The Brotherhood of Dwarves (The Brotherhood of Dwarves, #1)

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The Brotherhood of Dwarves (The Brotherhood of Dwarves #1)

by D.A. Adams (Goodreads Author)

3.98 of 5 stars 3.98 · rating details · 44 ratings · 21 reviews

Roskin, heir to the throne of a remote, peaceful kingdom of dwarves, craves excitement and adventure. Outside his own kingdom, in search of fortune and glory, he finds a much different world, one divided by racial strife and overrun by war. The orcs to the south want to conquer all dwarves and sell them as slaves. The humans to the east want to control the world's resource...more

Paperback, 188 pages

Published March 18th 2008 by Third Axe Media (first published February 28th 2005)

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May 21, 2013 Kayla West rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Brotherhood of Dwarves by D.A. Adams immediately gained my interest because it is a fantasy novel. I love fantasy (almost to the point of obsession) mainly because the writer can create any type of world he/she wants. Your imagination can soar fantastically onward with this genre. I was very excited to start reading this book and with just one glance at the cover knew, without a doubt, that this would be a story to remember.

The Brotherhood of Dwarves starts out by telling of the different ra...more The Brotherhood of Dwarves by D.A. Adams immediately gained my interest because it is a fantasy novel. I love fantasy (almost to the point of obsession) mainly because the writer can create any type of world he/she wants. Your imagination can soar fantastically onward with this genre. I was very excited to start reading this book and with just one glance at the cover knew, without a doubt, that this would be a story to remember.

The Brotherhood of Dwarves starts out by telling of the different races of dwarves that exist in the location that is the western mountains. There are the Tredjards (black beards) in the southernmost region, the Ghaldeons in the central region, and the Kiredurks (white beards) in the northern region. This particular story focuses on a dwarf named Roskin who is first son to King Kraganere, ruler of the Kiredurks. Roskin craves adventure and longs to fight in battles. However, since the Kiredurks are namely a peaceful people, these dreams of his are looked down upon. His father understands his need to go out and explore, for he himself was wild in his youth. So he allows Roskin to take a year to go where he pleases within the lands. There is a slight catch, though. Throughout the entirety of that year, Roskin must remain outside of the palace, and he will lose his status as heir.

Roskin tells his father that he will live with a friend in the central region for that year, but keeps his true intentions to himself. And so, with that note, heads off into the wilderness.

Throughout this story, Roskin befriends many characters and also makes plenty more his enemies. He is captured, wounded, and betrayed. There is a time where he even questions if he deserves to be the future king of his people.

I enjoyed every moment of reading this. It was amazingly well written, and every character seemed fleshed out to the point where I felt they could be real. I am definitely going to have to read the other books in this series, because I am dying to know what happens next.

Anyone who loves fantasy genre books will not be disappointed by this one.

5 out of 5 stars.

Courtesy of ireadabookonce.com and thisisme2112.blogspot.com(less)

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Dec 05, 2012 Sheila rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: scifi-fantasy

Author D. A. Adams has a sure and convincing touch with his world-building, creating a fully-formed fantasy earth for his dwarves and other creatures, complete with history, politics and hope for the future, and he makes me want to read it—no mean feat as I’m usually not keen on overly detailed backstory. I’m not sure how he does it—I wish I knew—but this backstory feeds seamlessly into the coming-of-age tale of a young royal dwarf looking for a magical artifact, or possibly his half-elven roots...more

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Aug 25, 2012 NebraskaIcebergs rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: own

There are times when I love being a reviewer. Then there are the days like these. I just finished The Brotherhood of Dwarves by D.A. Adams. The author’s love of dwarves is evident. He’s like that kid who can recite every stat from his prized collection of baseball trading cards. You might like the kid, and you might like baseball, but you have your limits. And that’s the situation I find myself currently in. The Brotherhood of Dwarves is receiving favorable reviews on the fantasy boards. Unfortu...more There are times when I love being a reviewer. Then there are the days like these. I just finished The Brotherhood of Dwarves by D.A. Adams. The author’s love of dwarves is evident. He’s like that kid who can recite every stat from his prized collection of baseball trading cards. You might like the kid, and you might like baseball, but you have your limits. And that’s the situation I find myself currently in. The Brotherhood of Dwarves is receiving favorable reviews on the fantasy boards. Unfortunately, while I love fantasy, I don’t care for hard-core stuff. One reviewer also commended it for being “manly”. While I might not giggle and gush over chick lit, I’d far rather subject myself to it than macho lit. And so while I recognize that an audience does exist for The Brotherhood of Dwarves, I cannot count myself among them. Yet I wish I could, because no one likes to burst the bubble of that kid who’s just bought his newest trading card and simply must show it off....

