James Barclay, the unsung master of action fantasy

Advantages: deep characters, non-stop action
Disadvantages: slightly simplistic in comparison to other authors

...Ever since my early teens i have always been fascinated by fantasy novels, I read the hobbit and Lord of the Rings in my early teens and have slowly worked my way through the world of fantasy fiction. Eventually i was recommended James Barclay by a friend so went out and bought Dawnthief and with it dissapeared three days of my life. To say this book is addictive is to underestimate how good it really is. It is gripping, character driven, fantasy action at its very finest. The plot revolves around an aging mercenary party known as the Raven who found themselves thrown reluctantly into saving the realm of Balaia from the evil Wytch lords and with it get entagled in the petty politics of the colleges of magic. The characters are well put together and even from the very start you feel a connection to the characters that drives you to see...

Kingy501 12.05.2005 · Read review
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Review of Dawnthief - James Barclay

Barclays Bank - $££%%&^%^%**&*&@%!!!!!

Advantages: (+) expansive range
Disadvantages: (-) too many to mention...poor service, increasing prices, made many mistakes w/ my account

...Little bit of history: I first opened an account with Barclays Bank when I was 11 years old after being recommended by a school friend and her Mother. I had the normal savings account - a bank card to use at the ATM and bank branch itself, with a daily £50 limit. Between the ages of 11 and 15 I had no problems with the bank, until of course when I was 16; a week before my 16th Birthday my account was updated/upgraded. I now had a chip+pin card but my account was essentially the same as before. However, one difference was that I now had £100 daily limit instead of the former £50. This was agreed in my contract which I\'d received in the post around my 16th b.day. This is when the problems started. Thinking I had £100 to spend each day, I went shopping with friends and had planned to buy some Nike trainers costing £85. These were my...

vcarina88x 27.07.2007 · Read review
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Review of Barclays Bank

Barclays Curent Account

Advantages: Good online service, good opening hours, local branches
Disadvantages: Poor customer service

...I've been a Barclays customer for eight years, have a current account, a Barclaycard and an ISA with them. I first started using the bank as a student, because they offered a pretty good overdraft limit. However, eight years later and I am currently experiencing some pretty shocking customer service in my opinion, which is making me seriously consider moving to another bank. After having a fraudulant payment taken out of my account in March I expected that it woudl be sorted out quickly. Six months later, I'm still waiting to get the money back, despite calls to debit card service, visits to the branch and now a complaint. The waits to get through to debit card services are very long - over an hour on hold. I then found that the staff were unhelpful and sometimes, in my opinion, verging on rude. I have tried going into the bank...

Leannie1000 07.09.2009 · Read review
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Review of Barclays Bank

Barclays Premier Life a/c - Revolutionary

Advantages: Great package for possibly cheaper than what you now pay.
Disadvantages: Strict eligibility criteria

...I have had a Barclays Premier account for something like 10 years and recently spotted on the Barclays website that they have introduced a new product called Premier Life. The website doesn't give you a great deal of information about this new product but as I have now been accepted and received the bumf I thought it would be useful to share it with you. I do not work for Barclays and am not on commission but have to say that it is the best thing to happen to banking in ages. What do you get?: Everything in the regular Premier account: ie : £1000 free overdraft £750 withdrawal limit. And yes you can take £750 out of a cash machine, you just need a very big wallet ( I paid the electrician by cash recently) 24 hour freecall customer service 9.9% overdraft instead of regular account 15.9% Discounted mortgage and loan products Instant...

zoetna 20.03.2008 (31.03.2009) · Read review
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Review of Barclays Bank

Raven! Raven with me!!

Advantages: tongue-in-cheek humour, ever so slightly different from most fantasy
Disadvantages: nothing really new under (Middle Earth's) sun

...and the occasional dragon. Those characters are what makes this story stand out for me. The story itself isn't anything spectacularly original: bunch of 'heroes' go on a quest, this time to find the component parts of a spell powerful enough to destroy the great evil threatening the land. But James Barclay has managed to take a small step to the side, to differentiate himself ever-so-slightly from the crop of books in this genre. It's not a huge leap, by any means, but it's still there. Barclay has a refreshing irreverence towards keeping his characters alive, for instance - in this book, our core group can and occasionally do die. The world in which the Raven's adventures are set is fairly well drawn. Again, there's nothing spectacular nor, I suspect, desperately original, but it works for me. Balaia's main features include four colleges of magic...

