Review: Magician by Raymond E. Feist

Everyone once in a while I feel obligated to read one of the old classics. I'm usually hesitant (unless it is sci-fi) to read older fantasy books because most of them just aren't up to the standard of modern fantasy books. Too often they are about the world that's been built, rather than the story line or characterization which I look for when reading a fantasy book. As I said though, once in a while I dabble to increase my fantasy knowledge.

Magician is a typical fantasy book (Farm boy with a sword) written in the time after Tolkien and before George R.R. Martin. The story begins in the city of Crydee where a boy named Pug, who is nothing more than ordinary is spotted by the Duke's Magician, who detected something 'special' about the boy. When it was time for their time of choosing (apprenticeship), Kulgan the Duke's Magician chooses Pug. While Pug's boyhood friend Tomas gets his chosen path of Swordsmanship. After a few years, Pug is struggling with his magic. He's learnt all the theories but when it comes down to executing them, there is something that is blocking his magic from flowing. Yet, one day when escorting the Princess Carline (the Duke's daughter) they are set upon by trolls. When all looked lost and our protagonist about to die, Pug unleashes some pure magic which caused the trolls to strangle themselves to death. Yet, after this ordeal, Pug is still unable to use his magic naturally.

One day a mysterious ship is beached upon the shores of Crydee. Pug and Tomas are first to the scene and rescue a strange looking man who speaks an alien language. While in the infirmary, using magic, The Duke is informed that this dying man is not of this world. He is from an alien world who used a portal to gain access to Midkemia and are set for an all out invasion. With this distressing news, the Duke and a small band, including Pug and Tomas venture to Krondor, the Capital of Midkemia, to warn King Rodric of the upcoming invasion.

Nothing at the beginning of this book surprised me. I mean, the book is called Magician. So it sets me up for what is to come. However, what I didn't expect was the different perspectives the book was written in. I had assumed that the book would focus mostly on Pug and his adventures, but there are many protagonists in this story. This isn't a critique, just a bit of misdirection from the title is all.

What I liked about the book was the overall world Feist set up. He introduced a lot of history throughout the book without slowing the pace down. Feist sets up new races on top of old ones like goblins, elves and dwarves. He has little twists on what we readers would deem classic fantasy, which kept me interested. A pity that is all I liked.

What I disliked about the book was the little amount of characterization there was. I was exposed to many different characters views which is a good thing, but Feist doesn't spend nearly enough time fleshing out each character. I wanted to know each one a bit more intimately but in the end there was no character I favoured or disfavoured. Plot devices which aren't integrated smoothly really annoy me, and there were plenty in this book. Typical example from this book is stumbling upon a dragon's cave. The dragon decides he likes these intruders and decides to give them some magic weapons and armour, not before dying from natural old age I might add. Perhaps this kind of writing was acceptable in 1982, but modern writing would get lambasted. Another thing I didn't like about the book was that the book spanned too many years. Sometimes this can help the story move along or help sequels, but the book is primarily about a 9 year war and things happen in between which should be explored and not ignored. The worst thing about this book however, is the deus ex machina ending. Never an excuse for me. There was a very tenuous link near the beginning of the book, but to me it is all but a blatant deus ex machina.

"Resolution of a plot must arise internally, following from previous action of the play." - Aristotle 

It wasn't a terrible book by all means. It was well written, it has lots of good elements that could have been much better if this book was say two 600 page books (Yes I know there are sequels, but this was meant to be self containing). It needed more detail and more information for my liking. In this day and age, there are many quality books to satiate your needs. I don't think you are missing out on anything if you don't read this book.

Win a Kindle thanks to Bestfantasybooks.com

Check out www.bestfantasybooks.com and the competition they are running.

Be in to win one of two Kindle Paperwhites!

http://bestfantasybooks.com/blog/kindle-paperwhite-giveaway-competition/

Review: The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson

Wax is a Lawkeeper in the Roughs. He is probably the most famous and successful of the Lawkeepers out in the Roughs. He is dedicated to his job but gave it all up and moved back to the big city when tragedy struck. In the city he decided to stick with the family business but a mysterious crime happened. Trains were being robbed; whole carts were emptied but no one ever sees the robbers and the train is always undamaged and locked. Wax tries to stay out of it but when robbers started to kidnap people well...

Mistborn: The Final Empire was the first book and series by Brandon Sanderson which really captivated me. It is easily my most favourite trilogy of all time. So pre-ordered it as soon as I could.

If you haven't read Mistborn before you won't miss out on anything as the book is a standalone.

If you have then...

The Alloy of Law is set in the same world as Mistborn but around 200 years later when automobiles are just coming onto the market and guns are a plenty. I know for a fact that a lot of fantasy readers are immediately put off as this book suddenly changes to a "Steam punk" genre. However, I was never disturbed by the fact that there was technology in the book. I felt that because of the magic system Sanderson uses in this world, technology only helped to enhance it.

