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6 opere 32 membri 2 recensioni

Opere di Peter Last

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The first part of a trilogy, this fantasy novel has elves, goblins, magicians, dragons and reads a bit as if it derives from D&D novels of thirty years ago. It also has root, I imagine, in role-playing games.
Some of it is also derivative: there is a whole section explaining the religion of the protagonists which is a direct copy of the story of Moses and the exodus of the children of Israel from Egypt. There is a strong Christian influence in this book: lots of references to Elohim, a lot of prayer, even a bit of creationism: the general message is Christian propaganda.

150 pages are devoted to one battle before the next one begins.

The writing is too detailed in places as the reader does not need to know every movement of every character i.e. he walked down the stairs, he grabbed the door knob, he opened the door etc..

The English suffers in places: “counsel” for “council”, sentences ending in prepositions, “got beat” instead of “got beaten” and so on. In a fantasy story, addressing one’s colleagues as “Guys” seems out of place as is the expression “blowing my mind”. Putting a Red Cross outside of a makeshift hospital seems incongruous in this context.

My wife started to read this – and she reads more fantasy than I do – and gave up a quarter way through. Having just read the latest by Robin Hobb, I found this book far less engaging. The author states that he started this when he was 11 years old and sometimes it shows.

Disappointing and not recommended.
… (altro)
 
Segnalato
PaulAllard | 1 altra recensione | Dec 9, 2015 |
Questa recensione è stata scritta per gli Omaggi dei Membri di LibraryThing .
DISCLAIMER: I received a copy of "Guardians of Magessa" by Peter Last through a LibraryThing Member Giveaways Program in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

WHAT IS IT ABOUT?

"Guardians of Magessa" by Peter Last is the first installment in the epic fantasy series "The Birthright Chronicles." Magessa is an imaginary land inhabited by humans, elves, ogres and orcs who worship God Elohim, the creator of the world. The ever declining faith in God and strained relations between the races in Magessa made the land a vulnerable target of Molkekk, an evil sorcerer, who has been waiting for a chance to destroy Elohim's followers. Once a city on Magessa's border is attacked by Molkekk's allies, the faith, courage and skills of Magessa's military cadets are put to the test.

THUMBS UP:

1) Cover.
I absolutely love the cover. It is a great artwork and it captures the spirit of the book so accurately! To be honest, the cover was the main reason I decided to read this book.

2) Author's expertise in old-fashioned weapons, battles and military strategies.
I don't know much about swords, axes, crossbows or any other kinds of weapons or armor used in the old days, but the author surely does. In addition to very descriptive sword fights, this book covers the battle between Magessa and its enemies in such a detail that you actually feel like you are in the battlefield fighting for your life. And the battle is not a simple one, as ridiculously outnumbered defenders have to be creative in order to stay alive and protect their country.

3) End of Volume I.
The ending of this first book is a golden mean: although the whole story is far from over and I am interested to know what's going to happen next, the main events of this book were all sorted out, sparing the reader from a sleepless night.

COULD BE BETTER:

1) Action.
"Guardians of Magessa" is packed with action but it's mostly one kind of action: fighting. For example, in the first third of the book there wasn't much going on except for quite a few sword fights. Unfortunately, the author over-described these fights making them sound way too long and quite boring. Later on the plot did get more thrilling but the bulk of the action was still based on fighting. To be honest, my favorite part of the book was a prologue as I found it way more adventurous.

2) The Bible in disguise?
Don't get me wrong, I liked the emphasis on faith throughout the book and found most ideas quite relevant to the every day life. However, I was quite disappointed with one particular part of the book - the origins of Magessa. I could clearly see the stories taken straight from the Old Testament with few slight changes and new names. Not very original, is it?

VERDICT: 2 out of 5

If you are a fan of fights and old-fashioned battles, it is very likely that you will enjoy ”Guardians of Magessa" much more than I did.
… (altro)
1 vota
Segnalato
AgneJakubauskaite | 1 altra recensione | Jul 31, 2014 |

Statistiche

Opere
6
Utenti
32
Popolarità
#430,838
Voto
½ 3.3
Recensioni
2
ISBN
8