cheezvshcrvst's review
3.0
Let’s face it: Wagner is a force to be reckoned with. His prose, as most and many have often and always repeated noted, is intensely descriptive and flows dynamically and wonderfully. His characters leap off the page, even when they respond to the story in ways that will make you groan. But that’s because you know this novel, Bloodstone, in a bajillion things that have been written since. Whatever tropes predate the ones Wagner wields here with style are just as tired then as now. Bloodstone is worth reading, and it is often page-turning and groovy as hell. Kane is a bastard of an antagonist masquerading as his own protagonist. You want to root for him, nearly as much as you will root against him. If Bloodstone could have been trimmed a bit, it would’ve lost Wagner’s flair for writing, but maybe been a better book. Still, points for a relatively strong female lead and for being so clearly influential on a ton of epic fantasy novels since and still to come.
jonmhansen's review
4.0
Interesting. Hero's a cross between Conan the Barbarian, Elric, and the biblical Cain, and reads like he's the villain of the story. Quite a trick.
arthurbdd's review
4.0
Mostly solid ethical inversion of the sword and sorcery model, in which the big macho protagonist is in fact the villain, let down by shaky-to-miserable handling of female characters. Full review: https://fakegeekboy.wordpress.com/2008/01/25/the-reading-canary-tackles-the-mystic-swordsman/
tbr_the_unconquered's review
4.0
The world of this book is one where forces of darkness lie just beyond the visible horizon. At those places where the light doesn’t reach, things stir in anticipation for the carnage to come. Monsters lurk there and the magic at play in those realms conjure up things that are best left unsaid. When this tale begins, these forces are known to all and like the legends are not much of a threat to anyone. The kind of tales to say around a fire at night or to scare children with. Just when the people of the world had forgotten all of this and gotten into their petty little squabbles and power struggles, a man appears in their midst. He is an enigma but in a time when brutality determined status in society, he was far more ruthless than those around him with any weapon that he chose to fight with. And so we are introduced to Kane who among other things is an immortal and is pretty good in anything that he does. Kane’s ambitions are beyond what the mere mortals think and he unleashes a force that the world had all but forgotten eons ago. Bloodstone is the story of a small but overwhelmed group of people fighting an alien evil and a man whose mind is far beyond their comprehensions.
While anti heroic characters are all the rage in fantasy now, Kane is not someone who will fit into the hero bracket even on such scales. He is well and truly the antagonist and the chief trouble maker of the tale. Being an immortal, Kane transcends good and bad of the normal human thought process and appears to be a totally nefarious entity when you consider his plans. There are occasional glimpses of love, tenderness and affection in him but they are all brushed away in the grander scheme of things. His is a wretched existence knowing that he would outlive everyone and everything and is doomed to an existence of watching humanity perish like mayflies against the ravages of time. It is precisely this attached detachment that makes Kane an interesting character study. Having been written in 1970’s the story is atmospherically heavier than its focus on character development. The places, the magic and the geography tends to get a preferential treatment when compared to the growth and development of the characters themselves. While Kane is an interesting enough character, Wagner keeps Kane mostly in the darkness under a cloak (literally and figuratively) and only gives us glimpses of him in this book.
Read it as a start to a series that defined heroic fantasy in the early days but if you read and judge it with an eye for fantasy of the present day then it might not be enjoyable. Recommended !
While anti heroic characters are all the rage in fantasy now, Kane is not someone who will fit into the hero bracket even on such scales. He is well and truly the antagonist and the chief trouble maker of the tale. Being an immortal, Kane transcends good and bad of the normal human thought process and appears to be a totally nefarious entity when you consider his plans. There are occasional glimpses of love, tenderness and affection in him but they are all brushed away in the grander scheme of things. His is a wretched existence knowing that he would outlive everyone and everything and is doomed to an existence of watching humanity perish like mayflies against the ravages of time. It is precisely this attached detachment that makes Kane an interesting character study. Having been written in 1970’s the story is atmospherically heavier than its focus on character development. The places, the magic and the geography tends to get a preferential treatment when compared to the growth and development of the characters themselves. While Kane is an interesting enough character, Wagner keeps Kane mostly in the darkness under a cloak (literally and figuratively) and only gives us glimpses of him in this book.
