Reviews
The Crimson Sword
Gathered here is a collection of reviews—the
good, the bad, and the ugly—given by
professional readers and industry publications. Please be advised,
however, that such reviews often surrender elements of plot and story
that would ordinarily be revealed throughout the course of the book. If
you're not averse to such spoilers, read on!
Select a review (or simply scroll down):
Barnes & Noble Spotlight Feature
BookLoons Reviews
Chapters Staff Pick
Library Journal
Publishers Weekly
SciFiChick
SFRevu
Barnes & Noble Spotlight Feature
May 2005
Eldon Thompson's debut novel, The Crimson
Sword, is the first volume in an epic fantasy thriller comparable
to recent bestselling series like Jennifer Fallon's
Hythrun Chronicles, Mitchell Graham's
Fifth Ring trilogy, and Terry Brooks's
Shannara sequence. Brimming with magic, monsters, and nonstop
adventure, this Tolkienesque story pits a reluctant hero—a young
woodsman named Jarom—against a demonic queen and her armies of
nightmarish dragonspawn. With the fate of millions of innocent lives in
the balance, all Jarom has to do is find a mythical sword used by godly
avatars in the creation of the world, elude a vengeful wizard who
happens to be his banished brother, and somehow defeat a seemingly
endless swarm of monstrosities from the Abyss.
After saving a terrified woman from a band of
pursuing soldiers, Jarom finds his world is turned upside down by her
story. The woman turns out to be the Queen of Alson, and after sharing
her horrific tale about the king's assassination and a wizard's siege of
the kingdom's capital, she informs Jarom that she is in fact his mother
and that he is the secret heir to the throne! As the wizard wreaks havoc—and ghastly creatures begin appearing throughout the countryside—Jarom is sent on an almost hopeless quest to find a sword of legend.
While this novel is clearly not on the level of Tolkien's archetypal
classic, Thompson shows great promise in this page-turning debut, which
features generous amounts of magic, mythology, and mayhem. Here's one
fantasy fan who's very curious to see where Thompson goes with the
second installment of his Legend of Asahiel trilogy.
- Paul Goat Allen
© 2005 Barnes&Noble.com llc. All rights reserved.
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BookLoons Reviews
2005
There's the death of the king of Alson, a young prince
raised in a distant village and unaware of his heritage, a lost sword of
power, an evil, invading sorceror, a demon Queen with her minions, and
mysterious powers manipulating events in the background. Sound familiar?
It is and it isn't. Though the basic plot here is pretty standard fare,
there are interesting variations, plenty of bloodthirsty action (the
sorceror's treatment of his already abused mom put me off my dinner),
and some interesting characters—I
especially enjoyed the childlike Kylac Kronus, raised in an Assassin's
Guild and a whiz with weaponry, and found the notion of cannibalistic
elves an entertaining deviation from the usual script.
Essentially, Jarom (the young prince) and his childhood
friend Allion set off on quest for the Crimson Sword of Asahiel, needed
to fight the sorceror. They're joined by Kylac en route. While they're
wandering near and far, the odds against them lengthen when demon Queen
Spithaera is accidentally awakened by children exploring a cave system.
Her dragonspawn join in the slaughter that had already started and an
unholy alliance is formed. There are captures and escapes, and the
obligatory love interest for Jarom—a
lovely apprentice healer named Marisha with a secret of her own. Armies
are engaged, and the friends scatter pursuing individual, equally
perilous goals. It all sorts out by the end, but our heroes should not
rest on their laurels as the author hints at what they'll have to deal
in the sequel.
- Hilary Williamson,
BookLoons.com
© 2005 BookLoons
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Chapters Staff Pick
May 2005
A newcomer to the fantasy scene, Eldon Thompson, and his
book The Crimson Sword, is a fresh (young) and welcome addition to the
field who very well could be (and should be for that matter) a name and
face you will be seeing often in the future.
The Crimson Sword begins The Legend of Asahiel like so
many other epic fantasies: a young man, a sleepy village and a hidden
past. When young Jarom is thrust suddenly forward into the position of
first heir to the throne of a besieged kingdom, he sets out with
childhood friend, Allion, to find one of the mythical Crimson Swords; a
role fate seems to indicate is his destiny.
Or is it?
What if Frodo were not the one meant to carry the ring
to Mount Doom? What if Luke Skywalker, like his father, turned out not
to be the chosen one? That is the question Thompson sets out to answer
with his series of books.
In what is essentially a coming of age story, like so
many others we have seen clogging the fantasy genre, Thompson's unique
narrative and rich description set him apart from other first time
authors. Take a large helping of Terry Brooks (who has acted as somewhat
of a mentor to Thompson), add a heaping teaspoon of Tad Williams and a
pinch of Raymond Feist, and you're looking at Eldon Thompson.
Even the most successful and prolific of authors must
start in humble beginnings; and for all our sakes—yours,
mine, Eldon's—I hope that Thompson's
career turns out to be just that: successful and prolific. Aidan
Approved!
- Aidan Moher,
Chapters
Bookstore
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Library
Journal
May 2005
The assassination of the
king of Alson throws the succession into chaos; the city of Krynwall has
fallen to its enemies, and the desperate queen flees her home in search
of safety and of the son she has not seen since his birth 19 years ago.
