Steve Wrenn

An excellent new take on fantasy! Farland doesn't just recycle Tolkien's/Gygax's creatures, but instead comes up with his own. His take on magic is new and interesting as well. The examination of the moral quandary of taking these endowments from people, even willingly, is cause for pause. Even more of note is the examination of the morality of killing dedicates, who often were unwilling, in order to harm your enemy. This isn't unlike the question of bombing factories with slave workers to stop enemy tank production. The writing style isn't quite as good as Tolkien or Martin, and I couldn't help but imagine cartoon characters in my mind as I read the book. That, of course, might be because it's hard to imagine people more beautiful than beautiful, or running at 100 miles per hour. While I like Lord of the Rings better and suspect there are other series I'll like better, I fully plan on continuing to read the series! While it doesn't feel quite as epic in scope as some other series, I'm just getting started! The map at the front of the book left plenty of space unfilled! I fully recommend it to anyone who is looking for a new fantasy series!

Well, I was hoping I liked this book more than the last, and I wasn't disappointed. While certainly not on the caliber of the first half of the series, this is a good book, and I liked it much more than Worldbinder. Farland seems much more sure of himself in this book, and seems to be developing characters that he's sticking with, instead of the situation as I felt in the last book, where he seemed to be uncommitted to either the world he had created or the one he was creating, he seems invested in this one. I'm getting to know these characters better, instead of seeing them as the bastardized versions of the previous characters I'd enjoyed. After too much turnover, and then several key characters only lasting one book, this one makes it seem that we'll be sticking with them for a while.

I enjoyed in this book the fact that we're getting to see Wyrmlings as people, far more than we ever got to know the Reavers. Of course, the Wyrmlings are definitely portrayed as inherently evil and knowing it, vs the Reavers, who were only evil, IMHO, the way an antelope sees the lion as evil. I also love the way that Vulgash was dealt with! I'm not sure I could have come up with that interesting way of doing it without “attacking” him!

Overall, a worthy addition to the Runelords saga! Yes, unfortunately, it means slogging through Worldbinder, but this book made it worth it!

It is an excellent book to begin an excellent series. It is a very familiar plotline of the boy from a small town destined for great things, but I like this trope. It promises much more after it's all been written, and I love the descriptive style. I love medieval fantasy, and this provides it in spades. I also like that, unlike older fantasy, women are front and center as the Aes Sedai, and are the only people who can use magic. Of course, it does appear that the ultimate hero is a man here, but this is still light years ahead of other fantasy tropes, and this is 30 years ago! This contrasts nicely with older fantasy with barely any female characters and those that were there are rarely fully developed.

I also like the different creatures in this world. While it is clear that Tolkien influenced Jordan, he also created a new set of creatures, such as Trollocs and Myrddraal, instead of rehashing Tolkien's creatures. This, along with what they've changed regarding gender roles, means that there is enough difference in this world that it is not just another Tolkien story, but great writing on its own.