Richard Knaak: AoC: HA - Soldier's Quest - Page 2

DunWolf · 05-18-2007, 11:20 PM

http://aoc.warcry.com/news/view/7172...he-Round-Table

Melkorus · 05-19-2007, 12:29 AM

Even tho I'm not a lore nut, I agree with the review on all other aspects in regards to this story. Nitpicking lore aside, it just didn't feel very Hyaborian by the end of the tale.

I'm through 125 pages of volume 2, so far it's OK....to some degree even better than volume 1. But we'll see what he cooks up at the end - he still uses stupid and annoying mechanics to move the plot forward tho.

Lomi · 05-19-2007, 01:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Melkorus

Even tho I'm not a lore nut, I agree with the review on all other aspects in regards to this story. Nitpicking lore aside, it just didn't feel very Hyaborian by the end of the tale.

I'm through 125 pages of volume 2, so far it's OK....to some degree even better than volume 1. But we'll see what he cooks up at the end - he still uses stupid and annoying mechanics to move the plot forward tho.

When you're reading does it feel like he maybe needs a Thesaurus in the warcraft books he really liked the word ORB alot, and used it almost every page.

GR1MNIR · 05-19-2007, 03:16 AM

Kern wolf-eye FTW!

I stopped reading the second book by knaak halfway through.....I just couldn't do it.

Melkorus · 06-04-2007, 11:25 PM

While enjoying myself in Alabama, I got plenty of time to read the rest of the series.

So I'll let you in on my experience with entire series.

Volume I: Easily the best of the three. I give it 3/5.
Volume II: Easily the worst of the three. I give it 1.5/5.
Volume III: Not much better than 2nd one. I give it 2/5.

Series overall: I give it 2/5.

I can't express it enough how disappointing this series was. I will never ever read Knaak's writing again.

He wrote about Noble named Neresa Klandes, who joins Conan's army and by doing great things he becomes member of the Black Dragons (Conan's elite soldiers and bodyguards), and gets a title of Baron and eventually becomes Lord Marshall (sounds silly)..a unique position that has entire Aquilonian defense under his command..,..or some bull like that.

Anyway, here is how Knaak writes about Nermesa: Nermesa does something, he goes to sleep, he gets up and continues, he is tired and passes out, he wakes up, story continues in different direction now, he goes to sleep, he wakes up, he gets into trouble and jackpot luck saves him, he goes to sleep, he wakes up and another twist is revealed, he does something, and than he goes to sleep so the story can continue again.

I'm not trying to be funny, but that's basically how his stories are being told. Nermesa sleeps way too much, he gets tried way to much, he writes about pointless Nermesa's dreams.....I mean he can easily skip all of that crap...oh wait, he can't. Guess what, story always continues anew when Nermesa goes to sleep or passes out. This was extremely annoying, especially in 3rd story.

By the end of the series, I started hating Nermesa. Knaak made him into a dumbass that couldn't see anything but forward...hence, you can easily predict twists..which is no fun. Also, Nermesa became a carebear, "countless" times Knaak said something like this "But Nermesa had to push forward because innocent people will die". I do mean countless, it was like watching Naruto episodes all ofthe sudden "Believe it! I will die for others" or watching some Hollywood movie where patriotism is pushed through the sky and beyond for no good reason.

Lomi: Yes he does need to use Thesaurus of some kind. "No sooner has he done so than blah blah blah blah" is being used A LOT, almost every battle scene had that phrase in it...sometimes mulitple times in one battle scene as well as non-battle scenes.

Battles in general suck balls.

Knaak really don't get Hyboria. He makes it feel like some novel taking place in 17th century Europe. If you took out "Conan" and replaced with Arthur or something and took Hyborian country names and replaced them with European ones, and leave everyting else the same, it would be FAR more fitting novel. Also...can you honestly picture Conan playing games with Nermesa in a sense of Conan telling Nermesa to escort General Palantides to a ceremony that honors General for his long service, and when they get there, Nermesa finds out that the ceremony is actually for him and everybody, including Conan, Queen Zenobia, General Palantieds, have been just messing with him to see his reaction or whatever other silly reason......wtf.

