Let me first admit that I am one of the - I presume - large numbeer of people who rush to buy all of Drake's books. (BTW, I wish he would write a book set in Vietnam, either fiction or non-fiction to get his 11th Cav days off his chest. War is hell when you're smart and have an imagination...) This one was something of a novelty. Anumber of the stories are ones Drake did for other anthologies. Thus I missed them the first time around. Some are extremely well done, some aren't so great but still a pleasant diversion. Don't get me wrong, if you like Drake read this book. If you haven't read Drake yet, start with one of the Slammer's compilations.

From the author, cover, and title I expected this to be more great military fiction from the master. While not quite the Drake I am used to reading (Hammer's Slammers, Cross the Stars, etc.), it was still thoroughly entertaining and delightful. I would recommend it to anyone who likes to laugh

I'm amazed! I started reading these reader comments hoping to get some insight into where these books are headed. Apparently no other reader has figured it out either. Even the people who said they liked it seemed to hit the nail right on the head: There is NO character development in this book.

The characters are dull and uninteresting. After a book and a half and some 700+ pages I had to admit that I just didn't CARE what happened to these people.

This book, more so than the first, is impossible to finish because if you lose interest and set it down for a few days (weeks, months while you read something more interesting)then pick it up again, you're completely lost because there is absolutely nothing memorable about the characters or the plot.

Sure Drake "Juggles plot lines and brings them neatly together" because in this world NOTHING makes sense, there's no cause and effect, the characters don't learn from their adventures, so he can just WRITE them back together. The books end when Drake stops writing, not when he's resolved some conflict.

Okay, his writing is clear, his ideas are fresh, inventive and fairly exciting, but basic writing techniques like story arch and character development seem to be lost on the author. Considering these are covered at length in nearly every basic creative writing class, book or magazine, one wonders how he's managed to avoid exposure to any of the above, or why he chose to ignore these basic concepts. A one-night class would do him wonders!

But then he's managed to get paid to write at lest 4 of these. Do us all a favor. Don't buy this book and maybe he'll stop writing them.

While the plot (orpahn boy is actually the long-lost king) is nothing new and most of the characters I've seen before, Drake's world-building is credible and the story hops along at an energetic pace and managed to keep me reading despite what I feel to be writing under par.

David Drake's style is replete with simile metaphor and analogy that most often is so verbose that the comparison is lost by the time I finish the sentence. The sentences themselves are clumsy and inarticulate and distract me from what is actually trying to be said. I fnd the characters to be mono-dimensional and seriously lacking in human motivation. The plotting flows like a role-playing game jumping from: scene-encounter enemy/situation-fight enemy/situation-learn piece of epic plotting-vanquish enemy/solve situation-be transported to next scene-repeat process with character number 2.

Despite all of it's flaws Queen of Demons was a marginal improvement on the first book in the series and I still read the whole thing so there must have been something about it that I liked enough to keep turning pages (though I am not sure what it is because every page kept reminding me that I was reading a story and never succeeded in "transporting me away from the mundane world" like when you see a movie with a famous actor and you are never sold on his character because you keep thinking "Oh, that's Brad Pitt"). I am not sure that I will bother to reed the next installment in the series, but I could get bored and buy it anyway for lack of anything better to read.

Quite a good read. Drake keeps the intest level high with more almost meetings between the struggling characters. Cashel gains a new companion. Garric begins to lead. (I'm not going to give away more than that) The story builds up to a final double confrantation that proves worth it. The hook for the next book is obvious, however I'm not an author so I can't complain.

I got interested in this period of history after reading Parkman's masterful "France and England" series. Drake's book is the opposite -- dull, politically correct, completely lacking a sense of drama, written more with a view to securing tenure than increasing knowledge of this period. There's all the buzzwords -- indentity and gender and sexual politics, hints of Foucault and Derrida... an absolute waste of money. I pity his students. I pity the study of history. Morrison, Parkman, Freeman, Foote -- where are you when we need you?

Historian James Drake presents an intriguing thesis in this book. In his view, King Philip's War was a civil war that tore apart a highly integrated European-Indian society. On the face of it, this idea seems ludicrous, but Drake presents a very convincing case. Even if Drake does not win you over, you learn a lot about both colonial and Indian societies. Even the most ardent critics of the work must admit that Drakes presents some significant challenges to conventional thinking.

The problem is that Drake does not know how to write well. The book is dreadfully slow and dry, with little penchent for anything but the most academic trivia. If one stays awake, you will find some very fascinating insights mixed together with the horrendously slow treatise, but often, it's not worth it.

For fans of colonial history, it's a must. For anyone else, be warned: it will be a tough read.

This is a clearly written and thoughtful analysis of King Philip's War. While some may disagree with the author's characterization of the conflict as a "civil war," Drake effectively illuminates the important and complex connections that developed among the New England colonies and some Native American nations and how those connections helped to bring about the war.

great combat descriptions, really. but this work is too fragmentary. stuff happens, then something quite else, then the story takes a turn when it should be moving forward. drake should have made this into short stories. then it might have worked. not the fight in the end though, which somehow doesn't seem to fit in. this is like a warning to fantasy writers: sometimes you shouls make a short story, not a novel. this didn't really seem lie a novel to me. some of the things that happened and how they happened seem weird

This is not a typical King Arther tale in which the king is the primary character. Arther plays a role but it is minor compared to the two main heros in the story. It has an interesting take on the personality and the physical characteristics of Arther. An fun book to read because it is not the same old thing.

