I had enjoyed its predecessor, The Seven Forges, greatly. Like that one, this was enjoyable beyond the quality of its writing. Moore has a flair for tension in his plots and still has little in the way of vivid descriptions. This one has a few more, though. Apparently, Moore is primarily known as a horror writer and there is a touch of body horror in this book, so maybe that’s why his descriptive powers seem a bit (just a bit) stronger.
But honestly, I needed more. The previous book very much read as a cliffhanger, so even if this is a trilogy (or more), the second book needed to add some more. I understand the need to leave the audience wanting more, but there needed to be a bit less foreshadowing and bit more ‘stuff happening’ here. Some more things resembling some kind of resolution, while still leaving plenty o’ tension and suspense for the third book.
Which, by the way, I will read. Moore seems pretty prolific, so I don’t expect to have to wait long.
Wow. Of course, I am of an age such that I read a ton of those books as a child. Though, if I’m honest, I read more of the Endless Quest books, which were put out by TSR, the parent company of Dungeons & Dragons (fantasy), Gamma World (post-apocalyptic), and Star Frontiers (science fiction). I actually bought one of those at the Royal Oak Bookshop in Front Royal, Virginia (my father and I took a trip there to celebrate his birthday).
But, this man started all that was either directly or indirectly responsible for dozens of such books that the elementary school version of myself relentlessly plowed through.
Alas, poor Yorick!
the coffee philosopher 