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Posted By: neal66 Oct 01, 1999 - 06:43 am

Has anyone read Dennis Mckiernan and his
Mithgar novels.
Mithgar is one of those standard fantasy worlds:pseudo-medieval setting, elves, dwarves, trolls, dragons and Mckiernan's own creation small people called Warrows.His novels combines epic battles between good and evil, magic, romance and memorable characters.
These novels so far:
Dragondoom

Iron Tower Trilogy
A. Dark Tide
B. Shadows of Doom
C. Darkest Day

Silver Call Duology
Trek Kragen Core(I think)
Brega Path

Eye of the Hunter

Voyage of the Fox Rider

Dragonstone

Hel's crucible:
Into the Fire
Into the forge

Posted By: Aslan Jun 02, 2001 - 08:58 am

I read the Iron Tower Trilogy, then reread the Lord of the Rings. Is it just me, or was Iron Tower simply a weak, blatant copy of Tolkien's famous trilogy? I mean BLATANT. I don't know if his other books are any good or not, but I vowed not to read any more after the Iron Tower. If he's worth reading, please let me know!

Posted By: Anonymous Aug 08, 2001 - 10:16 pm

I have read some books by McKiernan, and it's true that his first few books were based on The Lord of The Rings. His later books are more original, and are worth reading.

Posted By: Daelish Jul 08, 2003 - 07:38 pm

Ok, coming way WAY late to this post, but I felt the need to mention something. I used to post to a lot of usenet groups and I said basically the same thing that Aslan said. That Iron Tower was a blatant ripoff of Tolkein. BUT, I got a reply that I didn't expect at all. It was years ago, so I'll paraphrase it.

"When I first got the inkling to write the Iron Tower it was as a tribute to Tolkein and his works, I approached the Tolkein estate and offered my idea to them and they did not object. Blah blah blah blah....

D McKiernan"

Was it really Dennis McKiernan? I don't know. But, I've read forwards and interviews where he's stated the same thing.

Posted By: Aslan Jul 09, 2003 - 10:25 am

Thanks for the info, Daelish. I don't really care what his intentions were, though. I wasted money on those books that could have gone toward something original. Just ticked me off. A more fitting tribute to Tolkien would be an original story in Middle Earth, rather than a slightly altered carbon copy of world AND plot.

Oh, well. *sigh*

Posted By: Daelish Jul 09, 2003 - 04:23 pm

I would tend to agree with that sentiment actually. But, if you haven't read any of his of his other books, you might want to try them. While the world will always be similar to middle earth, the stories later are rather good.

Posted By: Aslan Jul 10, 2003 - 09:41 am

I'd be willing to give it a shot. Something from the library rather than the bookstore. What would you recommend?

Posted By: Daelish Jul 10, 2003 - 03:39 pm

Well, he wrote his series out of order, seemingly just pulling a legend that was mentioned in one book, then writing that legend as a novel. But here is the chronological order of the books he's written.

The Dragonstone
Voyage of the Fox Rider
Hel's Crucible (2 volumes)
Dragondoom
The Iron Tower (3 volumes, but sold as one book now)
The Silver Call (2 volumes, also available as one book)
The Eye of the Hunter
Silver Wolf, Black Falcon

The Eye of the Hunter and Silver Wolf, Black Falcon are two stand alone books, but can also be read as one continuous story. You'll understand that if you ever read them. My personal favorites are Dragondoom and Silver Wolf, Black Falcon.

-edit- Forgot to mention this isn't a series in the sense that you need to read them in order. These stories all take place over thousands of years of history. Example, Dragondoom takes place nearly a thousand years before The Eye of the Hunter. So you can pick any of the books and be fine without missing anything.