What do you think?
Rate this book
The Legend of Erren-dar #1
The Crystal Chalice
ASIN B00C8TZU9W moved to the most recent edition here
The Kingdom of Eskendria is facing the greatest threat to its existence since the fall of the legendary Old Kingdom. The cruel servants of the Destroyer, the ancient enemy of the kingdom, are creeping into the forests of the Forsaken lands ever closer to the mighty river that forms the boundary of Eskendria. Their goal: to annihilate it completely.
Eskendria's allies have deserted it and its mountain passes are terrorised by a nest of brigands led by their enigmatic leader, Celedorn - the greatest swordsman in the kingdom and a man with such a savage reputation that even the minions of the enemy are afraid of him.
As a final resort, Relisar, the last of the Sages, attempts to summon the champion predicted in an ancient prophesy to save the Kingdom in its darkest hour. But alas, age has diminished Relisar's powers and all he manages to summon is one ragged girl who can remember nothing about herself, not even her name.
The king, desperate to avoid a battle on two fronts, sends his eldest son, Andarion, to deal with the threat from the mountains, but he is facing no ordinary adversary in Celedorn and his plans go badly awry. The confrontation in the mountains sets in train a series of unexpected events that lead to Relisar, Andarion, Celedorn and the girl with no name finding themselves on a perilous journey across the Forsaken Lands in a race against time both to save themselves and Eskendria.
Yet no human being has crossed these lands in a thousand years and all that is known about them is merely legend. Are the rumours true that fragments of the Old Kingdom live on, hidden from the Destroyer? Are the stories about ancient and evil spirits haunting the forests only myth?
As for the companions, who is the girl with no name? And most of all, what is the dreadful secret that Celedorn is hiding that could affect the fate of the Kingdom?
The Kingdom of Eskendria is facing the greatest threat to its existence since the fall of the legendary Old Kingdom. The cruel servants of the Destroyer, the ancient enemy of the kingdom, are creeping into the forests of the Forsaken lands ever closer to the mighty river that forms the boundary of Eskendria. Their goal: to annihilate it completely.
Eskendria's allies have deserted it and its mountain passes are terrorised by a nest of brigands led by their enigmatic leader, Celedorn - the greatest swordsman in the kingdom and a man with such a savage reputation that even the minions of the enemy are afraid of him.
As a final resort, Relisar, the last of the Sages, attempts to summon the champion predicted in an ancient prophesy to save the Kingdom in its darkest hour. But alas, age has diminished Relisar's powers and all he manages to summon is one ragged girl who can remember nothing about herself, not even her name.
The king, desperate to avoid a battle on two fronts, sends his eldest son, Andarion, to deal with the threat from the mountains, but he is facing no ordinary adversary in Celedorn and his plans go badly awry. The confrontation in the mountains sets in train a series of unexpected events that lead to Relisar, Andarion, Celedorn and the girl with no name finding themselves on a perilous journey across the Forsaken Lands in a race against time both to save themselves and Eskendria.
Yet no human being has crossed these lands in a thousand years and all that is known about them is merely legend. Are the rumours true that fragments of the Old Kingdom live on, hidden from the Destroyer? Are the stories about ancient and evil spirits haunting the forests only myth?
As for the companions, who is the girl with no name? And most of all, what is the dreadful secret that Celedorn is hiding that could affect the fate of the Kingdom?
- GenresFantasy
500 pages, ebook
First published April 6, 2013
19 people are currently reading
133 people want to read
About the author
R.J. Grieve
6 books1 followerLibrarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
R.J. Grieve lives in an old farmhouse set in the rolling green countryside of Northern Ireland along with her husband, daughter and a cat with attitude. Her background is in the law but she has given up things legal to write full time. The rugged coastline and heather-covered mountains of her native land provide her with inspiration for many of the descriptive passages in her books.
(source: Amazon.com)
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
R.J. Grieve lives in an old farmhouse set in the rolling green countryside of Northern Ireland along with her husband, daughter and a cat with attitude. Her background is in the law but she has given up things legal to write full time. The rugged coastline and heather-covered mountains of her native land provide her with inspiration for many of the descriptive passages in her books.
(source: Amazon.com)
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
September 22, 2017
An ambitious story arc here however the novel falls into way too many fantasy cliches for a high star rating; everything that happened I could see happen from a mile off and that kind of ruins the show. At the beginning of each chapter I started playing a game with myself; what happens in this one. If I guessed correctly I got nothing but a vague feeling of irritation. Unfortunately, I guessed correctly every single time.
The characters are running cliches as well, as indeed are the relationships between them; the black hearted brigand who falls in love with the kind hearted nobody who turns out to be somebody but she couldn't possibly love him because he is black and the prince is good but the prince has fallen for someone else and seriously, you all know how this ends. You have the old king; tired and embittered. The noble hearted prince. The girl with no past who is central and everyone loves her and she loves everyone. The black hearted brigand. And a muddled wizard who keeps mucking things up. It's like it came from a fantasy script.
On top of that, I personally found the writing style to be flat. It was very much this happened, that happened, long treks across abandoned areas and then fights where the ending was obvious. I didn't gain an emotional connection at all with the characters and indeed at points merely rolled my eyes at them; the love aspects in particular. This may possibly be that the book is simply too long for its own good; at 500 pages this really felt like it dragged, but that doesn't explain the flatness I felt near enough from the very first chapter. It does explain me skipping entire paragraphs of descriptive passage because I got bored however.
It's not an awful book, don't get me wrong. It's just that the writing style didn't grab me, the narrative is way too predictable with no twists, turns or even slightly bendy bits and the cliches hit you between the eyes.
