[cgw]

I just finished Lord of the Isles. It was pretty good (nice relaxing reading). It was little derived (enough to give me deja vu).

I did not know untill I was done that it was the first of a series (maybe or maybe not his intent).

Anyone have any thoughts on the rest of the books in the series? I don't know if I could take 3 more books of the same.

[Pathir]

I read, with very many difficulties, through his first book LOTI. I didn't like it. His style was, for me, without emotion and his characters failed to spark even a little interest or involvement in me.
Never read more (never wanted to), so cannot commend on his other ventures in fantasyland...

[Alle]

Like Pathir, I too read the first book and wasn't enthralled in the least. I do have book 2 (got both book 1 and book 2 for free) but its been sitting upstairs for over 2 years now and probably will sit there a while more.

[Meraxes]

Same here. Couldn't force myself to read beyond the first book. Boring plot, boring characters, and a non-sensical sort of world (as trite as that sounds this being a fantasy forum! lol) just sort of left me feeling apathetic to the series.

- M

[cgw]

No one has read the sequels?????

[ezchaos]

I have to agree with what some others have said here. I read Lord of the Isle when it first came out in hardback, and I don't think I even finished it. All I can remember is that it was pretty boring.:o

[estranghero]

Lemme come to David Drake's defense. I've read 'Lord of the Isle' and the succeeding series and will continue to read the rest. Granted, it's light reading and it has its flaws. However, if you read it without expectations, it's pretty exciting and really draws you into its world. (Something that never occured to me with Terry Goodkind's SOT series.) Also, it doesn't really go much with the usual fantasy cliches of the medieval realms since it's basis is more of the post-Greek/ Roman era. No elves nor dragons around here.

I also find Drake's monsters to be refreshing since he riffs a lot from HP Lovecraft's Cthulu monsters. :)

Anyway, go try the 2nd if you're not sure. As for me, I'm happy reading it.

[Pathir]

Reading without expectations? I at least expect a book to draw me in and make me want to continue reading it. This never happened with Drake's book. His characters stayed distant and their adventures left me cold. If a writer cannot keep me interested a whole book, I declare it a lost cause...
Doesn't necessarily mean it's bad, just that I didn't like it;)

[daigoro]

So far I've read the first two books in the series and enjoyed reading both and I'll probably pick up the next one also whenever I happen to stumble upon it in a bookstore.

[Meraxes]

Well, I think it depends on what you're accustomed to and what your tastes are, really. Like everything else. People who have been reading fantasy a long time, who have read a lot of what there is in the genre, and who generally - how to put it - well, yes, have 'expectations' are probably not going to enjoy some authors as much as newer readers or people who don't make a habit of reading fantasy very often. Coming off of reading Martin's books and then being anxious for something else, and finding Drake - well, that was a bit of a switch, I'd say, so I wasn't too impressed with his writing. My father, on the other hand, who's 58 years old and has read only about 10 fantasy novels his whole life says he really enjoyed them. So it all comes down to perspective. And I don't mean any of this as a put down in any way - I'm sure there are long time readers who like him just fine, too.

- M