Thing that pissed me off the most is toward the end of 3rd story. First Conan takes a complete stranger that acompanied Nermesa and allows him to sit there listening while Nermesa gives him the report of his journey...which was entire story before that...hence a lot happened and some things would naturally be expected to be told only to the King...yet King Conan embraces Nermesa's sidekick throughout this interview. 2nd, General Palentides and King Conan are dumb asses not to notice anything strange.....especially Conan. 3rd, King Conan is amateur fighter that does not notice a swing meant to decapacitate him which missed only an inch above his head....I guess because he had helmet....lol. 4th, 40 thousand of other fighters right there on the field, his elite Black Dragons riding next to him, do not notice anything also when attempt for his head is made...up close and personal as mentioned in #3. 5th, apperantly if you fight in the middle of friendly rushing army with the Black Dragon, nobody notices anything out of ordinary.

Simply, entire ending of the 3rd story was extremely flawed, as have been many other situations.

Again, I will never read Knaak's work again.

P.S. Prospero, who is like 3rd or 4th best swordman by REH's standards, sucks at fighting, even newbie Nermesa beat him and Nermesa escaped where Prospero failed.....Knaak is an idiot.

Lomi · 06-06-2007, 06:01 PM

When did he write these books? Its strange because I thought he did a great job with the Warcraft books. I haven't read his other stuff though apparently he wrote some Diablo books that are good too. His stuff is rather tame in the warcraft universe.

From what you said about these books he definatly doesn't sound like he has a grip on the Conan universe. He probably didn't do too much research on the topic and just wanted to pump out three books, which also seems to be his norm that he writes three at once.

Sorry the books were rather bad apparently. I'm interested in reading these just to see if its any different from warcraft or if I just like bad writing hehe.

Kiltor · 06-06-2007, 06:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Melkorus

While enjoying myself in Alabama, I got plenty of time to read the rest of the series.

So I'll let you in on my experience with entire series.

Volume I: Easily the best of the three. I give it 3/5.
Volume II: Easily the worst of the three. I give it 1.5/5.
Volume III: Not much better than 2nd one. I give it 2/5.

Don't hate, if you had to save aquilonia from everyone single handed you would be tired too.

But seriously the warcraft & diablo books he wrote were pretty good, I guess he just isn't suited for writing conan books.

DunWolf · 06-06-2007, 09:03 PM

Eh, I still liked the books...probably because they were about Aquilonia...but I do think the books have many many many shortcommings. I hope to start reading the Legend of Kern trilogy once classes start to slow down *which won't be until August*.

Zaebos · 08-09-2007, 01:09 AM

I really like his writing for the trilogy, but something bothers me that almost every story he writes has to have a dragon for some reason.

05-19-2007, 12:29 AM	#12 (permalink)
Melkorus The Old Timer Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: St. Louis Posts: 4,185	Even tho I'm not a lore nut, I agree with the review on all other aspects in regards to this story. Nitpicking lore aside, it just didn't feel very Hyaborian by the end of the tale. I'm through 125 pages of volume 2, so far it's OK....to some degree even better than volume 1. But we'll see what he cooks up at the end - he still uses stupid and annoying mechanics to move the plot forward tho. __________________

