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Mithgar (Publication) #5
The Brega Path
THE FINAL BATTLE! Kraggen-Cor, once the heart of the Dwarf kingdom, now the mountain fastness of all the creatures of evil that remain in Mithgar. Here the Dwarf King Durek has led his forces to fufill his destiny and reclaim his realm. But with the Dawn Gate held by ememy troops and the Dusk-Door of Kraggen-Cor barred by a nightmare guardian, Durek must split his forces. He sends the Warrow Perry, the human Kian, and several doughty Dwarf warriors to chance the Brega Path, the legendary twisting way through the heart of Kraggen-Cor. With the powers of evil in pursuit, can this small band win through to Durek¹s army before the enemy springs a diabolical trap which could prove the death of all the Dwarves in Mithgar?
272 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1986
2 people are currently reading
464 people want to read
About the author
Dennis L. McKiernan
69 books518 followersMcKiernan was born in Moberly, Missouri, where he lived until he served the U.S. Air Force for four years, stationed within US territory during the Korean War. After military service, he attended the University of Missouri and received a B.S. in electrical engineering in 1958 and an M.S. in the same field from Duke University in 1964. He worked as an engineer at AT&T, initially at Western Electric but soon at Bell Laboratories, from 1958 until 1989. In 1989, after early retirement from engineering, McKiernan began writing on a full-time basis.
In 1977, while riding his motorcycle, McKiernan was hit by a car which had crossed the center-line, and was confined to a bed, first in traction and then in a hip spica cast, for many months. During his recuperation, he boldly began a sequel to J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. The publisher Doubleday showed an interest in his work and tried to obtain authorization from Tolkien's estate but was denied. Doubleday then asked McKiernan to rewrite his story, placing the characters in a different fictitious world, and also to write a prequel supporting it. The prequel, of necessity, resembles The Lord of the Rings; the decision of Doubleday to issue the work as a trilogy increased that resemblance; and some critics have seen McKiernan as simply imitating Tolkien's epic work. McKiernan has subsequently developed stories in the series that followed along a story line different from those that plausibly could have been taken by Tolkien.
McKiernan's Faery Series expands tales draw from Andrew Lang's Fairy Books, additionally tying the selected tales together with a larger plot.
McKiernan currently lives in Tucson, Arizona.
(Biography taken from Wikipedia)
In 1977, while riding his motorcycle, McKiernan was hit by a car which had crossed the center-line, and was confined to a bed, first in traction and then in a hip spica cast, for many months. During his recuperation, he boldly began a sequel to J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. The publisher Doubleday showed an interest in his work and tried to obtain authorization from Tolkien's estate but was denied. Doubleday then asked McKiernan to rewrite his story, placing the characters in a different fictitious world, and also to write a prequel supporting it. The prequel, of necessity, resembles The Lord of the Rings; the decision of Doubleday to issue the work as a trilogy increased that resemblance; and some critics have seen McKiernan as simply imitating Tolkien's epic work. McKiernan has subsequently developed stories in the series that followed along a story line different from those that plausibly could have been taken by Tolkien.
McKiernan's Faery Series expands tales draw from Andrew Lang's Fairy Books, additionally tying the selected tales together with a larger plot.
McKiernan currently lives in Tucson, Arizona.
(Biography taken from Wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
March 29, 2014
Many people are extremely hateful towards this series as it is clearly a 'rip-off' of Tolkien. However, I found this series very enjoyable. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings was certainly a magnificent series, but it did have many many long drawn out battle scenes. McKiernan's novels, on the other hand, are significantly less focused on battles. There's still plenty of action and battle, but I found the series to be much faster paced and attention keeping. I love McKiernan's take on Tolkien's hobbits. The Warrows are not just simple, helpless characters. They are skilled with the bow and hunting techniques. Overall, I found this series to be extremely enjoyable. I for one am a huge fan of the Iron Tower Trilogy, and the Silver Call Duology.
February 4, 2020
Probably 2.5 stars on a day when I wasn't feeling so saucy.
Two quick memories:
First is my Aunt Barb's house when I was little. She was an avid reader and collector of sci-fi and fantasy. She lived alone in a condo, and had one sky-lit room on the second floor that contained shelf after shelf of her books. I remember wandering her stacks, pulling titles out, and staring at their lurid covers, long before I could have engaged with that level of text. But what's important was how much I wanted to, how that vivid 70s and 80s fantasy art engaged my imagination and made me immensely curious. I believe that's when I became a reader.
The second is church memory, on an Easter morning on the front row of the balcony, completely oblivious to the observances around me. I was entranced by the cover of a Dennis L. McKiernan novel that I'd gotten as a present. I loved those covers, and high fantasy text (Tolkien for the third grader who didn't know any better), and that the author was from Ohio. I didn't know I'd one day raise a family in the town where those novels were written, that a friend would gift me signed library discards of McKiernan's novels from that town's libraries. I was a newly minted reader in the thrall of a book.
