FORGING THE DARKSWORD: Some sparks of interest. There are some sparks of a interesting ideas, a spark here and there of a good character or character development, sparks of good plot, sparks of a good book but none of the sparks catch fire. I have a feeling the book was put together kinda hastily, the authors seeing, and here again I use the word spark, of an idea and running with it only to find there wasn't enough wood in the details of the story to make it burn.

None of the characters have much depth or dimension, especially the main character of Joram. Too dark, gloomy and cut off. We don't really care succeeds or not. Nor do we know what he is really supposed to be succeeding in. The plot gets sluggish in parts and there is no real theme. A satisfactory if unsatisfying book. I give it a C.

In the enchanted realm of Merilon, magic is life.

Born without magical abilities and denied his birthright, Joram is left for dead. Yet he grows to manhood in a remote country village, hiding his lack of powers only through constant vigilance and ever more skillful sleight-of-hand.

Forced to kill a man in self-defense, Joram can keep his secret from the townspeople no longer; he has no magic, no life. Fleeing to the Outlands. Joram joins the outlawed Technologists, who practice the long forbidden arts of science. Here he meets the scholarly catalyst Saryon, who has been sent on a special mission to hunt down a mysterious "dead man" and instead finds himself in a battle of wits and power with a renegade warlock of the dark Duuk-tsarith caste.

Together, Joram and Saryon begin their quest toward a greater destiny - a destiny that begins with the discovery of the secret books hat will enable them to overthrow the evil usurper Blachloch .. and forge the powerful magic-absorbing Darksword.

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DOOM OF THE DARKSWORD: Better drawing out of the characters than he first book though they are still too stiff and general. This book puts some purpose to Joram. There is also more action and the pace is quicker. Unfortunately they still can not compensate for a lack of focus and drive in the book overall. I give it a C+. An improvement over the first book but not by too much.

Born without magic, Joram was one of the Dead, denied the throne of Merilon. For years, he lived among outlaws, surviving by with and sleight-of-hand.

Now, wielding the powerful, magic-absorbing Darksword, Joram returns to the enchanted Kingdom that once was his home to win revenge and claim his birthright. Here he will test Bishop Vanya and his fierce army of Duuk-tsarith in a battle unlike any their world has known.

Jointed bye the scholarly catalyst Saryon, the young mage Mosiah, and the trickster Simkin, Joram confronts the shattering secret of his past and discovers the ancient prophecy that puts the fate of the world in his hands - the hands that forged the Darksword.

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TRIUMPH OF THE DARKSWORD: The idea of bringing in modern forces from"Beyond" was completely unnecessary and looked silly. The idea that the Darksword could absorb the laser beams, Yes the tanks and soldiers have laser weapons and yes Joram can absorb all of them, is ridiculous and completely unbelievable. The book does manage to redeem itself partially by answering a couple of questions from the series and bringing some kind of closure for Joram. If you stuck through the series until now, God bless you. You get a few answers and get to see the conclusion for most of the main characters in this book. If that's important to you then read this one, oherwise I wouldn't bother. If you didn't go through the other two books yet I'd say put this book back and go look for something better.

In a realm where magic is life, Joram was one of the Dead. Born without power he was denied his royal birthright and sentenced to the Turning - his mind to be imprisoned inside a husk of living stone.

Yet at the last moment, Saryon took his place, suffering the eternal torment for his young master. And Joram and his wife Gwendolyn vanished into the mists that marked the Border of the World...

Now, ten years later, Joram and Gwendolyn have returned to reclaim their rightful place in Merilon. Wielding one last time the terrible, magic-thirsting Darksword. Joram must confront the evil sorcerer Meju and his army of Technologists from beyond the Border in a final apocalyptic battle.

Rejoined by Saryon, the mage Mosiah and Simkin, Joram will fulfill the ancient prophecy of the Darksword - the prophecy that puts in his hands to power to destroy the world .. or save it.

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OTHERLAND: This is a fantastic book. A science fiction, mystery novel with a bit of fantasy thrown in. How can this work all together? Because it has to do with a virtual reality version of the Internet. Anyone that has ever traversed cyberspace should enjoy this book, especially if you've wondered what the next generation could be like. I highly recommend this book. An A+. I can't wait for the next part to come out. It is a bit long though, almost overlong, but not quite.

