Rating: 
Summary: Not the best, but worth reading
Review: After reading books like the Iron Tower and the Voyage of the Fox Rider, I was a bit disappointed with the Dragonstone. It seemed to borrow a lot from McKiernan's other stories in the whole plot--you know, the black mage is going to destroy the world type deal. I'm not complaining all that much, though, because it is a really good book. A must for McKiernan fans.
Rating: 
Summary: No One Ever Suspected
Review: First of all, this is my favorite McKiernan book. I don't think he will ever supass this work of art, and if you haven't read the book, don't read this review. It will ruin the book.
I loved the characters in the book. The female warrior with the old coward and the love story between everybody else added a certain love side to it. Each of the characters also had an important part in the mission. This drew the book on and no one was shoved from the spotlight.
I also liked the philosophy in this book. The questions, "The purpose of life", "Destiny or chosen path", and "Do 'gods' know all" tame the mind as well as give you something to think about.
But absolutely the best part of the book was Alos. No one would have ever expected him to be the one to take down the mage. All anyone saw was the drunk man; they didn't know the reason for it. He was always dragged along unwilling, but when he was gone, everyone realized that he was special. This was the classic "Don't judge a book by it's cover", but in a new way. That part of the book was the one that makes you put it down and think for a while.
No, this one will never be topped, all because of an old drunk. Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.
Rating:
Summary: No One Ever Suspected
Review: First of all, this is my favorite McKiernan book. I don't think he will ever supass this work of art, and if you haven't read the book, don't read this review. It will ruin the book.
I loved the characters in the book. The female warrior with the old coward and the love story between everybody else added a certain love side to it. Each of the characters also had an important part in the mission. This drew the book on and no one was shoved from the spotlight.
I also liked the philosophy in this book. The questions, "The purpose of life", "Destiny or chosen path", and "Do 'gods' know all" tame the mind as well as give you something to think about.
But absolutely the best part of the book was Alos. No one would have ever expected him to be the one to take down the mage. All anyone saw was the drunk man; they didn't know the reason for it. He was always dragged along unwilling, but when he was gone, everyone realized that he was special. This was the classic "Don't judge a book by it's cover", but in a new way. That part of the book was the one that makes you put it down and think for a while.
No, this one will never be topped, all because of an old drunk. Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't bother
Review: I don't think words can convey how much I disliked this book, but I will try nevertheless. Basically, there is no reason why you should read this book. The story isn't interesting. The characters aren't interesting. The quest is not original. With all the good fantasy out there, and the fact that this one weighs in at nearly 600 pages, there is no compelling reason to pick this book up.
One of my biggest complaints is the characters. The elf is utterly humorless about everything, the pseudo Japanese warrior girl is a worn out warrior stereotype, and the drunk is an irritating whiner. Okay, he likes his booze. We understand this, but the author feels the need to remind us every other page. The quest revolves around a prophecy in which the elf is supposed to gather a group of heroes, each of whom is classified with a description such as "The mad queen's rutting peacock." Inexplicably, contrary to all logic, the characters take these lines literally, actually looking for a peacock and a ferret, as if those would somehow help them defeat an evil wizard. Everyone acts so stupid, and no one catches on to anything remotely subtle for the entire book.
With so many pages, you would think that at least there would be character development, but you'd be wrong. Most of the novel is just blather about travel. "They rode through the hills of Dardoth Ungol, past the River Argol, through the Plains of Tallack.." It's a list of empty Tolkienesque place names, and you never get caught up in the world itself. The plot develops through a series of lucky guesses - they are looking for a mad queen, and one of the characters says "Hey, I know a mad queen", and wouldn't you know it, that's the one they needed. Every plot point is the result of a random guess that turns out to be correct. Some of the characters are likable, but they never say or do enough for the reader to get attached to them. The author also throws in philosophical discussions at one point, but it is all really basic stuff (Do you believe in fate?) and doesn't contribute anything new.
When all is said and done, the only reason I finished the book was out of habit, and it was tough. If you consider yourself to be an intelligent reader, you won't be able to stand this. There are a million better fantasy novels out there - pass on this one.