The Brotherhood of Dwarves is Adams’ new trading card, and boy is it full of stats. He hits you with them right up front. Authors like athletes do need time to warm-up, but authors then need to remember that readers generally don’t want to see those warm-up pages. In the case of The Brotherhood of Dwarves, Adams not only neglected the sage advice of cutting the first chapter, he made the same mistake again and again of drowning readers with information dumps. Well, no, I should revise that statement. By the middle of The Brotherhood of Dwarves, Adams does finally lighten up on his textbook approach and allows his characters to tell their story. The problem is that by then, the story of Roskin and his dwarf companions had become so bogged down that I cared more about getting to the end than I did about whether Roskin and his friends finds the all-important statue that will miraculously (and inexplicably) unite the divided dwarf clans.

There are authors such as J.R.R. Tolkien who can get away with information dumps. Adams isn’t one of them. At least not yet. With his obvious deep affection for his dwarven world, perhaps one day Adams will get the knack of breaking the rules without losing his readers. Tolkien could. In The Hobbit, he takes an entire page to introduce Bilbo’s hobbit hole, and then spends another page subjecting his readers to lengthy descriptions of his appearance and ramblings about his mother. Yet with a little endurance, readers will be rewarded with an endearing character: “He liked visitors, but he liked to know them before they arrived, and he preferred to ask them himself. He had a horrible thought that the cakes might run short….” When Bilbo finally ventures forth on his harrowing adventure, after tea parties and other such mundane affairs, many readers will care tons about what will happen to this captivating hobbit. I myself lacked no qualms about turning to sequels after I learned that “Bilbo found he had lost more than spoons—he had lost his reputation.” Where Tolkien’s exposition is full of emotion and detail, Adams’ is dry and factual. With Tolkien, I feel like I am being invited into a fantastical kingdom; with Adams, I felt like I was taking a graduate class in dwarven culture.

This isn’t to say that there aren’t diamonds in the rough scattered within these pages. Most notably is the character of Crushaw. Adams himself identifies most with Crushaw and draws on many of his own experiences when writing about him. I liked his description of how Roskin and Crushaw first meet one another: “He entered the door and scanned the room, noticing a human stretched out in the floor. His heart skipped a beat at the sight, but then he realized that the man was just an old bum, no one to fear.” Perhaps the key to Adams’ success with Crushaw is that he makes him a tragic figure, someone who has messed up his life through his own mistakes, and is now trying to make amends for his wrongs. That’s the type of character I can root for, in contrast to Roskin, who never comes alive. Adams tends to rely again on impersonal summaries for Roskin: “There was one Kiredurk who did not yearn for peace and had grown to loathe the art and beauty of his home in Dorkhun, the capital city. This dwarf, first son to the king and heir to the throne, craved adventures and dreamed of glorious battles….” Moreover, when Adams does throw Roskin into action scenes, Roskin amounts to little more than a fighting machine. Crushaw instead spends many hours drinking to forget the devastation he inflicted on the battlefront. He is a man running from his past and his demons. While this might not be a completely original idea, it does make for intrigue. Crushaw gives me hope that Adams can create characters his audiences will love.

A few reviewers noted their appreciation to Adams for giving fantasy lovers a story about dwarves, characters too frequently marginalized in this genre. In interviews, Adams has indicated that the reason he picked dwarves is his deep respect for the working class—and he considers dwarves the working class of the fantasy world. I admire his decision but hope that his future books will appeal to broader audiences than fans of hardcore fantasy and/or macho lit. Then I might be able to recommend them.(less)

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Mar 03, 2012 Daniel Cann rated it 3 of 5 stars

The first in a series of novels by D.A. Adams finds Roskin, heir to the throne of a remote, peaceful kingdom of dwarves, craving excitement and adventure.

Roskin is the son of King Kraganere and the heir of Dorkhun; he is also half dwarf and half elf. Hot-headed and impulsive he craves adventure and experience. The story follows him as he serves ‘a year of isolation to find his inner peace.’ It was interesting to read a story with a privileged dwarf at its centre going through his own rite of pa...more
The first in a series of novels by D.A. Adams finds Roskin, heir to the throne of a remote, peaceful kingdom of dwarves, craving excitement and adventure.

Roskin is the son of King Kraganere and the heir of Dorkhun; he is also half dwarf and half elf. Hot-headed and impulsive he craves adventure and experience. The story follows him as he serves ‘a year of isolation to find his inner peace.’ It was interesting to read a story with a privileged dwarf at its centre going through his own rite of passage.