The highly successful Tailchaser's Song and his magnificent, best-selling trilogy, Memory, Sorrow and Thorn, brought Tad Williams worldwide acclaim as a master of fantasy. Now he opens a whole new dimension of the imagination with OTHERLAND: City of Golden Shadow. This first volume in a memorizing story takes us to our own near-future when a global conspiracy at the highest levels threatens to sacrifice our Earth for the promise of a far more exclusive place - Otherland, a universe where any fantasy can be made real, but which is ruled by Earth's wealthiest and most ruthless power brokers, The Grail Brotherhood.

Otherland. Surrounded by secrecy, it is home to the wildest dreams and darkest nightmares. Incredible amounts of money have been lavished on it. The best minds of two generations have labored to build it. And somehow, bit by bit, it is claiming the Earth's most valuable resource - it's children.

Only a few have become aware of the danger. Fewer still are willing or able to take up the challenge of this perilous and seductive realm. But every age has its heroes, and unusual ties call for unusual champions:

Renie Sulaweyo, a teacher and the backbone of her family, proud of her African heritage, has fought all her life to simply get by. She has never wanted to be a hero. But when her young brother is struck down by a bizarre and mysterious illness, Renie swears to save him. When people around her begin to die, she realizes she has stumbled onto something she is not meant to know, a terrifying secret from which there is no turning back ...

!Xabbu is a Bushman, come to the city to learn skills which may save the spirit of his tribe. With the heart of a poet and the soul of a shaman, he will journey with Reneie on this quest into the very heart of darkness...

Paul Jonas is lost, seemingly adrift in space and time. As he flees from the bloody battle fields of World War I to a castle in the sky, and onward to lands beyond imagining, he must not only evade his terrifying pursuers, both solve the terrible riddle of his own identity....

Fourteen-year-old Orlando is also the invincible barbarian Thargor, but only in his imagination. However, youth and frailty are not enough to get you excused from saving the world....

And Mister Sellars, a strange old man on a military base, a prisoner of both the government and his own body, may be the greatest mystery of all. Is he part of The Grail Brotherhood? Does he oppose them? Or, as he sits like a spider at the center of a vast web, does he have ambitions of his own?

The answers will only be found in Otherland ....

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OTHERLAND VOLUME THREE: MOUNT OF BLACK GLASS: I give this book a C. Not as bad as the second book. There was more action, some more character defining and it finally starts to wrap things up. Though it does make you wonder what was the point of taking so long. It's not great but not bad. If you suffered through the second book you should read this one; if you didn't read the second book don't bother with this one it doesn't make it worth reading the second one.

"There is a place, a black mountain that reaches to the sky - that covers up the stars. You must find it. That is where all your answers are."
She brought that message to Paul Jonas in a dream. He knew her so well her oddly beautiful winged form, her sad eyes - but although the woman who described herself as a "shattered mirror" was achingly familiar, Pauls' memories of who she was and what she meant to him had been removed. ... Yet her cryptic messages were his only hope to survive the incredibly complex virtual reality network known as Otherland.

"All of you have been called. you will find that which you seek as the sun sets on Priam's Walls."
Orlando Gardinar had learned this from the mysterious sleeping woman. But what did it mean? And how could a terminally ill teenage boy, defending his life in a simulated Egypt where gods and mythical creatures were waging bloody war, possibly answer this summons?

"The Grail Brotherhood has built the most powerful, sophisticated simulation network imaginable. At the same time, they have manipulated and injured the minds of thousands of children."
This proclamation from the mysterious Mr. Sellars confirmed what Renie Sulaweyo had feared to be true when she first broke into the Otherland network in a desperate search for the cause of her brother Stephen's deathlike coma.

Now Renie, the Bushman!Xabbu, and their companions find themselves navigating a treacherous and ever-changing course - from a strangely unfinished land, to a seemingly endless labyrinthine House - pursuing a sociopathic killer who has stolen one of their group. To Renie's despair she is no closer to uncovering the secrets which could help save Stephen's life, and now it appears that something may be very wrong with the Otherland network itself.

