The Lance Thrower (The Camulod Chronicles, Book 8)

Rating:
Summary: An obvious set up
Review: As has already been mentioned, this is obviously not the last book in the series. It is, what I call, a "bridge book." It's main purpose is to introduce characters (a lot of major ones, by the way: Percival, Bors, Tristan, Gwinnifer, and, of course, Lancelot) and give some sense of their back story. Whyte does his best to mask this backstory as "dialogue" but that is probably the best way to do it without having the series go on for about another 8 books! I think that the real value of this book will be evident when we read future books in this series more than as a "stand-alone" novel. As with all the other books in the series, it really helps to have read all of them and not try to just read the one with the best reviews.

I give this book 4 stars because it wasn't nearly as interesting as some of Jack Whyte's other books but it was more interesting than most author's could have done given the fact that he had to stay reasonably within the bounds of a well known story.

Rating:
Summary: Different yet great
Review: First off I must say that I was a little dissapointed with the start of the book. Finding out that we would leave Merlyn as a narorator was a blow. However, I soon was enchanted with the novel as I had been with Jack Whyte's other books. I found it very intriguing for the book to start off in Gaul instead of England. Yet, it soon became evident that this book was merely a set up for then end books in the series. The main problem I had, which I seem to have with a lot of books, was that this did not seem complete. It ended what would be in my mind halfway.

The book itself, is pretty well written. It is not a classic, but it does rate as a grand read. The book quickly moves through its story, except for a few boring spots. I would deffinately reccomend this book as a good book for anyone.

While this book was not the best, I love the series and it is one of my favorites. This story of author is pretty much acurate making it enjoyable as well as wonderfully entertaining. I just hope the Jack Whyte will stretch this series out as far as it will go and that he will continue it even after Arthur is dead, or at least that he will move on to a new story that is similar.

Rating:
Summary: Good but not Great
Review: I am a huge fan of Jack Whyte's Camulod series and have read all up to this point. While I like this story, and how it eventually tied into the larger story, I was a bit disappointed that we did not learn more about Arthur and his reign. That being said, I still enjoyed reading this book and look forward to reading all the books that follow

Rating:
Summary: Clothar the Merovingian
Review: I am very happy to see that Amazon has cleaned up its little mistake of earlier this year selling Clothar and Lancelot as a package deal. As stated by an earlier reviewer though, those of us familiar with the series knew the two were one and the same; one for the Canadian audience and one for the American audience. (Maybe I should watch myself, Canadians hate when we refer to ourselves as "Americans." We are rather "from the States.)

The reason for the name change, as stated by the author himself, is that his publishers did not believe the name "Clothar" would go over very well with his American audience. Jack Whyte of course did agree. That has a somewhat derogatory aspect to it I am sure but who is worrying about it?

I bought the Canadian version from Amazon Canada in early Decemeber of last year. It was not so much that I was unable to wait for the American version as it was because I was AFRAID of the American version. Those of you reading this who read the Tor/Forge edition of UTHER know what I am talking about. What an outrageous excuse for editing that book went through; grave misspellings throughout, sentences that all of a sudden just decide to end wherever, dead mothers who were quite alive just a couple of pages before and also in EAGLE'S BROOD, Jack Whyte seemingly forgetting who is related to whom and on which side and how they got related to each other in the first place....I could continue but of course you already know. So I got CLOTHAR and devoured it in only a couple of days.

The novel begins in such a way as to make you believe you are in for more vintage Jack Whyte and not the style of writing we endured at the end of SORCEROR or throughout UTHER. Merlin's grave is found by Lancelot. Bundles of writings are salvaged which are obviously the writings of Caius, Publius and Merlinus. The scene is wonderfully set and the story can only get better. So we are led to believe.

Then we read about Clothar's first eighteen or so years. His heritage, namesake, upbringing and education given to us mostly in dialogue and spanning hundreds of pages. It isn't until the middle of the book the we meet up with friends of Clothar who eventually become the knights of Arthur. And it isn't until the END that Clothar meets Arthur.

I am hoping (HOPING!) that the reason for the intense focus on SOUTHERN FRANCE and Clothar's upbringing has to do with the future holy grail quest, a Jewish connection, the whole nine yards. Plus, all historians know that the KING ARTHUR stories are not English anyway, they're in fact FRENCH! Maybe somewhere down the road Jack Whyte will bring all of that together somehow, and make it just one more volume as he promised.

It is a bridge book as stated and I totally agree. Here is the next volume in a nutshell. Most of the Arthurian legends we know, but Whyte has promised to add his own unique twist to that, as he has done with getting us to that point. A lot of foreshadowing had occurred long before CLOTHAR. Clothar has already met Queen Guinevere long before Arthur will. Guinevere's father, as you recall, wants an alliance with people south of him. The marriage between Arthur of Camulod and Guinevere will be arranged, but we know from Clothar that Guinevere and he are already in love, or at least are going to be. We know from SORCERER that Uther may have sired a child in addition to Arthur, and Merlin was of course somewhat concerned. Gee, who will that other offspring be? And we know there will be an offspring out of the relationship that comes from those two offsprings of Uther's (half-siblings) and we know what he does to his father.

