The Cycle of Arawn The Complete Trilogy eBook Edward W Robertson
Download As PDF : The Cycle of Arawn The Complete Trilogy eBook Edward W Robertson 
Dante Galand is young. Penniless. Alone. But devoted to learning the dark magic of his world.
His quest will take him from the city gutters to a foreign land of sorcerers. To a war for independence. And finally, to another war--this time, for his people's very survival.
A USA Today bestselling series, THE CYCLE OF ARAWN is a complete trilogy of 1600 pages--over half a million words of strife, civil war, friendships made and broken, and one man's obsession to become the greatest sorcerer since the days of the gods.
A 2016 Audie nominee for best fantasy novel.
The Cycle of Arawn The Complete Trilogy eBook Edward W Robertson
THIS REVIEW INCLUDES 3 DIFFERENT REVIEWS FOR EACH BOOK IN THIS OMNIBUSTHIS IS BOOK 1.
What I would have liked to know before I bought this book. (minor spoilers)
Note: This book has a lot of crude language that might be offensive.
1. What type of book is it: adventure, action, drama, etc? This is a dark fantasy epic adventure.
2. What is the story about, in general? The story tells the early years of Dante. As he search for the truth of the gods and magical power, he must dodge dedicated shadowy assassins. Along his travels he encounters wizards, thieves, friends, enemies and discovers himself.
3. What/Who is the target audience? Young adult and adult males. Those with a love for dark epic fantasy might love it as well.
4. How is the proofreading? I did see one or two mistakes but nothing excessive or predominant.
5. Is there character development or exploration? Yes to both. Along Dante's path, he will come to many moral dilemmas. He will fail some and he will pass others. These choices build the character of Dante's personality and expose his very human failures to reader scrutiny.
One nagging annoyance was that most everyone talked the same, and VERY crudely. All characters have a degree of biting sarcasm. All characters enjoy back and forth repertoire with an equal amount of intellect and viciousness. It's like the same character spoke out through different dresses. Thus, if you don't like how one character speaks ... you probably won't like how ANY of them speak.
The antagonists are great. They aren't blatantly evil, they are just ... people. They have a particular view of the world and they want to impose that view. Very well done.
6. Are the characters likable? In my opinion, yes. Though, I can see how their `attitude' might be grating and how their very crude and filthy language might dissuade some readers. I enjoyed the freshness of their general anti-hero compositions. These characters care about preserving the life of the innocent, yet are almost diabolically selfish in their ambitions. Honor is a commodity, not a rule. Lies are common coin.
7. Do you have to suspend disbelief? I honestly did not feel that I had to strain my disbelief to extremes. There are a few minor things I might consider silly, or even dumb, but they were perfectly within the realm of possibility.
8. Does the story keep its pacing? I am of two minds about this. I honestly felt that scene changes were abrupt, but also appreciated the author for speeding things along. For example, there are lengthy trips that are narrowed down to single paragraphs. Like `2 weeks of travel later..." and things like that. Though I missed a little of the flavor text, I like that there was no wasted page time. You'll have to decide if this thrills or smears your enjoyment.
I honestly feel that the author tries to avoid as many cliches as possible, except those done well enough to advance compelling pacing and story drama. Kudos.
9. Is the book worth the asking price? I bought this book as part of the 3 book Omnibus. I found it very cheap.
In conclusion: An interesting world building, adventure and swashbuckling fantasy story. The characters are generally likable, but lack the individualistic verbal nuances that would round out their compelling merits and flaws. In addition, everyone talked very crudely and harshly. This will not be greeted well by some readers. There are no `white knights' in these pages, just people doing the best they can. There aren't any truly evil antagonists, just people doing what they think is right, given their ambitions. The proofreading is not perfect, but not a deal breaker. The price, in the combo omnibus form, is quite cheap. This is a good first saga book, even if I felt the great characters and story lacked much to offer anyone outside the target audience. The language makes me feel this book is definitely not for children.
3.5 Stars
SPOILER WARNING. IF YOU HAVE NOT READ BOOK 1 READING BEYOND THIS POINT WILL HAVE SPOILERS
What I would have liked to know before I bought this book. (minor spoilers)
1. What type of book is it: adventure, action, drama, etc? This is an epic adventure fantasy book.
2. What is the story about, in general? The story is about Dante and Blays as they endeavor to free the Norren from Gask's slavery in the hopes of forging a City-State at Narashtovik.
3. What/Who is the target audience? Young Adults and Adult male readers. This one has some romance, but somehow it doesn't seem to appeal too much to female readers, regardless of it.