Rating: 
Summary: Book is missing part of a chapter
Review: I normally like McKiernan's books but this one is missing at least part of a chapter. Near the climax there is some interation missing between the people on the quest and the dragon guarding their objective. The text refers to a promise the dragon made and one character's opinion that he won't keep his word. I looked back twice to see if I missed anything but there was no convsersation. One of the chapters is very short, less than a page and it appears that it may be incomplete. I like his stories but bad editing is inexcusable.
Rating:
Summary: Uh...no.
Review: I've read some of Dennis's work before, the into the Forge set, and I thought it wasn't so bad for classic fantasy...though it dragged a little. So I decided to pick up an earlier book to see how much better it would be. I was horrible surprised to find it was worse. The book's beginning wasn't too bad. You can't help but mutter at the characters' unbelievable stupidity in solving the riddles. Even the long lived elf Arin is pretty clueless. Another problem, is Dennis describes everything in WAY too much detail...600 pages of nothing is a little much. I was kind of disgruntled after reading this book, because the ending wasn't epic in any way. The drunk that doesn't really accomplish anything for the whole book dies (and believe me, I'm not giving anything away). Wow...I could care less about a guy who drags the rest of the party down with him. If you want epic...read David Gemmel's Winter Warriors. Now that is some truly epic stuff.
Rating:
Summary: The Dragonstone
Review: The Dragonstone Pp. 575 Dennis McKiernan wrote a fabulous, exciting and incredibly suspenseful story called The Dragonstone. The Dragonstone is a fast paced fantasy fiction novel with so many different ideas and plots, it will keep you thinking about it for a very long time, even after you've read it. I found myself staying up late into the night just so I could read one more chapter, and then, once I finished, I couldn't just put it down so I had to read another book by the author. This book is like a big puzzle. It gives you so many ideas, and slowly, as the story progresses, you start to put them together. You won't know what the ending will be like until you read it. What's even better? It's a 575 page book so it will keep you occupied for at least a couple of months. The story starts off in the land of Mithgar and stars a young Dylvainian Elf named Arin who has had a terrifying vision, a vision of bloodshed, riding hordes, and raging dragons. Arin is faced with the burden of trying to stop all that is good from complete annihilation. She must go on a very dangerous journey to find the answer to a mysterious riddle. She must find the cat who fell from grace, the One Eye in Dark Water, the Mad Manarch's Rutting Peacock, the Ferret in the High King's Cage, and the cursed keeper of Faith in the Maze. Only when these mysterious things are found can she begin her real journey to save the land of Mithgar. But it isn't as easy as it seems, for more plots with their own plots arise and must be taken care of before they can find the jaded soul. Mithgar is a very fun place to enhance your imagination since there are so many places filled with beautiful scenery and the most interesting characters you will ever read about. Monsters with six wings and deathly scary teeth, images that could twist a human soul, and an army of soldiers are only some of the dangers that await the travelers. This book is Definitely the best book I have ever read, and I have read many good books. Words can't describe how amazing this book is, but one thing is for sure, the ending is truly a real thriller! Have fun reading Dennis McKiernans' The Dragonstone.
