GregHowley.com

Runelords, by David Farland

Runelords

It's rough when an author writes the first book in a series and leaves it with no clear-cut conclusion or victory at the end.

When Terry Brooks wrote the Sword of Shannara, the Warlock Lord was defeated at the end. When Robert Jordan wrote Eye of the World, a couple of the Forsaken bite it at the end. Even Tolkien gives us a clear victory at the end of The Hobbit, if not in Fellowship of the Ring.

So the lack of clear-cut victory after Runelords is a downer. With the exception of the protagonist, who is too much a cookie-cutter hero, I liked the characters, especially a warrior named Borenson, who ends the book as an emotional wreck, albeit still sane. And the creatures and races are excellent too. Too seldom do fictional nonhuman races fall within that range between human and animal intelligence - as do Farland's Ferrin - and seldom are enemy monsters as strange and fearsome as the Reavers he's created.

But I'm torn as to whether I like the primary magic in his setting - the bestowing of "Endowments". Within this setting people can grant others an "Endowment" of brawn, grace, metabolism, wit, sight, hearing, or smell. This leaves the recipient with an exceptional quality, and leaves the donor a cripple, lacking entirely that which he has donated. Great "Runelords" with hundreds of endownments exist, and as you might guess, they are superhuman. It's interesting, but I find it somewhat tiresome.

All in all, the book is not that bad - I may read the sequel.