Read it as a start to a series that defined heroic fantasy in the early days but if you read and judge it with an eye for fantasy of the present day then it might not be enjoyable. Recommended !
blchandler9000's review
3.0
A relatively epic sword and sorcery novel. Kane, a brooding immortal, uncovers an ancient ring that links him with a powerful cosmic device. There's political intrigue, a dash of romance, lots of frogmen, and bloodshed.
On the whole, the book was enjoyable. The stakes are high, the drama is intense. There's a few nice twists and cool plot points that intrigue and reward the reader. Wagner's prose is rich, bordering on a delicious shade of purple, though the author does rely on certain words heavily. If I had a dollar for every time he used the word "coruscant," I could have bought a half-dozen more copies of the book for a S&S book club.
But the story is pretty bloody and ultimately nihilistic. Even the most hot-blooded moments are wrapped with cynicism. Lives are cheap and the characters are not altogether likable—interesting, yes, but not very likable. I wouldn't want to meet any of them over dinner, which means this will likely be the last Kane book I read.
On the whole, the book was enjoyable. The stakes are high, the drama is intense. There's a few nice twists and cool plot points that intrigue and reward the reader. Wagner's prose is rich, bordering on a delicious shade of purple, though the author does rely on certain words heavily. If I had a dollar for every time he used the word "coruscant," I could have bought a half-dozen more copies of the book for a S&S book club.
But the story is pretty bloody and ultimately nihilistic. Even the most hot-blooded moments are wrapped with cynicism. Lives are cheap and the characters are not altogether likable—interesting, yes, but not very likable. I wouldn't want to meet any of them over dinner, which means this will likely be the last Kane book I read.
sammystarbuck's review
3.0
This was ok, but failed to really grab me. I can't quite put my finger on it, but it just felt like something was missing...
Kane is a great character though. I like that he isn't your typical overly good and honourable fantasy hero. Instead he seems to inhabit a grey area, often crossing right to the dark side, and that anti-hero quality makes him all the more interesting, IMO.
Kane is a great character though. I like that he isn't your typical overly good and honourable fantasy hero. Instead he seems to inhabit a grey area, often crossing right to the dark side, and that anti-hero quality makes him all the more interesting, IMO.
akirathelemur's review
4.0
Pure, ridiculous sword and sorcery. Unlike Leiber or Moorecock, Wagner is uninterested in adding anything more to the story, whether sly humor or gothic gloom. Just straight up, purple-prosed silliness that is deeply entertaining. It's like watching Heavy Metal or listening to Manowar: pure enjoyment.
drozdal's review
3.0
Better than the first one. I remember liking it more when I read it the first time is high school.
I love the post apocalyptic world where humans are new race who lifted themselves from darkness by pillaging remains of ancient races who once inhabited the world. Cool old technology, some vile and forbidden magics. Story is mediocre but setting is where it's at. Worth reading if you yearn some something of the Sword and Sorcery genre.
I love the post apocalyptic world where humans are new race who lifted themselves from darkness by pillaging remains of ancient races who once inhabited the world. Cool old technology, some vile and forbidden magics. Story is mediocre but setting is where it's at. Worth reading if you yearn some something of the Sword and Sorcery genre.
bjswann's review
5.0
The first Kane the Wanderer book. Kane is a ruthless and amoral killer cursed with immortality. He spends his time seeking power, pleasure, and trying to soothe his relentless ennui. Bloodstone sees him on a quest to unearth terrifying eldritch might, which comes in the form of the titular Bloodstone, a seemingly magical ring that turns out to be much more. The book is very obviously inspired by Maturin's Melmoth the Wanderer. Kane is mostly a mysterious figure who impacts the lives of others, and has relatively few POV scenes. The main character is really Kane’s enemy-turned-lover-turned-enemy again, a woman called Teres. One of the coolest fantasy heroines I've encountered, Teres the ‘she-wolf’ is a kind of super tomboy who’s been raised to succeed her father, king of a violent patriarchal society. She falls for Kane, then stands against him when his demented quest for power becomes an obvious threat to all human life.