Calypte 15.10.2006 · Read review
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Review of Dawnthief - James Barclay

Fraud at Barclays

Advantages: Seemingly good name
Disadvantages: They just don't care really....

...First off, let me state that I am not attemting to throw mudballs at Barclays. I believe that they are, as far as banks go, fair in their practices. Fair, as in good sometimes, rubbish other times. In this particular case, they were rubbish to us. Let me explain. About 2 months ago, on a Sunday afternoon, I wanted to take my son to McDonalds for an ice cream. When I tried to draw money, the machine swallowed my card. I immediately called the stop card number and the calm, friendly, helpful gentleman helped me sort the problem out. He said that the card had been suspended, due to possible fraudulent activity. Now, it is important to note that the Barclays computers suspected fraud and stopped the card. The gentleman then informed me that all of my money had been withdrawn. What a shock. Yes, it was only £190, but to us...

ElenarMT 16.03.2006 · Read review
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Review of Barclays Bank

LET BARCLAYS TAKE CARE OF YOUR FINANCES

Advantages: All in opinion
Disadvantages: All in opinion

...Barclays Bank is recognized worldwide; more so than any other bank. As all high street banks compete against each other each claiming to offer better interest rates, better saving accounts, better investments Barclays Bank continues to have a firm grip on the financial industry. Growing, expanding and always looking for ways to improve as they move with the times. I have been a Barclay?s customer for more than 12 years, and after wondering from bank to bank and can easily say that there are not many banks out there that can better Barclay?s service and professional outlook. I am more than a satisfied customer, so satisfied that apart from a savings account I have in Halifax I have invested all my money with Barclays Bank. They are big fish in a competitive market that know what they doing, your finances could not be in better hands...

Versatile 23.10.2001 · Read review
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Review of Barclays Bank

Arghhhh...Barclays,a personal relationship history

Advantages: Good E-Banking service
Disadvantages: Poor Service, Expensive, Poor at communicating

...I left school at 16 straight into a nice little job on my local high street. When I needed a bank to put my £100- a week in (It was a lot in those days) who did I choose? Well this was the local high street and in 1991 there wasn't that much choice. As Barclays was the closest to where I worked I chose them. For the first two years I paid my wage in, in cash each week and took most out each weekend from a cash machine. No Credit or Debit Cards no Direct Debits just like a typical working person of that age. No problems on my side and no problem on theirs. Then I turned 18 and things grew a bit more complicated in the banking world. First of all I could now have a cheque book and debit card. I never asked for either they just arrived one day so I used them and thought no more about it. Then the constant junk mail from Barclaycard...

Looby5 09.05.2004 · Read review
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Review of Barclays Bank

Barclays Wank

Advantages: Nope
Disadvantages: Everything

...I can't stand this bank, I have had nothing but trouble. They have abused my trust by sending my endless streams of junk mail to my billing address, credit card offers, loans, mortgages, rubbish. My nearest Barclays bank have "Training Issues" which means I can't even transfer my money out of their hands and into my far more reliable Smile account. I tried to use the Barclays phone banking system and have been on hold for 1.5 hours before giving up, it seems that I can only ever get through to the phone banking people on a Sunday morning. I held great hopes for the internet bank service they were offering, but it uses PC based certificates thus you can't connect from anywhere else on the net, also they arn't even BSI backed!!! Useless. I will be sticking with Smile.. If only I could get a trained member of Barclays Bank to close my...

kitt 13.11.2000 · Read review
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Review of Barclays Bank

Barclays the Big Crappy Bank

Advantages: Their error means I now have a pro-active Bank
Disadvantages: they were very impersonal

...Before you read this Opinion you need to know that I am a Business Manager with NatWest Bank. This Opinion has been written by a friend of mine who has very recently switched from Barclays to NatWest (I didn't get involved apart from saying I would but this Opinion up for people to read). I personally would not go around slating our Competitors but considered my frineds experiences worthy of your interest. The Opinion is as follows ; Talk about being just a number and not recognised for who or what you are. When I was a student , all the Bank's courted us like crazy. At University we were approached by all the major UK PLC's trying to convince us to come and work for them. When we Graduated the Bank wanted to lend me lots of money to buy a Car. Then what happened (I dropped into this big void). You see when I...

richardandkaye 19.08.2001 · Read review
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Review of Barclays Bank