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Falconfar Saga #2
Arch Wizard
Having been drawn into a fantasy world of his own creation, Rod Everlar continues his quest to defeat the corruption he has discovered within. He sets off in pursuit of the dark wizard Malraun, only to find that he has raised an army of monsters and mercenaries in order to conquer the world...
- GenresFantasy
384 pages, Hardcover
First published March 3, 2008
4 people are currently reading
247 people want to read
About the author
Ed Greenwood
364 books875 followersEd Greenwood is the creator of the Forgotten Realms fantasy world, which became the setting for his home D&D game in 1975. Play still continues in this long-running campaign, and Ed also keeps busy producing Realmslore for various TSR publications.
Ed has published over two hundred articles in Dragon magazine and Polyhedron newszine, is a lifetime charter member of the Role Playing Game Associaton (RPGA) network, has written over thirty books and modules for TSR, and been Gen Con Game Fair guest of honor several times.
In addition to all these activities, Ed works as a library clerk and has edited over a dozen small press magazines.
Invented the character Elminster from the popular Forgotten Realms RPG series. Currently resides in an old farmhouse in the countryside of Ontario, Canada.
Ed has published over two hundred articles in Dragon magazine and Polyhedron newszine, is a lifetime charter member of the Role Playing Game Associaton (RPGA) network, has written over thirty books and modules for TSR, and been Gen Con Game Fair guest of honor several times.
In addition to all these activities, Ed works as a library clerk and has edited over a dozen small press magazines.
Invented the character Elminster from the popular Forgotten Realms RPG series. Currently resides in an old farmhouse in the countryside of Ontario, Canada.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
May 7, 2014
What a disaster.
Utterly dismal.
Words do not describe my absolute amazement at the fact that this got through a editing floor and continued on into print - and audio. The first book was definitely beyond cheese - ridiculous, quasi formed characters and a paper thin plot, but at least it had that. And the audio version was delightfully cheesy as well - done with enough pomp and circumstance to make it an entertaining story telling. But this second book is just beyond bad. It was like the author was so immersed in self pity and lack of original ideas that he just wrote something... anything .... just to get his contractual agreements done.
I can't even think of where to begin - the plot was - oh wait, there was no plot. The characters - the characters were less than two dimensional. Even the 'hero' was two dimensional. (And if I hear anyone say ROD EVERLAR again, I swear I'll throttle them. If his name was said once, it was said 16 times. It was like if he wrote the whole name down, it would take up more print space. I'm quite sure if they removed his name out of the story, the entire book would be cut in half. No exaggeration either). Anyways, his other characters were like caricatures of what they were supposed to be and reading it was like watching an over done early silent film - exaggerated posturing and obvious as to what was going to happen that it was just painful. And the pain never stopped. At one point I thought I should just stop (I think that was the when my car CD player kept repeatedly rejecting the disc - even it knew a stinker when I didn't), but I thought there may be some progress in the story as this bumbling, inept guy actually learns and hones some magical skill long enough to keep it interesting.
Spoiler alert - nope. Doesn't happen. Oops, did I let that out of the bag? Sorry. Ha! No I'm not!
It was a confusing mess with absolutely no forward motion in the original concept introduced in the first book. And when he introduced the story going back into the modern world, I thought I was going to puke. Great, lets add another redundant bunch of idiots that have no point in the story. Bring 'em on. What could it possibly matter?! It's not like I'm going to carry on with this debacle. And don't even get me going on the rutting scenes. F* me.
So - my take on this book?
Save yourself the time and effort, you'll thank me. But if you do read it, don't say you weren't warned.
Utterly dismal.
Words do not describe my absolute amazement at the fact that this got through a editing floor and continued on into print - and audio. The first book was definitely beyond cheese - ridiculous, quasi formed characters and a paper thin plot, but at least it had that. And the audio version was delightfully cheesy as well - done with enough pomp and circumstance to make it an entertaining story telling. But this second book is just beyond bad. It was like the author was so immersed in self pity and lack of original ideas that he just wrote something... anything .... just to get his contractual agreements done.
