Queen of Demons by David Drake, 0812564936, Lowest Book Price Finder

Customer Reviews:

An excellent read

This is the first book I've read by David Drake, and I was so impressed that I'm now planning to go out and buy some more - starting with the rest of this series.

The characters in the book were all well developed, and they changed and grew throughout the course of the book. Death wasn't just limited to the 'bad guys' - something which sadly often isn't true of many books - which made the book much more powerful.

The imagery was strong, with many scenes described so well that I could almost close my eyes any picture them. At the same time, there wasn't so much detail that it bogged down the storyline. The story moved fast enough to keep a readers interest without sacrificing the storyline in favour of action. Some people might find the multiple viewpoints somewhat confusing and possibly even irritating, but I have always enjoyed this style of writing.

The sheer amount of magic in the story might put some people off, but personally I found it made the book even more enjoyable. It had well laid out and consistent format, which made it easier to suspend disbelief while reading. The use of real words from spells dating back to classical times was another nice touch.

I'd recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading fantasy, although I'd also suggest that they start with the first book in the series - a piece of advice which I failed to follow, although as the book can also stand on its own it was easy enough to pick up the essentials of plot and characters from the previous book.

A great book with a great plot, as good as the first.

This is a fabulous book! It continuse where 'Lord of the Isles' left off. The plot is great and it keeps you on the edge of your seat. You'll love it though read the first one first.

Good to borrow

At first this story appears to have all the elements required for a good, satisfying read. As you progress you realize it's like a stew without the spice. Key elements that catalyze the whole are missing - notably a lack of emotional development in the male/female relationships, and a certain unidimensional feel to the main characters' thoughts as they decide on how to act in each successive situation (the third party viewpoint is too obvious?). The more I read, the more underwhelmed I became.

This is still worth reading for fans of the genre, and it has enough detail & depth to be considered "read if you have the opportunity", but certainly it is not a "must read". Borrow it from the library or a friend, or at least wait for the paperback.

Good story, but bad characterization

Maybe I've just been spoiled, but I get caught up in Drake's almost Robert Jordanesque plots, and I just start to expect things to go they way they do in the Wheel of Time, and so as soon as Drake starts to describe one of the characters I'm dissapointed. The characters seem to have no emotions whatsoever, one would think Garric would be frightened or anxious about becoming king, but he displays nothing, and does he never DISAGREE with King Carus in his head? One of my favorite characters is killed abrubtly in the end, and there is almost no mention of sprites in this book. Cashel constantly proves that he is indeed stupid as Zahag says, and Liane's knife has more character than Liane does. We hear a billion times about how sharp it is, never once hears what color hair or eyes she has (I've forgotten from the first book), and she seems to have no REASON to want to follow Garric & Co. around, she's just.. there.
Don't get me wrong, I want to be able to like this book, and I do enjoy the read, but it's still not as good as I wish it was.

Fairly stock S&S adventure with Drake's good writing.

How many new Sword & Sorcery plots can there be? This fairly tepid plot benefits from David Drake's expected excellent writing, but unless you are a dyed in the wool S&S enthusiast, this book becomes "a demon too far".

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