You don't even have to buy the last volume now.



Rating:
Summary: The passing of the guard
Review: I very much enjoyed the book... Merlyn is dead and the narrative torch has been passed to The Frank (Clothar). Clearly this book bridges the life story of Merlyn to another heroine with a unique perspective. Jack, thank you for telling the story and keeping us all on the edge of our seats!

Rating:
Summary: A (hopefully temporary) lull in a great series
Review: I was disappointed by this book, which I had awaited eagerly for years. The first quarter or third of the book is a series of lengthy, dull monologues by the youth Clothar's (proto-Lancelot's) various mentors. It contains a LOT of detail that doesn't seem relevant to the Camulod story.

This is all conjecture, but I got the feeling that Whyte really wanted to write several books documenting Clothar's ancestry back through two or three generations, as he did with Arthur's in the first six (seven if you count "Uther") novels in the series. Better judgement (Whyte's or his publisher's) won out, and the convoluted tale is compressed in this book.

After patiently enduring these sections, the pace quickens a bit, with Clothar involved in a dirty little Frankish war. Then follow his travels to Britain. The book ends on a very hopeful note--one that indicates we may now return to the main storyline.

Rating:
Summary: There has been worse in this series
Review: Key to enjoying this sort of novel is expectations: keep them low and you'll be fine. Thankfully, Whyte has helped lower expectations by delivering volume after volume of awkward prose and cartoonish characters. In this latest he's thankfully left behind the freakish erotica of the first few novels, and limited his bizarre fixation on man-boy worship to the first third of the book. Thereafter, you have something of a modestly paced adventure story that you could tear thru while eating chips or waiting for software to load. Idle amusement that could be worse.


Rating:
Summary: Series going downhill rapidly
Review: Since the book opens with the burial of Merlyn, and the blurb and the first chapter advertise that Lancelot will bring about the downfall of Arthur, I began reading what I expected to be the conclusion of this series.

It's a disappointment. The structure of this novel is all wrong. Over a hundred pages of family history masked as dialogue with small business, an entire backstory for Clothar's ancestral kingdom (far away) is dumped on you. Readers of the series will find it a pale imitation of Whyte's Camulod rewritten in Gaul, minus the optimism and the excitement of seeing each puzzle piece click into place. Then comes the hint that none of it will matter to Clothar who is destined for Britain someday. At last (mere days into the non-story, but hundreds of pages later) Clothar is sent to school with Germanus, who does nothing notable. All of this might be effective as a series of short stories, but as a novel it's false.

Years of school pass in a twinkling between paragraphs, another of the series' annoying time warps. There should at least be a chapter break there, failing an actual ending of one act and beginning of another with a dramatic event.

While walking one day, Clothar has "an almost philosophical thought", but admits he was distracted from it by arriving on time. This must be the central message of Part I, that novels need not have any theme at all, at least not any that the characters can enunciate.

Without the strength of a plot going somewhere, all the series' flaws glare. Dense paragraphs, pointless and artless descriptions of landscape, equipment fetishism, stream-of-consciousness deliberations, occasional history lessons that don't bear directly on the story, mixed with tell-me-don't-show-me moral advice. The historical notes were at least central to the plot of previous novels.

Whyte's insistence on realism in the re-telling of the legend has degenerated into pure naturalism: pointless detail and very little structure.

By the middle of the book, Clothar has more muscles but no values, only a dutiful teacher-worship and a fond memory of his mother. Perhaps this is to make Arthur and Merlyn look wise later. The continued messages about great tasks to do and the greater glory of God are just pasted in because there aren't any great tasks or glory going on here.

If I were Whyte's editor, I would demand an outline showing why each chunk of text develops the character and advances the plot. Most of them don't.

I gave up and read the ending. Hooray. Clothar reaches Arthur and company. Apparently there will be another book. Mr. Whyte, you have one last chance to get it right.

Rating:
Summary: The Lance Thrower
Review: Very exciting and thrilling. Very well painted portrait of many historical and "mythical" people. Jack's description and behavior of His Excellency Bishop Germanus was exactly what I have long thought it to be. In all of his books Jack manages to transport us back to a legendary time and place and stand among the great heroes of our past. Jack Whyte, like Geoffrey Ashe, writes what most scholars are afraid to say.

This is the same book as "Clothar the Frank" the Canadian title. Anyone who reads Jack's books knows that his series has two titles, one for Canada and one for the US, but that the books are the same.

Rating:
Summary: Lance Clothar, The Frank Thrower
Review: Wouldn't it have been nice if the in the reviews of this book someone mentioned the fact that "The Lance Thrower" and "Clothar, The Frank" was one and the the same? Well, maybe I'm just an idiot for getting caught up in the series and looking forward to the next release.....why would they wait a whole year to release (deceive) us faithful readers? I guess a "lance thrower" has more appeal and virility than a "frank". The book was good the first time, not great like the others...there may be a few differences besides the title but not enough to enjoy the deja vu experience.