As Paul Jonas, Orlando, Renie, and the rest strive to reach Priam's Walls, in the heart of Troy, they know that their quest is running perilously short of time. For the Grail Brotherhood has finally set the date for the Ceremony when they will make their bid for immortality, and thereby seal the fate of the Earth's children forever.

But before Renie and her allies can hope to stop the Brotherhood, they must first solve the mysteries of Otherland itself, and confront its darkest secret - an entity known only as the Other ..

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OTHERLAND VOLUME TWO: RIVER OF BLUE FIRE: Boring. That's what I said about this book. It's a shame too because this was a great concept with a good start that just falls flat. You know how sometime in a book the middle of it is sometimes slow and a bit flat? Imagine a whole book like that and at the length of this book that is a huge chunk of down time. There is just way too much of a "setting up" and broadening out of the overall story with no climaxes or conflicts interesting enough or exciting enough to keep you going. A D book. Not recommended.

In OTHERLAND Volume One: City of Golden Shadow, best-selling author Tad Williams transported readers to a perilous and seductive realm of the imagination where any fantasy - whether cherished dream or dreaded nightmare - can be made shockingly real.

Otherland. In many ways it is humankind's most stunning achievement: a private, multi-dimensional universe built over two generations by the greatest minds of the twenty-first century. But this most exclusive of places is also one of the world's best kept secrets, created and controlled by an organization made up of the world's most powerful and ruthless individuals, a private cartel known - to those who know of their existence at all - as The Grail Brotherhood. Though their purpose in creating Otherland is still a mystery, it may not remain so for long. For they have exacted a terrible price from humanity in the process, and even their highly organized global conspiracy cannot hide the nature of their crimes forever.

And now a small band of adventurers have penetrated the veil of secrecy that prevents the uninitiated from entering Otherland. But having broken into the amazing worlds within worlds that make up this universe, they are trapped, unable to escape back to their own flesh-and- blood bodies in the real world. And as dangers and circumstances split their party into small, widely scattered groups, their only hope of reuniting lies in returning again and again to the River that flows - in one form or another - through all the worlds.

But the odds seem to be completely against them as they - and the one outsider with whom they might join forces - become hopelessly lost in realms where an Ice Age tribe's fears can only be quenched in blood ... where insects are as large and deadly as dinosaurs ... where they are caught in the the war between a man made of straw and one made of tin .. where cartoon ads take on a life of their own ... where humans strive to survive in the aftermath of an alien invasion .. and where one among their party is actually The Grail Brotherhood's most terrifying weapon - a socio-pathic killer who has never failed and whose current mission is to make certain that not even one member of this little invasion force lives long enough to reveal the truth about Otherland to the people of Earth ...

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SEA OF SILVER LIGHT Otherland: Final Volume: As much as it pains me to say it this is an A book. It's as long as his other three, perhaps longer, it goes on and on like the other three but it wraps up the series and for that alone I'd be happy but it does it well. I don't know for sure if it was the writing or the desire to finally get to the end, I suspect it had more to do with writing then wanting to finish the series. I enjoyed the ending. It wrapped up what was going on effectively and more than most it is a satisfying ending that doesn't leave you wondering what happens to the characters yet does let the characters continue on in their universe just as in the real world. My advice for anyone who hasn't read this series is to read the first book and the last one and skip the middle two. You won't miss much and it's covered in the synopsis at the front. Yes this is an A.

Otherland, a private, multidimensional universe built over two generations by the greatest minds of the twenty-first century, had been one of the world's best kept secrets, created and controlled by an organization made up of the world's most powerful and ruthless individuals, a private cartel known - to those who knew of their existence at all - as The Grail Brotherhood.

But when far too many children fell prey to Otherland a small band of adventurers, marshaled together by the mysterious being known as Mr. Sellars, set out to penetrate the veil of secrecy that prevented the uninitiated from entering Otherland. Once there, they found themselves trapped in the seemingly endless worlds of the Otherland network, unable to escape back to their own flesh-and-blood bodies in the real world. Their only hope for survival, and for the children they'd come to rescue, was to make their way through the Otherland network to the terrifying void at the heart of the system.

