- Mass Market Paperback: 560 pages
- Publisher: Eos; 1st mmpb edition (2006)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 006082011X
- ISBN-13: 978-0060820114
- Product Dimensions: 17.2 x 10.8 x 3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 272 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #618,558 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
Gerin Atreyano moved with an easy stride across the castle's main practice yard, the toes of his boots kicking up whorls of dust from the bare patches of dirt scattered between clumps of dry brown grass. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
Gerin Atreyano moved with an easy stride across the castle's main practice yard, the toes of his boots kicking up whorls of dust from the bare patches of dirt scattered between clumps of dry brown grass. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Wizardly Delight,
By Tom Moffatt "-think geothermal" (Lethbridge, Alberta Canada) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: The Amber Wizard: The Osserian Saga: Book One (Mass Market Paperback)
This is a well-written novel that will provide plenty of entertainment for fans of fantasy fiction. Gerin, the heir to the throne of a kingdom, discovers he is also potentially the world's most powerful wizard. Talk about everything falling into your lap, as one of his sisters points out. However, it turns out that being a wizard is not as easy and glorious as it might sound at first, and soon it leads Gerin into all sorts of trouble. Trouble such as kidnappings, betrayals, and wars, and the kind of trouble that might just destroy all life in Osseria.
The world created by David Forbes is well-imagined and done in great detail, and makes a great backdrop for his characters. The characterizations are perhaps a bit shallow and predictable at times. One of the main segments of the book deals with Gerin's brother Therain proving himself as a commander during combat against heavy odds. Those who enjoy strategy and tactics on the medieval battlefield will find these scenes to be very well done. The basis for the different types of magic in the book is also very intriguing. I don't want to give away too much of the plot, so I'll just say that overall, I would recommend this book as a fine read and a good start to the planned series.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
3.2 out of 5 stars (9 customer reviews) 19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Weak heroic fantasy,
By M. C Wallace "CryptoSenex" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Amber Wizard: The Osserian Saga: Book One (Mass Market Paperback)
I'm rather weary of fantasy about people without flaws. The main character is a well intentioned young prince, clear and unquestioned heir to the throne, gifted with wealth, power, a fantastic sword skill. He's also the most powerful wizard in recorded history! All his opposition is external - he's forced by an evil spell to do an evil thing, but everyone forgives him because he was forced to do it. Then he has to defend the world against an evil being. But he's helped by the evil being's twin brother, and in the end salvation arises from the actions of his kid sister - through the climactic scene he's just a powerless pawn. I find it difficult to be sympathetic with someone who is handed everything and whose only opposition comes from external god like figures.
Which is a pity, cause the writer shows promise. The minor characters are in many ways more interesting. Reshel, the kid sister and Therain the kid brother are more interesting than the protagonist. They do things and make choices that make a difference. The world in which this is set is original, complex and has the potential to be interesting. All too frequently the writers spends time telling us about his world, when he should be telling us about the characters. The book would have been far better if it had been split into a series, so that each story could concentrate on, and develop, a few interesting characters. Instead this is a precis of a richer and more interesting epic. Kind of like an appetizer portion of an entree, the taste is present, but satisfaction is absent. 7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
blehh...,
By Peter Stanton - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Amber Wizard: The Osserian Saga: Book One (Mass Market Paperback)
It was alright, I suppose. the ending is really dull, you start out expecting something exciting, but in the end it becomes a mediocre plagerism of a Tad Willams Series: Memory, Sorrow and Thorn.
The similarities are glaringly obvious: the villain is the "Storm King" of race exterminated through a human genocide, now the powerful undead king wants to return from the land of the dead and destroy all life. He even has red-robed priest/mage henchmen. Its really depressing, you should just buy the DragonBone Chair, its the first book in a series that David Forbes plagerised for the Amber Wizard and the series is superior. You start out excited and interested in the characters, but that fades. Gerin is perfect, as Rashel, his Wizardess sister, and Hollin, the Wizard who trains them. Although they don't seem to need much training, almost immediatly after their power is awakened, they are master wizards and from that point onward recieve zero training, but somehow do just fine. The characters are paragons of noble perfection, Therain is the only one who posseses any sort of flaw whatsoever: an inferiority complex. This isn't at all suprising considering that the author made his older brother and protagonist Gerin quite literally perfect. He is the most powerful Wizard ever, a master tactician, master swordsman, benevolent Duke, charismatic, smart, handsome and responsible. Even his one bad act in the book is forced by an evil compulsion spell rather then a possible imperfection in his character. Interestingly, considering how perfect and glorious Gerin is, after halfway through the book, he does virtually NOTHING. He sits in his castle until the very last chapter when he runs off alone and banishes the evil king back to the land of the dead. Therain is really the protagonist of this book, he held back the Storm King's army until their father the king could arrive to crush them, even though he is the book's sole imperfect character. This book had a lot of potential, but I wanted a book about Gerin, not his brother. And when I read a book, its nice if the characters seem like actual people. The characters here are perfect virtuous Gods whom we cannot hope to relate to. 7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
What happened to good writing craft?,
By H. L. Shore - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Amber Wizard: The Osserian Saga: Book One (Mass Market Paperback)
After getting to the end of Chapter Six, I am putting this book down for good! It is so incredibly poorly written that I cannnot even get to the point of commenting on the quality of the story. The author insists on "telling" rather than "showing" almost everything. During non-action scenes it slows the story down with wardrobe descriptions, and depictions of yet another great pillared hall (a standard fantasy image), or historical fact. In action scenes, it just ruins any attempt at pacing. So one minute the Prince/hero is being attacked by the badies, and the next you're learning his horse's name, and the name of his bodyguard's horse too! If the horses had any type of character or quality to them it would be understandable - but they don't! The author goes on to pin names and descriptions to countless other people, historic eras, magical objects or acts - but there is no purpose to any of it! I would far rather learn of a hero's character and image through his actions. Instead, the author "tells" us one thing, and then contradicts that initial impression by having him/her do something that does not build on that initial impression. The end result is that the character's of this story are wooden at best, and confused at worst.
If you want to read something more impressive (though of a slightly different ilk) pick up "Moonshine" - the second book by Rob Thurman. Beyond Tolkein, there is little fantasy that is truly well written, but Thurman's writing is tight, fast, fun, and character intense. |
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