Well of Darkness

Weis and Hickman's new fantasy novel, The Well of Darkness, the first in the Sovereign Stone sequence, is far darker than we are used to from these authors. Hidden among the four elements and their magic is the Void and the dark, death-orientated magic that is its own; among the court of wise King Tamaros and his pious son Helmos there sits ambitious younger son Dagnarus and his hopelessly loyal former whipping boy Gareth. As a boy of 10, Dagnarus sets his future by asking Gareth to study Void magic for him; he intends to be king, and nothing will be allowed to stand in his way--not father, not brother, not the magic-soaked paladins who control the Portals that connect the human realms with those of the proud violent elves, the sullen horse-riding dwarves and the omen-fearing sardonic orks of the sea... This is an enjoyably bleak read--Gareth, driven to the worst of evils by his admiration for his prince yet retaining sparks of conscience, and some of our sympathy, even at his most atrocious, is a memorable creation, and Helmos, a man so dominated by conscience and self-regarding honour as to be weak, is hardly less so. --Roz Kaveney

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Well of Darkness - Rated
The book, although offering some attractive ideas, is crudely written and comes across as being quite cumbersome. I think that the story becomes rather dry as the plot develops as I found myself struggling to endure and finish the book - not interesting or original enough for me to read the remaining two in the trilogy.

The best book of the trilogy - Rated
Weis and Hickman have gone off world before, and this book, the first in the trilogy is the best of the trilogy. Charts the rise of a madman from his boyhood as a young spoilt prince to him coming of age and evil. The rest of the trilogy unfortunately becomes rather predictable.

entrancing - Rated
In my view, this is a rare novel, an intriguing piece of fantast literature. Our main characters are Gareth, a birthmarked boy who is to become whipping boy to the other main character Prince Dagnarus. Dagnarus is second in line to the throne of Vinnengael, after his father and elder brother, but he harbours ambitions of becoming king. He desires to become a Dominion Lord and seeks out, with the help of Gareth, the dark magic of the Void, where nothing exists and which will not aid unless sacrifice is paid. They learn how to create and control the undead Vrykyl, the dark counterparts to the good and just Dominion Lords. At the transmutation ceremony of the Dominion Lords, Dagnarus's dark secret is revealed and the kingdom is torn apart.

For once, the main characters in this book are on the dark side, yet having grown up with them, we feel some sympathy, especially for Gareth, utterly devoted to his prince.

This is a fantasy book which is well worth a read, and I'm looking forward to the next episode in the trilogy.

superb dark fantasy - Rated
I won't give too much away, suffice to say Weis and Hickman are on peak form in this first installment of their new trilogy. The characters, politics annd action are so good and the storyline is carefully and intricately peeled away. When a murder occurs witnessed by the two of the characters, other authors might of been happy ot drg it out for chapters and chapters, not these two. They get it over and done with on the next page and move onto more interesting and exciting plot developments. Things just get better and better the whole way through and there's two books to go. I can't wait!

A good start to a series - Rated
Although this book starts off slow, you will not be able to put it down after a while. Each chapters ends in a way that you just have to read the chapter next. This book introduces a new magical kindom of creatures, magic and politics. The characters are realistic and imaginative. The ending is unexpected and makes you want to read the next series. To summarise this was a good read, and when is the next book!