McKiernan's stories are well fleshed out and stirring. He was a linguist, not an author or a story teller which is probably why his writing is so terribly dry, boring, and needlessly descriptive. Unfortunately, that's about all you can say for his writing. However, McKiernan writes a story that improves upon every idea put forth by Tolkien. Is Dragondoom inspired by the Hobbit? Undoubtedly. In sum: I wasted my time waiting for the book to finally become.something.ĭoes the Dark Tower trilogy steal from LOTR? Absolutely. Though a good reader might have marginally redeemed it, this reader sounds similar to a deep-voiced 2nd grader performing in front of a stern, critical schoolmaster. Also,in fact, there is no semblance of a conclusion, something even a trilogy should provide, It just quits. The 'doom, doom, boom' of the enemy drum beats is stolen directly from the scene just prior to Gandalf's battle with the Balrog in Moria in 'The Lord of the Rings' except in 'The Drk Tide' the phrase is repeated over and over to the point of listener irritation. The 'plot', the characters, the names, the places, and the myriad types of nonhuman creatures are all barely disguised copies of those from J.R.R. There was no true plot no character development no internal consistency (hardened warriors shed more frequent tears than most children of my acquaintance), and NO originality.

Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but the shameless copying of a good story with bad writing is simply to ride the coat tails of a famous (excellent) author. Lower your literary expectations for just a little while, loosen your tie, and have a little fun with this enjoyable first book in the series. BUT.remember, Lord of the Rings it is NOT. It's written well, and consistently well, at that. You will however, consider revisiting it once in a very blue moon. Will you re-listen to this yearly like you might with LotR? Definitely NO. Most people do NOT make it through the Lord of the Rings because of that very reason - It's HEAVY reading. Think lighter, more casual listening for the simple fun of it.

Sound familiar? Of course it does, but here's where my interest lies: It's a well-written carbon copy without the trapping of an epic trilogy. Only this tiny hero and his team can possibly overcome the impending doom that threatens to swallow the world.

This can't be more of a carbon copy of the formula used in The Lord of the Rings - An unlikely hero, a ragtag group to bring about an almost impossible task, a dark enemy of pure evil to get in the way, along with various races mixed up in the war. If you like the Lord of the Rings, but want to avoid the detailed monologues, descriptive family histories, and tedious and long world descriptions found in the Lord of the Rings, this series may be for you.

The dark tide dennis l mckiernan