This will likely be the last Dennis L. McKiernan novel I read. I've done my time and have satisfied what my readerly habits require of me. I've described my feelings re: McKiernan's writing and "homage" in other reviews, so I'll spare it here. He's not great and makes derivative sound polite. So imagine my surprise at my engagement with this text. And my wonder when I found myself emotional at the conclusion. It's just an effective trope, I tell myself -- it's always cathartic when the hero returns to their humdrum life, external life unchanged while their inner landscape is forever altered by where they've been and what they've seen. Dare I admit that some low key alchemy took place along the Brega Path? That maybe years fell away and I was that kid in the balcony for 50 pages or so?
A fitting end to my life with McKiernan.
Two quick memories:
First is my Aunt Barb's house when I was little. She was an avid reader and collector of sci-fi and fantasy. She lived alone in a condo, and had one sky-lit room on the second floor that contained shelf after shelf of her books. I remember wandering her stacks, pulling titles out, and staring at their lurid covers, long before I could have engaged with that level of text. But what's important was how much I wanted to, how that vivid 70s and 80s fantasy art engaged my imagination and made me immensely curious. I believe that's when I became a reader.
The second is church memory, on an Easter morning on the front row of the balcony, completely oblivious to the observances around me. I was entranced by the cover of a Dennis L. McKiernan novel that I'd gotten as a present. I loved those covers, and high fantasy text (Tolkien for the third grader who didn't know any better), and that the author was from Ohio. I didn't know I'd one day raise a family in the town where those novels were written, that a friend would gift me signed library discards of McKiernan's novels from that town's libraries. I was a newly minted reader in the thrall of a book.
This will likely be the last Dennis L. McKiernan novel I read. I've done my time and have satisfied what my readerly habits require of me. I've described my feelings re: McKiernan's writing and "homage" in other reviews, so I'll spare it here. He's not great and makes derivative sound polite. So imagine my surprise at my engagement with this text. And my wonder when I found myself emotional at the conclusion. It's just an effective trope, I tell myself -- it's always cathartic when the hero returns to their humdrum life, external life unchanged while their inner landscape is forever altered by where they've been and what they've seen. Dare I admit that some low key alchemy took place along the Brega Path? That maybe years fell away and I was that kid in the balcony for 50 pages or so?
A fitting end to my life with McKiernan.
October 18, 2020
Well written and action packed descriptive writing made this story spring to life, I could visualize the cave ceiling crashing while the horn blared on and on!
March 15, 2024
2.5/5
Meh, better than the previous book but still a disappointment.
Meh, better than the previous book but still a disappointment.
October 7, 2025
A solid improvement over "Trek" and a great ending to this duology. I really felt like McKiernan tightened up his writing with this one. This half of the story is much more action packed and pretty much everything the first book set up pays off here. There aren't any huge surprises but the amount of main character deaths did raise my eyebrows a bit for this kind of novel. Mithgar definitely is starting to feel like it's own entity by the end of this novel and I'm intrigued enough to continue the series after this. At some point I will go back and read The Iron Tower once I get a cheap copy of it but for now I'm going to keep moving forward in the saga. I hear after "Silver" McKeirnan's books improve tremendously and I don't want to ruin that momentum. This duology already improved as it went along so I'm already starting to see what people are saying. Overall, I enjoyed this duology. It's rough around the edges and has some pacing issues but it ended up being a fun little story that seems to be planting seeds for later greatness. 3.9 stars rounded up.
January 22, 2019
McKiernan closes The Silver Call duology detailing the events of three different groups dealing within and within Kraggen-Cor in this Mithgar tale.
The smaller squad trekking east to west to get to the gate is woven expertly with the dwarven led squad attempting to get through the doors on the west end of the mountain. In between, McKiernan writes of the Valan humans who have their own battles with the ruch army outside the mountain and to the south.
Again it is a war story and McKiernan doesn't hold back the violence, close calls, suspense, mystery, or the horrors of war as our intrepid heroes Perry and Cotton get first hand experience in this life or death adventure.
The smaller squad trekking east to west to get to the gate is woven expertly with the dwarven led squad attempting to get through the doors on the west end of the mountain. In between, McKiernan writes of the Valan humans who have their own battles with the ruch army outside the mountain and to the south.
Again it is a war story and McKiernan doesn't hold back the violence, close calls, suspense, mystery, or the horrors of war as our intrepid heroes Perry and Cotton get first hand experience in this life or death adventure.
February 12, 2018
A pretty good finish to the Silver Call series. Well, it's all of two books, which could easily have been combined into one-the actual text of Brega Path is only about 150 pages, the rest are appendixes that aren't particularly necessary.
Still, McKiernan does a good job making the protagonists interesting and likable, if a bit one-dimensional. The dwarves get more to do than in most fantasy novels, which is nice, and some of them even nearly have personalities beyond the typical gruff dwarf (but not much, and not many). And there's still not one human, warrow, elf, or dwarf who doesn't have a heart of gold. Go figure.