Rating:
Summary: My tiger growls at this book
Review: The earliest of the Mithgar books, this is definitely not better off for being so. A generic quest with stock characters, it fails to be epic and instead meanders over a plot that is easy to forget. Two travellers arrive in a small town, seeking a man with one eye: Arin Flameseer, an Elf who sees the future in fire; and Aiko, a disgraced female warrior from Ryodo. They find two men with only one eye, a town drunk and a very battered warrior. They take both men with them (and a rotting troll eyeball -- GROSS!) on their quest. The quest, told in flashback form, is that Arin had a vision of armies, blood, death, and dragons, all centering around a green stone called the Dragonstone. To find the answer, she must uncover the "cat who fell from grace, the mad monarch's rutting peacock, one-eye in dark water, ferret in high king's cage, and cursed keeper of the faith in the maze." The problem is, none of these are riddles easily unraveled... Well, you won't find anything new here. We have an elf, a couple of warriors (man and woman), and a slobbering drunk battling an evil wizard. It's like a D&D game, but less fun. Attempts at humor fall utterly flat; I was bored by the quibbling between the dragons, and Aiko's bickering with Alos is annoying, not entertaining. Alos himself seems like a half-hearted attempt at creating a funny character, but most readers will like him as much as they liked Jar Jar Binks. Maybe less. The writing itself is obsessed with detail; we get descriptions of the physical characteristics of the characters over and over. McKiernan also has a distracting way of stopping the action dead with short two-page chapters that tell the history of an area or the background of a species. I will admit, the explanations for the various parts of the rede were clever... but as one of the prior reviewers said, a nympho-nutso queen? Oh, great idea; this was probably the weirdest and least tasteful part of the book. McKiernan's repetition problem rears its ugly head again, not only within the confines of the book but within the series as well. We have a very intricate description of Aiko early in the book, and a nearly identical description only a hundred pages later. We're told about the eyepatch and "white-filmed eye" about a thousand times. Alos must throw up dozens of times during the book. Vanidar keeps cuddling with his sweetie in the middle of an important discussion. And if Aiko says that her tiger senses danger ONE MORE TIME... Within the series, we have the same ol', same ol'. I ask you: Why does Mr. McKiernan give us detailed descriptions of what Elf males wear, since they all look alike? I've seen the same description in every other book I've read: blond hair, headband, same clothing... On the same note, McKiernan only gives his good female characters one kind of dress: "simple yet elegant," with a straight skirt under a bodice, and with the character's hair tied up in ribbons that match the ribbons on the bodice. Oh yes -- and her feet will always be peeking under the hem. (How many people have feet that peek?) When describing the Elf seasonal ritual, we're told "... yet their hearts were full of joy," a line from the Hel's Crucible duology during the same ritual. (Yes, we have to read about the season-changing ritual again, which is identical to the prior descriptions of it) The characterizations are flat -- the characters are given tragic pasts, in an effort to give them dimension. But they rarely act based on those pasts, and never step out of their stock roles. They also seem pretty clueless; Arin is supposed to be incredibly old and experienced, but she has less of a clue than Aiko or Egil. This is also not one of the Mithgar books that can be given to kids; there is some pretty steamy content, as well as disgusting injuries and references to torture and mutilation on a living person. Being a McKiernan book, we have a love story: hardly surprising that Arin and Egil get together, since she is a beautiful (and feminine) elf and he is a strong, silent, virile type. But don't be surprised that others get paired up as well. Or die. And, in the manner of "Fox Rider," modern languages such as German are assigned to supposedly ancient civilizations, untold thousands of years ago. Or Pendwyr, which seems to be a pseudo-Wales (with words like "caer"). Frankly, the only way this book could have irritated me more was if the Warrows were in it. Pass by, and read Tolkien again.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful!
Review: This was a great book. I didn't want it to end. The characters that McKiernan writes are so full of emotion and action, it makes reading a 600 page book easy and fun. One thing that appealed to me was that McKiernan uses a map that is very similar to Europe and the Middle East. He corresponded the cultures of the races in the book with the cultures that actually live on earth according to where they live on the map. Very intelligent. He also blends 5 or 6 languages into his fantasy names and languages, which makes it very interesting. For example, the inscription on a doorway was printed in acient Hebrew. The journey that the characters take is very entertaining and full of suspense to the very end. A few unlikely people make pivotal moves at the climax, which pleased me immesely. It is a great epic adventure which somewhat reminds me of the Hobbit, in the way that it is formatted.
Rating:
Summary: An enjoyable read
Review: This was the first McKiernan book I had ever read and I must say it wont be my last. I was pleased with the story (although "simple"-group of characters on quest [tm]) and thoroughly enjoyed McKiernan's style of writing. About the only thing that got to me while reading it was the "land of the Yoda sounding peoples". If you've read it you know what I mean and if you haven't...you will soon. Other then that I found the book, as a whole, very entertaining. If you are new to McKiernan and his wonderful world of Mithgar then start with the Dragonstone. As is said in the forward of another of his novels the Dragonstone is, historically, the "beginning" of the series (though not written in that order).
Sorry for the "simple" review.
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