06-04-2007, 11:25 PM	#15 (permalink)
Melkorus The Old Timer Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: St. Louis Posts: 4,185	While enjoying myself in Alabama, I got plenty of time to read the rest of the series. So I'll let you in on my experience with entire series. Volume I: Easily the best of the three. I give it 3/5. Volume II: Easily the worst of the three. I give it 1.5/5. Volume III: Not much better than 2nd one. I give it 2/5. Series overall: I give it 2/5. I can't express it enough how disappointing this series was. I will never ever read Knaak's writing again. He wrote about Noble named Neresa Klandes, who joins Conan's army and by doing great things he becomes member of the Black Dragons (Conan's elite soldiers and bodyguards), and gets a title of Baron and eventually becomes Lord Marshall (sounds silly)..a unique position that has entire Aquilonian defense under his command..,..or some bull like that. Anyway, here is how Knaak writes about Nermesa: Nermesa does something, he goes to sleep, he gets up and continues, he is tired and passes out, he wakes up, story continues in different direction now, he goes to sleep, he wakes up, he gets into trouble and jackpot luck saves him, he goes to sleep, he wakes up and another twist is revealed, he does something, and than he goes to sleep so the story can continue again. I'm not trying to be funny, but that's basically how his stories are being told. Nermesa sleeps way too much, he gets tried way to much, he writes about pointless Nermesa's dreams.....I mean he can easily skip all of that crap...oh wait, he can't. Guess what, story always continues anew when Nermesa goes to sleep or passes out. This was extremely annoying, especially in 3rd story. By the end of the series, I started hating Nermesa. Knaak made him into a dumbass that couldn't see anything but forward...hence, you can easily predict twists..which is no fun. Also, Nermesa became a carebear, "countless" times Knaak said something like this "But Nermesa had to push forward because innocent people will die". I do mean countless, it was like watching Naruto episodes all ofthe sudden "Believe it! I will die for others" or watching some Hollywood movie where patriotism is pushed through the sky and beyond for no good reason. Lomi: Yes he does need to use Thesaurus of some kind. "No sooner has he done so than blah blah blah blah" is being used A LOT, almost every battle scene had that phrase in it...sometimes mulitple times in one battle scene as well as non-battle scenes. Battles in general suck balls. Knaak really don't get Hyboria. He makes it feel like some novel taking place in 17th century Europe. If you took out "Conan" and replaced with Arthur or something and took Hyborian country names and replaced them with European ones, and leave everyting else the same, it would be FAR more fitting novel. Also...can you honestly picture Conan playing games with Nermesa in a sense of Conan telling Nermesa to escort General Palantides to a ceremony that honors General for his long service, and when they get there, Nermesa finds out that the ceremony is actually for him and everybody, including Conan, Queen Zenobia, General Palantieds, have been just messing with him to see his reaction or whatever other silly reason......wtf. Thing that pissed me off the most is toward the end of 3rd story. First Conan takes a complete stranger that acompanied Nermesa and allows him to sit there listening while Nermesa gives him the report of his journey...which was entire story before that...hence a lot happened and some things would naturally be expected to be told only to the King...yet King Conan embraces Nermesa's sidekick throughout this interview. 2nd, General Palentides and King Conan are dumb asses not to notice anything strange.....especially Conan. 3rd, King Conan is amateur fighter that does not notice a swing meant to decapacitate him which missed only an inch above his head....I guess because he had helmet....lol. 4th, 40 thousand of other fighters right there on the field, his elite Black Dragons riding next to him, do not notice anything also when attempt for his head is made...up close and personal as mentioned in #3. 5th, apperantly if you fight in the middle of friendly rushing army with the Black Dragon, nobody notices anything out of ordinary. Simply, entire ending of the 3rd story was extremely flawed, as have been many other situations. Again, I will never read Knaak's work again. P.S. Prospero, who is like 3rd or 4th best swordman by REH's standards, sucks at fighting, even newbie Nermesa beat him and Nermesa escaped where Prospero failed.....Knaak is an idiot. __________________ Last edited by Melkorus; 06-04-2007 at 11:31 PM.

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05-18-2007, 11:20 PM	#11 (permalink)
DunWolf Banned Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Tarantia Posts: 2,286	http://aoc.warcry.com/news/view/7172...he-Round-Table

05-19-2007, 03:16 AM	#14 (permalink)
GR1MNIR Banned Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Bay Area, CA Posts: 1,391	Kern wolf-eye FTW! I stopped reading the second book by knaak halfway through.....I just couldn't do it.

06-06-2007, 06:01 PM	#16 (permalink)
Lomi Banned Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 868	When did he write these books? Its strange because I thought he did a great job with the Warcraft books. I haven't read his other stuff though apparently he wrote some Diablo books that are good too. His stuff is rather tame in the warcraft universe. From what you said about these books he definatly doesn't sound like he has a grip on the Conan universe. He probably didn't do too much research on the topic and just wanted to pump out three books, which also seems to be his norm that he writes three at once. Sorry the books were rather bad apparently. I'm interested in reading these just to see if its any different from warcraft or if I just like bad writing hehe.

06-06-2007, 09:03 PM	#18 (permalink)
DunWolf Banned Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Tarantia Posts: 2,286	Eh, I still liked the books...probably because they were about Aquilonia...but I do think the books have many many many shortcommings. I hope to start reading the Legend of Kern trilogy once classes start to slow down which won't be until August.

08-09-2007, 01:09 AM	#19 (permalink)
Zaebos Deathbringer Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 64	I really like his writing for the trilogy, but something bothers me that almost every story he writes has to have a dragon for some reason.