The one frustrating facet to the story is that McKiernan's dwarves go on and on about how terrible war is, and how it should never be taken lightly or entered into without good cause (all true, of course), but then it dawns on the reader that the dwarves just want to re-take their homeland. They don't actually need to take Kraggen-cor--they could just as easily have sealed it off and trapped the Spawn inside, with much less loss of life. It's entirely a war of choice.
Still a fun read though, if you are ok with some Tolkein-lite from time to time. And I am.
Still, McKiernan does a good job making the protagonists interesting and likable, if a bit one-dimensional. The dwarves get more to do than in most fantasy novels, which is nice, and some of them even nearly have personalities beyond the typical gruff dwarf (but not much, and not many). And there's still not one human, warrow, elf, or dwarf who doesn't have a heart of gold. Go figure.
The one frustrating facet to the story is that McKiernan's dwarves go on and on about how terrible war is, and how it should never be taken lightly or entered into without good cause (all true, of course), but then it dawns on the reader that the dwarves just want to re-take their homeland. They don't actually need to take Kraggen-cor--they could just as easily have sealed it off and trapped the Spawn inside, with much less loss of life. It's entirely a war of choice.
Still a fun read though, if you are ok with some Tolkein-lite from time to time. And I am.
August 25, 2022
A group of dwarves undertake a quest to free their a ancient home from the evil dwelling there. They enlist the the help of two warrows to guide them in the long lost mines. A satisfying tale with plenty of action. Yet it lacks the a dire or cataclysmic event to make the quest truly epic. Still a fun read for fans of Tolkien.
October 2, 2023
Continuing the grim tale of dwarves reclaiming their home, we see The Squad working to open one door, while The Host enters the other side of the mountain domain to defeat the hordes of maggot-folk within. Perry and Cotton continue to learn that war is not a glorious endeavor.
February 17, 2020
Liked the story but disappointed that there were only two books.
Read
September 7, 2020Actually by Signet/New American Library 257pgs
did-not-finish-or-start
October 29, 2023DNS 10/28/23
June 21, 2015
Trek to Kraggen-Cor and The Brega Path comprise the Silver Call Duology, a sequel sequence to McKiernan's Iron Tower trilogy, the first-published books in his Mithgar series. I have heard that The Silver Call was originally written as a sequel to Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, but he could not secure permission to publish it, so he wrote his own trilogy and then re-wrote these two volumes to serve as a sequel to his own story. Perhaps his initial enthusiasm was augmented by his later increased skill and subsequent attention to detail, but for whatever reason I thought The Silver Call (it's really just one long story cut in half, in my opinion) was one of the best high-fantasy epics I'd ever read. I prefer it to Tolkien in many ways. There have been a -lot- of similar fantasy series, but Mithgar is among the best and The Silver Call is one of the best of stories set there.
May 17, 2015
This was relatively good - definitely better than I was expecting. I continued to find myself enjoying the characters, even if they and the situations are fairly similar to Lord of the Rings. There were some nice deviations from the Mines of Moria episode, including exploring the lair of the Balrog Gargon. I also like how Perry and Cotton come face to face with the harsh realities of war and realize how different it is from what the wonderful adventure they had imagined. Over all, I found this duology to be fun enough, especially considering it's basically Tolkien fanfic. I probably will check out more Mithgar books, in hopes that they improve as they move out of Tolkien's shadow.
April 14, 2009
Part 1 of the Silver Call duology.
This is the book for everyone who wondered "what happened to Moria after the War of the Ring." It goes a little beyond that, but not much. To be honest, the 'trilogy' it spawned, the Iron Tower is much the superior work. Don't let this, if it's not your cup of tea, put you off that.
This is the book for everyone who wondered "what happened to Moria after the War of the Ring." It goes a little beyond that, but not much. To be honest, the 'trilogy' it spawned, the Iron Tower is much the superior work. Don't let this, if it's not your cup of tea, put you off that.
January 28, 2016
Ever wonder what Tolkien's dwarves would have done with Moria now that the balrog was killed. McKiernan's dwarves go back to reclaim their lost home. I love dwarves, I love fantasy so this story has it all for me. Top honors, highly recommended
January 30, 2009
total crap. i stopped after the first chapter.
February 5, 2014
Fantastic finish to the Silver Call Duology. Enjoyed reading it and will do so again one day...if I find some time.
April 29, 2014
War is terrible and Cotton and Perry learn that first hand. Victory, even when necessary, comes with a price.
February 26, 2015
Very exciting, I enjoy this author a lot and have all of his books.
May 18, 2016
I know he stole his ideas from Tolkien, but 12 year-old me loved it.
October 8, 2014
Very pleased . . . to never have to read another book by this author again. Worthless.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews