The Mount of Xetesk - Review

I first picked this book up after a failed attempt to read 'Lord of the Rings', I went into my local bookstore and decided to start something new. Something fantasy. Something not so heavy(both weight and going). After being told about it by the woman on the till I decided to go for it. What could I lose. A couple of quid most probably.

On commencing the book I was a little disappointed, it felt like fantasy out of the mold of Xena or Hercules. Then came mana shapes, it was going a little Dungeons and Dragons now. I perserviered and, to my suprise, I really got into it. It seemed to have the making of an old school fantasy story but didnt take itself too seriously. Characters swore and joked with one another. And, even better, main characters died. Suddenly it seemed to be edging more and more away from standard fantasy and the story got less and less predictable.

I found myself hoping certain characters would die and others could live in their place. The lack of the 'happily ever after' effect made the book refreshing. In places characters would have survived in traditional fantasy, but here they would die making the book much more realistic. Then came dimensional travel, I would have thought that I would find this confusing and out of place, but it worked so well. A testament to this is Noonshade.

Another place that Barclay has made a significant achievement is with the end of the book. He gives enough information to allow the read to put the book down and leave it finishing off the story as they see fit, not that you would want to. But then again he gives that little bit of extra info which leads into the second book. Personally I had to wait for a month to get the second book as my local bookstore had run out and they had problems restoking. I gave up and used amazon and it was here in 2 days. That to me was a month too long and Im making sure I get Nightchild well before I finish Noonshade.

Chris Harvey - 05/02/04