This is probably one of my favorite books in terms of deconstructing the fantasy trope of prophecies and chosen ones and those RPG-esque teams of adventurers with very specialized roles. Here, this magical world is so strangled by the red tape put in place by the wizards and their magically picked Wizard Lords that the heroes are basically "chosen" by committee and have magical ler that give them their specialized abilities, and we watch the journey of a newly appointed Chosen as he learns just what it means to be a Chosen One and just how much it really kind of sucks.Prophecies and their rhyming couplets, man. They're tricky sometimes.We follow Breaker, who is just your average kid in this average town of Mad Oak, a town where it's all harvests and drinking beer and tending to the crops until you grow old and die, until he takes the mantle of The Swordsman from the retiring Chosen who had traveled throughout the land in order to give up his role. Breaker is one of those heroes who really wants to be somebody and he gladly learns the ropes on taking the role, but we soon learn that he became The Swordsman just in time because there are hints that the current Wizard Lord has gone mad and needs elimination. Now it's up to Breaker to travel the lands of Barokan and gather up the remaining Chosen to do his and their sacred prophetic job of taking down the Wizard Lord.But, as Breaker soon learns, there's more to this business than just a Wizard Lord gone bad. As you can probably tell, on the surface this is your typical cheesy fantasy novel with swords, wizards, and prophecies. It does do a good job at explaining these things. I had first read this book in high school but could still remember the style of magic vividly before picking up this book once more. And, as we meet up with the other Chosen, we find out both the perks and the downsides of their abilities and what they need to do in order to keep the ler giving them their magic happy. Speaking of the Chosen, I absolutely loved all of the other Chosen and how some of them were enjoying their role and some were driven mad by their powers. Each Chosen ler reacts differently and requires different exercises to keep them satisfied. My favorite was The Thief, a beleaguered housewife who wants nothing to do with being a Chosen, has lived with a life of being judged for what she is, and practically slams the door on the heroes' faces when they show up at her door. It's the little touches like that that make this world more believable.The ler themselves are very fleshed-out too, and you learn that each town in Barokan had its own society built around keeping this magical force happy. Some towns needed human sacrifices, some towns had mad ler bound in carnivorous trees, and it made for a very rich world. However, one would say this book does too good of a job at making sure you know what's going on. Notice how I've been complimenting the world-building and NOT the plot or the writing? As the other reviews say, this is a very slow, plodding, talk-filled book where 75% of the book is world-building, characters talking to each other, and traveling through the various lands. Reading this is akin to listening to a friend go on and on about the technology in Star Trek because describing all of the ins and outs of this magic takes a good chunk out of the book. On top of that, one of the main plot points is that the Wizard Lord commands the very power of the elements and makes things very nice and pleasant in regards to the flora, the fauna, and the weather (rain only falls at night, bears can be controlled to carry off rapists and murderers, etc.) and, combined with the very extensive world-building, results in our heroes just traveling through nice scenic lands and talking about disposing of the Wizard Lord for most of the trip and reiterating what we know about the magic while learning about new ler along the way. This is mostly a road trip book.And boy, do they make sure you know the rules of the Chosen and the Wizard Lord throughout this journey. You will hear the rules over and over and over again. They could've shaved 50% of the dialogue from this book and I would've lost nothing.However, I personally felt that every time I was starting to get bored with the characters re-iterating that, once again, The Wizard Lord had all sorts of magical powers that can destroy them but he will be weakened if one or more of the Chosen die, there was something new that popped up in the world that brought me back into liking it. The resolution at the end, while predictable, was satisfying. It's a very slow book and I feel a lot of the dialogue could've been trimmed without anything being lost, but I enjoyed the ride that it took me. I came into this book expecting pure fantasy cheese and I got pure fantasy cheese.
