Product Description

All over the country, the ancient gods of Celtic mythology are returning to the land from which they were banished millennia ago. Following in their footsteps are creatures of folklore: the Fabulous Beasts, shape-shifters and Night Walkers, and other, less wholesome beings. As they grow in power, so technology is swept away. It is myth and magic that now rule supreme in this new Dark Age: The Age of Misrule. The Eternal Conflict between the Light and Dark once again blackens the skies and blights the land. On one side stand the Tuatha de Danann, golden-skinned and beautiful; on the other are the Fomorii, monstrous devils hell-bent on destroying all human existence. But in times of trouble, come heroes. Five flawed humans, Brothers and Sisters of Dragons, are drawn together to search for the magical talismans which which to fight the powers of old. But time draws short and humanity looks set to be swept away . . .

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #140589 in Books
• Published on: 2006-09-14
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 1360 pages

About the Author
Mark Chadbourn was raised in the mining communities of South Derbyshire. He studied Economic History at Leeds before becoming a national newspaper journalist. He is the author of several novels, including The Age of Misrule and The Dark Age trilogies.

Customer Reviews

a breath of fresh air
After reading many excellent fantasy books which are mostly set in , what I call fictional medieval times, it a refreshing change to read a book set in modern times AND in Britain.
The author uses the frailty of his characters to great effect and basis them on normal people with all the usual hangups.
The synopsis explains the plot but I just wanted to say that I thoroughly enjoyed this trilogy and I'm just about to buy the author's other works.
Pete

something different
Well' here's smething different,mythology,fantasy and the modern world all come together in a richly tangled web, but not too tangled to be spoiled.
Destiny,with the help of some iterfering gods, throws together some very different characters to fight for their lives and stop the total destruction of humanity.No americans to save the day though.
Arturian legend and english mythology come together to make england as fantastical as any imaginary fantasy world i have read about. I found the frailty of main chracters as their personalities clashed both frustrating and an added dimention to the story.
All added together, very refreshing angle on fantasy. I enjoyed it very much and anyone who enjoys fantasy should do too.

A Disappointing Drag
I really wanted to like the Age of Misrule. The concept sounded great on paper. Its therefore an even greater pity that the implementation of that concept was so poor.

The problems are innumerable. A cast of lead characters and supposed 'heroes' in the making who are by turns naive, irritating and/or mind numblingly stupid (how they don't all end up dead in the first hundred pages I have no idea). A flat prose style that repeatedy uses the same imagery again & again. A repetitive plot and a narrative pace that drags horribly badly. A mythology that is confusing to the point of incoherence at times, self-indulgently trying to mix in too many ideas without giving readers a clear set of rules to follow for the new world the author creates.

Put simply Age of Misrule is a mess, and a lengthy one at that. Chabourn obviously knows his old English mythology and has a mind brimming full of ideas. What he and his novels lack however, is an understanding of what makes for an exciting and entertaining story. If you're going to create a fantasy trilogy of over 1300 pages you have to keep hold of reader's attention. That means offering them heroes (and anti-heroes) they can sympathise with, empathise with and root for and a dynamic plot that holds the attention and truly excites. Age of Misrule offers none of these things. I even tried taking a break between each 'book' in the trilogy to make it more appealing, but by the end of book 2 I had to literally force myself to go back and read the final volume. That by itself says a great deal.

As I say, its a real shame to have to award Age of Misrule only two stars (one for the concept and one for not being totally without merit). I had hoped it would be the beginning of a long author/reader relationship. Now however, having struggled to the end of the first set of adventures of the Brothers of Dragons I will not be coming back for those that follow.