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Mithgar (Publication) #17
Stolen Crown
The saga of Mithgar continues from the national bestselling author of City of Jade and Dragondoom ...
For more than a hundred years, a bitter dispute over how the High King had been selected simmered in the dark halls of the royal family whose line had not been chosen. They held fast to their anger and bitterness through generations.
Finally one of their sons, Arkov of Garia, seized the throne through treachery and by force of arms, claiming it as rightfully his. But in his haste to see the king and queen slain, Arkov failed to confirm the death of the young prince, Reyer, who was spirited away to safety.
On a distant and mysterious island ruled by Elves, where he was raised and trained by a trusted Captain of the slain High King, Reyer has now come of age and learned of his lineage. With those loyal to the bloodline of the true High King rallied to his side, Reyer will lead an army against the Usurper—to gain back the crown and kingdom stolen from him and to restore Mithgar to its rightful rule.
For more than a hundred years, a bitter dispute over how the High King had been selected simmered in the dark halls of the royal family whose line had not been chosen. They held fast to their anger and bitterness through generations.
Finally one of their sons, Arkov of Garia, seized the throne through treachery and by force of arms, claiming it as rightfully his. But in his haste to see the king and queen slain, Arkov failed to confirm the death of the young prince, Reyer, who was spirited away to safety.
On a distant and mysterious island ruled by Elves, where he was raised and trained by a trusted Captain of the slain High King, Reyer has now come of age and learned of his lineage. With those loyal to the bloodline of the true High King rallied to his side, Reyer will lead an army against the Usurper—to gain back the crown and kingdom stolen from him and to restore Mithgar to its rightful rule.
544 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published February 4, 2014
27 people are currently reading
481 people want to read
About the author
Dennis L. McKiernan
69 books518 followersMcKiernan was born in Moberly, Missouri, where he lived until he served the U.S. Air Force for four years, stationed within US territory during the Korean War. After military service, he attended the University of Missouri and received a B.S. in electrical engineering in 1958 and an M.S. in the same field from Duke University in 1964. He worked as an engineer at AT&T, initially at Western Electric but soon at Bell Laboratories, from 1958 until 1989. In 1989, after early retirement from engineering, McKiernan began writing on a full-time basis.
In 1977, while riding his motorcycle, McKiernan was hit by a car which had crossed the center-line, and was confined to a bed, first in traction and then in a hip spica cast, for many months. During his recuperation, he boldly began a sequel to J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. The publisher Doubleday showed an interest in his work and tried to obtain authorization from Tolkien's estate but was denied. Doubleday then asked McKiernan to rewrite his story, placing the characters in a different fictitious world, and also to write a prequel supporting it. The prequel, of necessity, resembles The Lord of the Rings; the decision of Doubleday to issue the work as a trilogy increased that resemblance; and some critics have seen McKiernan as simply imitating Tolkien's epic work. McKiernan has subsequently developed stories in the series that followed along a story line different from those that plausibly could have been taken by Tolkien.
McKiernan's Faery Series expands tales draw from Andrew Lang's Fairy Books, additionally tying the selected tales together with a larger plot.
McKiernan currently lives in Tucson, Arizona.
(Biography taken from Wikipedia)
In 1977, while riding his motorcycle, McKiernan was hit by a car which had crossed the center-line, and was confined to a bed, first in traction and then in a hip spica cast, for many months. During his recuperation, he boldly began a sequel to J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. The publisher Doubleday showed an interest in his work and tried to obtain authorization from Tolkien's estate but was denied. Doubleday then asked McKiernan to rewrite his story, placing the characters in a different fictitious world, and also to write a prequel supporting it. The prequel, of necessity, resembles The Lord of the Rings; the decision of Doubleday to issue the work as a trilogy increased that resemblance; and some critics have seen McKiernan as simply imitating Tolkien's epic work. McKiernan has subsequently developed stories in the series that followed along a story line different from those that plausibly could have been taken by Tolkien.
