The Dark Tide

I read these books back in the late 80's as a kid and loved them a lot. I didn't care that so much was copied from Lord of the Rings. I read all 5 books (and later Dragondoom) and even wrote a song for my band based on the books. I still have the paperbacks from back then and I've been thinking about giving them a reread (something I don't do often).

I've been in the mood for some epic fantasy lately and so when I picked up a copy of "The Eye of the Hunter " AND found out all 3 of the original books were available on Hoopla, I decided to listen to them before reading "The Eye of the Hunter".

It was a fun read, the races were the same as LotRs (with some different names), but the warrows (hobbits) were much more badass. There wasn't really show more a "fellowship" but there was a big bad guy from the past attacking with a horde of evil humanoids and a person he spoke through. Also there was a booming drum like in the Moria scene (Doom! Doom!). There was also a sword that detected bad guys. It really just seemed kind of linear and basic with lots of action. I did really start to like some of the characters though, so looking forward to reading the other books. show less

Many people are extremely hateful towards this series as it is clearly a 'rip-off' of Tolkien. However, I found this series very enjoyable. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings was certainly a magnificent series, but it did have many many long drawn out battle scenes. McKiernan's novels, on the other hand, are significantly less focused on battles. There's still plenty of action and battle, but I found the series to be much faster paced and attention keeping. I love McKiernan's take on Tolkien's hobbits. The Warrows are not just simple, helpless characters. They are skilled with the bow and hunting techniques. Overall, I found this series to be extremely enjoyable. I for one am a huge fan of the Iron Tower Trilogy, and the Silver Call Duology.

This trilogy bears about the same resemblance to the Lord of the Rings that a wad of gum on the underside of a seat does to a fresh stick of Wrigley's Doublemint. A lot of the material is similar to that of the source, but the freshness and flavour is not there. The cover art, on the other hand, is outstanding and worth keeping the book for.

I read these in highschool and my second year of Bibleschool. My initial reaction was total Tolkien ripoff". Now I'm not so sure. It is a Tolkien knockoff of Middle Earth, with elves, dwarves, men, warrows[hobbits, just a bit more warlike] and the such, but the story is a bit more unique I can see this time through. Evil Modru is stalking the land, and his minions are protected from Adons ban[death by sunlight] by the Dimmendark. Follows 4 warrows in their adventures, as they start together in the Boskeydells and to their separation at the Fall of Challeron Keep. Don't think about Tolkien[ie, comparing it] and you'll enjoy this. If you compare them though, this doesn't come off very good. So don't :-)"

I was told this trilogy was a classic, but I was incredibly disappointed with the first book, so much that I refuse to continue. I appreciate that Mr. McKiernan has tried to stay true to Tolkien fantasy, but it's as if he is attempting to reproduce it, and he does it quite poorly. The action scenes are quite good, but I dislike the universe he has built.

This is the start of what the author describes as an attempt to recreate some of the tone and spirit of classic fantasy novels, especially Tolkien's. The setting and style seem to be similar, though not quite as much High Fantasy as Tolkien. Like LOTR, the heroes of this story are mainly Warrows, McKiernan's version of Hobbits. The plot and characters are his own though, and there's no Gandalf to save the day.

The Iron Tower trilogy gets most of its ideas and characters from Lord of the Rings. It is a fun story with likable heroes, but don't expect anything original or mind shattering.