Seven Princes

Seven Princes (Books of the Shaper #1)

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3.03 of 5 stars 3.03  ·  rating details  ·  235 ratings  ·  50 reviews
It is an Age of Legends.

Under the watchful eye of the Giants, the kingdoms of Men rose to power. Now, the Giant-King has slain the last of the Serpents and ushered in an era of untold peace and prosperity. Where a fire-blackened desert once stood, golden cities flourish in verdant fields.

It is an Age of Heroes.

But the realms of Man face a new threat-- an ancient sorcerer s...more
Paperback, 526 pages
Published January 3rd 2012 by Orbit (first published January 1st 2012)
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Stefan
I just launched a brand new site, Far Beyond Reality, where all the reviews I write for places such as Fantasy Literature and Tor.com will appear as well as many more of my reviews!

To introduce it to the kind folks who follow my reviews here at GoodReads (that's you!), I'm going to just put links to my reviews here for a bit:

Click here for Stefan's review of Seven Princes by John R. Fultz

Never fear, I'll copy the full review here in a week or so. Once Far Beyond Reality gets going, I'll probably...more
Dave Burgh
Back when I was given an ARC of Seven Princes I was immediately taken in by the cover-art. The scene depicted, through what seemed a haze (post-battle, if you will) and a definite tenseness, seven figures standing, looking out at the reader or, more probably, facing what they’ve just overcome or preparing to stand against what’s coming. As with all good covers, there was an entire story in that cover, and thinking back there’ve been two other occasions when I had the same reaction – when I first...more
Gene
I'm not exactly sure what happened with this book -- despite some decently engaging magical scenes, overall this was a tedious read. The characters were fine; a bit stereotypical, but well-formed enough for basic fantasy. And the backstory of the fantasy world was adequately drawn. It should have been more fun to read than it was. A big problem was the descriptions. While the language was vivid and often elegant, there was also just too much of it, sometimes without a strong point-of-view, so th...more
Bane of Kings
Original Post: http://thefoundingfields.com/2012/02/...

I’ve been anticipating this début ever since I saw the awesome cover art on Orbit’s website sometime last year. However, if I’m being honest, I nearly didn’t pick up Seven Princes, after reading several negative reviews about it. But, in the end, the cover-art and the blurb won out, so I decided to give John R. Fultz a try, eager to see what a new author would bring to the epic fantasy. After all, novels such as the Riyria Revelations series...more
Mark
The cover gives the promise of Heroic Fantasy, of which I’m quite a fan. On hearing a brief synopsis, Seven Princes to me sounded like a fresh take on the genre, so I was quite excited when I got a copy for review.

And having read it... well, it’s not.

The plot is basically The Magnificent Seven (or Battle Beyond the Stars, if you prefer), but using Princes instead of cowboys. Prince D’zan’s father, King Trimesqua, is slain by an army of the undead resurrected by Elhathym, a mysterious stranger wh...more
Blodeuedd Finland
When I read this book I kept thinking that this book will get a conclusion, cool. And it did. Everything ended all nicely, but then, oh yes then there was that one loose thread and I realized that this is a series. But is felt like a different sort of series since it did have an ending. No cliffie at all (sort of.)

The story also felt kind of old school, and I love old school fantasy. A prince flees as an evil sorcerer kills everyone he holds dear. On his trip north he meets more princes and toge...more
Harrison
I can't say I liked this book. I wanted to and it had some really interesting premises. But, in the end, it moved way too fast and had too much happen.

Of course, I am a fan of George R.R. Martin, so my perspective on rate of storytelling may be skewed.

That being said, much of the book was resolved far too quickly for my tastes. It didn't allow enough time for the impact of actions and characters to really be felt, since the author seemed more interested in moving on to the next plot point.