McKiernan's Faery Series expands tales draw from Andrew Lang's Fairy Books, additionally tying the selected tales together with a larger plot.
McKiernan currently lives in Tucson, Arizona.
(Biography taken from Wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
July 22, 2019
This novel is the most recent of McKiernan's Mithgar books to appear, though the events it chronicles sit just about exactly half-way through his chronology of this most excellent high-fantasy world. We know what happens and how it all turns out from the previously published latter-set volumes, so the trick here is that he shows how the crown was re-claimed, the plots and counter-plots and intricate machinations that led to the successful outcome. Rather than focusing on one or two main characters, he jumps from point to point across quite a few years without any deus ex machina shortcuts along the way, and provides a fascinating picture of amazingly-detailed Mithgar as he goes. It's a great ride; if this does end up being the final novel to appear in the series, it's a fine send-off, a grand re-visiting and farewell to his famous world.
February 2, 2017
Terrible. I was a huge fan of Dennis Mckiernan and Mithgar back in the day. After reading this disaster I'm now questioning whether my tastes have just gotten more sophisticated or if this book is really just that terrible
September 24, 2017
Disappointing.
McKiernan's early work in Mithgar was highly derivative, charitably described as a Tolkien homage (less charitably, a blatant ripoff) but his later work had evolved into something a bit more original and interesting. While still very much beholden to JRRT, it was at least branching out into newer territory with works that were occasionally fun and sometimes added something to genre.
This one? not so much. This one pulls out an unexplored bit of history of the world, where the high king is murdered in a coup, but his young son escapes to be raised in a faraway land to someday reclaim his crowd. Not the most original story, but there are enough variations on the theme to give it possibilities. Unfortunately, McKiernan avails himself of essentially none of them. It's a checkbox novel, filling in various blanks in the history of the world, but nothing much more than a travelogue.
The characters don't really get much development, the powers of the magi add too much deus ex machina to maintain any tension, the villains are cartoonish...it's just not very good. Its not awful, really and it certainly reads fast enough. For long time readers there's something mildly interesting about visiting this era and seeing how parts of the world that havent been very involved in earlier works fit together. But it's not enough.
McKiernan may have run out of ideas.
McKiernan's early work in Mithgar was highly derivative, charitably described as a Tolkien homage (less charitably, a blatant ripoff) but his later work had evolved into something a bit more original and interesting. While still very much beholden to JRRT, it was at least branching out into newer territory with works that were occasionally fun and sometimes added something to genre.
This one? not so much. This one pulls out an unexplored bit of history of the world, where the high king is murdered in a coup, but his young son escapes to be raised in a faraway land to someday reclaim his crowd. Not the most original story, but there are enough variations on the theme to give it possibilities. Unfortunately, McKiernan avails himself of essentially none of them. It's a checkbox novel, filling in various blanks in the history of the world, but nothing much more than a travelogue.
The characters don't really get much development, the powers of the magi add too much deus ex machina to maintain any tension, the villains are cartoonish...it's just not very good. Its not awful, really and it certainly reads fast enough. For long time readers there's something mildly interesting about visiting this era and seeing how parts of the world that havent been very involved in earlier works fit together. But it's not enough.
McKiernan may have run out of ideas.
June 14, 2023
Possibly the weakest of McKiernan's Mithgar novels I've read. I don't know if I could recommend it to anyone not already invested in the series.
As with a few of his other Mithgar books it expands a story that had been mentioned or hinted at in previously published novels. But for some reason it never seemed to gel for me. The chapters often feel more like vignettes, often only taking up 5 or 6 pages before haring off to another viewpoint or skipping to the next significant event in the timeline in the next chapter. It doesn't match the style I am accustomed to when reading his stories so while it adds to the depth of the world it just doesn't grab me the way other books in the series have.
