Alas, poor Hiero! Never, never trust anyone meddling with a character, setting, or series other than the original author: it’s a guarantee for a huge disappointment. No matter how tickling the concept appears, how tempting a whole new novel of your favorite character looks, how convincing the advertising sounds: it will be a letdown. It’s… Continue reading Lucy Andrews Cummin – Hiero’s Answer
Tag: Reviews in English
Simon Hawke – The Iron Throne (AD&D Birthright 1)
Starting today, and over the coming six months, I’ll be publishing accurate reviews of all the Birthright novels, one per month: I’m just eking them out to indulge somewhat longer in my favorite AD&D setting, as I have already written all of the reviews. They’ll appear on this blog in publication order: 1) The Iron… Continue reading Simon Hawke – The Iron Throne (AD&D Birthright 1)
Robert Cham Gilman – The Navigator of Rhada (Rhada 2)
If you loved «The Rebel of Rhada» by Robert Cham Gilman (that is, Alfred Coppel in disguise), then be prepared for a huge disappointment: «The Navigator of Rhada» (1969), second book in the Rhada series, is far from being good, although it isn’t utterly bad either. It’s just...bland, dull if you want, a flavorless story… Continue reading Robert Cham Gilman – The Navigator of Rhada (Rhada 2)
Andrew J. Offutt – Swords Against Darkness 1-5
The five Swords Against Darkness anthologies edited by Andrew Offutt between 1977 and 1979 have gained a special, almost legendary status among fantasy readers: and they do deserve their spot in the light, because they collect several great stories by renowned writers in the genre. These books are both a result of the sword and… Continue reading Andrew J. Offutt – Swords Against Darkness 1-5
Ramsey Campbell – Ryre the Mercenary
I know what I’m about to state sounds like heresy to many but, truth be told, I found the four Ryre stories by Ramsey Campbell dull. As in boring, bland, tiresome, uninteresting, and definitely flat: they’re just long pages of nothing happening over and over, of roaming words upon words, of slow flourishing descriptions; and… Continue reading Ramsey Campbell – Ryre the Mercenary
Robert Cham Gilman – The Rebel of Rhada
The Middle Ages in space: now this is a theme that never fails to deliver, no matter how worn-out and hackneyed it may have become nowadays. But when this setup first appeared, with Alfred Coppel’s 1950 story «The Rebel of Valkyr» (here’s the review I wrote in Italian last year), it was still fresh: as… Continue reading Robert Cham Gilman – The Rebel of Rhada
Robert F. Young – Starfinder
Ouch, this book stinks: even though it has everything it takes to shine, in the end «Starfinder» by Robert F. Young (1980) wastes it all to tell a pointless story of ill-used time travel, suspiciously morbid love and all the other small things that nobody really cares about. So, you have a space whale: that… Continue reading Robert F. Young – Starfinder