The thing about David Drake is that he absolutely refuses to be bound by sentimental genre restrictions that he hasn't agreed to.

And this is a typical, albeit early, example of him doing that. His Arthur isn't the doomed romantic of T.H. White; he's a historically believable conqueror, every bit as credible -- and unsavory -- as Genghis Khan, Attila the Hun, or Ibn Saud. Drake's protagonists, while capable of some personal nobility, aren't cookie-cutter heroes, or even the more complex (and also thoroughly enjoyable) ones from White -- they're the sorts of folks who simply don't let cutting a few throats bother them.

This is probably the most original take on the whole Arthurian thing that I've ever read, and I've read quite a few.

I greatly enjoy David Weber's books. I have hard cover copies of most of them. I do not understand why he thinks that we should buy another copy of Ms. Midshipman Harrington. I already have Changer of Worlds and the same story begins both books. Mr. Weber has been very successful and I have been a part of his success. This is very hard to take. Maybe I'll wait to read his next NEW book at the library.

I was very disappointed to start reading and found out the first story by David Weber was taken out of a previous David Weber book of short stories, "Changer of Worlds". I thought I was going to get a new story about Honor Harrington. Eric Flint's story was very entertaining. It was a continuation of the Belsarius alternate history. David Drake's continuing tale of Hammer's Slammers is always graphic, but Mr. Drake has tried to impress upon his readers that war is not neat and clean.

Even though David Weber's contribution is repeated from another anthology, Warmasters is worth buying for military sci-fi fans. The second story, set in the Belisaurius universe, is excellent, both for character development (Calopodius & his wife) and for adding a medical twist to the universe. The third story, about Hammer's Slammers, is also good. I read a library copy, but have purchased a copy for my personal collection.

Imagine a rifle clip loaded with rounds of different caliber and type. That's the impression this book left on me. Just a bunch of loosely related stories of varying quality, all about a subject that I personally found less than interesting. "The Jungle" is approximately 1000 times better.

While this book won't be winning any awards it is still a good book. But only if you enjoy military Sci-Fi...

Maybe this is suitable research material, but it is not readable. I threw away my copy and glad to be rid of it. Hope it stays definitely out of print.

A truly incredible collection of great short SF stories by various vintage authors -- and I mean vintage! This is great research material for all of us wannabe authors who need to study well written and interesting SF stories (since most of the short SF stories in today's magazines are totally boring) so thay can enter contests. There's even a story in there, by Clifford Simak, called GOOD NIGHT MR. JAMES, which was made into one of the old Outer Limits episodes, titled DUPLICATE MAN. Mr. Simak's story is far superior to the teleplay, a teleplay that had a super great storyline and subject matter to begin with!

This book includes few horror stories, which may interest you. The stories in here are not much of a horror story, but more of a suspense. As the scenes reveal you will be anticipating for the story to go on, but you will find youself saying, "HUH? " -at least that's what i did. sureley this isn't a story written by Stephen King. But for those who are interested in horror itself, try it. Who knows if you will have a different opinion than me.

I have tried several times to read this book. I even bought it on tape to listen to on the way to work. It is long and if your a fan of fantasy, you've seen it all before. The tapes were especially annoying. I didn't realize until tape three that you had to reajust the speakers to listen to that tape again. It was frustratuing, and the action was confusing. Sorry, I gave it my best. Try David Drakes "Dragon Lord" instead.

The only thing that made me finish this book is that I was in the middle of nowhere with no alternative fiction available.

Drake truly stunned me with his ability to write an entire book of which I have yet to figure out the plot. The story lacks depth and complexity; very little actually happens in this book, although there are many adventures. Unlike some of the critics, I did not think there was much orginality here; not even in the writing. It felt, and read, more like a children's adventure story than a true fantasy novel.

In addition, the characters are sadly lacking in depth, although I grudgingly have to admit I liked Cashel as the very normal country boy with unusual wizard talent (Nellie the sidekick sprite, on the other hand, got up my nose). Cashel begs to be explored more deeply, and perhaps this is done in the sequels. He is kind, thinks clearly (albeit slowly) and the reader can sympathise with his dispositions.

"Lord of the Isles", however, is missing an irresistable hero (or heroine) that the reader can commit to regardless of character flaws. In fact, characters with personalities is something that Drake omitted altogether.

I finished the book, which is about as much as I can say about it. I have no idea why the rest of the trilogy was written, let alone why anyone would want to read it. In truth, I don't even know why this book was printed. Perhaps Drake has a better reputation for his other books; unfortunately for him, this is the only one I've read.

My experience before this book with science fiction was the Hobbit series (when it first came out)! So, now that I've dated myself, let me say that I really enjoyed this book. It was left on an airplane by someone, and I picked it up because I had a long airport layover in front of me. I was truly surprised at how engaging the characters were. I liked how the author jumped around in parallel story lines. It kept my attention, though if I let a day or so go by without reading some, I usually had to refresh my memory of what the characters were facing. Since reading this book, I've read Queen of Demons, and I am about to start Servant of The Dragon. I guess now I would be considered a fan of David Drake's writing.