Verdict – this book is very good, almost great. Kane and Teres are awesome characters. Unfortunately a lot of the more minor characters are a bit beige and forgettable, except for Teres’ father. There are some really tense and exciting moments, mostly featuring Teres, who as a mere mortal is more vulnerable than Kane. The dialogue is more naturalistic than that in the Elric or Conan stories for example, but is still a bit too ornate and stylized, and often sounds exactly like the narrator’s prose. Some of the monsters are very cool, especially the undead creatures brought back by Bloodstone, which, after being chopped apart, re-form themselves into hybrid horrors. Unfortunately some of the battle scenes become boring due to an abundance of holistic descriptions. Which just goes to show that battle scenes are almost always better when told from a specific POV. There is a lot of stuff about political and military maneuvering which also gets a bit boring, mostly because one of the main characters is exceedingly bland. Can’t even remember his name. The baddy – Bloodstone – is basically an eldritch Lovecraft-type monster with a twist – he’s an alien supercomputer that has self-awareness and wants to team up with his buddies to take over the cosmos. The plot is grand and far-reaching, but the story is actually at its best and most compelling when it’s not being epic at all. The best moments deal with simpler, more intimate situations. Which just goes to show that a story, no matter how grand, always has to foreground the intimate lives of its heroes, down to all the gritty details.
Verdict – this book is very good, almost great. Kane and Teres are awesome characters. Unfortunately a lot of the more minor characters are a bit beige and forgettable, except for Teres’ father. There are some really tense and exciting moments, mostly featuring Teres, who as a mere mortal is more vulnerable than Kane. The dialogue is more naturalistic than that in the Elric or Conan stories for example, but is still a bit too ornate and stylized, and often sounds exactly like the narrator’s prose. Some of the monsters are very cool, especially the undead creatures brought back by Bloodstone, which, after being chopped apart, re-form themselves into hybrid horrors. Unfortunately some of the battle scenes become boring due to an abundance of holistic descriptions. Which just goes to show that battle scenes are almost always better when told from a specific POV. There is a lot of stuff about political and military maneuvering which also gets a bit boring, mostly because one of the main characters is exceedingly bland. Can’t even remember his name. The baddy – Bloodstone – is basically an eldritch Lovecraft-type monster with a twist – he’s an alien supercomputer that has self-awareness and wants to team up with his buddies to take over the cosmos. The plot is grand and far-reaching, but the story is actually at its best and most compelling when it’s not being epic at all. The best moments deal with simpler, more intimate situations. Which just goes to show that a story, no matter how grand, always has to foreground the intimate lives of its heroes, down to all the gritty details.
deimosremus's review
4.0
Bloodstone is my first jump into the works of Karl Edward Wagner, who has been often described as one of the fathers of dark fantasy, if not its foremost figure in the genre's formative years. Wagner’s chief invention is that of the character Kane, an iconic antihero who has equally violent and scholarly aspirations.
Bloodstone is written in a style reminiscent of one of Wagner’s biggest influences— strange fiction authors such as Lovecraft, Derleth, etc. The prose is both purple and pulpy, sometimes rather eloquent and while largely very well written, definitely feels its length. That said, it manages to craft a story that’s compelling and thrilling, and the character at the center of it goes through many intriguing changes as an amoral, double-crossing and selfish protagonist-to-antagonist. It blends heroic fantasy with cosmic horror well and the imagery described within it is definitely memorable. It even has a good attempt at a well-rounded and perhaps subversive (for the time) heroic female character in Teres, which is exceedingly rare in both this genre and the era it was written in.
I’ll likely be visiting more of Wagner’s works in the future after I cull through my reading list.
Bloodstone is written in a style reminiscent of one of Wagner’s biggest influences— strange fiction authors such as Lovecraft, Derleth, etc. The prose is both purple and pulpy, sometimes rather eloquent and while largely very well written, definitely feels its length. That said, it manages to craft a story that’s compelling and thrilling, and the character at the center of it goes through many intriguing changes as an amoral, double-crossing and selfish protagonist-to-antagonist. It blends heroic fantasy with cosmic horror well and the imagery described within it is definitely memorable. It even has a good attempt at a well-rounded and perhaps subversive (for the time) heroic female character in Teres, which is exceedingly rare in both this genre and the era it was written in.
I’ll likely be visiting more of Wagner’s works in the future after I cull through my reading list.