In The Destruction of the Books , the Vault of All Known Knowledge was destroyed and its learned caretaker abducted, leaving the forces against darkness without resource and leadership.
The world as they know it and all that is good are now threatened by the same shadows that have oppressed the continent beyond the sea.
The only hope for enlightenment and salvation lies in a lowly librarian adventurer named Juhg who unknowingly brought about the cataclysm, and now must save the day by seeking out his master and another store of knowledge that has been held in secret, and in doing so unlock the mysteries of the past so as to allow the emergence of a new guardian…
Mel Odom is a bestselling writer for hire for Wizards of the Coast's Forgotten Realms, Gold Eagle's Mack Bolan, and Pocket's Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel book lines. His debut SF novel Lethal Interface made the Locus recommended list . The Rover was an Alyx Award winner. He has also written a scientific adventure of the high seas set in the 19th century entitled Hunters of the Dark Sea. He lives in Oklahoma.
This is the first Mel Odom book I've read under his own name. in it we have wizards, dwellers, humans, elves, dwarves, and goblinkin...we also have books many many books. The hunt is on for the Book of Time. Both good and evil sides want it, Edgewick Lamplighter Grand Magister of The Vault Of All Known Knowledge, has set his young apprentice Juhg the task of finding and collecting all the pieces of The Book Of Time broken in 4 many many years previous. Each piece placed in a different spot, each piece capable of different things. To the Humans went the blue gems.... To the Dwarves went the brown gems .... To the Elves went the green gems.... and to the Goblinkin went the red gem...when all pieces are found and put together correctly the Book of Time is once more complete and whole...Before that can happen there are places to go and things to defeat Juhg and his friends Jassamyn the Elven maiden, Raisho the human warrior/sailor Cobner the Dwarven Warrior and Craugh the powerful Wizard...To add to his adventure Wick Lamplighter gets kidnapped and must be freed if possible....Much for a young dweller to accomplish...Is Juhg up to the task?? read it and see Lol
What librarian could resist that title? I didn't know it was part of a series, but it didn't matter. It stood on its own, and the author was very skilled at working in backstory concisely and without interrupting the narrative flow. If I can find the rest of the series at the library, I'll read it too. Wouldn't be the first series I read out of order!
Very well done fantasy, although the assorted races smacked of Tolkien, it wasn't a ripoff or rewrite at all. Vivid, original culture and world.
I must say, this is a good ending to The Rover trilogy and I enjoyed it very much. It was more engaging than The Destruction of the Books, holding much more of the adventure that I missed from the first book.
We finally get to learn more about Craugh, his history, and the part he had to play in how the world came to be as it is. I found it very interesting the connection he had with the main antagonist of the story, as well, though we don't learn of this until the last chapter.
The bulk of the story follows Juhg and his companions as they journey to rescue the Grandmagister and complete the task Wick has charged his apprentice - one that will determine the fate of the world and all that high fantasy awesomeness.
With a mix of humor and drama, we get to follow along as the characters, namely Juhg, struggle with the responsibility, doubt, and fears that arise as they go deeper into their adventure. After learning some disturbing news, he feels his relationship with one of his friends is compromised, and we get to watch him wrestle with that, the fear and the hurt and the loneliness, for a good chunk in the middle of the story. But it isn't until we lose things that we realize just how precious they are.
After living in darkness since the Cataclysm, rumors of the Vault of All Known Knowledge and Greydawn Moors have finally spread to the mainland after its destruction, this is something we learn toward the end, and after all the effort everyone put in to keep this a secret until now, the companions seem a little too okay with confirming the rumors when asked. And then, all quite suddenly, Juhg is talking to and teaching the instantaneously ammassing races about their histories, raising an allied army just like that, which faithfully follows him to the lair of Kempus where the climactic battle takes place.
Warts or no, the ending was good, very Return of the King-esque. Whatever complaints I've had, it was still a good story and I was still sad to read the ending, comely thought it was. A story centered on the importance of books and learning, the role knowing history has in forming the future, and the danger of ignorance, was refreshing for a change and a concept that we should all appreciate.
Another entry in the Librarians Save the World genre. Admittedly, it is a small genre, with only a handful of books in it. This is a volume within a pretty well written, heroic/quest series. Because of which I do suggest you read them in order. Not that the author doesn't try to make each one accessible to a first time reader, but it does build on the prior books....
Not quite a JRRT book in complexity or invented world, but quite enjoyable as fantastic fiction.
This is one of the best book series i have read in a long time. i hope you will be writting some more. i like every thing about it. carol taylor. i would tell everyone to read the books.