Dawnthief: Book One: Chronicles of the Raven

Rating:
Summary: Dawnthief debut novel
Review: This 1st book of The Raven introduces you to the mercenary group that is - and was the core central part of this book. They are quite interesting and different in looks and in their actions. The beginning of the book was by far the best part because things go horribly wrong for the merc group and a few die very quickly. The story is different and original, but I found myself after halfway thru - skimming through parts of way too many side characters that were not interesting to me personally, and I found myself rushing to the conclusion. The idea of putting multi-universes mixed with dragons was great, but after a few chapters - that came to a stop and the story got bogged down. One of the upswings in the book was the unexpected killing off of "key" characters and bringing on new ones to join the Raven. That I liked and wished that the action and adventure was kept up at a better pace. It did not leave me wanting more personally - and thats a shame!

Rating:
Summary: Dawnthief debut novel
Review: This 1st book of The Raven introduces you to the mercenary group that is - and was the core central part of this book. They are quite interesting and different in looks and in their actions. The beginning of the book was by far the best part because things go horribly wrong for the merc group and a few die very quickly. The story is different and original, but I found myself after halfway thru - skimming through parts of way too many side characters that were not interesting to me personally, and I found myself rushing to the conclusion. The idea of putting multi-universes mixed with dragons was great, but after a few chapters - that came to a stop and the story got bogged down. One of the upswings in the book was the unexpected killing off of "key" characters and bringing on new ones to join the Raven. That I liked and wished that the action and adventure was kept up at a better pace. It did not leave me wanting more personally - and thats a shame!

Rating:
Summary: Good start, but disappointing
Review: This book begins well, and James Barclay had a very interesting premise for his tale of The Raven. In the end, though, the book was disappointing for a number of reasons. Though the setting shows promise (perhaps to be realised in his other books?), some aspects, such as the nature of magic, could have been better delineated. Many of the depictions of military activities in the book would have benefited from a dose of military knowledge, or at least commonsense; at times, the characters' actions just seem silly. The treatment of the female characters is gratuitous, disturbing, and thoroughly offensive. But the biggest problem is Barclay's writing skills. We have to be told, as readers, how strong the links between the characters are and how much The Raven means to them; we do not see it develop. Thus, Denser's switching of loyalties at the end is flat and unconvincing. I was hoping for much better from this book, for the idea of a champion mercenary unit finding itself caught up in more than it had bargained for was an idea I found intriguing. Hopefully, Barclay does better in the sequels to this book - but I won't be reading them to find out.

Rating:
Summary: Truly Heroic Tale!
Review: Three cheers for Barclay in creating this truly heroic tale of a group of mercenaries who must work together stop a terrible evil from destroying their land! Raven, a cynical band of mercenaries find themselves allies with a sinister college of dark magic to cast a powerful spell to save their world from the vast army of barbarian wesmen who are lead by shaman and evil Wytch Lords.Barclay spices his epic novel with brutal and realistic battles scenes and powerful images of magic and sorcery.He also has splendid plot twists and not scared to kill off favorite character.Unforgettable reading experience!