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Edge Of Destiny (2010)

by J. Robert King(Favorite Author)

3.5 of 5 Votes: 2

languge

English

genre

Fantasy

publisher

Pocket Star

series

Guild Wars

review 1: Pretty good. Straightforward adventure(s) in a light read. I enjoyed that it was light-hearted at most times, instead of the deadly serious political soap operas that are popular in fantasy nowadays. I found the characters terribly enjoyable, esp. how they grow from enemies to comrades.At first I was more than a little surprised at how things wrapped up, as it was unconventional. But it the book was presenting specific lore from the game. I liked it, though!
review 2: This book… How can something start out so well only to go south so hard.Roughly the first half of Edge of Destiny is sheer brilliance. The characters are lively, funny, and unique. We get to meet and understand each member of the guild with all their quirks and idiosyncrasies, and I absolutely f... moreell in love with them.The brotherly relationship between Rytlock and Logan was so endearing, as was the almost paternal relationship between Snaff and Zojja. They were all positively driven individuals, and I enjoyed every moment of watching them grow into a group of dragon champion-slayers, into heros.Then, they fought another dragon champion. And another…There was so much build up and preparation to fighting Jormag’s champion, and it made sense. The story felt like a natural progression to that moment, but then the Hero’s Journey ground out in a ditch alongside “the road of trails” as the group fought another champion and then another with much less care and thought put into the text. It drug out the story without really advancing anything or helping to develop the characters any further than they already had been by the time they defeated the first champion.In all, the road of dragon champions takes up at least a quarter of the book and by all accounts is little more than padding.The plot finally advances into the “meeting with the goddeess” (i.e. Glint). She’s a former dragon champion and Oracle who expresses unwavering confidence in the group’s ability to take down her master providing that exactly all seven of them work together.Of course, with that very specific statement there’s no way any of them would walk off. Especially not a human who had previously protested fighting Glint because she was an ORACLE and a friend of HUMANITY –wait, Logan. Where are you going?Ugh. Woman as tempress, it’s the next stage of the Hero’s journey, but Logan literally falls right into it. He receives a psychic message from his Queen that she needs his help, so he runs without question away from the people in front of him in dire need of assistance protecting one person and by extension the world, in order to save one person.They failed. That’s not a spoiler to anyone who has played the game at any stage. Edge of Destiny failed and a new Elder Dragon was released upon the world.They failed and all fell apart. Rytlock became angry at Logan’s betrayal and isolated himself to the Charr home fortress. Zojja became angry with Eir because her plan (really Logan’s absence) caused her master to die. Eir blames herself and retreats back to the norm home city. Logan blames himself (FOR GOOD REASON) and hides his guilt behind his duty to the queen. And Caithe is left wandering the desert alone looking for a means of defeating the Elder Dragons.That’s it. The story ends there. There is no atonement with the father where the group pulls themselves back together, at least not within the novel itself. In that sense, it’s like half a story and not a very good one.This story could have been fine if it ended after the defeat of Jormag’s champion. Everything up to that had good character ineractions and felt natural. In itself, it followed Joseph Cambell’s monomyth, and characters developed.Taking the story longer just prolonged things and caused it to end on a sour note. Moreover, I don’t sympathize with how things fell apart.As someone who played the games, I’ve seen how much Rytlock hates Logan for this, and he’s completely justified. In spite of his reasons, what Logan did caused not only the death of two of his friends but also endangered the entire world.I’m sorry, but humanity would have survived without its monarch. Both the humans and the charr would be just as well off without Ebonhawk. The WORLD is not fine with another Elder Dragon corrupting it.Worst of all, the reason that Logan abandoned his friends wasn’t presented as a moral conflict at all. His relationship –nay, his childish infatuation with the Queen reeks of poor execution. He loves her for no reason except that he loves her, and it turns him into an idiot.And when the Queen mind melds with Logan, making him her champion bound to come whenever she calls, you just know the only reason she exists is to facilitate the hero’s failure –not because she is trying to sabotage them but rather because the author wasn’t subtle at all.This story needs a third act. Logan was an idiot, but the real problem is that he’s not given the chance to redeem himself within this novel. I understand that the next stage of his character arc plays out in the video game, but that doesn’t make what happens here a good story.I’m sorry, but this was a terrible book. If you’re going to read this at all, stop after the defeat of Jormag’s champion. You’re not missing much. less

Download links for: Edge of Destiny

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