Review: ‘The Hammer of the Sun’ by Michael Scott Rohan

By oldenglishrose - Last updated: Friday, August 20, 2010 - Save & Share - Leave a Comment

Elof, master smith, and his band of true friends, face their greatest challenge when they confront their nemesis with inferior forces and crippling odds that must not give into a stronger power.  (Goodreads Summary)

I have never before been this disappointed with the final installment in a trilogy. In fact, had it not been the last book of three then I would have given up when it failed to become interesting before page 200, rather than carrying on doggedly until the bitter end out of some bizarre sense of duty as I did. Even after the initial 200 pages of deathly boring sea voyage had been overcome, although the storyline picked up it never became anything particularly different or anything more than a remix of books one and two with a slightly different setting. The ending was perfunctory, out of place and completely unnecessary. It added nothing at all to the narrative and felt like it was tacked on in a vain attempt to make the otherwise pedestrian story seem more spectacular.

This particular edition (the 1988 printing) is riddled with misprints and spelling errors, which made it even more of a chore to read. While I would still reccommend ‘The Anvil of Ice’ and ‘The Forge in the Forest’, I would advise anyone tempted by this trilogy to stop at book two. This book feels like it was simply written to round out the pair of books into a trilogy and adds nothing to a story which is already nicely tied up after the initial two books.

The Hammer of the Sun by Michael Scott Rohan.  Published by Orbit, 1988, pp. 509.  First edition.

N.B. This is an old review written in 2010 and posted on Goodreads and LibraryThing before I started keeping track of all the books I read here at Old English Rose Reads.  I’ve decided to keep copies here so that this remains a complete record of my reading since I started reviewing books for my own pleasure.

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