A good story, and a good premise (albeit one overused), but I found the characters lacking a certain depth -- everyone came off as shallow or static to me. ( )

I just couldn't stand this book. There was about %2 original material. So glad to finish, and get it out of my head. ( )

The First Church of Tolkienism welcomes you. Today's sermon will deviate a little slightly from our current coverage over the validity of "The Hunt for Gollum" and what Tolkienologists have to say about it.

Today, we're visiting the more apocryphal passages of the Legendarium, those believed to be penned not by Tolkien the Greater (or even Tolkien the Lesser), but instead by the Prophet Feist.

Feist, for those of you not familiar with the lesser prophets, stands apart from the others, such as Terrance of Brooks, First and Second Eddings, and Stephen The Son of Donald, as his epistle is not, as with the others, at times easily confused with works penned by Tolkien.

He is, in fact, considered the least of the tolkienoid prophets, minimally retelling the tales we all know and love from the Legendarium.

In his epistle, The First Book of Magician: Apprentice, he tells a tale that crosses some controversial lines with many experts. The tales of the Legendarium do not condone cross-dimensional traveling. Such tales dwell too close to the teachings of the Moorcockadans.

Nevertheless, this epistle tells the tale of a lowly boy named Pug, who is apprenticed to a magician, and who is rather indifferent to such a vocation. Shortly after the discovery of of a strange rift in the universal fabric, allowing soldiers from a strange new world to march on their land, the people of the land attempt to retaliate. However, it is not an our world versus their world, as the treachery of the dark elves waylays their plans, yet the boon of the dwarfs give succor. A nation at war with itself and with another world gives rise to many facets of drama.

On the whole, scholars believe this work to be greatly inspired by Tolkien, but not to the point in which it would be considered too similar. Such writings may appeal to those who find works considered "Fantastic" to be of value, but may fall short of the expectations of devout Tolkienians and their families.

May the light of the silmaril constantly light your paths. ( )

Pug and Tomas are growing up on the far end of a vast kingdom. Pug is taken in to be an apprentice to the castle magician while Tomas trains to be a soldier. The two boys stumble upon trouble of the highest degree while investigating a strange ship that runs ashore in a storm. The ship is odd, but is it really, as the magician Kulgan thinks, from another world?

Embark into high fantasy at its best. Meet dragons, elves, dwarves, magic, princesses, kings, princes, and pirates. This book is packed full of action and intrigue. It has a lot of pages but it's not long; it's EPIC!

This book is the first in a series. One book immediately follows it and two others feature many of the same characters and have their roots in the plot of this book. Check for the words "Author's Preferred Edition" on the cover. A few scenes were added back in after the first two books proved to be successful - the extra scenes add mostly worldbuilding and background that make "Silverthorn" and "A Darkness at Sethanon" make more sense. ( )

I read this book back in middle school, and decided to reread it recently to see if i would still like it.I think its still pretty good, maybe not as cool as it was back then, but my taste in reads have shifted a bit in the last decade. ( )