Like...more
David Biondi
This book was pretty good. I picked it up when I got an email from Orbit saying it was on sale this month. The over all idea of this book is awesome. Seven princes faced with an impossible task to kill the bad guys and meet some would be princesses. The story flowed really well but went by a little fast for me. I would have liked to seen some more character interaction and more dialogue in general. I felt like he was more focused on world building and painting a picture of the landscape. Don't g...more
Jacob Donley
SEVEN PRINCES, by John R. Fultz, was, in many ways, a traditional fantasy story. I often felt like I knew what was going to happen in many of the key points. However, don’t let that deter you from purchasing the book. I thought it was a very entertaining read. I enjoyed the emotions of the main characters, the fight scenes, and much of the back story and histories of the people of this world. I also thought that the idea of ancient people with unimaginable powers would create a nexus of power th...more
Joseph
Epic fantasy filled with wonders and terrors and war and strange magics. Fultz lists as his influences Clark Ashton Smith, Tanith Lee, Darrell Schweitzer and Lord Dunsany, which means he couldn't have aimed this book more directly at me if he'd tried. Highly recommended.
Ernest
When Emhathyn, an ancient sorcerer, raises the dead to kill Trimesqua, King of Yaskatha, the king’s son, Prince D’zan, escapes to gather allies from the kingdom’s allies to regain his throne and have his revenge. At the same time, a ruler of another kingdom, King Vod, rules over a city where Giants and Humans peacefully coexist. His four children are different in personality and type, and when King Vod leaves court to atone for a wrong in his past, his eldest son, Prince Fangodrel, is outraged a...more
Greyson Floyd
I really wanted to like this book more than I did. It is full of interesting concepts, and some unexpected twists early on, but I think what it came down to was simply that it was trying to do so much that everything suffered. There are several plots and subplots going on at once, so the author tries to really flesh these out, while using the writing style of there is no ONE main character, there are lots of them that are trying to be developed at the same time. The end result was that I found n...more
Casey
I had a hard time getting started with this book. At about 30% in though, it started to congeal and started to suck me into it.

I see a lot of reviews of people that had trouble finishing the book, or simply did not finish and I can understand. Like I said, it takes a bit for a flow to establish itself. Once it does, this turns into a solid epic fantasy with fun characters and some decent action and bloody scenes.

One thing of note here is "Seven Princes" stance in common fantasy tropes; It does...more
Ruth
c2012. Why, at times, is spec fiction mixed up with YA? I ordered this book because I am a regular prowler of the Orbit book site and saw this was due to be published this month - under the Fantasy section not the YA section. I was excited about the synopsis but now am disappointed - one of those "nice from far, but far from nice". The one star rating may be a little harsh as I have to admit that I could not finish this one. I gave it a good go but within the first 2 pages I found out that the p...more
Terez
This novel was very uneven, but ultimately worth the read. Unlike other fantasy series which seem more like historical fiction with just a sprinkling of supernatural elements, Seven Princes is reminiscent of classic sword-and-sorcery yarns with an emphasis on the sorcery.

Ironically, this is both the book's greatest strength and weakness. For me, it was refreshing for the fantastical elements of a fantasy to take center stage. It's one of the main reasons I read the genre - pure escapism. While s...more
Phil
Here's a extract from my review, full link:
http://afantasyreader.blogspot.com/2012/03/seven-princes-review.html

Seven Princes is an example of conventional heroic/epic Fantasy. An evil is coming to the world and it's simply and literally evil. Its incarnations are found in the apparition of an ancient being from the void of immeasurable power and an empress thought long dead. If the conventional adjective was to be removed from the epithet I affixed and even be replaced with original or surprisin
...more
Lori
i liked the idea of this book - that seven princes would somehow align to defeat the forces of evil, each with his own strengths and weaknesses. the guy you think will prevail does not, the lighterweight guy does, a young inexperienced guy grows. some good stuff here, but overall this is not top drawer and i considered giving up on it several times. had to draw charts to keep track of everyone so that was confusing. would not recommend this unless someone has a lot of time on their hands.
Corlag TheBard
I absolutely devoured this book, and impatiently await the second installment. It's rare to find fantasy authors that can paint enough of a vivid picture in your mind to get you enthralled, and know when to dial it back, and let your imagination do the rest.

