Fires Of Lan-kern

Lan-Kern #1

by Peter Tremayne

1980 1st Ed St. Martin's Pre-Number Line

Genres: Fantasy

272 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 1980

About the author

Peter Berresford Ellis (born 10 March 1943) is a historian, literary biographer, and novelist who has published over 90 books to date either under his own name or his pseudonyms Peter Tremayne and Peter MacAlan. He has also published 95 short stories. His non-fiction books, articles and academic papers have made him acknowledged as an authority on Celtic history and culture. As Peter Tremayne, he is the author of the international bestselling Sister Fidelma mystery series. His work has appeared in 25 languages.

Reviews

[Dena · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was another from annals of my dad's shelves. While I liked the concept of the book, I didn't love how it ended. It reminded me of the series that are written today INTENTIONALLY to draw you into the next book by leaving SO MUCH unresolved. I'm a fan of books being able to stand alone. This one didn't do so well at that. The ending was rushed and many of the conflicts left unresolved. I was willing to read on in the series on Kindle but the book isn't available.

The beginning of the book was a fascinating start with the way Dryden arrived in this "new" world. But after that, it became an interesting and entertaining but more ordinary fantasy story. Dryden too easily and quickly stops remembering the world he left behind so it's fair to say that I stopped remembering too and I think that was what really made the book interesting. I'm a sucker for a series though and if I ever come across the other two books of Lan-Kern, I'll probably buy them....

[Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good book, although not strong enough to make me immediately read others in this series. Interesting ideas though and I did enjoy it.

[iHateBooks · Rating 2 out of 5]

Premise: The crew of a nuclear submarine is cryogenically frozen in a glacier, and are unfrozen long after the fall of human civilization. Cool, right? The main character finds some "natives" to live with and starts to integrate with their society. The natives of course have some sort of nature-based religion. The book quickly devolves into something like the certainty of science vs. all-powerful Nature. The proselyting got old fast and although it ends on a cliff-hanger, I don't really care.

[Dave · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although nearly two-thirds of the book was a slow burn, once the plot started firing on all cylinders this post-apocalyptic sci-fantasy tale redeemed itself enough for me to want to move on to the second volume in the trilogy. Overall the story arc is intriguing, and the incorporation of Celtic myths and lore is commendable, but the main characters tend to be rather flat. Nevertheless, I recommend this for fans of classic heroic fantasy.