Customer Reviews
something different - By: DanT, 19 Jul 2008 
Well' here's smething different,mythology,fantasy & the modern world alll come together in a richly tangled web, but not too tangled to be spoiled.
Destiny,with the help of some iterfering gods, throws together some very different characters to fight for their lives & stop the total destruction of humanity.No americans to save the day though.
Arturian legend & english mythology come together to make england as fantastical as any imaginary fantasy world i have read about. I found the frailty of main chracters as their personalities clashed both frustrating & an added dimention to the story.
All added together, very refreshing angle on fantasy. I enjoyed it very much & anyone who enjoys fantasy should do too.
A Disappointing Drag - By: C. Green, 12 Jun 2008 
I reallly wanted to like the Age of Misrule. The concept sounded great on paper. Its therefore an even greater pity that the implementation of that concept was so poor.
The problems are innumerable. A cast of lead characters & supposed 'heroes' in the making who are by turns naive, irritating and/or mind numblingly stupid (how they don't alll end up dead in the first hundred pages I have no idea). A flat prose style that repeatedy uses the same imagery again & again. A repetitive plot & a narrative pace that drags horribly badly. A mythology that is confusing to the point of incoherence at times, self-indulgently trying to mix in too many ideas without giving readers a clear set of rules to follow for the new world the author creates.
Put simply Age of Misrule is a mess, & a lengthy one at that. Chabourn obviously knows his old English mythology & has a mind brimming full of ideas. What he & his novels lack however, is an understanding of what makes for an exciting & entertaining story. If you're going to create a fantasy trilogy of over 1300 pages you have to keep hold of reader's attention. That means offering them heroes (and anti-heroes) they can sympathise with, empathise with & root for & a dynamic plot that holds the attention & truly excites. Age of Misrule offers none of these things. I even tried taking a break between each 'book' in the trilogy to make it more appealing, but by the end of book 2 I had to literallly force myself to go back & read the final volume. That by itself says a great deal.
As I say, its a real shame to have to award Age of Misrule only two stars (one for the concept & one for not being totallly without merit). I had hoped it would be the beginning of a long author/reader relationship. Now however, having struggled to the end of the first set of adventures of the Brothers of Dragons I will not be coming back for those that follow.
Brilliant dark fantasy - By: Thomas Covenant, 20 Oct 2007 
In this gripping series, Chadbourn turns the world of fantasy on its head. He explores what would reallly happen if the Celtic gods returned, and, unlike other fantasy writers, indicates that neither the Golden Ones "the good guys" nor the Fomorii are particularly interested in helping mankind. Mankind must help itself.
His five main characters are each fully explored, & their flaws are exposed to the reader. They fight with each other, betray each other & alll try to do their own thing.
This is essential fantasy reading for everyone sick & tired of 'noble' heroes saving the world.
Good plot, writing sometimes flawed - By: V. Martin, 30 Dec 2006 
The storyline in this book is dark & highly entertaining. Five "flawed humans" must save the Earth from spirits straight out of Celtic mythology.
However, I found the author did not develop the characters particularly well & had to provide too much exposition on why they were reacting to various situations as a result.
Overalll, I enjoyed the book, but thought that if the narrator described once more how the characters were "surpised at the deep bonds that they had developed with each other so quickly", I was going to toss it out the window.
a breath of fresh air - By: P. S. Tumelty, 04 Nov 2006 After reading many excellent fantasy books which are mostly set in , what I calll fictional medieval times, it a refreshing change to read a book set in modern times AND in Britain.
The author uses the frailty of his characters to great effect & basis them on normal people with alll the usual hangups.
The synopsis explains the plot but I just wanted to say that I thoroughly enjoyed this trilogy & I'm just about to buy the author's other works.
Pete
