The Silver Call

by Dennis L. McKiernan

Book Overview

Two of McKiernan's bestselling novels of the mythical world of Mithgar--Trek to Kraggen-Cor and The Brega Path--are available in one volume for the first time.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0451458613
• ISBN13: 9780451458612
• Release Date: December 2001
• Publisher: Roc
• Length: 506 Pages
• Weight: 0.59 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 4.2" x 6.8"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 12 and higher

Customer Reviews

many lazy reviewers

Is what I see here. If anyone bothered to read Denni's bio, they would know that he was writing a Tolkien sequel and couldn't get permission from Christopher (my preciousess)Tolkien. So his editor suggested he re-write the Iron Tower and Silver Call and change a few things. There is no originality in 98% of the fantasy novels out there. Most of you are just to young to know it. I can't even read much of it anymore. Dennis comitted no crime that (without naming names) a plethora of other authors haven't. EVERYBODY copies Tolkien. Those who don't copy Robert E; Howard. It's just a matter of degrees. Everyone jumped all over Terry Brooks when he set about imitating LOTR, mainly because he was the first to do it. No one says anything to the authors of bland, endless fantasy series with elves and dwarves and goblins anymore. It's an entire genre now. And about all those Lovecraft mimics out there....yawn! Mckiernan is a good writer, whether you like his stories or not. I am not related to, nor a die-hard fan, but I have read the first two series and they are well written. They keep you engaged. As does, by the way, J.K. Rowling, especially the later novels. This isn't classic literature here, folks, it's pulp fantasy and entertainment. Personally, I thought the second series was great. The retaking of Moria by the Dwarves, basically. I had a blast reading it.

Not stolen...Intended as a sequel

I first posted this as a reply to comment, but realized people had to click on the comment of the review to see what I wrote, and then I found too many more reviews that were bashing this series saying it was stolen from Tolkien. When I first started reading this, I was very struck by the so-many, obvious Tolkien-isms that, at first, I thought were "stolen". So I did what I *thought* most educated readers would do, which was research the author and publisher. Come to find out that this was originally intended to be a sequel to Lord of the Rings, but keepers of LOTR's copyrights did not want to allow McKiernan's publisher (Doubleday) the permission to publish an actual sequel to LOTR. So Doubleday asked him to restate his story in a similar-yet-different-enough fantasy realm as to not infringe on copyrights. They then asked him to write a prequel to support his would-be LOTR sequel. I found the story much more fun to read after I knew this, drawing the parallels from LOTR and realizing that the author was doing what many fans had wished for...more LOTR! Unfortunately Tolkien won't be writing anyhow as being dead tends to preclude things like that, and the current holders of the LOTR copyrights were more interested in money rather than the interests of the fan-base. Good series, good read...have fun!

All fantasy is derived

Hmmm, not sure how many people know this, but Tolkien did not invent Elves, Dwarves, Wizards, Trolls, Giants, or even little people (Hobbits) for that matter. He simply copied others' ideas of what they thought of these creatures. Mckiernan does the same. If you are unsure, consider this, he was born in 1932, Lord of the Rings was first published in 1955. How many other influences could Mckiernan have had in his first 23 years of life. I would say many and although he did not begin writing fantasy until the mid 1980's, if he wanted to copy Tolkien so much, why did it take him thirty years to do so. Overall, these books are a good read. Yes, they are basically couch-reads, but they can very-well stand on their own and I am sure many would enjoy these books who have never read Tolkien. Finally, consider this: if the idea of elves, dwarves, trolls, wizards, giants, and little-people did not exist before Tolkien, do you think he could have created them from thin-air?

OVERALL SCORE: (A)

This is a GREAT story, and THANK GOD that there's something out there like Tolkien! Yes, it is very similar to the "Lord of The Rings", perhaps a sequel in a way. No it's not Tolkien, but Tolkiens dead and not writing anything new, so if you want to experience a good story that is very similar.......OVERALL SCORE: (A)READABILITY: (A), PLOT: (B-), CHARATERS: (A), DIALOGUE: (B-), SETTING: (B+), ACTION/COMBAT: (B), MONSTERS/ANTAGONISTS: (B+), ROMANCE: (C), SEX: (n/a), AGE LEVEL: (PG 13)

Open Minded

If you are so obsessed with Tolkien that you find yourself unable to enjoy anything similar to his concepts then don't bother reading these books. They are well written and entertaining. I highly recommend them to anyone who is not so blind and foolish as to be unappreciative of a creative work simply because it is inspired by another creative work. These other reviews remind me of people who refuse to drive any car which is not made by their specific favorite company.