I loved Thinblade! But, I am an old softy. I love stories of good against evil where the good guy who does not really know what is going on but has been drafted into this unfamiliar and uncomfortable role nonetheless goes out and, step by step, deals with all of the challenges, trials and attacks to defeat the megalomaniac who is threatening the world.
Wells has made enjoyable characters going through great difficulties and obstacles with panache and courage. Occasional moments of comfort and/or levity together with a gradually clearing of mysteries will lead (inevitably) to the victory of good.
If only life were as clear cut as this.
Did I mention that I love romances? Even fantasy novels with lots and lots of physical battles? Yeah, that kind. Now I just have to get my hands on the next volume in this series. ( )

This had been on my tbl list for more than six months now. I finally started listening to it, and I'm glad I did. I'm a fantasy buff, and it never ceases to amaze me that with each fantasy book I read or listen to, there are always new ideas.
Well, OK, so the subject is nothing new: bad versus evil, but then you can't reinvent the wheel.

The world building is nice, though, and the magic and how it is used is yet different from all I've read before.
Then there are the characters. A handful of people who set out to save their world.

I love Lucky the most, the alchemist mage, with his joyful nature, his amazing skills, his appreciation of good meals, and his never ending optimism.

The enemy, Phane, is driven, and I wonder whether he'll be saved, or just defeated.
I have six more books to find out.

The narrator, Derek Perkins, is doing a great job,and it is a joy to listen. ( )

This is simple fantasy novel with an exceptionally strong good versus evil theme. The premise of the novel is the rise of a great evil (Prince Phane Reishi) and a quest our hero/the Chosen One (aka Alexander Valentine) must embark on in search of a mythical sword, which will help him scare off the baddy.


Despite the predictability of the plot, I actually quite enjoyed it - it's fast paced, full of action and, surprisingly for a free book, has a rich magical system. Plus, it was a nice break away from really dense novels like [a:Steven Erikson|31232|Steven Erikson|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1219169436p2/31232.jpg]'s Malazan series. However, the book is very far from perfect.

The main problems lies with the writing and the characters. At times the writing is repetitive - there are only so many times I can stand being told that a particular character has a prodigious appetite! At one point the author chooses to recount the first half of the story. This was completely unnecessary as the reader was THERE for that part. Not to mention that if a story can be condensed in a ten pages then why bother writing an entire book?

Secondly, the two main female characters were virtually indistinguishable from one another. Perhaps if they were likeable this would have been ok, but as it were they were about as interesting as the back of my hand (probably less as the back of my hand has some very interesting biological, chemical and physical mechanisms behind it). Plus they seemed to have no place in the novel but as serving as love interests for two of the characters.

I had some trouble dealing with the "black and white" nature of the story too. I really enjoyed the scenes with Prince Phane, the resident evil of the story - he's a total (psychotic) badass and I only wish the author had a few more words for him. It was the "white" part of the story that particularly irritated me. I'm not exaggerating here but, ALL the characters were either morally perfect individuals or they were vicious conniving bastards - there was no middle ground. The moral grey area of humanity is the best quality we have, but it doesn't seem to exist in this world.

Despite its flaws, Thinblade is an easy read with a captivating world to escape to. This is the first book in the series and not a standalone, so be warned. Even though I'm pretty sure what the outcome of the series will be, I'll be returning to this world just to see how our morally righteous hero will defeat his charming, omnipotent nemesis. ( )

This series was recommended to me by the new technology director and I found it as intriguing as he did. I purchased the entire series of seven books and couldn't stop reading until I finished! highly recommended.

FROM AMAZON: When Alexander loses his brother to an assassin’s arrow, he learns that his family protects an ancient secret and reluctantly finds himself at the center of a war that was supposed to have ended long ago.

Pursued by dark minions of an ancient enemy, Alexander flees to the mountain city of Glen Morillian where he discovers that he is the heir to the throne of Ruatha, one of the Seven Isles.

Before he can claim his birthright he must recover the ancient Thinblade. Seven were forged by the first Sovereign of the Seven Isles. Each is as long as a man’s arm, as wide as a man’s thumb and so thin it can’t be seen from the edge. ( )

Upon the unexpected death of his brother, Alexander becomes the heir to an unlooked for birthright. He is heir to a throne, but before he can claim that right, he must first recover one of the ancient Thinblades. Friends and allies assist Alexander upon his quest even as a myriad of evil doers work to thwart him.

The story started off strong with Alexander and his siblings seeing to protecting livestock from local predators. When an assassin’s arrow takes his brother, Alexander then gets told the family secret: they are the line of succession to an ancient throne. It’s a pretty heady thing to dump on a person who is just coming into adulthood. The action starts up early on in the story as Alexander, his sister Abigail, and their tutor and healer Luki flee the family estate.

The action weaves in and out of quieter moments. There’s weapons training, battle planning, a bit of romance, and some magic learning. At first, it was a pretty good mix, holding my attention without giving me battle fatigue. However, once Alexander dives into learning magic, there are chunks of the story that slow way down and get a bit tedious. I wanted to fast forward through most of these sections. Having one or two to show the reader how much effort the main character is putting into it is cool; having several, nearly back to back, was over kill.

At first, there’s only one female character (Abigail) but she’s right there with her brother riding and fighting. She’s good with a bow. She’s well written. Later, we get a few more female characters. Isabel is the daughter of a lord whose lands neighbor Alexander’s family. She’s also good with a bow and has a magical connection with a small hawk, which she uses as a kind of scout. Sometimes she is well written, and sometimes she falls into cliches. Alexander treats her with a kind of respect even as he very quickly falls in love with her. I felt the romance was forced, like the author felt he had to check that box off in order to have a complete epic fantasy. One of the cliches involves a kidnapped female who ends up weeping on her savior’s shoulder once she is rescued. Sigh…. I would have kidnapped Alexander and forced him to carry the firewood and water skins.

The world building is pretty standard for epic fantasy. I liked it and it worked for the story, but nothing special stood out about it. I enjoyed the quest in general, even if things got bogged down here and there. The Thinblade is a near myth even among the learned and wise. Indeed, it will take someone special to find one of these remarkable blades, and even more special to wield it with results.

Luki was one of my favorite characters. He had more than one role in the story and I liked this multi-dimensionality. Throughout the tale, he plays the cook, the teacher, the healer, or the alchemist. He’s a wealth of knowledge and also the confident to Alexander and Abigail. He also has a sense of humor.

Where this book shines is with the antagonists. Oddly, I found them more interesting than Alexander. Prince Faine of the Rishi has arisen and he means to conquer all of the seven isles. He’s been in this kind of suspended animation for hundreds or thousands of years and he’s not fully sane. This makes him unpredictable not just to the good guys, but also to his own baddie team. Then there is Patel. This dude scares me for several reasons. He’s dedicated, a true believer in where he has chosen to put his loyalty. He’s very, very skilled at what he does. Because he has such a sense of dedication and loyalty, he may turn out to be one of those characters that will sacrifice all to accomplish their commander’s goal even if he knows it is wrong. Yeah. He’s that kind of baddie. The sections with this characters were some of my favorites.

Narration: Derek Perkins did a nice job. Most of the book is told through Alexander’s eyes and Perkins had a nice young man’s voice for him. I liked his rougher voice for Patel and his somewhat mischievous voice for Luki. His crazy Faine voice was a little chilling! His lady voices were OK, perhaps needing a little more femininity. ( )