The intriguing part is that Mistborns are no longer; only Mistings. However, the frustrating part is that Sanderson doesn't solve this issue in this book so it feels like a season of lost where you've read it, but only asks more questions.

As for the book itself, it is written in the same Sanderson manner. Fast paced, small little twists and characters that you cannot help but like.

Another winner by Sanderson.

I'm Reading: A Dance With Dragons

Am reading this now. I will review it. I feel all tingly.

Review: Fahrenheit 451

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury was written more than 50 years ago. Books written more than 20 years ago have a very different style. Sci-fi books written in the past can sometimes be a bit of a comical read, so when I was reading it (to review), I took all these things into consideration. The important thing I wanted to get out of reading this book was to see if this book  could past the test of time.

Fahrenheit 451 is set in the future where knowledge has been cast aside and outlawed. The government regime is about making people happy; things like poetry and plays can get people upset; they don't want that. Ignorance is bliss and so books are burnt. People are brainwashed.

Guy Montag is a firefighter. He doesn't put out fires. He starts them. When there is a call out, Montag and his co-workers jump down a golden pole, put on their kerosene packs and set off to burn books. However one night, Montag is traumatised when an old lady refused to leave her burning house and gets burnt alive. It began the seed of doubt of whether or not what he was doing was right.

As I was reading the book, there were resemblances to A Canticle for Leibowitz  in the sense that it is set in the future and knowledge is discarded. The writing style is very dream like, as it almost seems to skip parts which made it hard for me to follow at certain times. There isn't a lot of meat to the book. The bases of the book is very interesting, but I wanted more detail and more character development.

Does this book stand the test of time? I think Ray Bradbury does a good job of portraying what the future might hold and the philosophy and ethics behind the book are interesting but I'm not sure if it is worth recommending to others. The book is short at 147 pages long, so a days reading would suffice. I think if you haven't read A Canticle for Leibowitz then this book is a good place to start, but if you already have...then maybe not.

Review: Fool Moon

Harry Dresden has been out of work for the last few months. Things are bad. Well...if you consider not knowing when the next pay check is coming in, worrying about feeding yourself and whether or not your friends are keeping on contact bad...then yeah...things are really bad for Harry Dresden. However, Murphy (Harry's friend) who worked in Special Investigations for the Chicago Police Department rings Harry after months of non-contact. A murder? Someone who's face has been eviscerated? Body disembowel? Paw marks? Harry knows what is going on...even a fool does.

Fool Moon by Jim Butcher is the 2nd book of the Dresden Files. As a lot of you may know, the Dresden Files is already a successful TV series, but books and TV are a lot different.

What I can tell you is that I loved this book. It was even better than his first book. Harry's quick witted humour makes you laugh often and his heroism is tempered with believable fight scenes (if you accept that fact that magic exists....psst....it does).

Butcher skill in writing is his ability to get you to love his main character, his cliffhanger chapters which cause you to read on and on, and his ability to adapt and denounce what you though you knew of about mythology.

We all know what werewolves are. We've seen lots of films and read things about them, but Butcher takes what you know, smashes them and then reconstructs them for you.

If you haven't read this series before, then do so. I was told that his series picks up after book 3...that information is wrong...it picks up now!

Review: Swords at Culver

Two boys, Tim and Merthyn study at Culver Academy. Avid lovers of fantasy, they were very eager to visit the sword display at the Academy's library, among the swords were the famed swords Excalibur and the Sword of El Cid. Unbeknown to the boys, an ancient evil had arrived around the same time they happened to be viewing the swords. What would the two boys do? What else could two lovers of fantasy do? They break the cases containing the swords and fight their way out!

Swords at Culver is the first of a series of books written by Richard Gwyn Davies. It is a fantasy novel set in modern day times. A lot of real references are used to help the reader relate to the book. The story has 4 main characters, Tim and Merthyn (the boys) who stumble upon the evil, and Mr. Meek and Mr. Davies, two teachers at the Academy, whom together help the boys in dire straits.

At the first mention of Excalibur I couldn't help myself but groan, but as I read on, the focus was more on Native American Indian lore, which intrigued me. Yet that one thing that interested me, wasn't explained in detail, everything seemed rushed as if the Davies thought it would bore the reader. With the main characters being teenage boys and the length of the book being short (225 pages), perhaps Davies was targeting YA readers, and this is how I treated the book when I read it.

What I have learnt from reading many YA books is that a successful YA book contains young characters, they have special powers, it is fast paced and readers can relate to the main characters. I think Davies has the first three done, but the last one I am not so certain of. Yes, readers can relate to the books, as it is set in modern times but relating to the boys or the teachers? I'm not too sure of.

Davies has a sequel to this book called Buddha at Culver, which I will read and review at a later time as I am hoping for more ancient lore.