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Summary: dood's reveiw for silverlance
Review: I've read this book and it is awsome!
I wonder when the sequel will come out?
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Summary: How Peter Oatencake became a household name...
Review: My 11 year old daughter is gobbling up books lately. She really liked Silverlance a lot! The characters are endearing, the book is full of action and mystery and magic and moral searching. I found it a bit too full of action for myself, but my daughter doesn't agree. She's waiting to read the next book after this. A few of the characters really have become household references: Peter Oatencake is a kind of mysterious, magical woodsman who befriends the eclectic group of young animals and satyrs and centaurs and humans who are searching for Silverlance. Oatencake is a great warrior with a conscience and sense of mystery and duty and a bit of a loner. For some reason my daughter just loves him and we hear his name pretty often around here. I'm personally glad to be able to explain centaurs and satyrs and typical mythological beings. We are looking forward to reading more!
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Summary: PLEASE DON'T WRITE ANOTHER IN THIS SERIES
Review: People have said that I am "wise beyond my years". That may explain my frustration with this book. It feels like it was written for VERY little kids, not 10 and up. I have read and love "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Chronicles of Narnia". No comparison. If you are a serious young reader, BEWARE!!! For the rest of you little people, have fun if you can. Sincerely,
Alexander
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Summary: Not a bad debut, but does fall into a few traps.
Review: Peter Thomas Crowell, Silverlance (PTC Publications, 2004)
I have long held to a belief, spawned during my first days as a freelance musician (and, hot on their heels, my first days as a published writer), that anything self-published is pretty much guaranteed to be awful. I have run across exceptions over the years, but they have been predictably very few and very far between (and let me take this opportunity to once again flog the incredible work of Richard Cronshey, most of which is self-published). Thus it was with some reservation that I opened the package containing Silverlance, which I hadn't realized until I saw "PTC Publications" was self-published.
Silverlance is one of those very few and very far between books that isn't a complete flushable. It has a few problems, but not nearly as many as one expects given the vanity-press nature of the release.
Silverlance is a fantasy adventure, and I hear thousands of you filling in a number of blanks right now, In many cases, you're right on the mark. There's not much anyone has done new with fantasy since Tolkein, and you can expect a good deal of the same here. But Crowell does do a number of interesting things with the genre, such as switching the usual mix of humans, dwarves, elves, etc. one expects to see from one's protagonist party; there are a human and a dwarf, but also a satyr, a centaur, and two dryads. The protagonists are, of course, young, and have a number of elders helping them on the way (one looks at Peter Oatencake and thinks hard about Tom Bombadil, I'd warrant, and Hixima rather puts one in mind of the Elves, collectively, in The Fellowship of the Ring), along with a number of elders trying to stop them at every step. Temple full of monsters and traps, illusory concealed doors to other parts of the world, that sort of thing.
As with most first novels (I assume this is a first novel, anyway), there are some problems with the pacing, and some plot holes that defy gravity. Characters disappear only to reappear at the most opportune possible times. Etc. You've read most of it before, but this is still not a bad little read. ***
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Summary: Silverlance Hits the Mark
Review: Silverlance is a good looking book. The cover art and the illustrations made me want to pick it up and read it. This is important for getting some kids to read. Of course, if the book isn't interesting, none of this makes any difference. However, in the case of Silverlance, I can report that I and the sons of two different friends all enjoyed the book. Both boys, one 9 and the other 12, read it within a couple of days and said they want to read more in the series.
The sociology of the dryads, satyrs, and centaurs, among others, was particularly enjoyable. These characters seem to appear in stories as lone figures or supplementary creatures who come into the story to help the humans on their way. It was great to see them here as main characters, as individual persons who were part of groups interacting as parts of a larger society.
I was happy to see the quest wrapped up in this one volume rather than being used as a device to string readers along through subsequent cliff-hanger end installments.
I also liked the overall mythic nature of the story: There is a power in the world that is larger than oneself, a power that is good and that, although understood only incompletely at first, can still call one to a place of decision and then action, a power whose goals depend on one making the right choice, a power who will uplift and even transform, only if one first gives himself over to it.
I recommend this book and look forward to more in the series.
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Summary: A fantasy adventure novel that is a cut above the norm
Review: Silverlance is the rather impressive debut title for Peter Crowell's "The Tales of True Adventure" action/fantasy series. Crowell has created a detailed world where centaurs, satyrs, giants, griffins, and other such mythological beings live alongside humans. Byron Thorn is a young man who doesn't really consider himself a hero, but because there is a new star in the heavens invoking the legend of "Silverlance", he finds himself embarking upon quest resulting in a series of unexpected adventures, complete with somehwhat unusual allies and committed enemies. Silverlance is a fantasy adventure novel that is a cut above the norm due to author's deft usage of myth aptly blended with the kind of storytelling that immediately engages the readers attention from the very first page, and then holds it tightly through unexpected twists and turns right down to the final page. Enthusiastically recommended for readers with a penchant for high fantasy, Silverlance will leave them looking eagerly toward the next "tale of true adventure" from the mind and imagination of Peter Thomas Crowell.
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Summary: DELIGHTFUL YOUNG ADULT ADVENTURE/FANTASY
Review: SILVERLANCE is the story of a young satyr named Byron Thorn and his search for the ancient king called Silverlance. It is a tale filled with adventure, action and a plethora of magical creatures; satyrs, centaurs, dwarves, wolves and even a few humans.
As their idyllic world seems to be tearing itself apart a new star rises, foretelling the return of the old king Silverlance and calling to Byron and a small band of friends to follow and find the returned king. With his friends and new companions picked up along the way he follows that star into adventure and danger. Pursued by those that don't want the old kingdom revived they find themselves hopping from one danger to another, one startling revelation to the next.
I liked it. For young adults this is a great story. By young adults I mean those in the 10-15 year age group. It probably doesn't work quite as well for older groups unless they have a serious interest in YA literature.
The reason it works so well with the younger set is twofold; first is the non-stop action and second is the fascinating array of mythical creatures portrayed. Any youngster interested in fantasy and magic will enjoy the virtual cornucopia and vivid descriptions of the characters as they tumble in and out of the main storyline. The fast paced action grips the reader while you breathlessly wait for the next turning of the page.
Why not older readers? Well, there is very little personnel interaction between the characters and other than the main protagonist very little character development or growth. There isn't a great deal of conflict, other than between the good guys and bad guys of course, that it has plenty of! Nor is there any romantic involvement. This isn't really a problem unless you're looking for something more than a simple action story. I'm not saying older readers won't like it, it just may be more simplistic than what they're used to.
All in all a darn fine read. I RECOMMEND this one. I liked it and I think you will also.
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Summary: I really liked this one
Review: Silverlance was a book that was refreshing, in my opinion. I was reading some of the reviews and found that some people didn't really like it, but I look forward to reading more. I felt that something very interesting about it was that Silverlance was a king that actually wasn't human. I'm not going to tell you what he is, for the sake of not spoiling the book, but it was very unique in my opinion.
Sure, there are many stories with kings that are not human, but never the one that is destined to save the world from the darkness that it has become. Some of the characters were also a breath of fresh air. None of them were powerful beyond belief, they all had faults and flaws... they were relatively normal, if you know what I mean. Many fantasy stories have at least one character that seems practically all powerful, and that's fine, but it doesn't have to be every one.
All in all, I felt that it was a really good book, and I hope that he continues with another one.
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Summary: Godspeed to Byron
Review: so.
i confess.
i first started reading Silverlance by mere curiosity. I had read the author's bio on the back of the book and it got my attention immediately. I first start teading this book thinking about other young reader's books, specially keeping in mind that given that this will be a long series of books, just like Narnia, or the Herry Potter series I would find a lot of unanswered questions, unexplained issues and bizarre situations. like all first chapters, this first could be the most "uninteresting" although it took three days to complete. just think about the other books and movies you have seen and read. Never the less, I was trully surprised. Silverlance is the beginning of a wonderful mythology, is the surface of a deep world where (I am sure) unexpected twists. Silverlance gives you a glance to a new world, a world I expect to see complete and complex. although the figures become, sometimes, too logical in their action coming from their nature, the story grasps you and shows you how fate has a diversity of ways to walk you. I am in debt to Mr Corwell for this book.
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Summary: Great Characters
Review: The author created some amazing characters that I could really relate to. I can't wait to see where they end up next.
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