Not my favorite type of fantasy novel. I didn't feel like the book has any stand-alone qualities -- the end is pure cliffhanger for the next book. I don't mind reading books in a series, but I don't like feeling as though I haven't finished at least part of the story when I get to the end. I have the next book in the series, and I'm not sure if I'll bother reading it. ( )

Rod Everlar is a fantasy writer and creator of the world Falconfar. As he dreams of his creation things become too real - he is awakened by a mysterious woman landing in his bed, near death. They find that his blood is able to heal her and they flee to Falconfar just as the creatures hunting her appear in his bedroom. Once there Rod is told he is a Shaper, a powerful wizard that can change history in the land, though he knows not how. As the two travel Rod discovers that evil has taken over his land and he must somehow unlock his powers if he is to save his creation.

Dark Lord is the first in Ed Greenwood's new Falconfar series. Greenwood, well known for his D&D books, delivers an action packed story that will appeal to RPG fans. While the plot is fairly simple, it is an entertaining read. ( )

I've read quite a few books this year, and as a student the year for me begins in September, so that's quite some time to be reading. But this is very likely to be the most unique of all of them.

I decided to review it almost entirely on the strength of the title, "Dark Lord", with the incredible artwork on the cover enticing me further. It embarrasses me somewhat to say that I actually had no idea of what it was about... But it paid off. If I had read the blurb, I would have chosen a different book. It's about a man who travels to his own fantasy world, and I generally avoid these books, for reasons which will be explained below...

But before I heap praise onto this book, there is one major thing that stops this book from receiving full marks. There isn't a particularly strong plot. The story is driven by consequence, rather than the goal, which is equally indirect - wander around until the main character feels right. But it IS the first in a trilogy, and the foundation is laid for a stronger story arc overall, which offers some comfort.

So if it's not in the plot, where does the strength of this plot lie? The answer is pretty much everywhere else. The obvious one to say would be the Characters, and they are done very well, particularly the main characters: Rod and Taeauna. But I'm not going to go into that because, in my opinion, there is a much more interesting aspect to the story.

It's not the action either, although there's plenty of it, again done very well. This varies between tense, serious fighting, to the more comedic situations of the characters being attacked while bathing or making love. It's a broad range of writing types, and I'm quite impressed.

But the thing that really stood out was how well the modern character interacted with his world. This is the thing that makes me wary of these types of books in general, because in nearly every thing I've read with a modern day character there is a pattern: initial wonder, immediate denial, acceptance of destiny, forget that the modern world exists. This isn't strictly adhered to, but generally occurs in the first few chapters. In this book however, the main character is constantly reminding hi

Self that he's from our world, for instance saying that something is as heavy as a cart, at which the other characters become confused. While there is a Vague resemblance of that cycle, it's less obvious, and doesn't complete even at the end of the book. In fact, he's a pretty useless hero, following Taeauna around trying to Learn about the world.

And the other interesting aspect is that while most of these type of books are people who stumble across the fantasy world, or maybe dream it up, Rod is the author of a series of books about the world. Now that wouldn't be so different in itself, but there is also a computer game of the series. It's that computer game company, Holdencorp, who have made the world of Falconfar such a terrible place, because of the simple dynamics of video games (ie in video games, there needs to be lots of enemies for the player to kill, so there's lots of enemies in falconfar since Holdencorp acquired rights). It's this kind of thing that makes the book so unique.

I really would like to give this book 10/10, but since the plot is lacking I don't think I can. But I loved it, and plan to recommend it to everyone. Including you. Read it. ( )

After a particularly bad dream, Rod Everlar finds himself pulled into a world of his own design. Rod is a writer of fantasy novels centering on a world called Falconfar. Three evil wizards now rule over the land, but Rod soon discovers that he is destined to be an even greater mage, the Dark Lord.

The premise alone sucked me into this story. And I loved the fact that when Rod gets sucked into his own story, he doesn't automatically become the adept wizard and fighter that one might expect. Instead, he's a bit clumsy and quite a coward. And the person who has to keep saving him is a maimed female.

There's quite a large cast of characters, but a handy list of who's who at the end of the book. Danger and action abound in this exciting fantasy novel. With vivid characters and an intense cliffhanger, Greenwood has written a creative world of magic and mystery. ( )