Now a young guardian named Jarom, he wants nothing to do with politics.
Nevertheless, Jarom finds himself on a journey across the world in
search of the mythical Crimson Sword. Thompson’s first novel creates a
richly detailed world of shadow assassins, demon queens, and magical
swords. Jarom is a sympathetic and engaging hero who fights for his
principles and for his duty. In the tradition of high fantasy, this book
belongs in most fantasy collections.
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Publishers Weekly
May 2005
Marred by wooden prose and lethargic pacing, Thompson's
earnest fantasy debut, the first of a trilogy, tries hard to follow in
Tolkien's and Terry Brooks's footsteps (Brooks provides a blurb), but
only half succeeds. The story opens with a promising air of mystery with
the murder of King Sorl, the despotic ruler of Alson, one of the several
kingdoms of Pentania. The assassin, known only as the Shadow, was hired
by Soric, Sorl's disinherited older son, now an evil wizard intent on
claiming his birthright. The widowed Queen Ellebe seeks out her younger
son, Torin, who's been living for 19 years as Jarom, a mere mushroom
farmer's son, unaware of his royal heritage. Once he recovers from the
shock of learning he's really a prince, Jarom/Torin resolves to
overthrow Soric, an effort that will involve him in a quest for a
legendary sword. This kindhearted book employs all the familiar fantasy
tropes—elven folk, dragons, demons, a fair lady—but unfortunately Prince
Torin's vanilla personality is about as exciting as a hobbit without a
ring. The more interesting Shadow vanishes too quickly and appears later
only rarely. Hopefully, the next installment will have more bite.
© Reed Business Information, a division of Reed
Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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SciFiChick
September 2007
The Crimson
Sword is the debut novel by Eldon
Thompson. When the king is assassinated and
the city conquered by an unknown army commanded
by a wizard, all hope seems to fall on a young
man named Jarom. With the help of his friend,
Jarom goes in search of the legendary Crimson
Sword, believing the magical sword will help in
his quest to usurp the evil wizard. But there
are many other forces at work, with their own
plans for Jarom and the sword.
In typical high fantasy tradition, The
Crimson Sword contains dragons, wizards,
demons, and other unique creatures. But the
strength of this novel lies in the twists and
surprises in the story. And with plenty of
action and violence, we’re never sure who may
live and who will die. The antagonists are
ruthless killers, but the good guys aren’t
without their own arsenal of skilled combatants.
There were a few unique characters that I
really enjoyed. But this novel is definitely
driven by the action and exciting storyline.
This was an impressive debut from a young
author. I’ll definitely be seeking out the
sequels: The Obsidian Key and The
Divine Talisman, which will supposedly be
released next year.
Thanks to
A Dribble of Ink for the great
recommendation.
- Angela Schuch,
SciFiChick.com
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SFRevu
June 2005
The Crimson Sword is book one of the Legend of Asahiel
trilogy. Krynwall falls to an unknown wizard and his dark forces. Queen
Ellebe escapes to seek help. And we begin reading thinking this is the
usual quest story—find the sword,
kill the wizard, and all will be right with the world again. But is
anything ever that simple?
Jarom has grown up in the simple forest village of Diln.
He's the village Fason or peacekeeper and the only son of the head of
the village Elders. But after Jarom and his best friend, Allion, save
Queen Ellebe from her pursuers, they are locked out of the Elder's
deliberations. When Jarom is finally allowed into the chamber it is to
have his world torn apart and turned upside down. He learns that he is
Torin, son of Ellebe and King Sorl and the man he has thought of as his
father for all these years was only his caretaker and teacher. What's
more, he is expected to go to a neighboring kingdom and raise an army to
save the kingdom before the wizard can consolidate his power.
Jarom feels he has no choice but to agree to this scheme
and he and Allion set off. But there is more to being a king than being
birthed by the Queen. While Jarom has been trained all his life to be a
leader and to settle disputes, he feels adrift as the underpinnings of
his world are shifted and his place in it changed. He refuses his new
name and reluctantly realizes that he must do what he can for the
people. But without his identity as Jarom, he struggles to gain solid
footing in this new reality he finds himself in.
While the quest is outwardly a search for the Crimson
Sword of Asahiel, the true quest is Jarom's search to find himself and
his place in the world. Can he be a leader of men? Can he become a King?
Does he want to be King?
Along the journey, Jarom meets with others who help,
hinder, confuse, advise, challenge, love, and skew his worldview.
There's a lot going on in this book: high adventure, love, friendship,
meddling wise men, and monstrous demons. There's something for everyone
as Jarom strives to save his village, the kingdom, and discover himself.
The big surprise for me is that while this is book one of a trilogy, it
can and does stand alone.
What's even more surprising is that this is a first
novel. Eldon Thompson has written a different quest story that has
enough twists and turns to entertain even the most jaded fantasy reader.
There are some rough spots as Jarom whines about his fate and acts as if
the world owes him something for being different than what he believed
it to be. Seeing the control this author has over the material indicates
that as his skills grow with the next book, the story should gain even
more depth and twistedness.
Recommended: Give it a try, you'll be glad you did.
- Gayle Surrette,
SFRevu.com
© 2005 Ernest Lilley /
SFRevu
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