I can't even think of where to begin - the plot was - oh wait, there was no plot. The characters - the characters were less than two dimensional. Even the 'hero' was two dimensional. (And if I hear anyone say ROD EVERLAR again, I swear I'll throttle them. If his name was said once, it was said 16 times. It was like if he wrote the whole name down, it would take up more print space. I'm quite sure if they removed his name out of the story, the entire book would be cut in half. No exaggeration either). Anyways, his other characters were like caricatures of what they were supposed to be and reading it was like watching an over done early silent film - exaggerated posturing and obvious as to what was going to happen that it was just painful. And the pain never stopped. At one point I thought I should just stop (I think that was the when my car CD player kept repeatedly rejecting the disc - even it knew a stinker when I didn't), but I thought there may be some progress in the story as this bumbling, inept guy actually learns and hones some magical skill long enough to keep it interesting.
Spoiler alert - nope. Doesn't happen. Oops, did I let that out of the bag? Sorry. Ha! No I'm not!
It was a confusing mess with absolutely no forward motion in the original concept introduced in the first book. And when he introduced the story going back into the modern world, I thought I was going to puke. Great, lets add another redundant bunch of idiots that have no point in the story. Bring 'em on. What could it possibly matter?! It's not like I'm going to carry on with this debacle. And don't even get me going on the rutting scenes. F* me.
So - my take on this book?
Save yourself the time and effort, you'll thank me. But if you do read it, don't say you weren't warned.
September 21, 2014
Hate to ruin your opinion of this is book if you are of a younger audience but this was one of the worst books I have ever read.
If you happened to miss my 'glowing' review of the first book in this trilogy, then you may have had the misfortune of reading the first book in this series. Suffice it to say that if you are ambivalent about picking up this second installment, do not do so.
The Archwizard combines the first volume's lack of depth and subtlety with a general lack of much happening at all. This entire book encompasses only a few 'key' scenes, complete with further exploration into the base motivations of the protagonists simplistic arch-rivals, anti-climatic duels and the same amount of action as the first novel crammed into much less plot progression (which was little enough to begin with). The main character doesn't seem to be exploring the world anymore as much as haphazardly stumbling through it now that his (formerly) winged heroine has been captured and he's dodging danger at every turn. It is simply astounding that he hasn't died yet considering how useless he is.
Ed also throws you nothing in terms of the tenuous love relationship between the main character and his captured lady, instead throwing in blatant sexual content through the lecherous tastes of the evil villains. If I got anything at all out of the first book, nothing from even that little bit is present in this novel.
A further continuation of the wet-dream that inspired the first novel, this book does nothing more than lead readers along so that they're forced to read a trilogy in order to resolve the poorly executed love interest between the main characters, which is the only reason to follow the story at all.
Despite this unresolved love interest, the sheer disdain I have for this book kept me from justifying a purchase of the final novel. If I ever do have an sudden compulsion to discover the result of this tale, any sort of plot summary would be preferable to another of these poorly written novels.
The only bright side I can see is the very well done cover art for the novel.
If you happened to miss my 'glowing' review of the first book in this trilogy, then you may have had the misfortune of reading the first book in this series. Suffice it to say that if you are ambivalent about picking up this second installment, do not do so.
The Archwizard combines the first volume's lack of depth and subtlety with a general lack of much happening at all. This entire book encompasses only a few 'key' scenes, complete with further exploration into the base motivations of the protagonists simplistic arch-rivals, anti-climatic duels and the same amount of action as the first novel crammed into much less plot progression (which was little enough to begin with). The main character doesn't seem to be exploring the world anymore as much as haphazardly stumbling through it now that his (formerly) winged heroine has been captured and he's dodging danger at every turn. It is simply astounding that he hasn't died yet considering how useless he is.
Ed also throws you nothing in terms of the tenuous love relationship between the main character and his captured lady, instead throwing in blatant sexual content through the lecherous tastes of the evil villains. If I got anything at all out of the first book, nothing from even that little bit is present in this novel.
A further continuation of the wet-dream that inspired the first novel, this book does nothing more than lead readers along so that they're forced to read a trilogy in order to resolve the poorly executed love interest between the main characters, which is the only reason to follow the story at all.
Despite this unresolved love interest, the sheer disdain I have for this book kept me from justifying a purchase of the final novel. If I ever do have an sudden compulsion to discover the result of this tale, any sort of plot summary would be preferable to another of these poorly written novels.
