Awesome fantasy, if somewhat short.
339904
Behind the Masque is an awesome fantasy story. The world of Endgames is built for any fan of fantasy and owing to it's Megatokyo heritage just makes it more awesome.

It is a short story so one can't really complain about length but it is REALLY short. However it is really well done.
2176043
Really great for fantasy genre fiction. Some fantastic ideas never really realized... the Kept, the Sefry... pure teases, but well teased.  The pace is uneven, and some of the story is pretty boring. Overall, the author pulled me through the slow parts with interesting world building, and the obvious nod to sequels. Like most fantasy novels, it could have been 1/3 shorter, the pampered princess stuff especially dragged on way too long. But I confess... I read so much of this new-fantasy. This is great for the genre.
4048330
Tigana is an excellent fantasy story involving a quest to regain a lost kingdom.  And oh how it was lost!  Though at times the curse seems inconsistent, I truly understood how terrible the results could be.  The main character realizes what he's lost, but I'm not sure why it hits him so emotionally when he was just a baby when the curse was cast.  Despite these little blips, the plot is excellent, the characters grab your attention, and the story pulls at your heartstrings.

A few other blips, however, kept this from being an excellent novel.  The other reviews allude to forms of sexism.  Indeed, its hard to imagine that Kay was not being purposefully sexist in writing this novel.  Though he has some strong female leads, they cannot seem to avoid lapsing into female cliches on love and loss.  Even worse than that however, is the portrayal of the men as the shapers of history, while the females merely react to it.  Not only this, but the main unknown country in the South is consistently mentioned as run by women, and consequently is a backward, hostile, and brutal country.  The only way to save it, of course, is with a King.  Though I could make excuses all day to explain away these issues (it wasn't mentioned THAT much, it was necessary to the plot, etc.), nevertheless the issues were still there and they dampened my overall enjoyment of a fantastic story. Also, incest.  That is all.

I encourage this as a great fantasy read.  I found it displayed as the foremost fantasy novel on the web, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  It is one of those stories that help define how you feel about the real world as well as the world of fantasy.  It makes you feel for the characters, and you are constantly pondering on how they handle the crises of their world (it's very convenient, but enjoyable still).  So far however this does represent a greater than average work, and gets four stars from me.
39502
A very nice piece of high fantasy. Good plot, a bit out of the ordinary- no dragons, no battles between rival countries. It's good versus evil but the good side is highly flawed and the evil side is very complex. Nicely written in an elaborate style (think elements of Dunsany or early Lovecraft) but with a slight tongue in cheek element and a touch of parody: after a mishap a character is repeatedly referred to as "Siri the no longer flawless". It does start out a little slowly, and towards the end the plot motivations get a little blurry.