As with a few of his other Mithgar books it expands a story that had been mentioned or hinted at in previously published novels. But for some reason it never seemed to gel for me. The chapters often feel more like vignettes, often only taking up 5 or 6 pages before haring off to another viewpoint or skipping to the next significant event in the timeline in the next chapter. It doesn't match the style I am accustomed to when reading his stories so while it adds to the depth of the world it just doesn't grab me the way other books in the series have.
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June 17, 2025I enjoyed this final novel in the sprawling Mithgar series - 16 novels, if my count is correct. It has everything you expect from McKiernan's stories: human kingdoms, waerlings, mages, elves, lots of travel, and camaraderie overcoming insurmountable odds. In this case, our heroes must retake the High King's throne from a usurper. I will say this last novel feels a bit looser than the author's other novels, as if jumping around between viewpoints rather than a single cohesive epic. This isn't a complaint though - it's still a good read, and if my math is correct McKiernan was 82 when it was published.
The author teases at a possible further Mithgar tale, but I think after this many years it's probably not going to happen.
The author teases at a possible further Mithgar tale, but I think after this many years it's probably not going to happen.
August 1, 2017
I've been reading Dennis McKiernan's books since 1993. Pretty much read them all (except the short story ones), and I'm a huge fan. Here, with The Stolen Crown, the author comes through again with a fascinating vision of a time in the Kingdom of Mithgar, where all sorts of things are going on, and of the great consequences that effect the realm. Told from multiple points of view, both the heroes and the villians, McKiernan masterfully tells his tale. Reading it on a Kindle, when I got up to the climactic battle, I was already at 91% and thinking, "when the hell is the war coming?", but it finally arrived and was handled well. I look forward to more of this author in the future.
September 6, 2019
2 1/2 stars. This is my least favorite of the series. I might be bias (this isn't the story I wanted him to write) but after the second time reading I can only I give this many stars. Stolen Crown doesn't have McKiernan's tone and it took me way too long to get into the story. At the beginning of each chapter he puts in unnecessary information, interesting information, and although it does pertain to the upcoming chapter it distracts from the story. The whole book is (to me) unneeded and could have been a better short story if it had to be written. Maybe there are people who will like it more than I, but, unless your a completionist it skip it.
March 30, 2020
An enjoyable high-fantasy romp in the land of Mithgar. I believe I have read all of the books in this series over the past many years, and I have enjoyed them. Mr. McKiernan employs a gentle voice in his writing, even as he does not shy away from darkness, blood, and evil. He has a unique writing style: in places, his prose reads a bit like a fairy tale, which is the perfect voice for this kind of story. Mithgar is a compelling fantasy world, and I very much have enjoyed my visits! Especially now, while the world is so uncertain and frightening, taking a bit of refuge in fantasy is not a bad plan.
I really do like Warrows.
I really do like Warrows.
August 29, 2020
There were a lot of ramblings describing how things work in mythgar, the trouble is, I'm not sure why I should care about the minutia in mythgar all that much. I'm sure if I'd read other stories in the mythgar universe I'd be more invested, but I felt that as a standalone book the story itself was about twice a long as it needed to be.
...And in a certain readers library...
...And in a certain readers library...
April 11, 2018
Excellent story.
June 19, 2020
I am a very big fan of the fantasy books of Dennis L. McKiernan and was very excited to find he had written another, especially after hearing his musings about retiring the series more than once. Stolen Crown is not quite up to the best of his imaginative works, but it is still a fast paced and fun read set once more in his world of Mithgar. The story is simple, brutal usurper Arkov of Garia has murdered the High King Valen and his family and taken his throne. But a ruse has allowed two year old Reyer,son of Valen to escape and be hidden away, so when he comes of age, he can return and take back what is his and avenge his family. The book chronicles his growth and training on the island of Kell, surviving a few attempts to take his life by enemies who have found him, to his march as a young true-king to meet the forces of Arkov, who allies himself with former enemies of the kingdom. There is also sorcery and creatures of fantasy involved, as well as, heroic deeds and bloody combat. It is a well written and entertaining fantasy loaded with action, villainy and heroism aplenty. And there are a few appearances by familiar characters from other tales. The only flaw that holds this book back is that, by McKiernan's own admission, the story started out from a short tale and grew into a book. And it shows. Each chapter starts with a mini history lesson and it's not only obvious filler, but covers material that fans of his books already know. It's not boring or bad, just obviously there to expand the tale to proper book length. If this is your first McKiernan book, then it probably would be more interesting and less obtrusive. As for longtime fans, we are already familiar with this material. Regardless, it is still a fun book and despite the author, once again, considering this being the last tale from Mithgar, I can only hope the writing bug bites him once again.