But even as Renie Sulaweyo, !Xabbu, Paul Jonas, and the rest struggled through the maze of invented worlds, time was growing short. The Brotherhood's plans for immortality within the network had been shattered by the monstrous intelligence that ran the network, a presence known only as the Other, and by an even more monstrous human being who called himself John Dread, the psychopath who once served the Grail Network, but who now had made himself the god of this virtual universe, and who was systematically turning the network's worlds into killing grounds. Even his old master, the arch-magnate Felix Jongleur, Otherland's creator, was now helplessly forced to make common cause with Renie and the others.

Trapped in the surreal and deadly landscapes of the failing network, Renie, !Xabbu, Sam Fredricks, Martine, and their companions fought their way toward the system's heart, struggling against increasing odds to save the children, solve the bizarre mysteries of Otherland,, and escape back to realty,

But before long there might not be a "real" world to return to for any of them. For destroying his employer's playground was merely a dress rehearsal for Johnny Dread. Dread's ultimate plan was to gain control of Jongleur's massive corporate holding and spread apocalyptic destruction throughout the entire Earth ...

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Chung Kuo is a vast epic of the future - a wondrous world blend of the exotic flavors of ancient China and the high-tech shine of cutting-edge futurism.

In David Wingrove's vision of the distant future, the Chines long ago took over the world and set out to attain "The peace of Ten Thousand Years" based on the tenets of New Confucianism. The seven ruling T'ang or "kings", rule the seven great cities by the traditional Chinese idea that peace is attained through strict order and stability. But many believe that their stability is a stagnating tyranny.

One small group of European elite - calling themselves "Dispersionists" - begin a campaign to bring change into the world of Chung Kuo, and live out their deep rooted Western need for progress.

Chung Kuo is the epic story of this "War of Two Directions" - a grand conflict between the western idea of progress and the Eastern belief in stability. In its pages we follow the fortunes of four young men from all walks of Chung Kuo society - from the son of a T'ang to a slave born in the rubble beneath the city's foundations - and it is their strengths, dreams, passions, and struggles that move this remarkable work to its stunning conclusion, and ultimately change the course of humankind.

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CHUNG KUO: THE BROKEN WHEEL: Book 2 of the Chung Kuo series continues in the same great strain of the first. Another A book.

Now in Chung Kuo: The Broken Wheel, Wingromve broadens his canvas and gives us another riech and evocative grand tale. It is the story of four me from all walks of society, whose fates are inexorably intertwined like the yin and yang. It is their treachery and heroism, betrayal and love, intrigues and adventures that drive this fascinationg tale to its ultimate conclusion, and change the course of humankind.

If you haven't yet: Discover the world of Chung Kuo.

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THE WHITE MOUNTAIN Chung Kuo Book III: The third book in the series. As good as the others. A continued strong work in a strong series. I give it a B+.

A towering world-city covers almost every acre of every continent. Seven high-tech fiefdoms, ruled by seven lords united in unimaginable power. But now the wheel is broken. The Seven are divided at last. Armed rebellion has broken out in Chung Kuo's few remaining open spaces: on the vast grain farms, within the chilly Mars colony ... and along the proud spine of the mountain chains, where hardy guerillas scoff at the gunships of the T'ang. In desperation, the Seven plot their final solution in secret council, a gambit that could ensure peace ... at a terrible price.

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THE STONE WITHIN: The fourth book in the series. Another A+ book. It gripped me as I watched the players move towards their destiny where ever it might be. If you've gotten this far you won't want to back out now.

A dying old man's dream warn the Seven T'ang that a fierce storm is approaching ... so dark, so deadly it can destroy a world. Not even the T'ang, rulers of the magnificent mile-high city-kingdoms of the planet, can predict from where the danger will come. Does it lie in the masses beginning to rebel, clutching at memories of freedom, sky and sunlight? Or from a reckless scientific search to find the key to immortality? Does it lurk inside the mind of a painter with a revolutionary high-tech art ... or inside the ranks of the Seven themselves? For as assassins spread outward to a fortified place in space, treachery moves inward into men's and women's hearts to bring down a dynasty ... Order The Stone Within/a Chung Kuo Novel Book 4 paperback from Amazon Today!

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Beneath the Tree of Heaven Chung Kuo book V: A nice continuation of the series. Focuses more on some of the characthers we havn't seen as much of. Griping in it's reach and direction. An A.

