Lawrence Watt Evans

[Melkor]

I just finished reading Dragon Weather, the first book in the Obsidian Chronicles. I had read some good things about this author, even that he was a lesser known gem in fantasy. After reading Dragon Weather, eh....

I had read that this book was strange for his standards, but since it is the only Ive read by him, I have no other point of reference. This book has an interesting story, but a weak narrative style, weird motivations in part of the charcaters...

Ive only read good things about his past series, so I want to know what you guys think.

'By the toll of a billion deaths man has bought his birthright of the earth, and it is his against all comers:.... For neither do men live nor die in vain' - H.G.Wells - The War of the Worlds

If you are interested in nerds, Metal music, fantasy literature, sci fi, Sta Wars (not necessarily all at once), and just about any topic you may think of, visit my own Myspace: myspace.com/mailrobot and pay me a visit. Warning: lower your speakers so my flash mp3 player doesn't surprise you.

[Jeff Stehman]

I'm a fan of his Ethshar novels, which tend to be light fare about an average (for a high-magic world) joe or jane caught up in unusual circumstances. The protagonist in his latest, _The Vondish Ambassador_, is a dock worker who becomes the personal assistant of the title character and finds himself in the company of lords, powerful wizards, and assassins (some of which are human). I find Ethshar a fascinating world. _The Misenchanted Sword_ is the first in the series and a good place to start. All the novels stand alone, but spoilers for one may appear in another, so in some cases order is important.

The only other novel of his I've read is _Nightside City_, which is SF noir set in a city on the dark side of a planet. It didn't do much for me.

If I remember correctly, his Dragon novels sold better than his Ethshar novels, which is why he had to go to on-line and small-press publishing for the latter. Ethshar, however, seems to be what he is best known for and what generates the most buzz on-line. I believe I do have the first two Dragon books on my to-be-read shelf. I'll get around to them eventually.

--Jeff Stehman

[Gbondoni]

I read 'The Misenchanted Sword' and 'The Cyborg and the Sorcerors', which were light semi-comic fantasy. Not bad, but definitely not earth shaking. Asprin does the style much better. I've also read that Watt-Evans is really good at the darker stuff, but I haven't seen any of it.

One piece I can recommend is a short SF story in one of Greenbergs anthos called 'The Last Bastion', which stuck with me (considering the amount of short fiction I read, this is an achievement).

[Melkor]

I have read big praise about Lords of Dus.

'By the toll of a billion deaths man has bought his birthright of the earth, and it is his against all comers:.... For neither do men live nor die in vain' - H.G.Wells - The War of the Worlds

If you are interested in nerds, Metal music, fantasy literature, sci fi, Sta Wars (not necessarily all at once), and just about any topic you may think of, visit my own Myspace: myspace.com/mailrobot and pay me a visit. Warning: lower your speakers so my flash mp3 player doesn't surprise you.