4. How is the proofreading? Same as the 1st book. Some mistakes here and there, perhaps a few more than the 1st book, but not deal breakers.
5. Is there character development or exploration? I think so. Mostly I like how the Blays character evolves. He expands his circle of friends and also finds a core of honor more inclined towards `goodness' than mere `personal code'. Dante continues down his `path of daggers', making choices that are never wholly good and never wholly evil. The relationship between Dante and Blays also evolves. The rest of the characters did not change much.
6. Are the characters likable? Sure, as long the reader understands that the style of conversations will ALWAYS be crude, inelegant and something you might hear in a low class bordello. People continue to talk as if they were facets of the same character in different dresses.
7. Do you have to suspend disbelief? Nope. Everything was well within the scope of the created world. Some actions puzzled me, but they aren't unbelievable.
8. Does the story keep its pacing? I felt a little exasperated with the jumping from area to area and with the character interactions. I did not feel synergy between them. The conversations felt forced ... perhaps even bordering on the feeling of `theater'. I fully enjoyed the contention between pragmatism and benevolence (with murderous pragmatism usually winning) that persists through the book.
As in the 1st book, I have to appreciate, even if it made the pacing a little clunky, that the author tries not to waste time with inconsequential nuances.
9. Is the book worth the asking price? As part of the Omnibus, I felt the book was well worth the cost. Good purchase.
In conclusion: This 2nd book continues the rough and dirty inelegant epic fantasy adventure of the 1st book. The language, along with forcefully sarcastic and theater character synergy, are my only real gripes with this story. It is deliberately nasty, as if the author wants to strip away all forms of elegance and romanticism from the typical epic fantasy adventure. If that is the intent, he achieved his goal. Regardless of how I feel about that style, the story IS epic and well done, with a fair bit of action and intrigue thrown into the mix for good measure. Heck, there is even some romance. The proofreading remains `good' to `ok'. I was tangled in an error here and an error there. The price, as part of the omnibus, is quite cheap and welcomed. This story might irritate the reader because of its style and deliberately crude manner, but for others it might be a breath of fresh air in an overly romanticized genre.
4.0 Stars
SPOILER WARNING. IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THE FIRST AND SECOND BOOK, READING BEYOND THIS POINT WILL HAVE SPOILERS!!!
What I would have liked to know before I bought this book. (SOME SPOILERS)
Note: Some of the observations in this book are copy pasted from my review of the 2nd book, as they continue to be true. An area has a SPOILER WARNING. Please skip if you don't want any spoilers.
1. What type of book is it: adventure, action, drama, etc? This is an epic adventure fantasy book.
2. What is the story about, in general? The story is about the broken friendship of Dante and Blays as a manifestation of great Netherpower appears in the world, and brings the possibility of ruination.
3. What/Who is the target audience? Young Adults and Adult male readers.
4. How is the proofreading? Same as the 1st and 2nd book. Some mistakes here and there.
5. Is there character development or exploration? To be honest, there is little character development. The characters have already been thoroughly exposed with both their merits and flaws. There IS character exploration of Dante and Blays, but somehow I felt they were acting a little childish. It felt more like character devolution.
6. Are the characters likable? The characters are less likable in this book than the other two because they forget to be ... well ... intelligent. There are some rather extreme actions and decisions in this installment that felt thoroughly beyond the scope of the main protagonists. Dante.
7. Do you have to suspend disbelief? (SPOILER WARNING. Skip to #8 to avoid) For the first time I have to say, yes. Blays' and Dante's paths are completely divergent, yet they somehow end up at the same place at the same time at the critical moment, in another nation. WOW. Now that's a coincidence for the ages.
The interaction between Blays and Dante is ... really childish. I cannot, in good conscience, believe that Dante would betray Blays to the King of Gask. I cannot believe it when Dante didn't even speak with Blays in the first place to try and clear matters up. It doesn't match their constructed personalities in the least. Also, Dante put a BOUNTY to find Blays? A bounty large enough to attract attention from all over the fractured kingdoms? Doesn't anyone think this to be extreme, even borderline insane? Last, the resurrection of Blays ... son of a gun. I understand why it was done, to show that Dante wasn't all monster, but seriously, a resurrection?
8. Does the story keep its pacing? I felt a little exasperated with the jumping from area to area and with the character interactions. I did not feel synergy between them. The conversations felt forced ... perhaps even bordering on the feeling of `theater'. I fully enjoyed the contention between pragmatism and benevolence (with murderous pragmatism usually winning) that persists through the book.