The characters are running cliches as well, as indeed are the relationships between them; the black hearted brigand who falls in love with the kind hearted nobody who turns out to be somebody but she couldn't possibly love him because he is black and the prince is good but the prince has fallen for someone else and seriously, you all know how this ends. You have the old king; tired and embittered. The noble hearted prince. The girl with no past who is central and everyone loves her and she loves everyone. The black hearted brigand. And a muddled wizard who keeps mucking things up. It's like it came from a fantasy script.
On top of that, I personally found the writing style to be flat. It was very much this happened, that happened, long treks across abandoned areas and then fights where the ending was obvious. I didn't gain an emotional connection at all with the characters and indeed at points merely rolled my eyes at them; the love aspects in particular. This may possibly be that the book is simply too long for its own good; at 500 pages this really felt like it dragged, but that doesn't explain the flatness I felt near enough from the very first chapter. It does explain me skipping entire paragraphs of descriptive passage because I got bored however.
It's not an awful book, don't get me wrong. It's just that the writing style didn't grab me, the narrative is way too predictable with no twists, turns or even slightly bendy bits and the cliches hit you between the eyes.
June 26, 2018
Nicely done!
Mildly predictable, but well executed tale. The archetypes are fleshed out with ample description, while resisting flowery prose or such undue details regarding tapestries of meals. The primary weakness in the story is a lack of urgency and originality. It is a well good story with common tropes that should do the job of entertainment without the burden of life changing inspiration. Assuming that it remains available at a reasonable pulp fiction price point, it is worth the reader's time. I have bought the next story in the series through Amazon prime and look forward to reading more.
Mildly predictable, but well executed tale. The archetypes are fleshed out with ample description, while resisting flowery prose or such undue details regarding tapestries of meals. The primary weakness in the story is a lack of urgency and originality. It is a well good story with common tropes that should do the job of entertainment without the burden of life changing inspiration. Assuming that it remains available at a reasonable pulp fiction price point, it is worth the reader's time. I have bought the next story in the series through Amazon prime and look forward to reading more.
January 9, 2026
ohhh what a read!!
Phenomenal writing of the oldest story, good versus evil being defeated by love. I truly enjoyed reading this book and am so looking forward to the next in the series.
Phenomenal writing of the oldest story, good versus evil being defeated by love. I truly enjoyed reading this book and am so looking forward to the next in the series.
August 14, 2019
Excellent
Awesome story. Marvelous breathtaking wish I could read more. 😍 😀. I will look for more in the future.🤗 mindbending.
Awesome story. Marvelous breathtaking wish I could read more. 😍 😀. I will look for more in the future.🤗 mindbending.
January 3, 2015
Too long and too predictable. The characters were interesting and likable enough to finish but I can't say I really enjoyed it. The narration of the story irked me too. It is an omnipresent style, moving back and forth between characters and their points of view constantly. The author does a decent job of helping the reader keep who is talking/thinking straight, but sometimes it becomes difficult to follow, especially if you are prone to scanning like I am.
The only reason this didn't get two stars is because the author uses some fun words. I definitely added to my vocabulary. There were relatively few errors for an indie novel, especially considering its length, and the prose is well done. Grieve is very good at taking you places if you have the patience to let him paint a picture of the scene for you.
Conclusion: If you enjoy the long epic fantasy novel, with a dark army bent on destroying mankind, a hero that saves the day, a beauty-and-the-best love story, and good writing (even if it gets a little long-winded) have a go with The Crystal Chalice.
The only reason this didn't get two stars is because the author uses some fun words. I definitely added to my vocabulary. There were relatively few errors for an indie novel, especially considering its length, and the prose is well done. Grieve is very good at taking you places if you have the patience to let him paint a picture of the scene for you.
Conclusion: If you enjoy the long epic fantasy novel, with a dark army bent on destroying mankind, a hero that saves the day, a beauty-and-the-best love story, and good writing (even if it gets a little long-winded) have a go with The Crystal Chalice.
September 5, 2015
A bit slow, but engrossing
The author really, really likes the sound of language as evidenced by florid descriptions. But those don't drag on too long and there's plenty of action and feats of derring-do to offset them. The romance builds slowly, spiced with nothing more than a few kisses. The story is reminiscent of Tolkien's work, with Turog standing join for orcs. The dialog is occasionally stilted and stiff. Comma errors pop up enough to recommend a proofreader take a look at the manuscript. The transparent plot holds no surprises.
For all that, this is still a very good read because the enjoyment is all in the journey. It would make a terrific movie.
The author really, really likes the sound of language as evidenced by florid descriptions. But those don't drag on too long and there's plenty of action and feats of derring-do to offset them. The romance builds slowly, spiced with nothing more than a few kisses. The story is reminiscent of Tolkien's work, with Turog standing join for orcs. The dialog is occasionally stilted and stiff. Comma errors pop up enough to recommend a proofreader take a look at the manuscript. The transparent plot holds no surprises.
For all that, this is still a very good read because the enjoyment is all in the journey. It would make a terrific movie.
January 31, 2015
I wanted to like this. The world seemed to have possibilities. But it was predictable and the strong gender profiling got to be too much and I realized near the end I wasn't enjoying it enough to continue.
December 9, 2014
What an excellent book
Oh I truly enjoyed this story and look forward to read each book in the series. Thank you RJ Grieve for a very entertaining read.
Oh I truly enjoyed this story and look forward to read each book in the series. Thank you RJ Grieve for a very entertaining read.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews