The Iron Tower Trilogy (©1984)
The Dark Tide / Shadows of Doom / The Darkest Day

This a wonderful trilogy, but I must admit it took most of the first book to start growing on me. It would be too easy to dismiss this work as a meager copy of Tolkien's work (the author does admit to more than a passing nod to the master). It stands on its own very nicely, and by the end of the series I was more than a little misty eyed over the adventures of Tuck, Danner, Brega and many others.

This is high fantasy in the grand tradition, and yes it features Elves, Dwarves, Little People, High Kings, Trolls, Evil and the rest of the trappings. The story itself is pretty standard quest stuff along with the many battle scenes you'd expect.

Reviewed November 1, 2000

The Silver Call Duology (©1986)
The Trek To Kraggen-Cor / The Brega Path

This is another solid story by Mr. McKiernan. This was the first book he wrote, but it was the second to be published (I'm proving that I can read the author notes at the front of the book). A standard quest story with Dwarves, Warrows, Elves and all of the fantasy trappings.

I don't know why this is in two books rather than one larger paperback. Particularly in this day and age of the honking Jordan books. The second book is under 200 pages of story - with the remainder being made up of notes, definitions etc. I actually felt cheated - I paid for two books, and I wanted two books worth of entertainment (hey guess what? The reprints are in one volume).

Set a few hundred years after the events set in the Iron Tower - we meet up with Perry and Cotton - who along with a few thousand Dwarves set upon a quest to wrest Kraggen-Cor from the clutches of evil. It does take almost the entire first book to get going. Even one of the characters comments on the lack of any action. The author really puts a lot of details into his quests, as most of the action concerns the journey getting from A to B.

The second part of the story just zings by, and once things get rolling my finger got sore from turning the pages so quickly. The obvious comparisons to Moria from The Fellowship of the Ring are many, but they're more homage to the master than ripping off Tolkein.

Reviewed November 14, 2000

Dragondoom (©1990, 2002)

One of those big fat guilty pleasures that works because it pushes all of the big fantasy buttons. The story is basically one of those quest things with two characters who are bound together through circumstance and prevail againts insurmountable odds and save the day.

Without giving too much of this away let me say that I cried and laughed in all the right places, and was thoroughly entertained for over 500 pages.

What makes this so much fun is that like McKiernan's previous work he pays homage to the masters of the genre by making his characters feel familiar, while charting his own territory and adding his own little flourishes.

I really (really? - yes really, really) liked this, and I'm glad that it was finally reprinted for people like me who missed it the first time around.

Reviewed Fall 2002

Caverns of Socrates (©1995)

This one is a mixture of Sci-fi and Fantasy. The Caverns of Socrates views reality like the reflection of a reflection in a mirror that appears to echo into infinity. Which is real, or are they all real to the beholder?

The Black Foxes are a group of Virtual Reality game players who are hired to test out a new artificial intelligence virtual reality computer known as Avery. The team is mapped to Avery’s system and the players are submersed into the game. Before HAL can save “Dave” Avery is pulling out the stops trying to win the game. The players are trapped in the game, the power is knocked out, the battery back-ups are within seconds of failing. The world is about to end. The end is near! Doom! DOOOOM!

Of course along the way we meet up with the “real” world scientists who are trying to save the day from their end, but are stumped. Meanwhile within the game our illustrious generic heroes are trying to thwart the bad guys and save the day.

In the end though who is looking at the reflection? Hmmm?

If this sounds familiar it is, but it is a lot of fun. This isn’t going to win any awards but it’s good clean fun. I find that the characters blur together but that’s okay. I suppose it’s my fault for not paying proper attention.

There was room for a sequel but it’s been 8 years …

Reviewed July 2, 2003