Rosenberg, Joel

• Series: Guardians of the Flame
  • The Sleeping Dragon (9 r)
  • The Sword and the Chain (9 r)
  • The Silver Crown (8 r)
  • The Heir Apparent (7 r)
  • The Warrior Lives (7 r)
  • The Road to Ehvenor (6 r)

    • A fantasy series about a group of gamers who get transported to their GM's fantasy world in character. Originally, they have a quest from the GM, but they soon start leading lives of their own and start a war with the powerful establishment of this new world. Very exciting series, but falls off a bit for the last two books. All are worth reading. I have recently written a full-length review of this series if you want to read more about it.

  • The Road Home (7)

    • I have read this new installment in the series since writing my full-length review of the first six books. This new book has its good and bad points. Some of the most entertaining characters are "back in form" to some extent, though it seems a prelude to the retirement of more than one of them (i.e. Slovotsky). The dragon (Ellegon) is rarely seen, a fact that generates complaints from both the characters and the reader, because his wit is sorely needed for many scenes. Also, a new character, Bren Adahan, has started to come to the forefront, though he is not nearly fleshed out enough for the reader to identify with (as were Karl, Ahira, Jason, Andrea, etc). Another new character, Toryn, carries with him the promise that the plots will get back to what Rosenberg does best...describe the war between Home and the slavers. To some extent, this book gets back to that plotline, and I enjoyed it. Unfortunately, near the end, Rosenberg really cops out on an excellent opportunity to motivate another couple of books AND create some great "hate-able" villains. Still, I look forward to more books!
  • Not Exactly the Three Musketeers (8)

    • This is another book set in the "Guardians of the Flame" world, but again, the story is centered on new, indigenous characters rather than the crossover characters from the original novels. In this case, the three protagonists are guards for the "good guys", and they are sent on a mission that unwillingly involves them in noble politics that are not made clear until near the very end. For about the first 80% of the novel, it looks as though the whole story will revolve around the somewhat interesting (but rarely humorous, as the title might lead you to expect) exploits of the three soldiers. Once the big picture is revealed and the main villain is unmasked, the last 20% is as gripping and fun to read as anything Rosenberg has written to date. This continues to be a very reliable, high quality series.

  • Not Quite Scaramouche (7)

    • I enjoyed the ending of "Musketeers" so thoroughly that I sprung for this one in hardback the second I saw it on the shelves (some bookstore gift certificates I got for Xmas didn't hurt the matter, to be honest). This is a direct continuation of the storyline in "Musketeers" with largely the same cast of characters. Enough references are made to the plotline in the previous books that it certainly helps to read these two in close succession to keep the characters straight.

      With the death of a couple of characters, issues of succession are at hand, and this involves intrigue at court and in the wilderness (as Jason attempts to make his required visit to the capital, only to find himself dodging assassins along the way). Slovotsky is a big player, which is a plus, but Ellegon is again seen too rarely. A new minor wizard character named Erenor is a great addition to the mix, and another magic subplot is hinted at in the future with Andrea and her former apprentice that sounded absolutely interesting.

      Come to think of it, not much happened in this book, dammit. BUT lots of groundwork was laid for interesting plot movement in the near future among the Other Side characters and the native characters. But I *still* loved the end of "Musketeers" so much that I'll forgive Rosenberg for writing and releasing only the first half of what should have been a lengthy next novel. He's got me hooked.

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