As in the first two books, I have to appreciate, even if it made the pacing a little clunky, that the author tries not to waste time with inconsequential nuances.
A few things simply didn't add up in this installment. Events lined up PERFECTLY to solve each other across the distances of three kingdoms. I find that too coordinated to retain pacing and credulity. It was simply to snug: square peg into square hole.
9. Is the book worth the asking price? As part of the Omnibus, I felt the book was well worth the cost. Good purchase.
In conclusion: This 3rd book continues the rough and dirty inelegant epic fantasy adventure of the 2nd book. The characters acted very strangely and sometimes bordered on illogical insanity. Some actions felt `over the top' and forced. Said actions didn't quite match the personalities of the protagonists in the least. It's as if they got dumber the more experience they obtained, less prudent. Unbelievable. Some story events are too perfectly aligned to solve each other, so neat as to lack artistry. The language continues to be deliberately inelegant and crude; not a flaw but something to note. Regardless of how I feel of that style, the story IS epic, with a fair bit of action and intrigue thrown into the mix. The proofreading remains `good' to `ok'. I was tangled in an error here and an error there. The price, as part of the omnibus, is quite cheap and welcomed. The combination of too perfect aligned distant events and questionable actions by the protagonists zap enjoyment from this read, in quantity. Nevertheless, it is still far above many books out there.
3.1 Stars
I CALCULATED THE TOTAL AVERAGE FOR MY FINAL OMNIBUS RATING.
3.6 Stars
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The Cycle of Arawn The Complete Trilogy eBook Edward W Robertson Reviews
After reading Mr. Robertson's The Breakers series, I was hooked on him as an author, so naturally I picked up The Cycle of Arawn for my . I'm not usually into the Fantasy genre, however, but I'm sure glad I gave this series a shot. It was absolutely EPIC! The writing style is easy to read, yet gets thinking throughout. A lot of care was put into the cast of characters, and they are witty, thoughtful, sometimes selfish, and at usually hilarious (especially the banter between Dante and Blays), making me laugh out loud; which when you can find books that makes you laugh, either to yourself or out loud, you know you've found a good book! All in all as far as how Mr. Robertson develops his characters over the course of the three novels, I couldn't have asked for more. As time progresses in the books, Dante and Blays move from adventure to adventure, feeding off each other, sometimes facing certain calamity, other times resounding success. CAUTION SPOLIER what I tuned into was the very fact that they so well complemented each other, that when they had a falling out, I could actually feel the hole that they both left on each other while they were apart. That's all I will say for spoilers; if you want to know more, buy this series, you won't regret it!
Since, at the end of book 3, this author said it took him seven years to write these books, I guess I'll give it a review.
At the end of book one I said to myself, "Why should I care anything about these two boys/men?" There's no hint as to how Dante heard about the Cycle of Arawn or why he thought he might have the gift of nethermancy. He and Blays reminded me a lot of Starsky and Hutch - an effective team, full of wit and sarcasm, but did I really want to continue?
At the end of book two I was sure I was not going to continue on. How can you read almost 1,000 pages and still not know who these two are or care why they do the things they do?
I'm glad I stuck it out to book three as this is where it all finally comes together. Blays figures himself out and goes a long way to giving us an understanding of Dante. And you just knew what Dante was going to do with the Black Star, even though Dante himself didn't know. Hooray for friendship - even when you are sure it no longer exists.
The plot moved right along in this book and came to a very satisfying end. So I'm glad I stuck it out, even though I'll never give it a second read. You can't read just book three - you will never understand the back story if you don't read the first two. The author is no Brandon Sanderson or Michael Manning, or Patrick Rothfuss, but he has the potential.
THIS REVIEW INCLUDES 3 DIFFERENT REVIEWS FOR EACH BOOK IN THIS OMNIBUS
THIS IS BOOK 1.
What I would have liked to know before I bought this book. (minor spoilers)
Note This book has a lot of crude language that might be offensive.
1. What type of book is it adventure, action, drama, etc? This is a dark fantasy epic adventure.
2. What is the story about, in general? The story tells the early years of Dante. As he search for the truth of the gods and magical power, he must dodge dedicated shadowy assassins. Along his travels he encounters wizards, thieves, friends, enemies and discovers himself.
3. What/Who is the target audience? Young adult and adult males. Those with a love for dark epic fantasy might love it as well.