The only bright side I can see is the very well done cover art for the novel.
March 29, 2014
This series should have it all. Book author travels to the realm of his imagination, has the ability to become the most powerful wizard in the world, beautiful fallen angel warrior at his side.
Unfortunately it falls short on every point. This book is part of a trilogy and as such you expect the hero to take a little bit of time to acclimate to the new world and then shine, but Rod never does. He rarely even bumbles into the correct answer. His fallen angel becomes a bondage sex slave for at least an entire book and the most interesting characters in the whole series is a fat warrior and his bone thin girl friend.
There are so many other series that do this theme properly that you really should steer clear of this one.
Unfortunately it falls short on every point. This book is part of a trilogy and as such you expect the hero to take a little bit of time to acclimate to the new world and then shine, but Rod never does. He rarely even bumbles into the correct answer. His fallen angel becomes a bondage sex slave for at least an entire book and the most interesting characters in the whole series is a fat warrior and his bone thin girl friend.
There are so many other series that do this theme properly that you really should steer clear of this one.
May 19, 2013
I cannot stress enough to you that you should NOT read this book. Seriously, I've read all types - from "trash fi" (silly science fiction books) to fantasy books of all kinds, but I've never encountered a worse series of books than this Falconfar Saga trilogy.
I checked all three books out of the library and I would've stopped with the first one, but I thought to myself, "Surely Ed Greenwood wouldn't write this kind of trash. It simply must get better." I was wrong.
Imagine an ambling plot while checking off every sin imaginable - murder (okay, par for fantasy novels), incest, blasphemy, necrophilia, misandry, to name but a few - and you have this trilogy.
Spare yourself. Do NOT read these! It's not even worth the free checkout from the library.
I checked all three books out of the library and I would've stopped with the first one, but I thought to myself, "Surely Ed Greenwood wouldn't write this kind of trash. It simply must get better." I was wrong.
Imagine an ambling plot while checking off every sin imaginable - murder (okay, par for fantasy novels), incest, blasphemy, necrophilia, misandry, to name but a few - and you have this trilogy.
Spare yourself. Do NOT read these! It's not even worth the free checkout from the library.
January 26, 2013
This is the worst fall off from a good first book that I have ever read. I'm really not sure if I'm going to bother reading the final book in the trilogy.
August 22, 2024
Good continuation of the story. I felt like this should have been combined between book 1 and 3 instead of making a second book. It didn't feel like its own book and ended on a cliff hanger. Story is still good and unique, but it should not have been it own book. On to the final of the series. Hopefully we find out what happens to our good friend Rod Evalar.
July 21, 2018
Picked this up on a whim at a local store and I thoroughly enjoyed, 3/4 of the way through there were several story lines to follow and got a little hectic but slowed down and focused in main story lines.
June 23, 2020
like the first book in this trilogy, the main character is mostly whining and useless
most of the characters werent memorable and we get hints about thing of greater importances that never get talked afterwards.
also, torture. meh
most of the characters werent memorable and we get hints about thing of greater importances that never get talked afterwards.
also, torture. meh
July 25, 2019
Horrible, misogynistic tripe: the sequel.
August 4, 2020
So if you are still sticking with this series despite the obvious flaws, here is how I got through it from the first book in the series Dark Lord right through to the end.
This was really 3 or 4 separate book ideas set in a particular time period in the world of Falconfar..but Mr.Greenwood had trouble focusing on any one of them into any sort of coherent story line..instead he flits from character to character viewpoint every few pages.
Here are the main plot lines:
A: the bumbling whiny main character, Rod, ported from our world to Falconfar and his faithful hot female warrior guide, Tey.
B: The four EvilTM Wizards fighting for control of the entire universe, ( A , M , N,& L ..don't bother with the names, they look like they just went through a computer algorithm for " fantasy world names"
C: The Barbarian ThievesTM Gar & Isk ( some good old fashioned Swords and sorcery action here )
D: the various royals playing out A Game of Thrones scenario.
The secret to getting through this is to treat it like one of those pick your own adventure books. Just skim over anything that doesn't mention the characters in the plotline you are following and this is a much more enjoyable series. On the First read through I would suggest following Rod and Tey..while they are not the most exciting, you will get all the relevant plot points.
