The Gauntlet Thrown

Gauntlet Trilogy #1

by Cheryl Dyson, Xina Marie Uhl

Brydon's quest was simple. Borrow the fabled Gauntlet of Ven-Kerrick, bring it home to prove his worth, marry the princess, and ascend the throne.

He had planned for the dangerous terrain and Redolian assassins, but he did not expect the Gauntlet to be missing, nor to find the Kerrick royal family murdered.

Luckily, his worst enemy was there to help him out.

Genres: Fantasy, Adventure, Fiction, Romance, Epic Fantasy, Young Adult

618 pages, Nook

First published April 22, 2010

About the author

I write things and eat cheesecake.

Reviews

[Mephistia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. It was offered for free through the B&N Nook store, and I wasn't real sure if I'd like it -- she appeared to be a new indie author, the book was distributed through smashwords, and (in short) it had all the hallmarks of the type of book that is usually poorly written and poorly edited.

Instead, it's . . . pretty cool. I mean, it's possible my rave review is in part a reaction to my (much, much) lowered expectations, but I really liked this book. I liked the plot, the characters, the description, the pacing. It's a typical fantasy plot, nothing innovative here, but the world building is just excellent. I love how she focuses on the friendship dynamics instead of the romantic entanglements. I love how she actually addresses things that happen when you're camping or trekking through the woods. I just love the book, and I'm still kinda surprised by that. I was expecting it to suck and it didn't.

[Amy (I'd Rather Be Sleeping)]

DNF - PG 141

Why?

I like the idea behind this book - though the synopsis is severely misleading. Really, it's a fairly typical fantasy series about a quest with a slowly growing group. That's all good. I love those type of fantasy stories.

And while I could wish that the story was a little more...driven, no real complaints on it. (Besides the friendship that was WAY too quick to build.)

But both the guys are kind of slimeballs when it comes to women.

Not only are we treated to a lascivious description when we are first introduced to them, but every time after that that the women are doing anything, we have to be reminded of how gorgeous they are. The guys have a very odd fetish for their eyes, legs and especially hair. The woman always have beautiful hair.

I survived the scene where one of the guys had to lace up a woman's shirt. (Accidentally touching her in the process, natch, and noting how a blush was rising up her chest. Even though she was tied up and their enemy at the time.) I survived a guy walking in on a woman while she was bathing and, instead of apologizing or even just walking away, he starts immediately fantasizing about her and getting a hard-on. I even survived the guy that has a fiancee back home (and who claims to be so upright and honorable) nearly having sex with his prisoner because, as far as I could tell, she was willing. And had pretty hair.

But then I realized that I was bracing myself for the next scene that would make me angry, the next scene that would make we want to take a shower. That's the moment I realized that the book is not for me and, were I to keep reading it, I would just have a worse headache.

[Theresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

First of all can I say I love all the ys? Toryn, Brydon, Shevyn, Alyn? Love it <3


Second I love this story. I will and must buy the next one!

I read the description and I just knew where this story would go. I love stories where men are best friends and ones where they start as enemies, I knew this would be insta-love for me. Heart warming and heart wrenching.

I don't even know who I loved more Toryn or Brydon. The charismatic mega flirt or the serious loyal companion.

Also, being a fan of big casts of characters, this story was a dream. The characters just kept pilling up. And conversations! Oh this book is amazing!

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am so excited that I am done! That was over 1,000 pages of amazing reading. I enjoyed being with the characters and the just being in their setting of time and landscape. The landscape is very realistic, very believable. The characters are just as believable, however, some of the characters can use a little toughing up. Other than that, the book was amazingly fun, and I enjoyed the plot. I am very interested in how the series will continue, and how our heroes will save their kingdoms.

[Pat Philippone · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book, simple to read and the story flowed from beginning to end. The main characters were interesting, but not complex. The dialogue was simplistic to almost child-like, with some head-scratching conversations at times, but nothing to really turn you off from completing the book. Same with the world in which the story takes place, seemed like the characters traveled quickly from one region to another.

I debated a two-star rating, but I consider this book an average read with an entertaining story line - at the end of the day, I felt it “didn’t suck” - so a 3. I will pick up Book Two eventually - I feel it is worth continuing the series.

[Judy Goodwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this an enjoyable read in a pretty straightforward sword and sorcery milieu. The book also had quite a few humorous moments, and in general this is a light-hearted book suitable for young adults and up.

The book starts with a classic Enemy Mine scenario: Brydon captures Toryn as the man tries to ambush and kill him. As Brydon is on an important quest to earn the hand of his land's princess, he decides to take his enemy with him. Thus starts a grand adventure.

I had a few nitpicks with the story--it seems like every female that Brydon and Toryn meet are attracted to them, which I found rather unrealistic and a little silly after a while. However the plot itself is engaging, and the world is very well done, with different alliances and politics for each country. This is one of those "simple quest becomes very complicated very quickly" stories, and each new twist kept me interested. By the end I was a little concerned about the size of the cast. I think the next book's danger will be falling into Robert Jordon's trap of a cast that is too large and complicated. It would also be nice to see some relationships solidify beyond the Brydon/Toryn bromance.

All in all I thought this was a decent read, well worth a look. I think the writers should charge something more than free for it, but that's just me. Free works when it's an incentive to read something to get into a series, but I think far too many people don't even read the free novels they download, whereas if they paid for it, they're more likely to take the time to read it.

[Pauline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite a fun ride--very much a questing novel since the entire book was one giant quest. I loved the interaction between Brydon and Toryn. It really reminded me of the friendship between Legolas and Gimli from Lord of the Rings. They both started out at enemies and held a strong dislike for each other, but through their travels become close friends. Their squabbles never failed to bring a smile to my face.

[Janina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really nice questing/Sword & Sorcery Fantasy novel focused mostly on a enemy turned friends relationship with lots of humorous banter and thrilling episodes. I think it could easily be published with just minor editing into developing some parts more slowly. But, then I usually love the world building element most in fantasy novels and don't mind it taking up a lot of space. This has a wonderful world (needs a map though) and lots of action. I'll definitely read the next one as well!

[Brandon Bates · Rating 2 out of 5]

So the most interesting bits are near the beginning when Brydon and Toryn are kicking off the honeymoon of their rivalry/bromance. During this the banter is good and there are decent points where it feels like both are really developing as characters as they dispel the long help pre-suppositions they've held against one another's warring nations while they come to realize they are birds of a feather. About a third of the way through though that gets completely abandoned as a minor subplot when the two decide they're besties after all and we're beset with a slew of extremely minor and forgettable characters that only seem to exist to advance the plot but not the characters themselves.

The chief complaint from me though is how unmagical Brydon and Reeds special powers feel. Here the author has taken something that is potentially very interesting and instead turned it into the most boring thing imaginable. Magic and powers are supposed to make fantasy interesting but rather than having mundane man #1 punching mundane man #2 we now instead have Psychic man punching other man, but with his brain! Why have magic at all if it's just going to be a glorified bludgeon for two people two beat each other with? Sure the characters can do other interesting things like shapeshift, talk to animals, or change from a Psychic type to a Ghost type but there isn't really any interesting depth given to the magical system which is much needed in a world with sparse worldbuilding and almost non-existent (or at least non-explained) cosmology, plus the characters themselves really aren't enough to hold this thing together.

For a book that tries to base itself in a more medieval era there sure is a ton of modern western slang littered throughout that completely rips me from the world I'm reading about and makes me feel like I'm at a high school renaissance festival. It happens enough that the world feels so divorced from the epic fantasy genre that I'm not even sure it's an accurate tag for the work by the time you make it to the end. YA feels much more fitting in my opinion.

Can't recommend and likely won't be finishing the series. This story leaves a lot to be desired.

[Denae Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

almost a great book

I really liked the friendship between Toryn and Brydon. I liked the medieval setting and politics of kings, queens, and tribes. I liked the betrayals and secrets and quests and slavery. I liked the mental magic and training and facing Reed.

I did not like that every female character was objectified. She either flirted and threw herself at Toryn (about 6 of them), was caught half-naked in a stream (two or three), was a whore or sex slave or raped or nearly raped (about seven), or was mentioned in passing as the guy pov character thought about how much he wanted to bed her (about another 6). I think there was one serving girl in one scene who didn't fall into these categories. Many of the poor females fell in multiple categories. Are none of the males able to see a woman and think about something other than her sexy hair and how much he wants to sleep with her?

There were other little things that bothered me (the consistent bad placement of commas and occasional typos included), but they are minor.

I liked that the good guys had to work hard for what they accomplished, that they were often in danger and injured, and that they had to fight natural elements (avalanche!) as well as human ones. So, this could have been a new favorite of mine, but it is not.

[Holly · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sexist, Terrible, Could not Finish

I like fantasy, and I typically try to read fantasy books written by women because the female characters are usually better. This book fails spectacularly, and I'm ashamed that the author is a woman. Every single female character is a simpering halfwit, who's gorgeous and in love with one of the main characters. They have no agency, no purpose, and serve only as kidnap victims, slaves, and petulant children. One of the main characters is a disgusting boor who seems to exist only to sexualize the women and treat them as some kind of mysterious, unknowable species. He also commits sexual assault and is praised for having the opportunity to commit more sexual assault but not taking advantage of it. Gross.

Aside from the raging misogyny, the story is bland, the world is boring, and neither of the main characters are interesting or engaging. Don't waste your time.

[Glassaxe · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing style was pretty decent and the characters seemed promising at first but I didn’t finish it once I realized it was going to be a lot of het womanizing. That’s a whole genre for some ppl but just not my thing.

[Cori Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Pretty good book. An epic fantisy that follows a few tropes with well developed characters.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I was initially dismayed when I saw that this book was 1128 pages (!!!), I got over that quickly and enjoyed the story tremendously. Be warned: there are a lot of characters to keep track of, and this is very obviously only an introduction to this world. If 1100+ pages are all you'd devote to this universe, you might as well skip this book, because there's a lot that Dyson and Uhl didn't cover in Gauntlet Thrown. I liked Brydon as a character, but he really needs to toughen up; all it takes to distract him is an attractive female face. Every time a pretty woman was in his orbit, he became noticeably dumber. One of these days, the fair maiden is not going to have his best interests at heart. Oh wait, that already happened. I loved that the friendship that blossomed between Brydon and Toryn ended up being the best-written and most fulfilling relationship in this book.

[anli · Rating 5 out of 5]

For a free book, this was amazing!! I love the original plot, it was a great idea and written very well. The world is built well, and the characters are real and relatable. You will easily fall in love with the characters and their relationships as they develop and build. And I must say, the amount of good character development through out the book and how they change based on their experiences is off the charts. The story very well written though, and it kept me captivated. While it took me forever to read this book (it's 1128 pages) due to being very busy, when I got a chance to read, I hated having to put the book down to get back to work. In fact, I actually had a chance to read for a bit before I had to do other things, but I ended up just finishing the book. All in all, I give this five stars, and I will definitely be reading the next two books in the trilogy

[Kane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had gotten this book a while back but never read it and was kept as a backup if I run out of anything else to read. It just so happened that the series I was on finished and I just picked this book up without looking for a new series. From the first few pages, I was hooked. The writers' style was simple and kept it interesting. I couldn't put the book down. It was light, humorous with adventure that kept you reading. Can't wait for the next one.

[Amber Campbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall a good story. The characters were deep, well thought out and the authors definitely created people the readers could care about. My only issue were the editing errors. Words were hyphenated and then the rest of the sentence was missing. Sentences were rewritten but the old words or incorrect words were not removed. That is the reason i did not give this 5 stars.

[Tina · Rating 3 out of 5]

THIS IS ONLY BOOK 1 OF A TRILOGY, and the remaining 2 books are not available yet. The entire story was Amazimg but there was zero ending. I felt jipped by not receiving any type of conclusion in the end. Would have given a greater score if the author gave me anything to smile about at the end of the book.

[Joslins · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nook freebie. While kind of long and drawn out in some places, this was over all a good book that kept my interest and in some places was a real page turner. The only turn off was the book's length and the fact that the story didn't end with the end of the book and now I have to wait for the sequel to get released, if it ever does.

[Jay Whiteford · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is outstanding. A rich plot with a couple subplots are effectively developed, clearly leading the reader through an intricate story line. Characters are rich and vibrant. And the relationships built between the characters are fascinating. This is a quest through many lands with varying terrains. The only drawbavk to this book is weak scene descriptions.

[Deborah Lewitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

love this story, love the characters... I don't usually enjoy books all about the journey and the cultures but this one blew me away. every culture was well rounded and interesting. I really cared about every character. so nice to read a story about men of honor. (yes they are both men of honor though they don't come at it the same way) can't wait to see what happens next.

[Deborah Brennan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a book addict. I grabbed this title on a free book search with my nook, and it sat there, quiet and unread for quite a while. NO MORE! I enjoyed it. I laughed, I worried...I became friends with the characters...and darn it, now I have to go spend money, because I want the entire series. It isn't earth-shatteringly great, but it is for sure a keeper. So there. Nyah.

[John Mackey · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first and 2nd book was great but I guess we'll never know what happens as the trilogy has yet after all these years been finished. I will never again buy books from these two authors until they finish this series It's been a lot of years since the second one was written you'd think the last one would have been out by now.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some annoying editing issues aside, this book actually made me want to read the next one. I'm a big fan of female characters who can hold their own, and this book is packed with them - although it is slightly annoying that they all seem to fall in love at the drop of a hat.

[Alvin · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was actually quite good, All characters had their own personalities, character development was well done. Love stories were well... One of the things i disliked was everyone was falling in love with four characters be it a male of female...

[Rachel]

not bad...reminded me of every DnD game I have ever played...A new character shows up and instantly they are trusted by the main character.

[Donald W · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read ,fairly good flow

[Marcie Horton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I could not wait for book 2 after reading this one!!!!! Love it!

[Randi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't believe I read this and enjoyed it! It was free, it needs some more editing, but I will quite possibly read the next one...maybe!

[Karen Holmes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked it for the quick read. Very action packed.