Fifth Ring, The: Amazon.ca: Mitchell Graham: Books

Product Description

From Publishers Weekly

Through sparing prose and spirited dialogue, first-time author Graham spins a brisk adventure packed with plenty of action but very few fully developed characters. In an excavation beneath his palace, the power-mad King Duren finds the remnants of an ancient warrior race and the tools he believes will help him unite the world under one banner (naturally, his). These tools come in the form of five magical rings that supposedly control enormous crystals containing vast arcane power. But when the fifth ring goes missing and ends up in the hands of a young farm boy named Mathew, who happens to be a skilled swordsman, a series of tragic turns leads this unwitting protagonist into a lengthy battle against Duren's forces. Like all stories involving magical rings, this one will endure countless comparisons to Tolkien's Middle Earth epics, but those comparisons aren't particularly apt. With its lack of descriptive detail, this is merely an action tale that happens to be set in a fantasy locale. Smaller in scale than Robert Jordan's enormous volumes and less scholarly than Tolkien, this is still an enjoyable diversion for fantasy fans.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Book Description

In the peaceful town of Devondale, young Mathew Lewin's skill fencing wins him a prize at once beautiful and terrible: a ring in which is locked the power to enslave a world. In short order it brings tragedy into Mat's life ... and turns a simple youth into a necessary murderer and haunted renegade. For what Mat now reluctantly owns is coveted by the insidious tyrant king Karas Duren, who would call forth all manner of hellish abomination to possess it. And in the savage face of unspeakable carnage and terror, a farm boy swept along by fate must answer the call to unleash the awesome might of the ring -- a power that drains the body ... and corrupts the soul.

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Inside This Book (Learn More)

First Sentence
KARAS DUREN STRODE DOWN THE HALLS OF HIS PALACE, passing servants and guards alike. Read the first page

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Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover

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Customer Reviews

67 Reviews

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(7)

Average Customer Review

3.9 out of 5 stars (67 customer reviews)

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5.0 out of 5 stars What a Book!, July 13 2004

By

garrick (Calgary, CN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fifth Ring, The (Mass Market Paperback)

Definitely one of the best fantasy novels I hae read in years. I recently read a review from Parrot and have no idea what he or she is talking about. I know LOTR and the Wheel backward and forward and this book has nothing to do with them. It's always amazing to me how some people can ramble on about topics they know absolutely nothing about. It's obvious from the comments they couldn't have read the book.

To be sure many fantasy books share common elements, particularly where an epic journey is undertaken, but The Fifth Ring is a standout because it is largely character driven and has an excellent storyline.

I absoultely agree with the reviewer who wrote that Mitchell Graham is a master at action/fight scenes. Conceivably these are among the best ever written. My book club picked The Fifth Ring out as a main selection and everyone I know has raved about it. You'll be selling yourself short if you miss this fine story.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Unforgetable Book, July 13 2004

By

Michael W (Birmingham, AL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fifth Ring, The (Mass Market Paperback)

There are few books I've read in the last ten years that have moved me as much as this one. Mitchell Graham is a marvelous writer who can weave a story better than most writers I've encountered. A few people may point out the similarity to this and other novels in the fantasy genre, but trust me, this is a very different story. Plot points tend to be the same where the main character undertakes an epic journey, but this is definitely no LOTR or Wheel of Time.

Mathew Lewin is an incredible hero and the cast of supporting characters are capable of standingon their own very nicely.

I know of people who have read this book in England, France, Russia, and Finland who have raved about it, and I'm happy to say you can add me to the list.

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2.0 out of 5 stars Terrible, tired and cliched, July 12 2004

By

ManicParroT "BookPimp" (South Africa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fifth Ring, The (Mass Market Paperback)

I picked this book up out of a bargain bin, and I am very glad that I did. The first problem is that large portions of this book are lifted out of other fantasy books. I mean, the base premise is about a young man/boy from a sleep town that gets a ring with amazing powers, who then has to travel away to defeat an evil lord. Along the way he starts to discover his ability to use magic.
I mean, this has been done so many times there should be a law against using it. Jordan and Goodkind are two examples of authors using this IDENTICAL idea, and that's without even thinking hard.
From here, it goes downhill. The characters are uninteresting and grey. The fight scenes are badly done, and totally out of sync with reality. If I want to read about sterile, legal fencing matches, I'll go and look up the websites of some fencing clubs, thank you very much.
Another thing. Glasses. Since when do people who are essentially living in a small town in the middle ages have glasses? Next thing we are gonna see kids running around with braces and contact lenses. Steer clear of this, seriously. Go and read George R R Martin or David Gemmell, instead

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing Book
It's been years since I've read any fantasy and I'm very glad I picked this one up. I read it nearly straight through on my flight from New York to Australia. Read more

Published on April 10 2004 by Phillip

2.0 out of 5 stars Falls Short
This book is short on dialog and plot. The author should have shaved at least 150 pages off the book, where the plot really goes nowhere. Read more

Published on April 5 2004 by Ben Wand