The Ancient: Book Two of the Saga of the First King

by R.A. Salvatore

Book Overview

Searching for his long-lost father, Bransen Garibond is tricked into journeying across the Gulf of Corona to the wild lands of Vanguard, where he is pressed into service in a desperate war against the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0765357445
• ISBN13: 9780765357441
• Release Date: December 2008
• Publisher: Tor Books
• Length: 418 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 4.2" x 6.8"

Customer Reviews

The Ancient

A amazing book where anything can happen and does happen. There is constant action every step of the way. I especialy like the way everyoneeventhe minor character seem to have a unique personality.

Loved this continuation of this story (finally)

Long awaited follow up for the highwayman. Love anything salvatore touches :)

wow

It arrived expediently and was in perfect shape like new I'd say so!Good book.I really appreciate the seller's honesty,no B.S. delivered what was promised.Can't wait for the next one.

Formulaic but Fun!

Publisher's weekly blasted this book condemning it with the suggestion that Salvatore had "borrowed" characters, situations and settings from his previous novels. While this is likely true Salvatore's oft repeated theme surrounding the questioning of Mores, faith and "common knowledge" is such an important theme that it SHOULD be repeated. Even more importantly, the formula that Salvatore uses is just plain entertaining. This is the second novel featuring Salvatore's Highwayman. The Highwayman is a cross between Jet Li, Robin Hood and Dustin Hoffman's Rain Man. In the first novel we are introduced to Bransen the son of an Abellican monk (a Catholic priest with magic) and a Jhesta Tu Mystic (Shaolin Nun with magic). Branson's mother, newly and unknowingly pregnant saves a dying woman using her mystical Chi based abilities. Unfortunately the healing requires that the Jest Mystic take on the poisons that infect the woman's body. These aquired poisons cause massive birth defects that become apparent after Branson's birth. With his mother dead and his father missing (dead as well), the Stork (as Branson is called) is raised in a harsh monastery. However, Branson trains himself in the ways of the jhesta Tu mystics and combines it with the powerful gemstones of the Abellicans to not only make himself whole, but to make of himself an unstoppable warrior. In "the Ancient" we find Branson travelling with his wife and his mother in law as they attempt to get to the mountains of Jhest so that Branson can be completely healed of his Stork body (he still needs the gemstones in order to become the Highwayman). Through a series of events, adventures and individuals, the Highwayman is conscripted into an army that is in the midst of a Holy war; his skills and abilities are multiplied by joining them with an unlikely, but skilled group of freedom fighters. I found "The Ancient" to by highly entertaining, the action sequences are tight with plenty of blood and gore; and while the characters are not new ones that stretch Salvatore's literary muscles, they are likeable, three dimensional and entertaining. If you are a Bob Salvatore fan you won't be surprised by this novel, but you will be entertained.

The Ancient...Great

Few novelists today can match the passion that defines the writing of R. A. Salvatore. His newest novel, "The Ancient", is the beginning of the Saga of the First King set in the early days of Corona (shared with the Demon Wars Saga). Officially, the plot begins with Bransen Garibound being tricked into journeying across the Gulf of Corona to the wild lands of Vanguard. Bransens' forced service into a brutal war against the Smhaist, the Ancient Badden, unites him with the first real friends he has ever known. On another level, several societies are caught in a tangled web oblivious to any plans concerning them cast by the Ancient Badden. One individual stands between the people, and the Ancient, Bransen Garibound. At stake is their survival and the future of the Northern Honce. "The Ancient" is an amazing novel, just as you would expect from the writer of "The Highwayman", and the Demon Wars series. His prose drips plot and character development much as blood drips from a sword fresh from battle. The characters in the lake land and Corona are vibrant and if we could step into a world defined by fantasy fiction, this would be a well guided tour. The atmosphere would be taut with tension, yet given our omniscient ability to read `ahead' into the future, we could live a life rife with adventure. One of the interesting elements in the book is Bransen. Pictured on the cover is a masked hero besides the heroine. Is that Zorro in another dimension? The "Ancient" is just that, yet the "Future" for the First King Saga is brilliant. Look for this at your favorite book store. Tim Lasiuta