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.

So from divided Kerbryhaine Elof, Kermorvan and his companions mounted an expedition to the legendary lost cities of the East; if they managed to reunite the war-torn tribes, perhaps they could stand together against the menae of the Ice. But to Elof and Kermorvan the journey would also bring knowledge: of the Powers ranged for and against them; and of the secrets within themselves waiting to be revealed — secrets that would play a part in the war yet to come.  (Goodreads Summary)

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. As the title suggests, smithcraft is central to the book, and Rohan has a knack of taking complicated forging and metalworking processes and describing them in a way which makes them interesting, understandable and easy to visualise. Unfortunately, this is sometimes to the detriment of other areas of plot, which sometimes feel cursory and inexplicable. The gradual removal of the other travelling companions, for example, often came across as rather abrupt and contrived. That said, this was a lovely rambling epic of a book and I look forward to reading the next installment.

The Forge in the Forest: The Winter of the World II by Michael Scott Rohan.  Published by Time Warner, 1990, pp. 406.  Originally published in 1987.

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.