Best of all- there is no obvious set up for a sequel- though I'd be interested to see what else Marling may produce.
21924
As usual, Sanderson has created a fascinating world and story. My only disappointment is that it's so short. These are characters that I would love to see in a full novel.
2782988
This has a great premise and some seriously suspenseful moments. I really enjoyed the first book in the series and was hoping to enjoy the second one as much, but, even though book two is still good, about half way through I started feeling as if things were slowing down, taking too long to progress. This changed toward the end but I felt that the story could have been wrapped up here instead of stretching to a third installment. Well written with intense, detailed characters and a richly imagined world. It just could use a little work on pacing.
642044
I'd give this story 4 stars if the book were longer than a novella.  The action sequences are well written and the universe the author has created is intriguing.  It's interesting to read a story about a young heroine written by a man vs a woman.  I hadn't really noticed until I read the Immortal Descendants by April White.  I got hooked on this series when the first 3 books were available for free.  I paid for this one, even after having read a review commenting on the lack of story length.  I have to agree - the book is too short to pay the same price for a more standard length "novel'.
3585557
This magnificent book of incredible length set in a brilliant fantasy world, populated with creatures obviously taken from previous epics of this ilk, but Williams takes them and changes them to suit his own plot devices. He plainly enjoys the craft of writing and forges a brilliant plotline driven at a rate somewhere between slow and voracious. The characters are for the most part very well described with good character traits. His ain character is a scullion who matures slowlyover the course of the Three (now split into four parts) books. The main female lead can be fairly annoying, especially with her whining insistance that she cannot be loved because she does not deserve it. The other characters are excellent. My particular favourites being Camaris and Duke Isgrimnur. The vast world spanning scope of the books allows for the little boredom that ensues from the slow moving but thoughtful plot. A must read. Not as good as Tolkien and in some ways not as good as Jordan or Eddings, but it is still a fabulous book of tremendous depth and is a touching look at teenage years. You must read this!!
3662261
Really enjoyed this book. A bit on the short side for what I prefer. (I've read the entire WOT series and wanted more) But this is a pretty good fantasy (urban fantasy?, modern fantasy?) book. I enjoyed the little geek nods here and there. Would love more of this and hopefully the interesting world Mr. Storm has created will get fleshed out even more so.
541733
This is great fun to read, and I loved the world, characters, and system of magic that Islington created.  The plot has many twists, which made it more interesting than a typical fantasy novel. I just hope the author can keep all of it straight as this story develops.  I don't give hardly anything 5 stars, so 4 stars is a high rating coming from me.  The only downside is that this novel is the beginning of a series that feels like it will take multiple novels to complete, and it just came out.
550108
Reading this immediately after finishing the Mistborn Trilogy makes the story feel a little brief.  Though the story itself is a standalone, the world isn't and is therefore not (thankfully) completely reintroduced; you definitely need to have read the originals to really get what's going on in The Alloy of Law.

The characters are mostly cliches of their type, with a few surprising quirks tossed in for flavor.  But rather than hurting the story I think that helps to move it along in the space provided.  We already understand Waxillium Ladrian because he's every Wild West lawman we've ever read or watched, but with a twist.  We're spared several chapters unrelated to the main plot that serve only to establish what type of man he is, and instead we get to kick back and enjoy what the man can *do*.

It gets four stars only, not because it is flawed in any significant way, but simply because I think five stars should mean something. Five stars should be reserved for those rare great works.  This is good, to be sure, but it's not the next Great American Novel by any stretch.  It's a quick, fun, & modestly-priced little adventure.
1607211
Before you read, sorry, there be spoilers. Nothing to give the entire plot away, but if you're one of those, well, ye be warned.

A quick read, very engaging, and delightful from start to finish. Polished and well-thought-out, the book richly deserves four stars. I read the whole thing in one sitting. If I could, I'd give it four and a half stars. There is only one thing keeping it from getting a 5-star rating. But let me explain it this way:

I had to laugh when I read the acknowledgements at the end of the book. Kate Nintzel, BRAVO for making Mr. Testerman write another 75 pages into the book, and BOOOOOO for accepting only 75, and not 150. The single solitary thing I thought was lacking in this book, as other reviewers have noted, is that in his desire for economy of words, Mr. Testerman has lost just a little of the personality of his main characters. There's much more emphasis on the descriptions of what his characters are DOING physically rather than what they appear as.... which, since they are fantasy creatures, was exactly what I wanted more of. If this book had been ANOTHER 75 pages longer, I think it could've been that much better. That's a good thing, Mr. Testerman, to have people saying, "MORE! MORE!" when you are writing, and should be certainly taken to heart when you are writing your next novel. I understand the concept of leaving something to the reader's imagination, but I also wanted to know just exactly "which" version of the satyr this character was, or what the dragon really looked like!

One last thing: It was so abruptly ended, I wanted to cry! What about the sister?! Does she reconcile? The book ending does not lend itself well (in my humble opinion) to a sequel, but it just... ended! Great climax, good resolution, epilogue too short. A page and a half could've easily been ten in my mind to really button it up.

All that being said, to me, those are really quite pedestrian concerns and the book was overall really super. As others have commented, the cover art is TRULY splendid and absolutely perfect and ideally-suited to the concepts in the book.