April 1, 2015
I'm an unabashed McKiernan fan. I've loved most of his books but the last few haven't had the same magic for me.
Good things about Stolen Crown:
- Clear direction for the characters, everyone had a purpose and filled it with the appropriate mix of humor and gravitas.
- Characters were awesome and McKiernan has a knack for writing about people you will grow to care about.
- The rising tension for the final battle as the armies moved toward each other was excellent. McKiernan built up the climax to a gigantic level but.......(see below)
Not so good things about Stolen Crown:
- Not as much development of Rigan/Reyer and Alric as I would've like to have seen. They were young children in one chapter, pre-teens in another, 15/16 year olds and finally the High King/loyal warrior friend. All in a short, short span of the book. There was no real growing pains as Reyer learned how to be the High King he needed to be. He was just "the man" and people followed him.
- .....(continued from pro's) it was over before it should've been. Forces are engaged, battling, despair is hitting the good guys.....then just as they seem doomed to lose.....re-inforcements arrive from every direction and the battle is over.
One final thing that really bugged me but was a publisher's decision regarding the paperback... The paperback measured 518 pages which is a lot of pages to enjoy a nice epic fantasy. However, each chapter title had it's own page and the page on the opposite side was blank as well. Depending on when the chapter ended, there might've been basically 3 blank pages in between chapters. So the 518 page story....became about 350 pages.
Good things about Stolen Crown:
- Clear direction for the characters, everyone had a purpose and filled it with the appropriate mix of humor and gravitas.
- Characters were awesome and McKiernan has a knack for writing about people you will grow to care about.
- The rising tension for the final battle as the armies moved toward each other was excellent. McKiernan built up the climax to a gigantic level but.......(see below)
Not so good things about Stolen Crown:
- Not as much development of Rigan/Reyer and Alric as I would've like to have seen. They were young children in one chapter, pre-teens in another, 15/16 year olds and finally the High King/loyal warrior friend. All in a short, short span of the book. There was no real growing pains as Reyer learned how to be the High King he needed to be. He was just "the man" and people followed him.
- .....(continued from pro's) it was over before it should've been. Forces are engaged, battling, despair is hitting the good guys.....then just as they seem doomed to lose.....re-inforcements arrive from every direction and the battle is over.
One final thing that really bugged me but was a publisher's decision regarding the paperback... The paperback measured 518 pages which is a lot of pages to enjoy a nice epic fantasy. However, each chapter title had it's own page and the page on the opposite side was blank as well. Depending on when the chapter ended, there might've been basically 3 blank pages in between chapters. So the 518 page story....became about 350 pages.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 17, 2014
This book starts off a little tedious and I really wasn't a fan of the description of every area they were in or intending to go into before getting into the chapter but it started to get better as I got deeper into the story. I enjoyed the build of the story itself without the annoying narratives of the layout of the land and the connection between Reyer and Alric. It was more focused on humans than some of McKiernan's other books which tend to focus on Elves, Dwarves or Warrows. Very good read as are all of his others books. I highly recommend this book especially if you are a lover of the Lord of the Rings.
