Rating: 
Summary: Fantasy beyond sword and sorcery
Review: "Implements of Destruction" is lively fantasy full of swords, sorcery, daemons, and thieves, yet it goes far beyond any standard sword & sorcery setting. The characters are a fascinating collection, each a distinctive personality with a wonderful conglomeration of strengths and weaknesses. No pure black & white views of good and evil characters here, no stock villians or good guys--the villians are as rich and complex as the good guys, who also have their own little touches of darkness to deal with. The world is richly developed with little oddities--like exploding Rubik's cubes--threaded throughout that left me wanting to know more, to explore more. The writing is fast and clear. I really enjoyed the touches of sarcastic and wry humor. I snickered more than once at some of the characters' thoughts and comments. All in all, a very solid, worth-while fantasy novel. I hope we'll see more of this world and--especially--these characters.
Rating:
Summary: A Good Read
Review: ...Implements of Destruction is a good read. It's not "War and Peace in Middle Earth" but that doesn't seem to have been the author's goal. The book is a fun romp through a decent fantasy setting, with great characters, very good dialog, and a good plot. It's fast paced and written in a tight, clean style that's refreshing in a world of novels in which descriptions of common household items can drag on for pages. The descriptions in Implements of Destruction are clear enough to bring us to the world but concise enough to never get in the way of the story. The author seems more interested in telling a story than impressing us with his grasp of the thesaurus. This may not work for some readers...but it worked for me. I don't see any other novels by Calligaro (unless he writes self-help books under a female pseudonym), so I assume this is his first. If that's the case, I see a great deal of promise here. There are a number of books by much more established writers that I liked less than this one. I enjoyed the book throughout. I gave it 4 instead of 5 stars because I reserve the perfect score for more groundbreaking work. If you're looking for "the next big thing" in fantasy, you won't find it here, but if you're looking for an enjoyable evening in a different, but accessable world, this book will take you there.
Rating: 
Summary: Is Calligaro JRRR Tolkien's long lost son?
Review: I borrowed this book from my local library and liked it so much I had to grab it from Amazon! This is an extremely well thought out book that will keep you glued to its pages with its gripping tale of knights, daemons, magic, and fantasy. Rarely have I read a fantasy book that didn't trade content for cover art. Two thumbs up (Wish I had more). PLEASE WRITE MORE NOVELS MICHAEL!!!!!!!!!
Rating:
Summary: Is Calligaro JRRR Tolkien's long lost son?
Review: I borrowed this book from my local library and liked it so much I had to grab it from Amazon! This is an extremely well thought out book that will keep you glued to its pages with its gripping tale of knights, daemons, magic, and fantasy. Rarely have I read a fantasy book that didn't trade content for cover art. Two thumbs up (Wish I had more). PLEASE WRITE MORE NOVELS MICHAEL!!!!!!!!!
Rating:
Summary: A fun fantasy
Review: I fully enjoyed the escape into Mr. Calligaro's world of heroic daemons, jealous wizards, lustful gatekeepers, and sentient swords. His characters clearly have minds of their own, breaking out of stereotyped responses. He also has an inventiveness that reminds me of Larry Niven. Don't let the - ahh - rather drab cover art sway you, this is a fun book!
Rating:
Summary: A fun fantasy
Review: I fully enjoyed the escape into Mr. Calligaro's world of heroic daemons, jealous wizards, lustful gatekeepers, and sentient swords. His characters clearly have minds of their own, breaking out of stereotyped responses. He also has an inventiveness that reminds me of Larry Niven. Don't let the - ahh - rather drab cover art sway you, this is a fun book!
Rating: 
Summary: Ho-hum
Review: I'm reluctant to give such an awful rating to the author because I get the feeling that he tried hard and didn't just write a hurried novel for cash. I feel that he genuinely cared for his characters and novel unlike some other awful writers that I have read. However, this is a prime example of what I feel is wrong with the majority of the fantasy market these days. The entire novel is chock full of stereotypical fantasy genre themes. Not to mention the writing is dull and lacks a distinctive style. Of course there are a few things here and there in the novel that might be deemed "innovating" (i.e. the much mentioned exploding Rubik's Cube), but they can't make up for the rest of the novel. All in all, it reads like a generic fantasy novel outline and lacks originality and freshness. Calligaro has a LOT of developing to do as a writer if he wishes to become one of the greats. If you're just looking for a quick and fun read without much to think about, then this is for you. However, if you are like me and enjoy a unique read with some sort of theme or revelation to think about after the book is finished, then don't bother with this book.
Rating:
Summary: Ho-hum
Review: I'm reluctant to give such an awful rating to the author because I get the feeling that he tried hard and didn't just write a hurried novel for cash. I feel that he genuinely cared for his characters and novel unlike some other awful writers that I have read. However, this is a prime example of what I feel is wrong with the majority of the fantasy market these days. The entire novel is chock full of stereotypical fantasy genre themes. Not to mention the writing is dull and lacks a distinctive style. Of course there are a few things here and there in the novel that might be deemed "innovating" (i.e. the much mentioned exploding Rubik's Cube), but they can't make up for the rest of the novel. All in all, it reads like a generic fantasy novel outline and lacks originality and freshness. Calligaro has a LOT of developing to do as a writer if he wishes to become one of the greats. If you're just looking for a quick and fun read without much to think about, then this is for you. However, if you are like me and enjoy a unique read with some sort of theme or revelation to think about after the book is finished, then don't bother with this book.
Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Fantasy Naovel
Review: The odd cover caught my attention in the library and I had to read it. I'm very glad I did. This is not your typical hack and slash Conan the Barbarian novel (Though I LOVE Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time Series). I loved this book and want to see more with these characters in it. Maybe they get into hell somehow? All in all this is a very good book and I highly reccommend buying it.
Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Fantasy Naovel
Review: The odd cover caught my attention in the library and I had to read it. I'm very glad I did. This is not your typical hack and slash Conan the Barbarian novel (Though I LOVE Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time Series). I loved this book and want to see more with these characters in it. Maybe they get into hell somehow? All in all this is a very good book and I highly reccommend buying it.
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