Lord of Cragsclaw

Guardians of the Three #1

by Bill Fawcett, Neil Randall

For years the land of Ar has lived at peace. Here the catlike mrem rule by duty and honor. Now, from the East, their legendary enemies have risen again, and only the outcast, dark-furred Talwe, Princess Sruss and the Council of the Three have the magic to battle the Eastern Lords' evil sorcery.

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction Fantasy

394 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published March 1, 1989

About the author

Bill Fawcett has been a professor, teacher, corporate executive, and college dean. His entire life has been spent in the creative fields and managing other creative individuals. He is one of the founders of Mayfair Games, a board and role-play gaming company. As an author, Fawcett has written or coauthored over a dozen books and dozens of articles and short stories. As a book packager, a person who prepares series of books from concept to production for major publishers, his company, Bill Fawcett & Associates, has packaged more than 250 titles for virtually every major publisher. He founded, and later sold, what is now the largest hobby shop in Northern Illinois.

Fawcett’s first commercial writing appeared as articles in the Dragon magazine and include some of the earliest appearances of classes and monster types for Dungeons & Dragons. With Mayfair Games he created, wrote, and edited many of the Role Aides role-playing game modules and supplements released in the 1970s and 1980s. During this period, he also designed almost a dozen board games, including several Charles Roberts Award (gaming's Emmy) winners, such as Empire Builder and Sanctuary.

Reviews

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book a lot. I enjoyed the contrast of the village Mrem to the city Mrem which we experienced through the eyes and perspective of the 'White Dancer." I liked Talwe's personality up until He finds out Morian was physically and then magically raped by the Highlander Crethok and his wizard Cwind(respectively). Though I did enjoy the scolding and punishment he receives Though the change made sense in the context of the story, I didn't find it particularly interesting to read.

After this event the plot of the story moves very quickly and sometimes abruptly (I found myself backtracking to see if I'd skipped segments). I felt the characterization suffered as a result of this quickening, and may be why I found his narrative less interesting than before.

I also very much enjoyed the creation of these cat people and found the little details of how those catlike aspects influenced there idioms, the way they moved and fought, and their general body language (tails swishing, ears perking, etc.).

[H.L. Stephens · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this series and read every single book. I was enthralled from the first page to the last. Read it when I was a girl and am glad I can finally share my love of these books.