now for as good as the show is, i have not read one book that even comes close to getting the feel of the tv show. i reccomend
that all true fans get out your vcr tapes and watch it. the books
are boring.

Ru Emerson captures the voice of Xena and her companion, Gabrielle in this tie in novel to the series, Xena:Warrior Princess. What is there not to like? As a fellow Xenite speaking to the other Xenites out there, one needs something to fill in the time from one episode to the next. Some write fan fic, some do art....others read. Ru Emerson studies her topic well and obviously knows what she is talking about. As I read of the leather-clad Xena and witty Gabrielle along with the golden haired boy Hadrian, I felt I was actually in the story...the way she described the environment was so realistic to me. I look forward to reading her new books!

Well written with belivable dialog and characters that are definitely not cliches. The story is the familiar one of people from earth being swept off to a magical realm, and getting caught up in various troubles; but the unconventional characters, and surprising plot twists keep this book quite engaging.

welcome back!! this is a must read, a return to the characters from the night thread trilogy. find out what happens, you won't be disapointed!! good character developement, and likeable people. i really enjoy these books and this author.

This book was alright, but i have to say that some of the things Ru had said, well Xena would not do. This comment goes for the other Xena books he has written. Please try to be more true to the characters. To the Fellow Xenities: This book is an excellent addition to your collection, but the show will always be best. :)

In the acknowledgments of her book, Ru Emerson pays homage to those whose actions either inspired or aided in its creation. I would like to state my respect for the final result. Anyone who enjoys "getting away from it all" can sit back and journey to the world of myth and cheer on several bravehearts as they challenge one of the land of make believe's "bad guys." The author even manages to slip in a lesson to all about image and necessity for heroes in our lives. Thank you Ru for the great armchair trip

This book was awesome! The riddles were fun, and the characters were put on a very realistic level. While I enjoy The Empty Throne better, this is definently still a classic Xena novel.

Please beware that The Xena Scrolls is not a book, and it is not by Ru Emerson. It is a fold-out poster and is not worth the money. I only wish I had read the customer reviews before I made my purchase!

This I tore out as a poster. It's very big, and has many colorful, and black and white pictures, shelling in a letter from Mel to Janice.(Descendant characters from the episode "the Xena scrolls") If you like showing off who you're a fan of, a suggest getting this and using it as a poster.

For any great fan of Xena, this is a great buy. It details further findings of the beloved Melinda Pappas and Janice Covington in their quest to learn about Xena in the Xena Scrolls discovered during World War II. Great fun for a fan.

When I watch the tv show, Joxer is OK at best as the comic relief on the show. When I read this book I was not happy with his role in it. His character is just too stupid to be of any use to Xena and Gabrielle. If you're going to have Hercules in the book he should've have played a bigger role in it. He's just in there for Xena to deliver a message to? In the future don't waste such valuable characters in a book like that. After reading this first book in the trilogy, I'm not anxiously awaiting the next book in the series. Maybe I'm being a little too hard on this book because Ru is setting up the storyline in this first book (I hope so). I found myself not able to put the book down because I just wanted to get to the end of it. Less Joxer and more Xena and swordplay would've helped this book a lot.

I have read the other reviews and find them very mixed. In my opinon (unbiased I hope) I think it's an okay book. Joxer gets annoying after a while, but that's why he becomes an interesting character. I also agree that Gabrielle was a little off. Strictly mythology speaking things are modified as they always are. they have to be or their would be no show. The book has a plot, it's original if not particularly full of twistes and turns. I found several spots to be funny and well thought out in conjunction with the show. For example the cherries are mentioned in conjunction with Draco. I also found that Ru is making much better fights than before. She is improving and trying hard.

The book is better than okay. Its worth the dinhars, but it doesn't stand up to in depth nit picking.

This book was excellent! Even though the story didn't really focus on the main characters it still was written in great detail. I think Ru Emerson did a great job on what the story was based on and how she wrote it. I would recommend this to any die hard Xena fan!!!

After reading Emerson's latest installation of Xena books I have to wonder why she didn't call them Gabrielle: Warrior Bard. The book seemed to center entirely around Gabrielle. And if that wasn't enough she hinted at a relationship between Ares and Gabrielle. AS IF!

This book is very interesting. I thought it was very well written and that Ru had done a fabulous job with the characters and the story line. The characters especially, they were exactly like they were on the television show. I would recommend this to any die hard Xena fan!!!

I found this book marvelous and well-written. The story-line was flowing, and the characters were true to the story. For those who complain that many of the characters mentioned do not show up in the myths and legends of ancient Greece: NEWS FLASH! XENA doesn't appear in any old legends either. And by the way, most of the background characters don't even appear in most legends anyway. I mean, did you ever hear what the prince's name was in Snow White, for gosh sakes, even in the Bible, they never mention any of Noah's or his son's wives, do they? Anyway, back to the story. Xena, Joxer, and Gabriel continue on their quest to find Helen, and beat the other warlords sent to get her as well. Joxer is his usual goofy self, Gabriel is, as always, a little bland, and Xena is the cool, calm warrior. Lots of Mythical Surprises, lots of references, and plenty of plain old fun. By the way, for those of you curious, yes, there is a section of the book with a sea monster. TWO in fact. And, beleive it or not, Joxer's right in the thick of it (surprise, suprise).

So very little happens in this book. The whole thing is just "fight a bunch of monsters, make camp, fight some more monsters, go back to town, fight some more monsters". Seriously, it's a book version of the game Baldur's Gate. I know that it is a book written off of a D&D module, but, to me, there ought to at least be a story outside of [fight] & slash, rest, [fight] & slash. There is just the tiniest hinting at developing the characters and even then, it is just to define them as a certain ...type. The only reason I even bothered to give it 2 stars was because the combat is decently written. It was a fast read and not entirely unenjoyable, but I would not recommend this book to anyone who had not played the module.

