The War of the Dwarves / Markus Heitz

The War of the Dwarves

category: fantasy, author:

Markus Heitz (translated by Sally-Ann Spencer)

book 2 of The Dwarves
original copyright 2004, translated from German in 2010
read in October 2010

Agamedes' opinion: 6 out of 10

I read The Dwarves a few months ago and found it to be excellent. The War of the Dwarves is... a bit of a disappointment.

It's still a lot of fun to have a story told from a Dwarf perspective. There are still some good Dwarf characters. And the Dwarven hero finally gets his Dwarven girl.

Unfortunately, Heitz has taken a rollicking adventure -- and built on it.

First up, there are too many strands to this story:

The first book began -- as many fantasies do -- with a hero setting forth on an adventure. Along the way, the hero meets other people -- of various races and abilities -- and a group is formed. The group splits, only to be reunited at the climactic conclusion...

At the start of this second book -- The War of the Dwarves -- there are already a number of plot strands in place. Heitz follows these... and coherence is lost.

Yes, Tungdil the hero plays a major role in the story. Yet there are a dozen or more others who pop in and out of the narrative: friends, villains, kings, elves, dwarves and men. Worse yet, whole armies seem to appear as though from nowhere! Not really "nowhere", but the distance between points seems to grow and shrink at the author's whim: armies march for weeks in one direction then apparently take only days to return... Perhaps I simply did not pay enough attention to the geography!?

Then there are the names... Okay, I managed to keep track of most of the place names. After a fashion. But the elvish, dwarvish and human people names were just too much for me. Take the necessarily different naming styles of the major races. Add multi-part names, alternate names and alternate ways in which each name is used. With, perhaps, Germanic overtones... I just could not keep track of who was who.

A second or third reading -- or a slower and more careful first reading -- would sort out who was doing what to whom. On the other hand -- the book does not warrant a second reading.

Take a first book with interesting characters and strong action. Add more battle scenes, up the death count, unexpectedly kill off key characters -- and a lot of the book's enjoyment is lost.

The War of the Dwarves is just too violent, too realistic in its death count. Too over-the-top to be enjoyed. Okay, too over-the-top to be enjoyed by me. I like my fantasy to be more fantastic and less violent. Or at least less violent to the characters that I have come to like. War is a violent, almost non-stop, battle.

The Dwarves was an enjoyable adventure with the added perspective of the dwarven perspective. The War of the Dwarves adds somewhat to the dwarven story -- but at the expense of plot. Along the way, some of the enjoyment has been lost.

Still... There are plenty of indications that book three is on its way. I will probably read it. I just hope that the battles are toned down and the story depends more on plot than on violence.

..o0o..

These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

The Dwarves (Die Zwerge) / Markus Heitz

The Dwarves
(Die Zwerge)

(category: fantasy)
by

Markus Heitz (translated by Sally-Ann Spencer)

published by Heyne Verlag in 2003
English translation published by Orbit in 2009
Nick read a library book, in March 2010

Nick's rating: 9 out of 10

Nick's opinion:

From one point of view, this is just a good fantasy novel. What sets it apart is... the point of view. This is the only book that I have read where the dwarves are the central characters. Sure, every fantasy quest has men, elves, hobbit equivalents... and dwarves. And yes, the dwarves are tough, loyal, etc. Then there was the LoTR movie, where Gimli suffered the ignominy of being cast as comic relief. Now -- at last -- a book where dwarves are treated as more than just quest-group fillers.

The dwarves of The Dwarves are real characters: They have history, depth, emotions -- and variety. Good dwarves and bad, honest and sneaky, leaders, tradesmen and fighters. Yet all are distinctly dwarves, as distinct from men and elves. And -- my own preference -- the good guys are good and the baddies are obviously bad. (Though it does take a while for the good guys to recognise, or to prove, the badness of some of the baddies.)

A rip-roaring fantasy adventure, with plenty of close calls and good luck. (Meaning that even I can see that a more miserable author could have made life even more difficult for the heroes.) Enjoyable from start to finish, with happy endings all round, as the final plot twists are revealed.

My only problem was with the language. This book was written in German, as Die Zwerge. The English translation is excellent -- just different to English as I expect it. I can't even put my finger on it, it just causes my reading to stumble, occasionally. Once I realised that I really was reading a German book translated to English, I relaxed and read happily to the end. And hope that it is not really The End: I look forward to finding out what evil is lurking in the west...

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A blog reader asked me if The Dwarves was suitable for children. Specifically, an eight-year-old who enjoys reading long fantasy books. This is my reply:

I would say that book one (The Dwarves) is okay for children. Let your son know that the book is translated from German (unless he is reading in German?!). It may interest him if he notices the occasional not-quite-common-English phrasing. Best point, book one is "complete" -- happy endings all round, just a strong indication that a further story will follow.

The second book (The War of the Dwarves) is *not* a children's book. Too much violent death, too many plot threads, too many characters to follow, not as good a book as the first. I've not read the third.

So... Get hold of The Dwarves, book one, for your son. But don't get either of the follow-up books. In my opinion :-)

..o0o..

These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes & documents, email nick leth at gmail dot com.