I particularly enjoyed Roskin’s interactions and relationship with the old warrior Red who serves as wise counsel and mentor to the green Roskin. Together they get into plenty of brawls and scrapes. The action is not for the sake of it as the reader can see Roskin learning from his mistakes. He also takes quite a few knocks as he evolves from a coddled royal into a hardened traveller and adventurer.

As well as Red, the young dwarf is joined on his journey with some unusual and interesting characters such as Molgheon a female dwarf, Vishghu a female ogre, and Kwarck, a half-elf wizard. I would have liked a little more depth and back story but perhaps that is missing the point as Adams keeps the action coming thick and fast.

This is very much a ‘land divided’ with many kingdoms and disputed areas. There are also three types of dwarf: Tredjards, the Ghaldeons, and the Kiredurks. Factor in disputed human, elvish and orcish lands and you have a melting pot and plenty of scope for conflict and danger.

The novel is packed with in-fighting and scheming as well as an impressive roll call of dwarves, elves, humans, ogres and orcs. Roskin’s main quest is to find and return a stolen platinum statue known as ‘The Brotherhood of Dwarves’ which used to symbolise the unity of the nations in the past. The unlikely group of allies assembled around Roskin find themselves venturing to Black Rock, an imposing fortress to retrieve the artefact. I would have liked more background and detail on the statue and after being mentioned it is never brought up again, but perhaps as this is a series of books its importance will become more apparent later.

I really enjoyed learning of the differences in culture between all of the lands. Adams is great at reminding us that there are many languages spoken including orcish and elvish. This helps in making this world solid and more vivid.

Roskin certainly discovers the harsh realities of this world as he endures firsthand the suffering of the slaves at the Slithsythe Plantation which is ran by amoral and sadistic orcs.

I found the addition of buffalo to this fantasy world unusual but I suppose there is no rule book saying that there can’t be. The plantation also seems to belong more to the Antebellum South of the nineteenth century than fantasy fiction but again it is used to good effect in highlighting the cruelty of the orcs.

The novel is short and sharp but always entertaining even if it does end rather abruptly. The main purpose of this entry seems to be in setting the scene: introducing characters as well as the history and geography that I am sure we will get to know much better. It’s a good opening effort and I will be looking out for the sequels and hope they will give us a little more depth to what is a promising start.
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May 02, 2012 Ed rated it 5 of 5 stars

The Brotherhood of Dwarves is an exhilarating, fast-paced fantasy adventure! Fantasy is not really a genre I normally read. Before this book, I didn’t know the difference between orcs, trolls, ogres, or any of the other creatures that inhabit these tales. However, that didn’t matter! Author D. A. Adams has crafted a yarn that is easy to follow for anyone. After a first chapter that sets in place all the exposition, the story explodes into action as you follow the adventure of dwarf named Roskin...more

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Jul 13, 2009 Andy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Not as well-written as I had expected, after having viewed about 15 5-star reviews on Amazon. This is the last time I trust THEM...

Anyway, most of the problems I had with this book involved character development and the sometimes strange placement thereof. There were some folks I really wanted to know more about, and either didn't find out at all or had to wait until the book was almost over.

I would have appreciated a map of the regions mentioned in the book. Not a big whoop, but I'm so used to...more

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Mar 14, 2013 Elisa rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Brotherhood is about Roskin, a prince and heir to the throne but his mother was his father's first wife, a wild elf making Roskin heir, but different than everyone else. He has always felt his difference and when he is told he gets a year of travel as a poor shlub before ruling, he decides to start a fairly uninformed, half-formulated quest to retrieve a statue called the Brotherhood of Dwarves from a fortified castle in a neighboring kingdom. His plan is to convince an aged, retired general to...more

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Aug 26, 2012 Shan Winslow rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Decent start to what will, hopefully, be a long lasting series. Editorial errors and the fact that you could tell this was the first book in a longer narrative detracted from the overall story, which is why I could only give it three stars. Furthermore, I felt that this book could have lasted longer, seeing as how it just seemed to end, without any real resolution to the main plot line.

However, that being said, I did enjoy the novel and commend Mr. Adams on exploring a new world, full of intere...more

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Oct 25, 2012 Kendell Jordan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Check out all my reviews at Kenn's Reviews

This book is the first of a fantasy series, and as such starts out at a snail’s pace. However, with that said, this book was one of the most riveting I have read in quite a while.

