Kari C. reviewed on 11/3/2010 + 77 more book reviews

This is a classic fantasy novel that has gotten a lot of praise by people. I did not enjoy this novel however. It was written in the 80s, perhaps it would have been better if I had read it back then?

To begin with, the plot is a mash-up of Narnia and Lord of the Rings. The characters are flat and annoying. There doesn't seem to be any reason for them to do anything that they're doing besides "sure, sounds good". It makes me think of a D&D game that no one is into, but there's nothing better to do. "Oh, the Dungeon Master wants us to go over there and do this thing? Sure, whatever, is the pizza here yet?"

The writing is pretty bad as well. The author was trying to give the book an epic feel, but managed to wander firmly into purple prose territory instead. And I'd like to know why a quarter of the way into the book (where I decided it wasn't going to get better anytime soon and stopped reading) the main characters are still routinely being referred to with their full name?

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