4. How is the proofreading? I did see one or two mistakes but nothing excessive or predominant.
5. Is there character development or exploration? Yes to both. Along Dante's path, he will come to many moral dilemmas. He will fail some and he will pass others. These choices build the character of Dante's personality and expose his very human failures to reader scrutiny.
One nagging annoyance was that most everyone talked the same, and VERY crudely. All characters have a degree of biting sarcasm. All characters enjoy back and forth repertoire with an equal amount of intellect and viciousness. It's like the same character spoke out through different dresses. Thus, if you don't like how one character speaks ... you probably won't like how ANY of them speak.
The antagonists are great. They aren't blatantly evil, they are just ... people. They have a particular view of the world and they want to impose that view. Very well done.
6. Are the characters likable? In my opinion, yes. Though, I can see how their `attitude' might be grating and how their very crude and filthy language might dissuade some readers. I enjoyed the freshness of their general anti-hero compositions. These characters care about preserving the life of the innocent, yet are almost diabolically selfish in their ambitions. Honor is a commodity, not a rule. Lies are common coin.
7. Do you have to suspend disbelief? I honestly did not feel that I had to strain my disbelief to extremes. There are a few minor things I might consider silly, or even dumb, but they were perfectly within the realm of possibility.
8. Does the story keep its pacing? I am of two minds about this. I honestly felt that scene changes were abrupt, but also appreciated the author for speeding things along. For example, there are lengthy trips that are narrowed down to single paragraphs. Like `2 weeks of travel later..." and things like that. Though I missed a little of the flavor text, I like that there was no wasted page time. You'll have to decide if this thrills or smears your enjoyment.
I honestly feel that the author tries to avoid as many cliches as possible, except those done well enough to advance compelling pacing and story drama. Kudos.
9. Is the book worth the asking price? I bought this book as part of the 3 book Omnibus. I found it very cheap.
In conclusion An interesting world building, adventure and swashbuckling fantasy story. The characters are generally likable, but lack the individualistic verbal nuances that would round out their compelling merits and flaws. In addition, everyone talked very crudely and harshly. This will not be greeted well by some readers. There are no `white knights' in these pages, just people doing the best they can. There aren't any truly evil antagonists, just people doing what they think is right, given their ambitions. The proofreading is not perfect, but not a deal breaker. The price, in the combo omnibus form, is quite cheap. This is a good first saga book, even if I felt the great characters and story lacked much to offer anyone outside the target audience. The language makes me feel this book is definitely not for children.
3.5 Stars
SPOILER WARNING. IF YOU HAVE NOT READ BOOK 1 READING BEYOND THIS POINT WILL HAVE SPOILERS
What I would have liked to know before I bought this book. (minor spoilers)
1. What type of book is it adventure, action, drama, etc? This is an epic adventure fantasy book.
2. What is the story about, in general? The story is about Dante and Blays as they endeavor to free the Norren from Gask's slavery in the hopes of forging a City-State at Narashtovik.
3. What/Who is the target audience? Young Adults and Adult male readers. This one has some romance, but somehow it doesn't seem to appeal too much to female readers, regardless of it.
4. How is the proofreading? Same as the 1st book. Some mistakes here and there, perhaps a few more than the 1st book, but not deal breakers.
5. Is there character development or exploration? I think so. Mostly I like how the Blays character evolves. He expands his circle of friends and also finds a core of honor more inclined towards `goodness' than mere `personal code'. Dante continues down his `path of daggers', making choices that are never wholly good and never wholly evil. The relationship between Dante and Blays also evolves. The rest of the characters did not change much.
6. Are the characters likable? Sure, as long the reader understands that the style of conversations will ALWAYS be crude, inelegant and something you might hear in a low class bordello. People continue to talk as if they were facets of the same character in different dresses.
7. Do you have to suspend disbelief? Nope. Everything was well within the scope of the created world. Some actions puzzled me, but they aren't unbelievable.
8. Does the story keep its pacing? I felt a little exasperated with the jumping from area to area and with the character interactions. I did not feel synergy between them. The conversations felt forced ... perhaps even bordering on the feeling of `theater'. I fully enjoyed the contention between pragmatism and benevolence (with murderous pragmatism usually winning) that persists through the book.
As in the 1st book, I have to appreciate, even if it made the pacing a little clunky, that the author tries not to waste time with inconsequential nuances.
