There’s a new review on The Tattered Banner over on the Endazzled Reading Blog, which you can find here.
The good bit (italics mine)…
If you like fantasy, The Tattered Banner is an excellent choice. It provides great writing, believable characters and a decent plot.
The interesting bit…
…this book is more based on human intrigue and ambition than on a never-ending war between good and evil – and I much prefer this scenario, to be honest, even in fantasy. Humans are somehow still more intriguing than good and evil.
I have to say I completely agree with this. You can have a far more nuanced story when you play on human emotions; far more interesting than a simply ‘conquer and enslave the whole world’ motivation. This also reminds me of something I’ve often wondered. What exactly did Sauron plan to do if he won? Can anyone answer this? Was it mentioned in any of the other books? It’s been a (really) long time since I read Lord of the Rings so I don’t remember them all that well. Did he just plan on kicking back and being really really evil without having to worry about short blokes with hairy feet?