Customer Reviews

FACE OF APOLLO P

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

This book was absolutly awful. The central plot was just stupid, and the book was boring. If you want to read a good novel about mythology try "Inside the Walls of Troy". Throw Saberhagens in the trash.

Me like paper with words,where's my bananna?

The prose in this novel is so bad as to be painful. The plot is weak, and the author seems to have forgotten what he was planning for the characters. I really get the impression that this was written to fulfill some sort of contract obligations. It is just that awful.

Starts off good, then degenerates into an absolute mess. Saberhagen's got goodwill to spare with me, so I'll try the next book. But what a disaster! People pop in and pop out; the plot twists and then goes back to where it was; boots in one chapter become sandals in the next. Don't the people at Tor read these things?

I don't know how someone else could have gotten the rights to his name, but this book is almost like he wrote the outline and some passages and then gave it to a tenth grade high school student to fill out the prose.
(...) the passages are so repetitive that the same book could have been written in 2/3 the number of words. At one point (page 171 to be exact) it is mentioned that Jeremy is lucky not to have been injured in a fall. Then it is mentioned twice more in the next few paragraphs.
There also seems to be some confusion in the flow of time. Days will appear to have gone by and then it turns out to be the same afternoon. I hate to say it, but it is almost like Mr. Saberhagen would write a few lines, have a couple of cocktails and then write a few more. Doesn't TOR have editors that read these books before they are printed?
I have read almost all of Fred Saberhagen's books and am terribly disappointed by this one. I will read the next in the series, but if it isn't any better, then it is time move on.

A First novel in a intended long running series of books has to be good enough to capture the readers mind and heart. It has to be interesting, mystical, wonderous, and magical, and still have enough realism to keep the reader believing and interested. "The Face of Apollo" does this quiet well and it was a joy to read.

I recently read The Face of Apollo by Fred Saberhagen, this book deals with mythology and gods. The main character in this book is Jeremy Redthorn a farmboy who lives with his uncle and aunt. Jeremy hates farmlife so when he meets a beautiful wounded woman who he falls in love with he is willing to give up his farmlife and go on a great journey. The wounded woman gives Jeremy a mask which he is supposed to take to a place called the Academy. Little did he know that the mask he was carrying wasn't a mask it was a face fragment that had magical powers. Jeremy heads out on this dangerous mission downstream, he must go through a series of traps and challenges to get to the Academy, but he is determined. This book has all of the most famous gods, The Sun God Apollo, Dark Hades Lord of the Underworld, Thanatos, the Personification of Death; the enigmatic Trickster; and Hephaestus the Smith, the wonderworker of magical technology. I really don't like to read because it is hard for me to find a book that intersts me, but this one did. This is the first Fred Saberhagen book that I have read but it won't be the last.

Authors who write very long and successful series, like the Swords series (all really good, btw!), often start a new series that's only a slight rework of their original (Eddings, Feist, etc). It's understandable - they're under a lot of pressure from publishers to get something out fast, and hey, why ruin a winning formula? At the same time, I prefer to shell out my hard earned bucks for something that I *haven't* read before, and Fred Saberhangen delivers just that!

Saberhagen keeps some of the themes from the Swords, namely that Gods who walk the earth are not actually "gods" but somehow enhanced humans. In addition, there are "items of power" which are often sought out by individuals, but sometimes acquired just by luck. In the other series it was Swords, here it's Masks. Other than sharing that same starting point...NOTHING is the same, which I love! Kudos, Fred!

The topography of the land is totally different, as are the personalities of all the major characters. This storyline is quite unpredictable and engaging too! This looks to be a great new series, and I highly recommend it.

I thought this was a good story--it certainly kept my interest, but I only gave it three stars because the writing didn't "flow" smoothly along. Still, it's worth a read, if only for the unusual perspective offered by Saberhagen.

I loved it. I drove my parents absolutly nuts talking about it. Fred Saberhagen has done it again. From the author of Merlin's Bones comes a new novel about the Greek gods and the struggles between them. The main character, Jeremy, inadvertantly enters the world of the gods when he puts on the face of Apollo. Driven by the god who he now shares his body with, Jeremy learns to harness his magic so he may ultimitly confront the Lord Hades. The best thing about this book is that you don't actually need to know anything about the Greek gods to understand what is going on in the story.