Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #122875 in Books
• Published on: 1998-09-07
• Original language: German
• Binding: Paperback
• 688 pages

Synopsis
Epic fantasy in the tradition of Trudi Canavan, Fiona McIntosh and Robert Jordan. A thousand years ago, the people of Achar drove the Forbidden from their lands. But now the northern tribes of the Ravensbund are fleeing south again, with nightmarish tales of creatures who feed upon the terror of their prey. Winter has come early, and with it the promise of war. Axis, bastard son of the dead Princess Rivkah, is sent north to the battlefront at Gorkenfort with his elite Axe-Wielders. Once there, he must hand over command to his hated half-brother, Borneheld, Duke of Ichar and heir to the throne. But during the long journey Axis falls in love with Faraday - Borneheld's betrothed - and finds himself reassessing the very essence of his beliefs. With the fate of the world hanging in the balance, Axis must unite the feuding lands under one banner before it is too late and the evil rising in the north engulfs them all for good.

Customer Reviews

Let's not be too hasty
This book is the first I've ever read from Sara Douglass. There are a lot of previous reviews that say that she's not a very good writer and the character's are flat etc. but, as someone who writes often in an RPG forum, I would say that any of this is due to the fact that while Sara was writing this book she was studying through university which changes the way a person writes.

I am an avid fantasy reader and I found this book to be gripping from the start, where as Hobb takes a while for action to be delivered this book, like Barclay, has action which compells you to read further to understand what has just happened.

This doesn't, and never will, compare to Kerr's Deverry, Westland and Dragon Mage series (which finishs soon yey!), but stands within its own right.

Due to the pure compelling action and the need to find out how it evolves will drive me to buy the next two books within the trilogy. Once the trilogy has ended, then a decision can be made on whether to buy the following. If Douglass is anything like Kerr than the books will keep getting better as the series go on.

Formulaic but still a good read.
I picked up this book with some trepidation as it has had very mixed reviews but it really isn’t a bad read at all. The ‘Battleaxe’ of the title is Axis, the leader of the Axe-Wielders, a religious army. He is the illegitimate son of a princess and nephew of King Priam who refuses to acknowledge him as family. His half brother Borneheld, heir to the childless king, hates Axis and is determined to see him destroyed. The purpose of the Axe-wielders is to uphold the religious beliefs of the land and destroy any of the ‘Forbidden’ they may chance upon. The Forbidden are races of beings that once populated the land alongside the humans but centuries ago were driven into exile. A prophecy says that one day the Starman will come who will once again unite the races.
Sara Douglass doesn’t have the most mature writing style but she has produced a fast paced, action filled tale. Sure, it isn’t the most original fantasy ever written, and true, some of the characters are a little one-dimensional, but overall it is interesting enough to keep you reading and if you want a quick and fairly easy read it is ideal.

Generic "by the numbers" fantasy
To sum up this book in one word: average. Very average. And oh so very generic.

The characters are mostly stereotypes, the writing's not great, and the story isn't very interesting either. Though as usual, this book has garnered several five star reviews from the "oooh I just loooove fantasy" crowd (but at least there's no telepathic ponies or singing elves). I must say I was very disappointed with this book; I expected a lot more.

I won't be buying any more books in this series, or indeed by Douglass.