The Jewel of Turmish: The Cities [Mass Market Paperback]

The Villian never really gives a reason for his quest, aside from the undead standard "I hate all living beings" spiel. Klossk pretty much is played as pure evil, with no redeeming qualities at all (you never even feel like his attacks are somehow justified in his own mind). As an aside, his werespider compatriot is the only really intersting character and I would have loved to have seen her fleshed out more. Also, the Klossk is some rare type of undead, but no explanation of how his being such a creature differentiates him from other more well known undead types. 2 paragraphs and all the confusion over his Morgh status would have been resolved.

At the end of it all it all comes down to the question of whether the book is worth reading. If you like really well fleshed out characters, with no real background then you'll love this book. Looking for a fun interesting read? Pass.

The other complaint about this book isn't that it is part of the City Series, and 90% of the book is set in the wilds, but rather that it had no sense of where it was located. This story could have taken place in any world setting. This one really dropped the ball.

2 stars for characterization only. This could have been a terrific read!

Unlike Temple Hill and City of Ravens, the Jewel of Turmish did little to explore the city of Alaghôn, nor justify the city its name nor the book its title. The story was divided between two threads, the druid Haarn and sellsword Druz in the wilderness, and the ancient evil Borran Klosk escaping from his captivity to spread terror in the Vilhon Reach. While both threads were properly developed in their own right, their intertwining was almost accidental and had no element of a plot at all.

The author planned well the series of events which gave the readers an intimate insight into the character of the druid hero. He did not do so well with the villain Borran, readers were left guessing to Borran's actual motivations.

There were numerous references to events in the From the Sea trilogy by the same author, I guess Mel Odom just couldn't resist. Though there was *some* connection, the repetition just gets on the nerves after a while.

As mentioned by a previous reviewer, the author appeared to find too little pages to do justice to the climax after a skillful build-up which took 262 pages (the book had 311). The element of intrigue deftly introduced by Allis, the liason officer assigned to Borran Klosk by shadowy masterminds working behind the scenes, simply evaporated. It could have been put to better use, the additional pages would have been justified by a stronger storyline.

While I have no real complaints about the hero and the villain having only *one* showdown, it was brilliantly done and flowed very well with the story (who needs recurring encounters anyway), I was rather disappointed that it did not bear any significant impact on the hero; emotionally, intellectually or otherwise.