The Road Home

Guardians of the Flame #7

by Joel Rosenberg, Donato Giancola (Illustrator)

Hoping to intercept his bitter best friend's crusade to kill off all the slave masters in the land and keep the legend of the Warrior alive, baron Jason Cullinane is unaware that his search will force him into a dangerous pact. Reprint.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Litrpg, Science Fiction Fantasy, Audiobook, Dragons

320 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published February 1, 1995

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Note: This is a different person than the political/thriller author, Joel C. Rosenberg

Joel Rosenberg was the author of the bestselling Guardians of the Flame books as well as the D'Shai and Keepers of the Hidden Ways series. He made his home in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Reviews

[Kevin · Rating 2 out of 5]

The same problems as the last book and more as this ends the major arc with the original characters, I expected some answers about why Deighton sent them, what the sword was for, why the Hand would only help them the first time, and many more that are never addressed. I'm not sure if this are addressed in the final 3 books but I doubt I'll ever have the desire to bother reading them. I thought it was a poor arc ending.

[Pete · Rating 3 out of 5]

A direct sequel to The Road to Ehvenor, but rather than pursue the creatures that have escaped from Faerie, the characters go on a rather mundane and tedious adventure to locate a rogue companion who is murdering slavers. Nothing new here, and I am not sure I will continue this series.

[Otis Campbell · Rating 4.25 out of 5]

The Road Home—the explosive seventh chapter in his Guardians of the Flame saga—is a wilder, more hair-raising ride than a spooked mule trying to navigate a narrow swinging bridge. The long, bloody war against the vile Slavers’ Guild is finally drawing to a dramatic close, but the victory celebrations are cut short when a brand-new, high-stakes crisis threatens to tear the kingdom of Holt apart. Young Walter Slovotsky and the rest of the surviving crew find themselves facing internal political schemes, old grudges, and the ultimate, burning question that has haunted them since day one: is there a way back across the portal to the cozy Earth dorm rooms they left behind, and what will it cost them to open that door? If you reckon this book is just going to be a soft-hearted, lazy stroll down memory lane where everybody gets a happy ending with a pretty bow on top, you have plum barked up the wrong tree. Rosenberg cranks the gritty realism up to a full rolling boil, delivering a fast-paced, edge-of-your-seat fantasy thriller packed tighter than a smokehouse in winter with sharp-tongued dialogue, sudden ambushes, and deep emotional stakes that’ll hit you harder than a mule's kick. The tension stays higher than a cat on a hot tin roof as the original Earth-born characters and their fantasy-born kin clash over the future of their empire, making this vintage 1990s paperback an absolute hoot and a deeply satisfying destination for long-time fans of the series!

[Doug Sundseth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like book 5, this book feels like the back half of the previous book in the series. Again, this book is mostly written from Walter's PoV, and Walter is kind of a jerk. Entertaining, but a jerk.

The story is split between two groups of characters, which harms the narrative flow a bit, but there is good resolution of the threads left hanging in the previous book. But there is a bit too much authorial contrivance in the way that some of the resolution plays out.

Not a bad book, but not up to the standards of the first books in the series.

[Acidrazzor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I gave this 5 stars but it probably only deserves 4. It is a softball pitch that didn't do much for the story arc. It makes me wonder if he made a mistake killing Carl and was just filling pages trying to think up a new line or direction for him to take the story in. It's not a bad story but it's more of a soft filler piece that doesn't do much. I like the series enough that I'll give the extra strap here but again would have been better in audio format.

[Craig C · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't think I had read this particular book back in high school, either that or it was completely forgettable. This series rapidly loses steam as they go on. I would say it is more of 2.5 star completionist-type read than a must read if you liked the other books.

[Ronnie Cross · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a little shorter than the other ones. But still a lot of fun! I love Walter Slovotzky!

[John Teske · Rating 2 out of 5]

Character development and plots going in undesired and undesirable directions.

So long, and thanks for the good memories.

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Joel Rosenberg started out this series with a very interesting idea. He has developed it fairly well. When he killed off the main character he has now be able to pull a new main character out from the pages. Walter is a very compelling character.

Personally I do not like, nor do I think the swearing enhances the book. It could have easily been written without the swearing. Yes, I know they are rough characters, but he managed well enough in the first three books to avoid it, and I am guessing the editors and publisher decided it was okay.

I would not feel comfortable suggesting this book to the target audience, while the ploys and goals of the group are noble, I think to degrade the characters by the use of language is a great disservice to the reader. The teens already hear this kind of language often enough, why reinforce it? Why not rise above and prove that people can be noble and not vulgar?

[Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

great book. its a fast read lest the version i have is. i couldn't find the my version here at goodreads and when i tried to add it manually it wouldn't let me. my version only has 195 pages the other versions that goodreads has, has 320 pages. back to my review, is a fast paced book lots of action and at the end it doesnt ties everything together but opens up new stuff for the next book in the series so if u plan on reading this book make sure u get the next one too cause your going to want to read it also. its a good thing he completed the story while he was alive, lest i hope he did? or hope he did, haven't finished the series yet to know :(

[Brett · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you liked the first six (and if you didn't, why would you be looking at this one?), you'll like this one, though perhaps not as much. People you already know do the things they always do, and things happening off stage almost seem more important than the characters we're following around. It's still a fun romp though.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit of a slower book than the last several as several major story lines were wrapped up in book #6, and the author needed to setup the the plot for the rest of the series (I assume).

The book alternated chapters with first person narrative with Jason and Walter and I found myself skimming the Jason chapters to get to the Walter chapters as I found them infinitely more interesting.

[Fatbaldguy60 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not quite as good as the first trilogy.

[Tucker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as good as others. sort of odd in places. still great. Highly recommend whole series

[Theresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Road Home (Guardians of the Flame, #7)
by Joel Rosenberg
dynamic look at the conclusion of a series, where the characters look at the legacy of what their adventures have taught them.

[Keil Hunsaker · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book. The interaction between Karls son and the Slaver was very interesting, and overall a fun tale.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

More of the same in this series. Pretty good.

[Paul Hathcox · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've enjoyed the series so far but I have to agree with some of the other reviews. This book was a bit slow. The book had another adventure for the characters of course but it didn't seem that the overall story was pushed forward very much. A few relationship dynamics changed and that's about all.