Enjoyable. Of course, I knew all along who Crow was, his real identity, as would most readers who had read the prequel. Some of the battle scenes got a bit tedious, went on too long. And it seems like there was just a little too much travel and wandering back and forth. ( )

very good, but not as gripping as the prequel Dark Glory War. ( )

A great book that most who enjoy fantasy will like. While Stackpole might not be as prolific as certain others within the genre, his books surely make up in quality what they lack in quantity. ( )

This is definitely an epic tale. I cannot begin to go into everything that happens in this book. There are plenty of twists, some unexpected surprises, and lots of detailed warfare. The characters do a lot of growing up, and maturing as they face trial after trial and to make things even more interesting, Chytrine is a much greater threat then in the previous story.
Full Review Here:
Dragons, Heroes and Wizards ( )

Fortress Draconis by Michael Stackpole is the first book in the Darkcrown War Cycle. This book is an epic tale on many levels. Now, I need to say a couple things before getting to the actual review. This book starts a trilogy titled The Darkcrown War Cycle. However, there was also a prequel written for this epic tale titled The Dark Glory War. You do not need to read this prequel prior to reading the trilogy, however, I read the prequel first and am very glad I did so. It adds so much more depth to this book, having that knowledge and understanding already in place. But, that is a choice for each individual reader. If t were me, I would read the prequel first.

The plot of this novel is rather simple at first look. There is an evil sorceress attempting to crush everyone in her path. Of course, along the way, a group of heroes band together to thwart her plan. This book has many traditional fantasy elements, yet they are woven together like a fine rug. They mess almost flawlessly to create a fantastic tale that I am confident will please even the most hardened fantasy fans. This book has large scale battles, character intrigue, magic, and some rather emotional moments. I realize that some of these things are fantasy genre clichés, yet as I was reading this book I felt like it was being written in a fresh new way. It did not feel like I had read it time and time again. That is what I think the true appeal of this book is. Taking pieces of something that has been done before and writing it in a new and interesting way. That by no means means that this book is a copy of other books. All I mean is that there are pieces of fantasy lore that can be found within these pages.

The characters in this book are most enjoyable to say the least. Will, Alyx, Kerrigan et. al, are all very well written. One of the things I enjoyed most about these characters is that they all have flaws, whether they be doubt and insecurities or flat out making mistakes. It makes the characters that much more real and easier to pull for. Also, the characters dialog, is very well done. When most of the characters are talking you have a distinct impression that each of them has their own speaking style. I enjoy books where the authors quite clearly put some effort into the dialog. Another thing I enjoy about these characters is that Mr. Stackpole doesn't `tell' you anything. He may hint at it and elude to it, but it is up to the reader to decipher and figure out the twists and turns. I dislike it when characters have those "ah ha" moments and reveal plot points, basically smacking the reader upside the head with them. You won't find that here.

I did have two small, minor, disappointments with this book. In the prequel, it seemed as though Mr. Stackpole stayed away from clichéd characters. Yet, in this novel there are actually quite a few. It's not really a bad thing, but I wish it could have been done a little differently. The other thing is there were a few instances where I would have liked a little more description of the scene or what was going on. Yet, there were also other times when I felt certain scenes dragged on and could have been written much shorter.

All in all though. I enjoyed this book. This is certainly a trilogy I will keep reading. The books are long, 700+ pages, but it is well worth it in my opinion. Fans of David Gemmell, G.R.R. Martin, Greg Keyes, R.A. Salvatore etc will find this book right with those bigger, more established names. If you are looking at giving a book a shot, try this one. I enjoyed it very much. ( )