Publishing Information: Kindle
Publisher: Reagent Press LLC; 16 November 2009
ISBN 10: 1575455013
ISBN 13: 978-1575455013
ASIN: B004GXB2E0
Series: Book 1 of Keeper Martin's Tales
Reviewer: Tyson
Synopsis: "Discover a magical world and be swept away in the adventure of a life time! Readers everywhere are discovering the works of Robert Stanek, and overwhelmingly they agree on one thing: the books are some of the best they've ever read. Featuring full-page illustrations from original paintings, and many additional extraordinary illustrations, this powerful fantasy novel will delight the young and the young at heart! About the BookAfter the Great War that divided the peoples, the kingdoms of men plunged into a Dark Age that lasted 500 years. To heal the lands and restore the light, the great kings decreed that magic and all that is magical, be it creature, man, or device, shall be cleansed to dust. The cleansing raged for so long that no human could recall a time without it and it is in this time that the Dark Lord Sathar returned from the dark beyond. The one hope of the peoples of Ruin Mist was Queen Mother, the elf queen of old. She saw a way out of everlasting darkness, a path that required the union of the divided peoples. And so it began."
Oh boy, where to begin? Robert Stanek has a dubious distinction of deleting negative reviews on Amazon and allegedly creating false profiles to promote and extoll the virtues of his novels. Not to mention having his lawyer contact individuals with his hotmail account. It was the main reason I took upon the task of purchasing this novel and finding out for myself whether it was a negative media campaign against him, or if he truly deserved the hate that has been put upon him. In the end, there can be no doubt that he deserves all of the negative reviews and constructive criticism directed at him.
The Kingdoms and the Elves of the Reaches has been compared to JRR Tolkien and for good reason, they both contain magic, elves. and evil newly awakened. There are also words, sentences, paragraphs, and chapters in both books. So, I can completely understand why you would want to draw comparisons to both novels; however, once you get past those details the comparison quickly falls apart. We have three main characters: the young princess, an elf who believes duty comes before dishonor, and a young boy with magical powers. Each one of these characters have the emotional range of a sofa pillow and are as three dimensional as a sheet of paper. The book is targeted for young adults but I can not see anyone of any age finding this novel entertaining. Painting by numbers has more mystery and intrigue than what I found in this book. The characters are dreadful and most of that is due to the dialogue.
There are many passages in The Kingdoms and of the Elves of Reach that had me dumbfounded. I literally found myself shaking my head and re-reading portions of the book and then laughing out loud at some of the alliterations and illusions Stanek attempted to convey to the readers. I usually refrain from using book quotes in my reviews, but in this case I will make an exception.
“Always more reminders of the things she should or should not do—her proper place, always her proper place. She knew all about the proper things, the proper mannerisms, the proper greetings, her proper duties, her proper place. She had even been taught, though only recently, the proper things to do to invite a man’s attention. She was to begin courting. But why? “
Or this winning prose:
“But his search was in vain because he truly was alone. There was no one else with him.”
And the best for last:
"The robed figure lowered his hood to reveal childlike features riddled with lines that spoke of ages past and of hardship."
These are just a few of my favorites from a book riddled with absurd statements. It is as if he wrote the book and then went back to it with the express purpose of adding as many words that he knew from the thesaurus and placed them sporadically within the text. The book is full of awkward sentences and repetitive descriptions. It helped make it a little more tolerable to read but only from a comical standpoint.
Then there is the map located in the book. I tried to find a clean copy but I unfortunately could not so I had to use the map from another review, but it points out exactly what I had issues with. The full review from antishurtugal can be found here.
At the heart of The Kingdoms and the Elves of the Reaches are three people questing to defeat an unspeakable evil that is returning to the world. Sure Tolkien did it, but so have many other authors, all of which did it much better than Mr. Stanek. The book, while not hard to read, suffers from a very unimaginative individual.
I really tried to read this novel with an open mind and do my best to avoid the negative reactions from other reviewers and disappointed consumers but after finishing this dreadful debacle of a book, I found myself in the exact same spot as others. I have to warn you to stay away from The Kingdoms and the Elves of the Reaches and any other book written by Robert Stanek. His (alleged) antics on the internet are far worse than the book, but there is no reason to line his pockets any further. My recommendation is to avoid this at all costs unless death is the only other option, although death may be the better option.
Plot 3
Characters 2
Style 1
Overall 1/10*
*Negative numbers are unfortunately not an option.
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