September 28, 2020
McKiernan breaks from his traditional format of a long detailed account by summarizing events with a quick pace. Some readers may enjoy the rapid story but I prefer the longer method. McKiernan also started each chapter with a geography or history lesson that led into the current chapter's setting. I found this disruptive to the flow of the plot and quit reading these intros about half way through the book. Overall, I was disappointed, hoping for more depth, but was able to get into the story enough that it was a quick read.
April 17, 2016
I'm a huge fan of McKiernan's work. HUGE. He's the only author I have signed books from.
It's with a heavy heart I had to rate this 2 stars. It didn't hold up to his previous works. There was too much jumping around between characters and locations. I couldn't really get attached to any character or their fate.
This is less of a review, and more of a suggestion to start with the authors earlier Mithgar works.
It's with a heavy heart I had to rate this 2 stars. It didn't hold up to his previous works. There was too much jumping around between characters and locations. I couldn't really get attached to any character or their fate.
This is less of a review, and more of a suggestion to start with the authors earlier Mithgar works.
March 18, 2015
I was really disappointed by this book. Dennis McKeirnan got me started on fantasy and I have always loved his books. This one though got me dreading the beginning of each chapter because they began with a geography lesson that didn't really enhance the story. The story also lacked, something, the magic that McKeirnan is able to weave into his stories just wasn't there this time. Hopefully this was not his last foray into Mithgar.
June 5, 2015
Another fine read in a long series of fantasy novels. If you like standard good vs. evil, humans, elves and dwarves vs evil spawn these books are for you. Character development sufficient to enable the reader to get to know the main characters, plenty of action and intrigue. One complaint - I would have loved to see the final battle that culminated the story be longer and with greater detail.
April 2, 2014
The read was very slow with very little action. For a book that may or may not be the conclusion of a series there seems way too much world building both locations and race descriptions. I expected more from such a known author. This book was written after he'd supposedly ended the series which might explain why I didn't care for it as much.
March 16, 2014
This is very traditional high fantasy; dwarves and elves almost straight out of Tolkien, pseudo-medieval characters, blackhatted, mustache-twirling Necromancers and mysterious Mages. It should be perfectly decent as summer reading, but unfortunately this one didn't grab me.
June 2, 2014
Trying to give us a novel with a story that should be new to us, however it seems as if there is still a lot here whereby the author is playing to those who are already fans. How omnipotent can Dalavar be?
January 5, 2020
More like a diary. Events presented from various points with some character development but more an event oriented tales where the story covers 15 years and the rise of a new High King after a traitor aids in the death of the old one.
October 26, 2015
Liked it but not as much as previous books. Maybe because I tried to make it last as long as possible , but I wasn't as attached to the characters as usual. There was no real character growth so it felt more like the set-up to a bigger story.
January 9, 2019
The first really great read that I have enjoyed in a while! McKiernan is the master of creating wonderful characters; his good guys are really good, and his bad guys are really bad! McKiernan is in my top three fantasy writers of all times.
January 9, 2016
Started slow but was interesting enough to keep reading. Was good in the middle and towards the end but. Was very lackluster and ended very quickly.
Overall the story felt undeveloped and incomplete
Overall the story felt undeveloped and incomplete
January 18, 2017
As a fan of his previous books I will not be overly harsh with this review. I will simply say it felt as though he was trying to write as many pages as possible to meet a quota. It was disappointing and uninspired.
February 15, 2014
Though others call him a Tolkien clone I have always enjoyed the Mithgar tales by McKiernan. This was far from the best but still readable.
March 1, 2014
Marvelous high fantasy. McKiernan has never disappointed me. All of these books are great.
March 17, 2014
The story was good, but I think the description of all the places in the kingdom could have been tied in better with the story.
August 27, 2014
I just couldn't get into it. With so much to read if a book doesn't grab me within the first 50 pages it gets put down
June 17, 2016
Good story. Written a bit too 'academically'; with too much detail in some places, and not enough in others. Will probably read another Mithgar novel.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews