Jirel of Joiry

Rating:
Summary: A good story needs characters . . .
Review: I picked this book up at a Salvation Army store for about 50 cents, and I'm glad that's all I paid. I have no problem with strong female warrior types, but Jirel does not do them justice. As the editorial review notes, Jirel is a little stupid, and it is often her uncontrolled emotions rather than her courage or her bravery that get her out of sticky situations. As a heroin, I just couldn't bring myself to root for her to win. My biggest complaint, however, is the lack of other characters in most of the stories, especially the Black God stories. Moore undoubtedly spent a great deal of time writing 30 pages of description of strange alien worlds, but after the first 10 pages they get a little boring. A good story needs more than one character to keep up the reader's interest. In this respect, the final story in this collection, Hellsgarde, was a pretty good story, and much easier to read because there were several interesting characters.

Rating:
Summary: A good story needs characters . . .
Review: I picked this book up at a Salvation Army store for about 50 cents, and I'm glad that's all I paid. I have no problem with strong female warrior types, but Jirel does not do them justice. As the editorial review notes, Jirel is a little stupid, and it is often her uncontrolled emotions rather than her courage or her bravery that get her out of sticky situations. As a heroin, I just couldn't bring myself to root for her to win. My biggest complaint, however, is the lack of other characters in most of the stories, especially the Black God stories. Moore undoubtedly spent a great deal of time writing 30 pages of description of strange alien worlds, but after the first 10 pages they get a little boring. A good story needs more than one character to keep up the reader's interest. In this respect, the final story in this collection, Hellsgarde, was a pretty good story, and much easier to read because there were several interesting characters.

Rating:
Summary: Lovers of Heroic Fantasy will enjoy this book!
Review: Jirel of Joiry is a haunting, powerful fantasy that takes place back in Dark Age France sometime after the fall of Rome. Jirel, with her red hair and two-handed longsword, is the literary ancestor of such present day swordwomen as Red Sonja. The stories are vibrant and bold, depicting their settings very realisticly. In alot of ways, the stories are every bit as good as Howard's Conan stories. My only reservation is that the stories have a very 30's pulp feel to them (probably because that was when they were written). All in all an excellent read.

Rating:
Summary: Lovers of Heroic Fantasy will enjoy this book!
Review: Jirel of Joiry is a haunting, powerful fantasy that takes place back in Dark Age France sometime after the fall of Rome. Jirel, with her red hair and two-handed longsword, is the literary ancestor of such present day swordwomen as Red Sonja. The stories are vibrant and bold, depicting their settings very realisticly. In alot of ways, the stories are every bit as good as Howard's Conan stories. My only reservation is that the stories have a very 30's pulp feel to them (probably because that was when they were written). All in all an excellent read.

Rating:
Summary: Before Xena
Review: This book is good if you like medieval type fantasy without all the mushy romance or weird and wacky creatures. It may be lacking a bit in minor characters, but the adventures are so vivid that they make up for it. The book casts a dark shadow on the fantasy genre, wholly unlike it's more light hearted successors, but shines through if you're into that sort of thing.

Rating:
Summary: Before Xena
Review: This book is good if you like medievil type fantasy without all the mushy romance (...) or weird and wacky creatures. It may be lacking a bit in minor characters, but the adventures are so vivid that they make up for it. The book casts a dark shadow on the fantasy genre, wholly unlike it's more light hearted successors, but shines through if you're into that sort of thing.