David Lim

If it's even possible, the second book felt even more powerful than the first! The first book saw Mara defeat the noble Lord that caused the downfall of her father and brother, and who almost crushed her House. The second book saw the stakes rising to the point of endangering the Empire itself, involving the Emperor, and the very way of life of the Empire's citizens. Incredibly well-crafted and very exciting to read, this is a superb piece of literature; especially the finale - it was a very touching and a very good ending.

When I was still schooling, I tried to read all of the Hardy Boys books. I didn't come close to finishing the whole series, and by now I had already forgot most of the content of those that I had read. But I do recall how much I loved reading each and every one of them.

A powerful conclusion to this trilogy that tells the beginning of the drow Drizzt Do'Urden. The third book deals with his first experience and adventures on the surface, where he meets a mentor who helps him learn more about life and about himself. The conclusion joins beautifully to the Icewind Dale trilogy.

For casual fantasy readers, it's 1 star. For Tolkien fans, they can add about 1 to 3 stars, depending on the level of enthusiasm I guess. Non-fantasy readers should not read this at all. I doubt J. R. R. Tolkien would have endorsed this publication. Sure, the notes were all his, but the way Christopher Tolkien presented them were poorly done. Most of the book were disjointed, especially the early parts, making for a very confusing and boring read. It reads like a history - actually, it IS a history book. For fans who want to know the details of the early days of Middle Earth, this book would contain a wealth of information. But the way it was strung together made for a bad read.

This is going to be an unpopular opinion. I've put off reading this series for a long time because it didn't sound enticing to me. And especially since I heard some people compare it to Tolkien or name it “the best fantasy story”. I was skeptical; and after finally finishing book 1, I was right - I don't like it. I don't hate it, but I don't quite like it (not-quite-3 stars). As a side note, I did watch the first couple of episodes of the oh-so-popular TV series, but I didn't like that either.

First off, I would praise the writing and the coherency of prose. The book introduces a staggering number of important characters, supporting characters, side characters, and once-off characters. But I didn't find myself losing track. It's almost like the writing itself kind of hints to the reader which characters you should hold in your long term memory. Or maybe the prose just makes it easy to recall who a character is. This part was done really well, even with the chapters frequently switching to a different plot arc.

Now comes the primary reason why I don't like it - generally-speaking, this is less epic adventure and more political drama slash court intrigue. It's almost medieval fiction, except set in a completely different world, with a smattering of mystical and supernatural elements thrown in. Maybe it's just the first volume and winter hasn't arrived yet. I hope volume 2 picks it up a bit. As it is, I would say it's comparable to Tolkien's works only on the details of the setting, but not the story.

Also of note is that this book targets a mature audience. There's a fair bit of brutality, oppression, and perversion going on throughout the book. The writer has no problems killing off characters whom you thought might become rather central. In a way, I'm kind of enjoying myself trying to predict who will die and who won't, and predicting who gets a chapter with their name on it. At least he hasn't killed off my favourite ones yet - but he also hasn't killed off the ones that annoy me. Oh well.

I do look forward to seeing more of what “winter is coming” means, especially with regards to “the Others”, as this feels like the most promising part of the story to me.

In conclusion, this book is very obviously just part 1, as almost nothing concludes here. Every single major plot arc is still ongoing and nowhere near finishing - like a TV-series soap drama, small wonder it so succeeded on TV.