The Sea Devil’s Eye DNF@18% (Threat from the Sea #3) (Forgotten Realms)

February 4, 2017January 7, 2023 ~ Bookstooge ~ 12 Comments

^{This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress, Blogspot, Booklikes & Librarything by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission.}

Title: The Sea Devil’s Eye
Series: Threat from the Sea #3
Author: Mel Odom
Rating: 1 of 5 Stars
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 356
Format: Kindle Digital edition

Synopsis:

Abandoned, Did Not Finish.

My Thoughts: Maudlin Memories Abound

Part of why I abandoned this was because I had just finished Gardens of the Moon and I was still reveling in my first 5star read of 2017. ANY book was going to have a hard time following that. However, all the glaring faults of this Forgotten Realms trilogy were really brought into the light after staring into the previous book.

I was at a part where the main boy character [he’s 20’ish, but ‘boy’ is the best description] is being talked to by the main love interest and she’s pouring her heart out and simply asking him if he loves her. This boy has a very big “I’m not worthy” complex and he’s an introspective melancholic. In fact, he acts EXACTLY like me when I was 18-22. So my problem isn’t that he’s unbelievable, it is that he’s just plain selfish and WON’T look at anything other than how he wants to. My real life problem was solved when a professor at bibleschool answered one of my self-absorbed questions by laying into me and simply telling me the truth, in front of the whole class. I didn’t change overnight but I did begin to think about other people. In this trilogy, the boy has his professor moments but he stays self-absorbed. Maybe later in the book that changes, but after 2+ books, I was done.

A young hero needs to mature. However, if you’re only writing a trilogy, don’t drag that “grow up” point to the last chapter. It’s unpleasant for me as a reader because I have to put up with the character until then.

Nothing of the quality of this book was any less than the previous two. I’d simply had enough of the characters and the author’s wanking around.

star10full-custom

Under Fallen Stars (Threat from the Sea #2) (Forgotten Realms)

December 3, 2016January 7, 2023 ~ Bookstooge ~ Leave a comment

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This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes. blogspot.wordpress.com by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission.

Title: Under Fallen Stars

Series: Threat from the Sea #2

Author: Mel Odom

Rating: 3 of 5 Stars

Genre: SFF

Pages: 356

Format: Kindle digital edition

Synopsis:

Jherek continues to mope and feel bad, just about things. He does travel all over and have adventures, so at least he’s preparing to fight against the Taker. The Taker continues his rise to power and using of the Sahugin. The priestess buries her doubts about the Taker doing Sekola’s will. The old song guy gets more of the song in his head and hooks up with a peg leg dwarf [no, I am NOT kidding] and some old mystical elf. The various strands are starting to come together as each part moves closer to its final end.

My Thoughts:

This wasn’t a bad read but my goodness, Jherek and his whiny’ness got to be a bit much. It was just too true to life. Man, I’m glad I’m not a teenage boy anymore. Makes me wonder how my parents stood it.

Adventure-wise, this was a cracking good one. Sahugin and pirates invade a city, a ship battle between pirates, an attempt to capture someone in a crowded tavern. Brawls, fights and maneuvers abounded!

There were a couple of references to the downfall of the Elven empire millennia ago and it made me want to search out to see if any books dealt with that. I do know that some of the Elminster books take place during that time, but I can’t stand Ed Greenwood so I won’t be reading any by him and I don’t know if anything else was ever written. Forgotten Realms books are written about the era currently happening.

star30full

Rising Tide (Threat from the Sea #1) (Forgotten Realms)

September 29, 2016January 7, 2023 ~ Bookstooge ~ Leave a comment

Title: Rising Tide

Series: Threat from the Sea

Author: Mel Odom

Rating: 3 of 5 Stars

Genre: SFF

Pages: 356

Format: Kindle digital edition

Synopsis:

A young woman, a Sahugin throwback [which means she looks like a human instead of a pure Sahugin], frees an old sorcerer from his imprisonment, thinking it means he will side with her, extend her power and punish the surface dwellers for their encroachments on the sea. Little does she know that the sorcerer has his own plans and while conquest is on the menu, he plans on conquest of all.

At the same time, a young man, who is the son of an infamous pirate and with some other hidden life secret, is trying to find a life on the sea. Things just don’t ever seem to work out and he’s been hearing voices, which seem to be leading him towards a collision with the aforementioned sorcerer.

My Thoughts:

For a Mel Odom book, this was pretty good. Unfortunately, the young man is a guilt ridden, rule obsessive, completely self-centered brat. Everything, and I mean everything, must center around him. And he always puts the worst light possible on it. The young woman really isn’t much better as she is consumed with self-doubt and inadequacies because of her throwback status.

The idea of a world class sorcerer that used to hang out with gods awakening and starting a campaign of world domination never gets old. But it takes a good author to make it work. I’m not convinced that Odom can handle this.