Customer Reviews

Ard Magister

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If you want to be entertained and get lost in a good story, Ard Magister is for you. It doesn't have huge sweeping social comment that tends to plague a lot of SFF nowadays, but it is a good old fashion good versus evil story which has believable characters, a driving plot, and enough action to prevent it from being boring (another problem with many SFF books). Good guys win; bad guys lose. The author puts enough twists into the book to make it interesting.

You won't be disappointed if you choose this book as your next read. I chose this book to see the type of books Yard Dog Press publishes and I was very pleased.

Some writers are noted for the temprament they bring to the work. Zelazny could always be counted on to be witty and erudite. Edgar Pangborn was wise and gentle. This is the second book I've read by Ms. Underwood, and she seems to bring a warmth to her writing that few others achieve. The story moves, it has some interesting touches, including a ghost who leaves the reader and the character trying to guess at what he wants. If you've read and enjoyed BOGIE WOODS, you must read this book. If you haven't, and you enjoy well-written fantasy, get them both.

Many writers have borrowed bits and bobs of Celtic culture and mythology when building their worlds, but in Laura J. Underwood's Keltora, it all hangs together with no feeling of patchwork. The fighting scenes are extremely solid, but this is unsurprising, given Ms. Underwood's experience as a fencer. The healer Eithne is a marvelous individual, not like the standard issue milksop so often found in lesser fantasy books, but more like the kind of caring person who will fight for your life with defiant words as well as fervent prayers. All in all, a very entertaining read.

Many of Laura Underwood's short stories, some of which are collected in _Bogie Woods_, deal with the adventures of Conor and Eithne (say "Enya") Mac Manahan and their foster son Rhoyd Smytheson. This book is the story of how they became a family.

Since it is the beginning of their story, you needn't have read any of the previous short stories in order to enjoy this book.

So, for adventure with good and bad mages, bandits, ghosts and a really good story, try this book.