In this case, passing it to the sequel I imagine. Madness is intriguing, ethical decision making is intriguing, devil possession is passing the buck. And he has a good excuse, he's inhabited by a demon spirit. This would be an interesting character development except that it's not really talked about much, save for one of the the story's modes: the play within the play. He ravages his own homeland, convinced that he's acting on the greater good. And they say the lamest things to one another! The main character Tungdil is the worst for this, but even the main vilain, the Nudin the Knowledge-Lusty (For real! Really, a better translation wasn't available? Maybe Google translate did their translation) was exceptionally naive. Every single character, except maybe one, the Maga Andokai are naive to the point of iritation. But Jordan does this intentionally, to show that he's an eighteen year old boy from a farming village. Rand Al'Thor starts out the Wheel of Time very naive. Naivety is only bearable when it proves a point, is a statement about the character, not the writer. Character: This is perhaps my primary complaint about the story. The book had an interesting, relatively swift moving plot, some gruesome details, and an exciting conclusion.ġ. The implication, and truth of the title, is that this might be one of the first such fantasy novels where the hero is a dwarf. Dwarves are usually in the model of Gimli from LOTR, amusing sidekicks, or Flint from the Dragonlance Saga. As usual, I'd seen this title in the bookstore and admired its fine cover. There's enough going for it, that I'd consider reading the sequel. Compare the prose of The Dwarves to the prose of Erikson's from The Malazan Book of the Fallen and you'll see what I mean.

But Americans are thought by editors at large to be fairly simplistic in their reading level, and so perhaps there is a sensible reason for this fault. German is an exceedingly colorful language, and each word is dense with meaning. I suggest that this is the publisher's fault. One of my central criticisms of this book is that the prose is simple to the point of being for a much younger audience, twelve to thirteen. Translating from German is hard, and my philosophy professors always assured me, particularly the Germans, that a great deal is lost in even the best translation. Every single other fantasy book I've ever read, and I've read many, were in English. And more, they are in at least this one way far superior to me: they've the will to see it through.Ĭriticisms of this book might also be inappropriate for this reason: The Dwarves is one of those few fantasy novels that bridged the language gap.

Let me start this post with a disclaimer:Īnyone who can finish a novel, and get it published has my utmost respect.

The Dwarves by Markus Heitz