The flow of the storyline is seamless and after the first chapter of the book, which goes into quite a bit of detail of the Dwarf culture and history, the action starts off with our protagonist being sent on a journey of discovery to follow the hard set traditions.

This first bo...more

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Mar 06, 2013 Mathew Bridle rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I must admit that when I was offered this book to review I was only too glad to accept. You see, I have this thing about dwarves in fantasy. I really don’t care if the races: orcs, goblins elves and all the others are the same as they are in every other fantasy, it’s what the author does with them that matters. It is in this area that D.A. Adams pulls off a great character driven story. There’s no ground breaking, genre shattering new ideas just a well-rounded story that leaves you wanting to re...more

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Mar 11, 2013 Sarah (Workaday Reads) rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2013

This was a fun fantasy story that focused mostly on dwarves, and specifically on Roskin. He is on a year long adventure in the outside world prior to taking on his role as the next ruler of the Kiredurk nation. He has decided to set himself a goal to obtain a lost dwarven piece of art called the brotherhood of dwarves, thinking it will bring him recognition and adventure. But the journey isn’t easy, and he encounters many setbacks along the way.

While I enjoyed the premise of the story, I found t...more

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Jun 21, 2012 Eoghann Irving rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy

When I started this book I was hoping for a traditional, but fun fantasy story where our young hero seeks adventure in a fantasy world. The core story is certainly nothing new, but it could be entertaining. Unfortunately that story is buried by poor writing.

Things start of badly with a multi-page info-dump that spews all sorts of details you really don't need to know and provides you with many different unpronounceable names. This is exactly how not to start a fantasy novel. Show... don't tell....more

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Apr 27, 2012 Alis Bookshelf rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: review-books-from-authors-publisher, reviewed

The Brotherhood of Dwarves is a pretty fast paced read full of adventure. This book is perfect for young adults to read seeing as there isn't anything that a young adult shouldn't read. I really enjoyed this book and can't wait to read the second story in this series.

I really enjoyed reading this book mainly because as a reader we get to see the main character growing throughout the whole story. He's not perfect, he learns from his mistakes and moves on. I also really enjoyed all the different...more

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May 05, 2012 Misty rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I really enjoyed reading this book. The beginning took the time to set up so much for a whole series. The first chapter gives a good background for the story. One of the most loved things about this book is that there is NO adult content or language. Not even the cheap way out to make up words to replace foul language. It's a great fantasy book that you don't have to worry what message is being learned when your teen reads it.

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Jun 11, 2012 edifanob rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: my-books, 2012-reads

This is a first book in a series which means at the beginning of the story you get more information than usual.
So be patient because the real story starts with the second chapter.
I promise you fast and fun read including character development and action.

Did I mention that this is a bookstarring dwarves? If you like dwarves you will like the book.

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May 03, 2012 R.S. added it · review of another edition

Shelves: stopped-reading

I had to stop reading because most of the first chapter was just exposition. Also the formatting in the Kindle version is really strange. The text appears in a really narrow area and doesn't use a lot of the available screen space. This book wasn't interesting enough to keep going after the first 20 pages or so.

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Jan 22, 2012 Stefan rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy

D. A. Adams’s ‘The Brotherhood of Dwarves’ was extremely fun, short read. The story was not exactly original (a young dwarf going off into the world and going from adventure to adventure), but the plot flowed smoothly and the action never let up.

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Mar 18, 2013 Charlton rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

In the Brotherhood of Dwarves D.A.Adams has created more than just great friends.The landscape is very appealling and then there is some that is purposefully not.The book is a good read and I think others will enjoy it to.

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Aug 01, 2012 Kim rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy

Wasn't too keen on it. Didn't hold my interest one bit.

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Aug 04, 2012 Jakenv rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

Agree too much information dump at beginning. Tough to finish because of writing. Believe author has potential with proper editing.

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Jul 03, 2012 Dave rated it 3 of 5 stars

Short, Fun book. I can see continuing on with the series.

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May 23, 2013 Lynn marked it as to-read · review of another edition

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About D.A. Adams

D.A. Adams was born in Florida but was raised in East Tennessee. He received a Master of Arts in Writing from the University of Memphis in 1999 and has taught college English for over a decade. His first novel, The Brotherhood of Dwarves, was released in 2005 and has been described as a solid, honest work about camaraderie, bravery, and sacrifice, a very personal journey, more interested in the wa...more

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Books by D.A. Adams

Red Sky at Dawn (The Brotherhood of Dwarves, #2)

The Fall of Dorkhun (The Brotherhood of Dwarves, #3)

Between Dark and Light (The Brotherhood of Dwarves, #4)

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