Just a little one, to be sure. You’ve enjoyed my tale of Edmund in the great Canadian wilds and read a little from a few of my more successful novels. (I’ve decided that in this modern world a monkey could write a book and call itself an author. I write novels, epic landscapes stretching hundreds of thousands of words. So, in that regard, I am a novelist.) One of the great failings of man is hubris. The need to elevate ourselves above others. You’ve all known someone who thought they were the best thing since sliced bread. Those select few who never seem to stop talking about themselves or bragging about minute details no one other than themselves cared about. Those were usually the sort of people who turned out to be cowards in battle. I had a First Sergeant in Mosul, Iraq who thought he was the bag of chips. As soon as the bullets started flying he was the first one cowering in the bunker. Figures. Cowards die in shame.
Anyway, I figured this week I would let others speak for my work. Below are some of the reviews I’ve received, including one choice rather bad one. These are the source of satisfaction. One of the reasons I continue to write. The pleasure of seeing complete strangers moved by words I’ve managed to string together. Enjoy.
From the first page of ‘Dragon Hunters’, author Christian Freed effectively draws the reader into a captivating but seemingly predictable setting reminiscent of ‘Lord of the Rings’: at the request of their beleaguered king, a great yet disgraced warrior and a wise elderly mage nearing the end of his days embark on a perilous quest, early en route gathering an unlikely band to travel with them. As this group of mismatched and conflicted individuals sets off, the story sheds predictability. Through a series of harrowing adventures, Mr. Freed creates a dark fantasy world all his own, and a scary one it is – rarely have I read a saga in which hellish creatures and their chaotic environs were rendered in such successfully creepy reality.
THE DRAGON HUNTERS is Book 2 in the A HISTORY OF MALWEIR series. Christian is an experienced fantasy creator and understands the importance of creating names for his characters that seem frustratingly foreign at first, but as the chapters progress he manages to pull us into the cast. So here we have make believe well woven with military tactics – a combination that explains why Christian’s books are growing so popular. If there is a need to condense and clarify interactions, then that will come. He has the ability to get inside our heads with his stories and that, after all, is the purpose of reading!
I first started to read this to see if it was okay for my son to read. He’s an advanced reader, but books for older kids are sometimes a little much for him based on content. I think this one will work well for him and that he will enjoy it. As I read it I found that I was really enjoying it and so I’ll probably end up reading the rest of the series as well.
The characters all had a lot of depth and I really enjoyed getting to know them throughout the story. I thought the author did a great job building the characters and making them interesting enough that I found myself invest in the outcome of the characters and not just observing their story like is often the case.
I don’t want to spoil it, but this book offers a new twist on the traditional kidnapped Princess story that I found intriguing and fun. It was a refreshing new approach that I didn’t see coming, and I loved it.
And now we come to a very bitter review that I admit got under my skin a little before realizing it actually helped sales after being posted. I never claimed to write the best books in the world, but I like to think I am comfortably in the middle of the fight.
I can hardly begin to describe what a poorly-written, hackneyed-plotted, puerile waste of time this book is. The third-grade grammar and disjointed plot actually became comical, but since I was not in the mood for a farce, I skipped to the end…only to find that the saga continues. Oh, merciful heavens preserve us. The one-star rating only came about because Amazon requires the space to be filled before posting a review.
So there you have it, a mix of good and bad. Are my books good? I enjoy them, but again, it is not for me to decide. That task fall to you, my good readers.
