 |
|
Title: The Dragonstone (Mithgar)
ISBN: 0451454561
Author:
Dennis L. McKiernan
Publicate Date: 1997-09-01
Publish: 1997-09-01
List Price: $7.99
Average Customer Rating: 3.5
Format: Paperback
 |
|
|
|
|
Amazon Lowest New Price: $1.90
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $0.01
Amazon Merchant Price: $7.99
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Customer Review: |
|
1: Blimey, this is bad
I've read most of McKiernan's works, starting all the way back to the Iron Tower Trilogy. I have to admit they are getting progressively worse with each new release.
a) As many posters have said, he pads the books with repetitive meaningless description.
b) His characters are stale.
c) Someone must have told him that he needed to increase his readership with women, because he insists on pushing poorly written romances on ALL of his characters. Put a man and a women together in a chapter -- guarantee they will hook up. No matter if they are completely different races and have only just met.
d) Finally, the stories are becoming less interesting. I could put up with a and c above if the story and the characters made up for it. Not the case in this book.
May be the last McKiernan book I read. Time to move on to a new author.
|
2: I wish I could give 0 stars
I picked this up since I wanted to try an author that I have never read. I now wish that I didn't pick up this book.
I will say that I did not finish it, after reading up to page 74 I gave up. I could see where the plot was going already and like many others have said the character are just cookie cutter characters.
The worst part, in just the short bit that I read, was the author's description of an area. 71 words to in one sentence to describe an area. That was just the latest one. There were others.
If you like boring fantasy novels that go into the minutest detail of describing an area this book is for you.
|
3: I kinda skipped a few pages....
The story is one everyone has read before, and that at least a dozen times. But no matter how many times I've read these kinds of stories, they've never been painful. Although, a book you dread picking up is a book you should put down.
I've only given up on one book, and I refuse to give up on this one. Even though the first 125 pages are mostly elves walking hither and tither. (These are the few pages I skipped). I mainly refuse to quit because I have read McKiernan before, and he hasn't let me down.
There isn't a lot of action in this book, and when the characters get into philosophy discussions, it gets repetitive. I was not enlightened, and it did not cause me to think passionately about the meaning of life. It merely intrigued me to drift to more immediate concerns: why I am still reading this book.
The characters are plain, (not to mention go-getters in the love department) and I can't say I like any of them.
All in all, I'd say if you're a devoted McKiernan fan, give it a shot. It could be your thing. But for the most part, I urge you to choose another book.
|
4: Yay for McKiernan
A lot of people have really negative things to say about this book, and quite frankly, i don't think it is the book at all. If you're somebody who can't stand more philosophy and want more action, don't read this series. It's a great series to make you THINK. (*much sarcasm* Goddess forbid)
|
5: Don't bother
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.
|
|
|
|
|