9. Is the book worth the asking price? As part of the Omnibus, I felt the book was well worth the cost. Good purchase.
In conclusion This 2nd book continues the rough and dirty inelegant epic fantasy adventure of the 1st book. The language, along with forcefully sarcastic and theater character synergy, are my only real gripes with this story. It is deliberately nasty, as if the author wants to strip away all forms of elegance and romanticism from the typical epic fantasy adventure. If that is the intent, he achieved his goal. Regardless of how I feel about that style, the story IS epic and well done, with a fair bit of action and intrigue thrown into the mix for good measure. Heck, there is even some romance. The proofreading remains `good' to `ok'. I was tangled in an error here and an error there. The price, as part of the omnibus, is quite cheap and welcomed. This story might irritate the reader because of its style and deliberately crude manner, but for others it might be a breath of fresh air in an overly romanticized genre.
4.0 Stars
SPOILER WARNING. IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THE FIRST AND SECOND BOOK, READING BEYOND THIS POINT WILL HAVE SPOILERS!!!
What I would have liked to know before I bought this book. (SOME SPOILERS)
Note Some of the observations in this book are copy pasted from my review of the 2nd book, as they continue to be true. An area has a SPOILER WARNING. Please skip if you don't want any spoilers.
1. What type of book is it adventure, action, drama, etc? This is an epic adventure fantasy book.
2. What is the story about, in general? The story is about the broken friendship of Dante and Blays as a manifestation of great Netherpower appears in the world, and brings the possibility of ruination.
3. What/Who is the target audience? Young Adults and Adult male readers.
4. How is the proofreading? Same as the 1st and 2nd book. Some mistakes here and there.
5. Is there character development or exploration? To be honest, there is little character development. The characters have already been thoroughly exposed with both their merits and flaws. There IS character exploration of Dante and Blays, but somehow I felt they were acting a little childish. It felt more like character devolution.
6. Are the characters likable? The characters are less likable in this book than the other two because they forget to be ... well ... intelligent. There are some rather extreme actions and decisions in this installment that felt thoroughly beyond the scope of the main protagonists. Dante.
7. Do you have to suspend disbelief? (SPOILER WARNING. Skip to #8 to avoid) For the first time I have to say, yes. Blays' and Dante's paths are completely divergent, yet they somehow end up at the same place at the same time at the critical moment, in another nation. WOW. Now that's a coincidence for the ages.
The interaction between Blays and Dante is ... really childish. I cannot, in good conscience, believe that Dante would betray Blays to the King of Gask. I cannot believe it when Dante didn't even speak with Blays in the first place to try and clear matters up. It doesn't match their constructed personalities in the least. Also, Dante put a BOUNTY to find Blays? A bounty large enough to attract attention from all over the fractured kingdoms? Doesn't anyone think this to be extreme, even borderline insane? Last, the resurrection of Blays ... son of a gun. I understand why it was done, to show that Dante wasn't all monster, but seriously, a resurrection?
8. Does the story keep its pacing? I felt a little exasperated with the jumping from area to area and with the character interactions. I did not feel synergy between them. The conversations felt forced ... perhaps even bordering on the feeling of `theater'. I fully enjoyed the contention between pragmatism and benevolence (with murderous pragmatism usually winning) that persists through the book.
As in the first two books, I have to appreciate, even if it made the pacing a little clunky, that the author tries not to waste time with inconsequential nuances.
A few things simply didn't add up in this installment. Events lined up PERFECTLY to solve each other across the distances of three kingdoms. I find that too coordinated to retain pacing and credulity. It was simply to snug square peg into square hole.
9. Is the book worth the asking price? As part of the Omnibus, I felt the book was well worth the cost. Good purchase.
In conclusion This 3rd book continues the rough and dirty inelegant epic fantasy adventure of the 2nd book. The characters acted very strangely and sometimes bordered on illogical insanity. Some actions felt `over the top' and forced. Said actions didn't quite match the personalities of the protagonists in the least. It's as if they got dumber the more experience they obtained, less prudent. Unbelievable. Some story events are too perfectly aligned to solve each other, so neat as to lack artistry. The language continues to be deliberately inelegant and crude; not a flaw but something to note. Regardless of how I feel of that style, the story IS epic, with a fair bit of action and intrigue thrown into the mix. The proofreading remains `good' to `ok'. I was tangled in an error here and an error there. The price, as part of the omnibus, is quite cheap and welcomed. The combination of too perfect aligned distant events and questionable actions by the protagonists zap enjoyment from this read, in quantity. Nevertheless, it is still far above many books out there.
3.1 Stars
I CALCULATED THE TOTAL AVERAGE FOR MY FINAL OMNIBUS RATING.
3.6 Stars
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