If you are looking for a great, faster paced fantasy read with well spun characters, you will not be disappointed.
Jonathan
One of the best epic fantasy books I've read in ages. The style is more akin to Moorcock or Howard than Martin or other modern fantasy authors. There were a few minor quibbles I had with character development & plot progression, but nothing to the point that I lost interest in the book. I thoroughly enjoyed the ending, and in the style of most epic fantasy or even pulp fantasy, there were more than enough plot threads left for the next book. I enjoyed this book immensely and am looking forwa...more
Luke
The only words I can use to describe such a thrilling novel as this is epic. This novel lures you in slowly, but once you have been hooked you can't put it down. John has such great setting building and character progression throughout the novel that it packs so much in a small amount. Every chapter has a ton of interesting twists that leave you spell bound. Overall an amazing read and one I can't wait to read again.
David Marshall
If I had read this fifty years ago when I was ploughing happily through ERB and Howard, I would probably have enjoyed this but, in today's market, this dies a terrible death unless, that is, you never grew out of ERB and Howard.

http://opionator.wordpress.com/2012/0...
Christopher Taylor
I had good expectations for this read. I was disappointed as it took a while to get into it. When the displaced prince lost his body guard a lot of the story then became a jumble of characters and situations. Which then rushed to a quick fix...
Dee
Harks back to an earlier time, when magic didn't need to make any sort of sense, the age of legends could be within a generation, and women were either princesses or wenches. Or maybe evil sexy sorceresses. Or maybe shape-changing non-talking animal spirits who make perfect life companions. It doesn't get any better.

It's a valid literary choice, I suppose, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. Or that I won't make disparaging remarks about those who make it.

I was going to read the whole thing...more
Iova
ok book. i just got tired of the constant "the world i going to end!" oh, we fixed it." oh, no! it is going to end AGAIN!", Whew, we fixed it... etc.

long, epic journey, a bit too gloomy for my taste. A bit predictable.
Anthony Mayes
Started out slow -- the writing style seems a bit stilted at times, as if the writer had trouble settling into one voice and staying there for any length of time. The story was very good though.
Matt Holland
I didn't enjoy this as much as many of the other epic fantasy novels I've read lately. It wasn't BAD, but it didn't grab me in the same way. Almost seemed a little scatterbrained maybe?
Elaine
Wonderful, descriptive writing. I don't usually go for this genre but I really enjoyed this book. Looking forward to the other two in the trilogy.
Robert
A decent book, but nothing amazing. Characters are pretty much cookie cutter types. It stats of a new series but I doubt I'll read the rest.

Definite young adult fare.
Leonard Anthony
Took some time but I finally finished this today! This is a refreshing take on the epic fantasy. The author fast-tracks through map travel, magic studying and sword training, in fantastic package for the people with not too high attention spans. This reader, for one, appreciates this effort. The "slow burn" present in too many fantasy classics is eschewed to ensure a book that throws twists and new plot points every other page, rather than every other volume. The unsubtle presence of magic also...more
Vicki
This is an excellent story told very vividly, almost too vividly for me in it's descriptions of some of the horrors happening to the people. A little more blood than I normally like. But it is a good story and I really liked it.
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Seven Princes (Books of the Shaper, #1)
Seven Princes (Books of the Shaper)
Seven Princes (ebook)
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Seven Princes (Audio)

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John R. Fultz lives in the Bay Area, California, but is originally from Kentucky. His fiction has appeared in Weird Tales, Black Gate, and Space & Time, as well as the comic book anthologies Zombie Tales and Cthulhu Tales. His graphic novel of epic fantasy, Primordia, was published by Archaia Comics. John’s literary heroes include Tanith Lee, Thomas Ligotti, Clark Ashton Smith, Lord Dunsany, W...more
More about John R. Fultz...
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