
Review: I know fantasy books are suppossed to be in the realm of fantasy. However, I think this one took it a little too far. I mean talking wombats? Not to mention the fact that the books hero "Artus Cimber" always seems to get saved just in the nick of time, no matter what predicament he is in. I know that the main character is not suppossed to die, but he he just doens't seem to be that tough, and merit the respect that everyone gives him. Basically this book is like a lot of fantasy books, where the heroes seem to get through impossible odds without barely breaking a sweat. It is somewhat entertaining, and gave me a little more knowledge about the lands of chult, but if you can't buy it used, don't buy it at all.

Rating:
Summary: If this book was a dog you'd have to shoot it.
Review: If you enjoy sword and sorcery fiction, and reading AD&D novels, skip this one. Ring of Winter is a bad children's story complete with cute cudley little creatures that make you think your time would be better spent watching grass grow, which would undoubtedly prove to be more exciting than this book. Think of Indianna Jones but take away sense of humor, wit, and basically any characteristic that makes the character interresting, and you have Artus Cimber. Instead of Dragons, Trolls or Orcs, Artus has Dinosaurs (yawn) to contend with. If not for an annoying tribe of Goblins there might be no semblence of an AD&D adventure at all in this book. This book is Post Avatar Trilogy, in which the Ring of Winter was mentioned several times, hinting that Kelemvor Lyonsbane had at one time taken up the quest to find the artifact. Well, don't look for Kelemvor's story here. Over all this book is boring and quite disappointing. The one positive thing I will say is that I did like James Lowder's style of writing and use of language, hopefully his other works are more interresting. As a story teller, he failed miserably in this one.

Rating:
Summary: A good read
Review: Jim Lowder is one of the best authors TSR has ever had. This is a good book, Artus is a cool character. The Ring is a great artifact, and while Chult may not be favorite setting I still enjoyed this book. Check it out.

Rating:
Summary: A good read
Review: Jim Lowder is one of the best authors TSR has ever had. This is a good book, Artus is a cool character. The Ring is a great artifact, and while Chult may not be favorite setting I still enjoyed this book. Check it out.

Rating:
Summary: Surprisingly good.
Review: Okay I kinda understand why my predecesors dissed this book, but where were you when the godsawful "Spellfire" and "Pools of Darkness" came up and everyone just said: "Yeah, sure the story is a bit on the dumb side, but it is a great novel for beginners". Beginners of what? Intelligent reading?? As opposed to some of the other crap written during that time, "The Ring of Winter" is actually refreshing (no pun pertaining to the Cult of Frost intended). Given, Artus Cimber is a bit of a Faerun Indiana Jones, but what's wrong with that? The story is quite entertaining, the barae concept is cool, and the lawsuit between two deities over a mage's soul funny. Also the end is very good especially when seeing the Ring of Winter in full action. I really enjoyed reading it. Overall I give this book a good 4 stars.

Andreas "do you really want to live forever?" Meyer

Rating:
Summary: Jungles of Chult should not of been the place of happenings
Review: The story line is good but a few items should be addressed. The Jungles of Chult and the Harper themes did not go hand in hand. Too many "luck" happenings occured. The evil "chaser" follows him across the Faerun, everyone seemed to know about the Harpers(and in the Chult no doubt) and too many abstract characters with no common ground. The biggest flaw was there were at least 5-10 run-on openings with each character.