Review: Epic tale of politics and battle
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 04 14, 2012
Warmage is an enjoyable continuation of Spellmonger's epic tale.  Throughout most of the book, the chapters alternate between two different timelines: one follows Minalan's efforts to gain the support and forces he needs to combat the invading goblins of the Dead God; the other follows the actual preparations, skirmishes and battles with the goblins.  There are quite a few twists and surprises as the story progresses.  Continuing characters from Spellmonger are developed developed, though so many new ones are added that it's difficult to keep track of them all.  I suppose that's not surprising considering the cast of thousands the tale involves.Warmage is a very long book, as lengthy as any of the Harry Potter books.  Many of the events of Spellmonger are recounted so that it's really not necessary to read the first book to understand the events in Warmage. There is also a lot of philosophizing that isn't truly germane to the story. A good editor could easily distill these references to a few sentences, while eliminating the numerous typos and mechanical errors.  The writing is good; it could just use some further polishing.  Of course, I gladly plowed through the whole book as is just to find out what would happen next!I am looking forward to the third book - though I'd actually prefer to wait for the final edited and polished version.