11/22/63, by Stephen King
A Memory of Light, by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson
Academ's Fury, by Jim Butcher
Acts of War: Flashpoint, by Aeryn Rudel
All You Need Is Kill, by Ryosuke Takeuchi
Altered Carbon, by Richard Morgan
Amber Spyglass, The, by Philip Pullman
American Gods, by Neil Gaiman
Amped, by Daniel H Wilson
Anguished Dawn, The, by James P. Hogan
Armada, by Ernest Cline
Artemis, by Andy Weir
Axis, by Robert Charles Wilson
Batman: No Man's Land, by Greg Rucka
Battle Circle, by Piers Anthony
Battlefield Earth, by L. Ron Hubbard
Beasts of Barakai, The, by Mickey Zucker Reichert
Best of Lester Del Rey, by Lester Del Rey
Black Monday, by Scott Reiss
Blackout, by Mira Grant
Blood Rites, by Jim Butcher
Brief Cases, by Jim Butcher
Brisingr, by Christopher Paolini
Broken Angels, by Richard K. Morgan
Captains Fury, by Jim Butcher
Catch Me If You Can, by Frank Abagnale
Caught in Crystal, by Patricia C. Wrede
Cell, by Stephen King
Changes, by Jim Butcher
Children of Time, by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Clash of Kings, by George R. R. Martin
Cold Days, by Jim Butcher
Contact, by Carl Sagan
Cordelia's Honor, by Lois McMaster Bujold
Cradle of Saturn, by James P. Hogan
Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, The, by Mark Haddon
Cursors Fury, by Jim Butcher
Dance with Dragons, by George R. R. Martin
Dark Convergence, by Dave Gross
Daughter of the Sun, by Lonnie Ezell
Dead Beat, by Jim Butcher
Deadline, by Mira Grant
Death Masks, by Jim Butcher
Deception Point, by Dan Brown
Decipher, by Stel Pavlou
Digital Fortress, by Dan Brown
Dragon and the George, The, by Gordon Dickson
Dune, by Frank Herbert
Eldest, by Christopher Paolini
Eragon, by Christopher Paolini
Existence, by David Brin
Eye of the World, The, by Robert Jordan
Feast For Crows, by George R.R. Martin
Feed, by Mira Grant
Feedback, by Mira Grant
Fight Club, by Chunk Palahntuk.
First Lords Fury, by Jim Butcher
Flashforward, by Robert J. Sawyer
Flightless Falcon, by Mickey Zucker Reichert
Fool Moon, by Jim Butcher
Footfall, by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
For The Win, by Cory Doctorow
Forensic Files of Batman, by Doug Moench
Foundation, by Isaac Asimov
Frankenstein, Book One: Prodigal Son, by Dean Koontz
Frankenstein, Book Two: City of Night, by Dean Koontz
Frankenstein: Book Three: Dead and Alive, by Dean Koontz
Furies of Calderon, by Jim Butcher
Game of Thrones, by George R. R. Martin
Gathering Storm, The, by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson
Genesis of Shannara: Armageddon's Children, by Terry Brooks
Genesis of Shannara: Elves of Cintra, by Terry Brooks
Ghost Story, by Jim Butcher
Godslayer, by Mickey Zucker Reichert
Golden Compass, The, by Philip Pullman
Golden Son, by Pierce Brown
Grave Peril, by Jim Butcher
Great Train Robbery, by Michael Crichton
Gypsy Morph, The, by Terry Brooks
High Druid of Shannara Series, by Terry Brooks
His Majesty's Dragon, by Naomi Novik
Homeland, by Cory Doctorow
I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson
In God We Trust, by Jean Shepherd
In Thunder Forged, by Ari Marmell
Inheritance, by Christopher Paolini
Into The Storm, by Larry Correia
Into the Wild, by Larry Correia
Invaders Plan, The, by L. Ron Hubbard
Invasive Species, by Joseph Wallace
Jumper, by Steven Gould
Jurassic Park, by Michael Crichton
Kingdom Come, by Elliot S. Maggin, Mark Waid, Alex Ross
Last of the Renshai, by Mickey Zucker Reichert
Legend of Nightfall, The, by Mickey Zucker Reichert
Legend That Was Earth, The, by James P. Hogan
Leviathan Wakes, by James S. A. Corey
Little Brother, by Cory Doctorow
Live Free or Die, by John Ringo
Magician King, The, by Lev Grossman
Magicians Land, by Lev Grossman
Magicians, The, by Lev Grossman
Makers, by Cory Doctorow
Map of Bones, by James Rollins
Master of the Five Magics, by Lyndon Hardy
Morning Star, by Pierce Brown
Murder on the Orient Express, by Agatha Christie
Name of the Wind, The, by Patrick Rothfuss
Next, by Michael Crichton
Nor Crystal Tears, by Alan Dean Foster
Oathbringer, by Brandon Sanderson
Old Man's War, by John Scalzi
Paranormals, by Christopher Andrews
Parasite, by Mira Grant
Phylogenesis, by Alan Dean Foster
Pirate Cinema, by Cory Doctorow
Postman, The, by David Brin
Prey, by Michael Crichton
Princeps Fury, by Jim Butcher
Proven Guilty, by Jim Butcher
Ready Player One, by Ernest Cline
Red Rising, by Pierce Brown
Red Shirts, by John Scalzi
Return of Nightfall, by Mickey Zucker Reichert
RoboGenesis, by Daniel H. Wilson
Robopocalypse, by Daniel H. Wilson
Robot Uprisings, by Daniel H Wilson
Runelords, by David Farland
Secret of the 6th Magic, by Lyndon Hardy
Seventh Son, by Orson Scott Card
Shift, by Hugh Howey
Side Jobs, by Jim Butcher
Skin Game, by Jim Butcher
Sleeping Dragon, The, by Joel Rosenberg
Sleeping Giants, by Sylvain Neuvel
Small Favor, by Jim Butcher
Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson
Soon, I Will Be Invincible, by Austin Grossman
Sovereign Era: Year One, by Matthew Wayne Selznick
Spin, by Robert Charles Wilson
Stand, The, by Stephen King
Starship Troopers, by Robert Heinlein
Starswarm, by Jerry Pournelle
State of Fear, by Michael Crichton
Storm Front, by Jim Butcher
Storm of Swords, by George R.R. Martin
Subtle Knife, The, by Philip Pullman
Summer Knight, by Jim Butcher
Sword of Shannara, by Terry Brooks
Swords Against Deviltry, by Fritz Leiber
The 4400: Promises Broken, by David Mack
The 4400: The Vesuvius Prophecy, by Greg Cox
The 4400: Welcome to Promise City, by Greg Cox
The Blood of Kings, by Douglas Seacat
The Circle, by Dave Eggers
The Flash: Stop Motion, by Mark Schultz
The Fold, by Peter Clines
The Hive, by Chris Berman
The Mark of Caine, by Miles Holmes
The Martian, by Andy Weir
The Three-Body Problem, by Cixin Liu
The Way of Caine, by Miles Holmes
Time Travelers Wife, The, by Audrey Niffenegger
Timescape, by Gregory Benford
Towers of Midnight, by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson
Turn Coat, by Jim Butcher
Twilight Eyes, by Dean Koontz
Two Faces of Tomorrow, The, by James Hogan
Uprooted, by Naomi Novik
Waking Gods, by Sylvain Neuvel
Way of Kings, The, by Brandon Sanderson
White Night, by Jim Butcher
Wild Cards, by George R.R. Martin
Wise Man's Fear, by Patrick Rothfuss
Wizard's First Rule, by Terry Goodkind
Woken Furies, by Richard K. Morgan
Wool, by Hugh Howey
Words of Radiance, by Brandon Sanderson
World War Z, by Max Brooks