I also agree with others who say this is less an urban fantasy than a urban-to-rural quest by a modern-day paladin/knight, culminating in a fairy-tale ending that's not exactly "sweet", I'd call it more "savory." Satisfying and rich, but doesn't make you go, "aw[...]" An honest read. Well worth full price. Really intriguing and smartly-written. But why are you still reading this review? Order this book!
3934773
I loved this read.  Great steamy characters.  Lots of fun fantasy.  With just the right amount of steampunk.  My only complaint is that the book was too short....as I wait with anticipation for the rest of the trilogy in 2013!
3315815
Although it does suffer from some pacing issues (a great start, a bit of a slog, a fantastic middle, and a rushed finale), this delivered on everything it promised. The storytelling was strong, and the world-building both deep and thorough. This isn't grimdark in any sense, but it is a realistic world where people have needs, where they get hurt, and where they need the escape of illicit pleasures.

It's become increasingly rare to find admirable, likeable protagonists in the genre, so it was refreshing to find them here. Smith's characters are largely what you would expect from a more traditional fantasy novel, with heroes who are (mostly) good and villains who are (mostly) bad. They're not perfect, so don't worry about clich&eacute;s, but their flaws are subtle and reasonable. As for the magical element and the mythology, it's really exciting. At this point in my reading, I thought I'd seen just about everything in fantasy, but there are some cool twists and surprises here that make for a fun read.

I have to be honest. I like my epic fantasies to be big and deep. I like a heavy page counts, long chapters, and a large cast of characters. I want to get so immersed in the tale that I'm surprised at how much time has passed between looking up from the last chapter. This delivered.
1656800
This review was originally posted on my blog CourtneysReads

 This novella begins by throwing you directly in the action of the story. Enrig, a fourteen year old boy, wants to venture above his underground home with a group of Watchers. The Watchers are watching for dragons. Enrig's real goal is to become a Runner. The Runner's travel on the surface from place to place, evading the dragons as they go. It can be a lonely life, but also full of adventure.
It was great being thrown right into the story. I often wish that full length novels would do this more. Sometimes it can be too slow getting into the world and the setting, but here we're thrown right in and introduced to the world right away. For a novella of this length it was a necessity, but it also worked really well and grabbed my attention. Sometimes too slow of a buildup can leave me wanting more.
The main bulk of the story follows Enrig as he embarks on a quest with a group of Runners fronted by Captain Targon. We witness fights among the Runners, attacks by dragons, and overall adventure. It has a nice Lord of the Rings feel to the adventure and some elements similar to The Hobbit, particularly in reference to the dragons and their lairs and attacks. I really liked these similarities. It wasn't a copy of another story, but rather pulled elements from some great works that are still loved today.
The main drawback for me in this story was that I felt I never became attached to the characters. Probably due to the length of the story, the development of the characters meant that none of them were able to reach their full potential. This left me without much connection to any of the characters. The story would be more powerful if I had been able to become more fully invested.
I did really enjoy reading this and look forward to future stories set in this world. The ending was somewhat surprising and a nice twist. I highly recommend this to lovers of the fantasy genre.
2292271
While on the short side, and with a bit much over the top fantasy ( saying a lot given we are talking heroes here!), a well spun story that keeps you engaged from start to finish.
2299500
I bought this because I'm a fan of the game.  Dave Morris is a very skilled writer and I like how each of the first 4 chapters introduced a specific character.  First the leader of the group, Fortunato the Wizard, next chapter Eildonas the Elf who meets Fortunato, then Asgrim the Barbarian and finally Anvil the Dwarf.  Morris gave the characters personality and dialogue, something which MB/GDW didn't in the game.  The final two chapters are the battles with magic, orcs and zombies.  It's only about 100-odd pages long, but there's another 60 pages of a "choose your own adventure" style quiz supplement.  The later books in the series added HQ-style quizzes.  If you don't have the game, I think you'd still enjoy this short novella, but if you like the game than I heartily recommend this so you know what the characters did before entering the dungeon and how they all met and came to be.  4 out of 5 as the endings seems a bit abrieviated and the story's pretty short.