Review: Very dark epic fantasy
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 01 28, 2014
Conner has written a VERY dark fantasy in, THE WAR OF THE MOONSTONE. I stress this as it is an important factor in whether you will enjoy this novel or not. Rest assured, this novel is very well written and immaculately edited, but it is so violent it distracted me in the end- to the point I felt the need to rob the story of the final, fifth star.SPOILERSAn all powerful and evil demon, Gilgaroth, is determined to rule the world and hold reign over the lands of men and elf. He has enlisted his son and most trusted servant, Vrulug, who in turn orders his soldier, Raugst, the wolf-man, to carry out Gilgaroth's plans.Lord Giorn of Thiersgald, with the help of the high priestess, Niara, will do anything to stop this evil incursion.END SPOILERPositives- As stated, this is a beautifully written novel with professional quality editing. There is a wonderful EPIC quality to the story, which begs a sequel, as so much distance was hinted at, so many realms and good descriptives to make this world seem very real.The dialogue was crisp and believable, the emotions were valid. Excellent job.Negatives- This is a matter of taste, I suppose, and not to take away from the quality of the storytelling... however! This was the darkest, the most twisted and violent fantasy story I have EVER read. The scenes of slaughter, rape, decapitation and foul, rotting (sometimes) undead bodies came one on top of the other with very little room between scenes for the reader to catch her breath! I'm no baby and I'm not afraid of bloodshed, especially in a war story, but there was such constant carnage, I found myself (at times) just wanting to put the book down in horror and disgust!In fact, I think this tale should be categorized as fantasy horror... that way, the potential buyer will know just exactly what he is getting into.That being said, hats off to a fine writer!  4 stars!