The Stormcaller by Tom Lloyd

The most important thing to note about this book is that it is not subtle. If you like traditional 'sword and sorcery' fantasy books and are not particularly bothered by character development, writing style or plot complexity, you will probably consider this book to be an enjoyable read.

However, if you find yourself to be a little demanding as a reader, I don't recommend this book. Whilst it is certainly readable, and the writing style is reasonably confident and has obviously been well edited, there is little about this book to really capture the imagination. The main character can only be described as a role-player's wet dream... not only is he fantastically strong and is both a talented warrior and a mage right from the start, he receives a large number of obscenely powerful magic items very early on in the book. To add a few more clichés, he also grew up as an outcast, was rejected and mistreated by his father, and has an unrevealed but clumsily hinted destiny to save the world.

The plot itself is a bare framework around which the author can innumerate and elaborate upon the protagonist's talents, and is generally predictable. When women appear at all it is either as young attractive maids, grumpy old spinsters or power-hungry nobility. The conversations between the characters appear to be there only to progress the plot, provided clichéd commentary or to embellish the protagonist's background, and very few of the characters themselves were particularly believable.

Stormcaller lacks depth, plot or believable characterisation, and although it includes a number of action scenes and occasionally manages a sense of drama, fails to create a satisfying or entertaining fiction.