The Crimson Sword
Cover art by Koveck.
The Age of Man has begun. Gone are the elves and dwarves, orcs and trolls, and other creatures of legend. Having driven the "undesirables" from their lands, the kingdoms of the island continent of Pentania have started a new chapter in human history. The gods are a myth, magic is a forsaken art, and the avatars, shepherds of the races, have faded into the mists of time. Now, mankind will rule. But they are not alone.
When the king of Alson is assassinated and the capital besieged by a nefarious wizard, even the remote village of Diln is not immune from the chaos and terror that sweep the realm. Torn from his home, young Jarom begins a dangerous journey to ask for aid against the implacable usurper.
But soon the machinations of a mysterious council lead Jarom to a seemingly preordained quest: to find one of the mythical Swords of Asahiel, the divine talismans used by the elven avatars in the forging of the earth itself. He must do so not only to establish himself as a leader for his people, but to help save a fledgling, quarrelsome mankind. For the Demon Queen Spithaera has awakened from the Abyss, and humanity is about to learn how very powerless it can be against the ancient terrors of the world.
And whether real or imagined, destiny is not so easily claimed.
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Eldon Thompson
Eldon Thompson (born 1974) is an American fantasy author. He is a professional author and screenwriter. He is known for his epic fantasy series The Legend of Asahiel.
The Legend of Asahiel
The Legend of Asahiel consists of three books. The current recommended reading order for the series is provided below.
Related series Warder
Reviews and Comments
This book is FANTASTIC! :) I had no idea that I'd love this book this much, but I do and I must recommend it to others. Eldon Thompson's fantastic and simple fantasy story has all the necessary fantasy elements, which are absolutely necessary to make a good adventure. The simplicity is often a very bad thing, but in this case it's a necessary and one hell of a good thing. I admit that this book has some annoying things in it. The main characters are a bit goofy and the book is quite simple in many ways, but who cares about that? It's the entertainment value that counts. =) This book certainly has lots of entertainment value and I love it! This book doesn't contain many cliches and Thompson clearly tries to avoid them as much as he can (I wish other writers would do so too, why don't they?). There are some cliches, but not as much as in some other books (for example Brook's, Jordan's, Williams' and Paolini's books are sometimes full of them). This kind of fantasy adventure gets full ten points and lots of recommendations from me. The plot is highly addictive and the text is very easy to read..... That's why I love this book very much. It's not perfect high fantasy or should it be called epic fantasy, but it's a damn fine book! Read this book and give it a chance. =)
I recently re-read the first two books (The Crimson Sword and The Obsidian Key) of The Legend of Asahiel and I also read the third book (The Divine Talisman), so this review is meant for all of these three books. I enjoyed reading these books, because they were entertaining fantasy books. I think I can say that there's always going to be a little boy inside of me and he's always going to like entertaining fantasy adventures. I've always been fascinated by fantasy adventures and I'm not ashamed to admit that I enjoy reading all kinds of fantasy books - in other words, I enjoy reading heavy fantasy books and lighter fantasy books. I know that this series can't be compared to the works of George R.R. Martin, Robin Hobb or Steven Erikson, but why should it be compared to them? It's nothing like them. I like heavy fantasy books very much, but sometimes it's nice to read something totally different. I've read so much heavy fantasy books recently that it was very relaxing to read these books, because they're pure entertainment for fantasy fans. The writing style is mostly nice, but there are some rough spots. The Legend of Asahiel is Eldon Thompson's first fantasy series, so the rough spots are quite understandable. Every new writer has to struggle with some things, but all new writers always develop their writing skills during the writing process and so has Eldon Thompson. I think that he's developed nicely while he's been writing The Legend of Asahiel. I think I could compare his writing style to Terry Brooks' writing style, because it's a bit similar. This series is an exciting, enjoyable and fast moving fantasy adventure for readers, who like good adventure stories. The first book starts moving forward quite fast and everybody who enjoyes adventures will be thrilled to read the rest of the book as fast as they can. If you like Terry Brooks, you should seriously consider reading these books, because you'll probably like them very much. If you like heavy and gritty adult fantasy, you could try to read something different for a change, because you might find that you'll like these books.

