Fantasy Books > S Fantasy Books > D

Advantages: beautifully written,engaging,realistic characters
Disadvantages: slightly slow paced

...of a warrior with a sword and shield and a ghostly bear standing by a large knarled tree. Below the picture is the name of the book in plain white bold print and the background colour to all this is a mix of orange, red and black. David Gemmell is one of my all time favourite Authors. He writes what is classed as Heroic fantasy. Basically all his stories involve war, fighting and battles set in fantasy world where high tech is chain mail and a running ...
...always plenty of love, sex, heroes and villains. Any book by David Gemmell is the perfect way to escape in to another world for a few hours. The particular book I am reviewing is called “Sword in the storm” and is book one of the four booked Rigante Series. With David Gemmell I find you do not have to read the series in order because each story stands alone but book one is always a good place to start. Connavar’s Father was killed when he was tiny. ... Read review

Advantages: Fast paced and eloquent story, poignant characters
Disadvantages: Couldn't sleep until I read it all... and walked around with a haze the next day.

Gemmell is one of the best, if not the best, in heroic fantasy. He excels brilliantly in the fantasy field not only because of his articulate writings and poignant characters, but that he is not afraid of letting them face the final consequences for their actions. Ever felt the frustration that the characters, main or minor, seem to be immortal in some novels? She or he never seems to have to pay for the stupidity and mistakes committed. But not ...
...the Source to forgive them and let them live for another page or so (all of his characters have the talent in 'accidentally' finding trouble, constantly, without the story to be the least 'too coincidental') because, dear Source, they are only human, and you love them so! Enough praises, I can go on and on and never run out of good things to say. Sword of Night and Day is the Book 2 of The Damned and continues to follows the story of Skilgannon. ... Read review

Advantages: great fun for the imagination
Disadvantages: you have read all the previous books first!!

David Eddings continues to produce books that are impossible to put down. His writing always makes me think of an old fashioned campfire storyteller that keeps his listeners huddled next to the fire as he brings his story to life. The sheer tempo of his plots coupled with enthralling characters are what makes me coming back for more. On the down side I wish he would invest a little more time into describing the world that he has created. His descriptions ...
...enough to set his imagination alight. Perhaps this simplicity is why the books appeal to all ages from young adults upwards. Certainly he opened the doorway to fantasy novels for me when I was a teenager and I still find his books readable now! This fourth book in the Malloreoan series follows Garion's quest to find his kidnapped son. Ever fearful that the abductor, the elusive Zandramas, Child of Dark, cannot be found Garion and his companions ... Read review

Advantages: Excellent character development
Disadvantages: It ended :(

...that there are infact 5 parts to it and the story of Talon of the Silver Hawk was just the begining, I could not put this book or any of the sequels down until I finished reading them, A very good book in my oppinion and definately worth a read. ... Read review

Advantages: Well Written, Empathetic characters, Epic storyline
Disadvantages: Long, slow build up

This book easily ranks among the greatest fantasy books of all time, and as a testiment to this, I have already read this book at least five times already, with plans to do so again in the not to distant future. The easy writing style used by Raymond E. Feist not only transports you into the twin worlds of Kelewan and Midkemia, but grabs and maintains your interest throughout what is an epic story. I found I connected and empathised easily with ...
...characters were well defined and written. The world created within these pages is well defined and described, and even though it follows many generic fantasy stereotypes, the characters, story and depth of information combine to exceed the generic fare offered by many within this genre. Although Raymond E. Feist wrote several sequels and prequels, and although some are quite good, this book should always be considered the best of them. ... Read review