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cavalary's reviews
277 reviews
The Children of Húrin by J.R.R. Tolkien
3.0
I has a "magical" feel to it, due to the entire atmosphere, the way the characters talk and to some extent even due to the events that take place, but it seems quite shallow and more a children's book than Tolkien's darkest story, as it is described. If you ignore the ending, at least...
The Sword of Shannara Trilogy by Terry Brooks
4.0
It does seem a whole lot like The Lord of the Rings, but the author says quite clearly that it was his inspiration, so he never claims to be anything more. That said, it's pretty darn good.
The First King Of Shannara by Terry Brooks
3.0
Is it full of clichés? Of course. Does it, like the entire series, bear a striking resemblance to The Lord of the Rings? Again, of course. But the lack of originality doesn't necessarily make for a bad read, unless of course you are already tired of the genre's trappings and will accept nothing less than a fresh take on it, in which case you'd better steer clear.
Writing this over four years after reading it makes it difficult, but I still remember some "images" from it, scenes, moments, even a couple of characters, though the latter are perhaps one of the book's weaknesses. So there are far better fantasy works out there, even in this very series, but it's good enough to scratch that itch for some more epic fantasy and far from bad enough to be forgotten after being so used.
Writing this over four years after reading it makes it difficult, but I still remember some "images" from it, scenes, moments, even a couple of characters, though the latter are perhaps one of the book's weaknesses. So there are far better fantasy works out there, even in this very series, but it's good enough to scratch that itch for some more epic fantasy and far from bad enough to be forgotten after being so used.
Ishmael: An Adventure of the Mind and Spirit by Daniel Quinn
2.0
Let's say that the author's heart was in the right place, and he did make some excellent points and put a few other interesting issues up for debate, but he mixed that with a bunch of truisms and plenty of other ideas that are just plain wrong, and then buried it all under an entire heap of horseshit... And using the term may be insulting to the digestive system of horses.
If you roll up your sleeves and get digging, you can get some good things out of this book, but it'll take wading through an attempt to challenge a myth, taken to ludicrous extremes that may unfortunately be believed by many but which are probably recognized as laughable by anyone who'd ever willingly read something like this, by using another that's just as wrong. Add the hypocrisy of those included rants about prophets and lawmakers while obviously striving to become one and the pathetic attempt at a story and I'll say you have much better things to do with your time, whether you want to save the world or not.
If you roll up your sleeves and get digging, you can get some good things out of this book, but it'll take wading through an attempt to challenge a myth, taken to ludicrous extremes that may unfortunately be believed by many but which are probably recognized as laughable by anyone who'd ever willingly read something like this, by using another that's just as wrong. Add the hypocrisy of those included rants about prophets and lawmakers while obviously striving to become one and the pathetic attempt at a story and I'll say you have much better things to do with your time, whether you want to save the world or not.