The story of an epic adventure... without much in the way of adventure. The main character himself points out on a few occasions that the journey our heroes are on isn't like the tales told of the grand adventures of the previous time when the worlds chosen heroes were gathered to fight a mad wizard lord. In fact, let me see if I can sum up the cycle of the story's plot:The Chosen: We're walking. We're walking. Stay together people.*Evil magic is encountered*The Chosen: This shouldn't be. This must be the Wizard Lords fault. We must end stop him.The Wizard Lord: I've possessed this small woodland creature to talk to you Chosen and convince you that you don't need to come and try to kill me.The Chosen: But... look... Evil.The Wizard Lord: I wouldn't be doing evil if you weren't trying to come kill me.The Chosen: But we wouldn't be trying to come kill you if you would just resign your position.The Wizard Lord: But I don't want to retire. So you give up.The Chosen: No, you give up.The Wizard Lord: No, you give up.The Chosen: No you.The Wizard Lord: You.The Chosen: We won't give up until our assignment is completed.The Wizard Lord: Fine. See you tomorrow.The Chosen: Alright, lets get back to walking while we discuss how the Wizard Lord's magic works and how we can counter it.Repeat.By the time the main character thinks of how repetative and annoying this pattern is, this reader had been at that conclusion for a little while.I liked the world. I liked the magic system. I liked the characters. It's just the plot is repetative and dull.
What do You think about The Wizard Lord (2007)?
Watt-Evans' "The Wizard Lord" is a book I happen to pick up at random at my local library. Again, it was mistakenly shelved in the adult section, but it is actually a young adult book. With that said, I thought it was great. The funny part is, I can't exactly describe why. Something made it hard for me to put down.I liked the concept of the eight talismans of The Chosen: The Beauty, Swordsman, Scholar, Leader, Speaker, Archer, Seer, and Thief. The idea is that these eight exceptional people keep the Wizard Lord - the most powerful being in their world - in check. Each of their talismans is bound to his which gives him his strength. His job is regulate the weather and keep the lesser wizards (on the Council of Immortals) in check. Should one of The Chosen die, the Wizard Lord will lose 1/8 of his power. The Chosen's job is to make sure that the Wizard Lord uses his powers for good purpose. Should he do anything evil or neglectful (and become a Dark Lord), it becomes their job to remove him. The Council of Immortals keeps The Chosen in check and make sure that they are fulfilling their duties in an appropriate way. It is also their job to appoint a new Wizard Lord when the old one dies or chooses to retire. Therefore completing the triangle of power as I call it. The Council of Immortals (comprised of wizards) monitors The Chosen, The Chosen monitor the Wizard Lord, and the Wizard Lords monitors the Council of Immortals.Anyway, the main character Erron who goes by the name Breaker (or sometimes Sword later on in the story) is an ordinary young man living in a small barley farming village called Mad Oak. There is nothing that makes him exceptional; he was not born with any special talents or priviledges in comparison to anyone else. I think that is part of the reason he is such a likeable character. The whole premise of the story is that he chooses to be special and exceptional. I think that is one of the most important messages in the story. It's your actions that make you extraorrdinary, not because of how you were born. In any case, the book is straight forward. The plot line is predictable, but the characters each have their little oddities that makes them unique and unexpected. I really enjoyed the world of the "ler" Watt-Evans created, though I wonder where he got the word "ler" from. Regardless, I look forwared to continuing on with the rest of the series.
—Whitney St-Marseille
In a fractional rating system I'd give this a strong 3.5.I liked it - quite a bit - and was sorry to see it end. On the other hand, I'm glad that it ended relatively decisively. Cliffhanger endings annoy me, unless the next installment is immediately available.I'm not going to do an extensive review, but there are a few things that I want to talk about. There may be (will be) some spoilers here. You Have Been Warned.First, a general note: am I the only one who perceives a point at which LWE book
—Peter
Is it a classic that holds up to HG Wells or Ray Bradbury? Hardly, but it is a good read for fellow fantasy lovers. The plot is well thought out, and the characters are engaging. The story itself moves at a somewhat drawn out pace. I felt the author could have shaved off about twenty pages of writing. Although, perhaps with better use of language (the book did lack a certain creativity in its sentence structures) the book would not have seemed overly long. I wouldn't place it in my "to read again" list, but for anyone looking for pulp fiction, this will do.
—Hayden
