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The Brazen Serpent Chronicles: Talon of Light
Armies fight great battles, but individuals fight the greatest and most difficult campaigns within their own minds. These struggles do not involve the loss of men, equipment, or land; rather they revolve around the loss or attainment of character, integrity, and inner peace.
284 pages, Paperback
First published August 11, 2003
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 7, 2012
The first novel, as is my understanding, by another of my table neighbours at Gen Con 2010, this tells the story of a young man descended from the powerful Aelfen people, who is destined to overcome a great evil threatening the land. But the prophecy does not play out as it should.
The first thing that struck me when I began reading this book was the sense that there was a lot of story, unlike a lot of fantasy which starts out very narrow and simple, whether the full story is complex or not. The book had a great atmosphere and a nice, classic fantasy feel to it. I liked the attention to detail and the way it really felt that a lot was going on in the world at once, rather than being centered on one or a few characters.
Unfortunately, that was also what I felt was the story's biggest flaw, one I've never encountered before in fiction - weak exposition. Anything that wasn't covered in the immediate narration was glossed over, including time passage and even major story events. It felt as though the author tried to pack too much story into too little space, and I still didn't understand many of the concepts prevalent through the story. I also found the villain a bit too one-dimensionally evil, as he didn't seem to have any motive for his actions, not even greed or power lust.
That said, it was still an enjoyable enough book. The world was very rich, if not a little too Tolkienesque, more so than a lot of fantasy I've read, and it did take some interesting turns that I haven't seen before.
The first thing that struck me when I began reading this book was the sense that there was a lot of story, unlike a lot of fantasy which starts out very narrow and simple, whether the full story is complex or not. The book had a great atmosphere and a nice, classic fantasy feel to it. I liked the attention to detail and the way it really felt that a lot was going on in the world at once, rather than being centered on one or a few characters.
Unfortunately, that was also what I felt was the story's biggest flaw, one I've never encountered before in fiction - weak exposition. Anything that wasn't covered in the immediate narration was glossed over, including time passage and even major story events. It felt as though the author tried to pack too much story into too little space, and I still didn't understand many of the concepts prevalent through the story. I also found the villain a bit too one-dimensionally evil, as he didn't seem to have any motive for his actions, not even greed or power lust.
That said, it was still an enjoyable enough book. The world was very rich, if not a little too Tolkienesque, more so than a lot of fantasy I've read, and it did take some interesting turns that I haven't seen before.
July 25, 2011
This fantasy book reads very much like a film - it's fast paced and has a lot of visual-oriented material. Some people might like it more if it had 50 more pages fleshing out the details, but others might like the breakneck speed. The characters are especially interesting, and Baird handles them well.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews