Search - The Summer Tree (Fionavar Tapestry, Bk 1)

When five young professionals and college students visit the magical country of Fionavar strange events begin to occur. Their leader and guide is Silvercloak, a wizard, whose magic is bound to his companion and friend, king of the dwarfs. The five find that they are important cogs in the spiraling war between the Light and the Dark. Dave gets lost in transit. Kim becomes the leading seer of the country. Jennifer is kidnapped by the forces of the dark. Paul, whose grief for a lost love who died is insurmountable, offers to sacrifice himself on the summer tree. And, Kevin finds friends among the residents of Fionavar. The book ends as the group comes together once again hoping to rescue Jennifer. I dislike books in a series which cannot stand alone which accounts for my three star rating. Otherwise, I'd give this one four stars as I enjoyed the read very much.

This is a classic fantasy novel that has gotten a lot of praise by people. I did not enjoy this novel however. It was written in the 80s, perhaps it would have been better if I had read it back then?

To begin with, the plot is a mash-up of Narnia and Lord of the Rings. The characters are flat and annoying. There doesn't seem to be any reason for them to do anything that they're doing besides "sure, sounds good". It makes me think of a D&D game that no one is into, but there's nothing better to do. "Oh, the Dungeon Master wants us to go over there and do this thing? Sure, whatever, is the pizza here yet?"

The writing is pretty bad as well. The author was trying to give the book an epic feel, but managed to wander firmly into purple prose territory instead. And I'd like to know why a quarter of the way into the book (where I decided it wasn't going to get better anytime soon and stopped reading) the main characters are still routinely being referred to with their full name?

It took me awhile to get into this book, but about half way after lots of starts and stops, I really started getting into it. The author doesn't give a lot of details and I found myself with so many questions particularly about these 5 people who travel from "our" world to Fionavar. They seemed pretty blase about it, the food, the clothing, new customs, etc. It made it less believable for me.

This is a good story and a good read, it just takes awhile to get into. It has elements of LOTR, but not nearly as rich of a story. Still, I'd recommend reading.