In 2211, the Seven T'ang, the ruling dictatorship of the solar system, is weakened by a special child's birth ... and the forces for change spreading from the megacities of Earth to a secretive, planet-wide conspiracy on Mars. For generations the T'ang have controlled with mind-manipulation and black-clad assassins. But the inborn urges of humanity cannot be stilled by murder or seduction. Now, as a mad, blood-thirsty ruler plots a coup from within the T'ang, Hans Ebert, his famous face obscured forever behind a mask, begins a new fight for power and love on the red soil of Mars. Revolution may finally free the long-shackled masses. Or it may spread unimaginable destruction to level a world ... and the hopes of all worlds to come.

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WHITE MOON, RED DRAGON CHUNG KUO BOOK 6: The sixth book in the series. The end is near as this book closes. It is the same high standard as the others. A B+.

In 2215, a disturbance ripples through space as a ship passes invisibly onward to its destiny. In it is the rebel DeVore, a master of stealth and subterfuge, thought dead by his enemies, but very much alive - and getting ready to bring a terrifying flotilla against the T'ang, the dictators of Earth. On Mars, another rebel, the long exiled Hans Ebert, meets with a lost African tribe, the Osu, to reveal his audacious plan - to take them home. And on Earth the mega-cities of the T'ang begin to crumble as war ripples across the planet. It is a time of change, of endings, of beginning. It is an era when the last of the T'angs, Li Yuan, will make a terrifying alliance ... when chaos will strike in the form of human-looking androids programmed to kill ... and when Emily Ascher, a woman dedicated to liberty for all the billions of the T'ang have kept in chains, will see her vision blossom, though its color will be blood-red and blurred by tears.

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DAYS OF BITTER STRENGTH: The same quality writing but you wonder 'what's the point?'. Alot of the same characters are there and they go on with their lives and alot of bad things happen ( I won't give any of the plot away in case, for some reason, you choose to read it) but none of it seems to have a point in the bigger picture of the story. It's as if the series was called the life of Li Yuan and you're just reading about some of the things that happen to him and during his life time. Sure this stuff happens but who cares is the impression that is felt through out the whole book. Not recommended. A C book.

In the spring of 2232, long-denied hopes for a more humane world become manifest in the red-roofed houses of "China on the Rhine." There, Emily Ascher, once a freedom fighter, now lives as Mama Em, mother to the orphan boys of a war-devastated land. But unto the people of Chung Kuo, two children will be born: "Coffin Filler," a baby girl smothered and thrown away but not yet dead, and Josef, a baby boy delivered into a hostile land, yet determined to fight for his life. They are part of a new generation who will see more death than any who have gone before. Although peace seems to reign, the puppet master of a n army of giant androids, DeVore, plans one final absolute destruction. And although the great T'ang, the dictators of Earth, are gone, the mega corporation called GenSyn remains. And soon it's pleasure drug called "Golden Dreams" will make Chung Kuo a funeral pyre for golden corpses - until the only escape lies in sending the survivors toward new stars ... or joining Emily Ascher in a battle for liberty and a new Earth.

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BLOODRIGHTS: This story takes the tale of the lost heir returning to claim the throne and puts it on its ear. The heir this time is a woman; raised by monks, travelled and learned through the lands and returns to claim the throne with just her bloodright and bravado to gain the throne. Or does she? The most interesting part of this story is the twist provided by the question of the heroines rightful claim to the throne. The writing is good providing interesting issues to ponder, realistic enough solutions and well written and thoughtful characters and plot. I give this book an A.

Born of the royal leaders of Adalon and the White Sea Islands, Antonya Terhune was orphaned as a babe when her wicked uncle usurped her father's rule and invaded her mother's realm. Raised by the Brothers of Blessed Reason, her existence was kept secret from her family's enemies. She learned skills most women of the land were never taught - reading, writing, and mathematics - but she yearned to be a warrior.

Then when she left the monastery, she ventured out into the world under her uncle's dictatorship - adopting and shedding disguises like snakeskin - and witnessed firsthand how the common people slaved for church and state.

Now Antonya has come of age, and she's ready to reclaim her lands. And with the aid of the lone defender of Kerrick of Myro, she will lead a small fighting force in an attempt to topple a tyrant .. and set the people of two lands free.

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