I found that this book was better than Ru Emerson's first Grayhawk book, Against the Giants, but had some of the same problems. While the characters are more fleshed out in this book, and the pace is a little more subdued (there are actually are some down times), I still found the overall plot to be thin and weak. Two groups of caravan guards meet up at an old Keep in the hinterlands and decide to team up and go after some bandits that are terrorizing the Keep. Why? Well, for treasure of course! For glory! Because they are bored with being caravan guards! Those are at least three of the reasons given. So off they go, bumbling around until they actually find and destroy the bandit camp.
Next the Castellan wants them to go off into the wilds and defeat a bunch of monsters living in some caves. So off they go! Why? See above. While the characters do have some depth and interact with each other in a believable manner, the plot tends to be thin because the reasons for these adventures are thin. The best parts of this book concern the swordswoman Eddis and the little girl first known to us as simply Blot. There are some truly touching moments when Eddis realizes what she gave up for the adventuring life (family, kids) and whether or not it was a good choice for her. She also realizes that she actually likes kids and maybe would like to raise this little girl. The worst parts of the book occur anytime Jers appears, which is unfortunately a lot, since he is a main character. Jers is a cardboard alpha male, consisting of so many testosterone-laden stereotypes that it is hard to imagine that he can walk around, much less fight. He is impulsive. He has little thought for his life or anyone else's. He seeks after glory and treasure. He has no social skills whatsoever. He is a 12-year old in a 25-year old's body. I found this character to be particularly unbelievable. He's like Howard Stern with a sword.
Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of this book is the hastily contrived ending, which was a little too abrupt for my taste. This is a similar problem to Emerson's other book, Against the Giants. If you do read it, don't expect much out of the ending, 'cause it's not there.

Anyway, if you are into the game and like to read, you will enjoy this book, particularly if you have gone through the module. If you are just a fantasy fan, move on- there are way better books for you to spend time over than this one.

Well, I haven't played the original module, but I have enjoyed the other Greyhawk books, so I did pick this one up. As everyone else has pointed out the story is pretty simple. Basically a couple of caravan guard groups get together to wipe out bandits and monsters. That's really the whole book. It is simply a quick forest/dungeon crawl. There are no real surprises or twists and honestly I found the end a bit anticlimatic and just a little silly. It is an ok read for and afternoon or evening, but you might think about picking up something else first. On the other hand, I did enjoy Ru Emerson's other Greyhawk book, Against the Giants, a bit more, the characters and story are just a bit more interesting, though it reads much the same way.

This is a sad end of a very painful series. All three books just don't seem to fit in the 'Xena' Universe. And the ending, while being right out of a Greek style play, is not really fulfilling. Don't get me wrong, I want books to be made about Xena, BUT by somebody else! I don't need to know every little detail of a dusty trail or a copper cup or the deep blue sea.

I think that this book has a very satisfying ending, and that any die-hard Xena fan should have it, in addition to all the other Xena books that this fantastic author has written.

...I didn't expect much, but I at least hoped this book would answer some of the mysteries in the original module, or provide one possible explanation for what was going on. What was that temple under the Hill Giant Steading, for example?

....Unfortunately, this book provides less detail and explanation than the modules themselves. Not one single question from the old D&D modules is answered in this book, and much of the good stuff in the modules is left out. They only visit three rooms out of each of the last two modules, for example.

.....Many have pointed out that this reads like a bad module, not a book. All the dialogue are lines like "I have memorized 3 beneath notice and two reveal spells today," or "Remember, as a Paladin, I have the ability to detect evil," etc. It stops just short of using terms like hit points and saving throws. The wizard was the worst character for this - it was like listening to a teenage D&D player tell you what move he is making next.
.
.... If you were looking for a good strategy on how the giants' places should have been assaulted - forget it! Apparently, you can walk right in the front door (past the guards) of every one of them. What are the chances that every single guard in all three modules is asleep when they run into them?

.... Beyond that, the whole thing was too hokey and sweet. The adventurers were so pure and kind that you thought they were going to lead the giants in some kind of rehab support group instead of kill them. Would anyone really have a 5-minute conference in the middle of an enemy dungeon about whether it is OK to kill torturers while they sleep? All the human kings, princes and army guys that they dealt with were totally legit and honest. Rowan, the female ranger and the Berserker had a little depth. Some day, I would like to see a D&D story with flawed heroes, a Dirty Dozen kind of group. Not here.

....Also, I thought it was cheap the way the wizard basically assured that the heroes could detect everything, but everything they did was invisible and inaudible and wiped from the giants' memories.

....The Paladin was basically a pacifist. He wouldn't kill a mosquito if it was carrying the next plague.

.... And was anyone else annoyed by whom Rowan latches onto at the end? She flirted with the young guy Lhors for the whole book, what happened to that?

I have been a huge fan of the Giants' Modules for years. I have played once as a player, and ran the Module as a GM about 3 times. Ru's writing brought the true flavor of the series and even in a idea of what was actualy going on... (in the series, the modules never gave a clue of what was going on). Ru's vivid writing style made it a book I could not put down. If you have played the series or are planning to run it, this book should be read, and Ideas used.

I agree whis Marc E. Broom "this book read like a module and less like a novel". But I find it very interesting and enjoible reading, never the less. I play this module not once as player and DM, and it's very interesting to see how someone anather will make out the situation you once had been.