For the second read through it is all up to your taste. I would go with Gar and Isk being a fan of R.A. Salvatore and D&D.. and from the author's bio and other reviews this is more Ed Greenwood's wheelhouse .. but if you enjoy Mr Goodkind's work you can get something similar in the evil wizard plotline..or if you are a GoT fan you can follow the royals.
Overall one star for a good premise and one star for a few good scenes..and that's all Two Stars...most scenes just feel like strung together fanfic stories but weren't fleshed out enough. There are some great scenes ( especially Gar and Isk..and also a little revenge fantasy scene where the evil guys invade our world and target a software company )..but not enough to recommend you read it.
This was really 3 or 4 separate book ideas set in a particular time period in the world of Falconfar..but Mr.Greenwood had trouble focusing on any one of them into any sort of coherent story line..instead he flits from character to character viewpoint every few pages.
Here are the main plot lines:
A: the bumbling whiny main character, Rod, ported from our world to Falconfar and his faithful hot female warrior guide, Tey.
B: The four EvilTM Wizards fighting for control of the entire universe, ( A , M , N,& L ..don't bother with the names, they look like they just went through a computer algorithm for " fantasy world names"
C: The Barbarian ThievesTM Gar & Isk ( some good old fashioned Swords and sorcery action here )
D: the various royals playing out A Game of Thrones scenario.
The secret to getting through this is to treat it like one of those pick your own adventure books. Just skim over anything that doesn't mention the characters in the plotline you are following and this is a much more enjoyable series. On the First read through I would suggest following Rod and Tey..while they are not the most exciting, you will get all the relevant plot points.
For the second read through it is all up to your taste. I would go with Gar and Isk being a fan of R.A. Salvatore and D&D.. and from the author's bio and other reviews this is more Ed Greenwood's wheelhouse .. but if you enjoy Mr Goodkind's work you can get something similar in the evil wizard plotline..or if you are a GoT fan you can follow the royals.
Overall one star for a good premise and one star for a few good scenes..and that's all Two Stars...most scenes just feel like strung together fanfic stories but weren't fleshed out enough. There are some great scenes ( especially Gar and Isk..and also a little revenge fantasy scene where the evil guys invade our world and target a software company )..but not enough to recommend you read it.
July 13, 2012
So in all fairness I found this book at the Dollar Store, and consequently, I have not read the first book. However, I thought he was trying way too hard. I mean, seriously, he followed like 15 (exaggeration) characters. All of them seemed like some pretty good characters and, somewhat, original ideas, but WAY too much at once. I really liked his writing, but didn't want 15 books in half of one, where he didn't do any of them efficiently. My final rant is that authors no longer know how to write love stories. Having Taeuna raped repeatedly and forcefully is just never the way to write a love story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 10, 2010
A whirlwind of a book! Lots of action, lots of new characters... My only real complaint is that Greenwood dives between scenes, often witholding the conclusion of events for several chapters while he fills you in on what's occurring elsewhere in Falconfar. A frustrating -- but good -- tactic for keeping people flipping pages to find out what happens.
February 23, 2012
Wow...I got 2/3rds of the way through this book and had to stop...I had no idea what was going on. I'm going to track down a hardcopy of this trilogy and give that a go, maybe it'll make more sense if I can actually see how it's written, rather than listening to it.
March 8, 2014
Overall, I liked the story.
Unfortunately, it was very hard to read. Not that the content is difficult, more that the style of writing is not conducive to smooth reading.
This book was a struggle to get through it; but I'm glad I did.
Unfortunately, it was very hard to read. Not that the content is difficult, more that the style of writing is not conducive to smooth reading.
This book was a struggle to get through it; but I'm glad I did.
June 19, 2009
Awesome cover art and title.
December 16, 2009
Slow in the beginning. Lots of new characters to keep up with. Teona didn't have much of a role. Look forward to the third and final book which doesn't come out until Feb.
November 4, 2012
Good idea, but this book really dragged for me. Might try the second book just to give it one more chance.
May 24, 2014
Not one of Ed's best books. It is good enough to keep me reading but the character depth really isn't there and he seems more angry in his writings than creative.
September 15, 2013
Yawn. One of the worst series I have read.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews