McKeone, Dixie Books

The Spider's Test (Birthright)

Dixie Lee McKeone

List Price: $5.99 By: Wizards of the Coast Amazon Marketplace: 17 new & used starting at $1.78

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Fantastic, Another Great birthright book 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Another one of the great birthright books. If you like to see the monster win then this book is for you.

A Brain Above the Rest 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This is not your average book. Richard Endier is not your average man. A plot of fast-paced action and intrigue takes place in The Spider's Test. The Spider, a fear inspiring awnshegh has focused its terrible gaze upon Richard. Revenge is foremost on its mind. For Richard Endier, the simple farm boy destined for greatness, has tricked, out-witted, and humiliated the Spider again and again. The Spider's main weapon is the fear it inspires, so it cannot a simple farm boy who has tricked it repeatedly live. When Richard creates a frontier settlement near the Spider's domain, the awnshegh sees the perfect opportunity for revenge. With only himself and his friends to protect themselves, the only way Richard can save even himself is by tricking the Spider yet again, this time with the biggest riddle of all.

Editorial Review:

Ambition and destiny drive one man to confront the insane lord of the Spiderfell. Richard Endier has no choice. For the sake of his people, he must meet the Spider on the creature's own ground in a battle of wit and deception. The future of a new kingdom hangs in the balance. Original.

GREATHEART (Birthright Book , No 2)

Dixie Lee Mckeone

List Price: $5.99 By: Wizards of the Coast Amazon Marketplace: 54 new & used starting at $0.01

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

So much potential, and all of it squandered 2 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

Dungeons and Dragons based novels always start out with an intriguing premise and untold potential. The authors have a wealth of knowledge to draw upon when writing their manuscripts, with all the adventures, supplements, rulebooks, maps, and other novels already fleshing out the basics of the story's world. Unfortunately, "Greatheart" squanders all this potential even more than most of the other D&D novels. All the elements for a rousing good adventure tale are present - an age long struggle between gods of opposing moral fiber, a dark plane of shadows and evil creatures on the brink of spilling into the natural world, a young hero in the making bent on proving his merit as a warrior, and a twisted arch-villain intent on securing his place as ruler or everything and everyone. It would almost seem like it would be impossible to not make this book work, even in the hands of a completely novice writer. Somehow, Dixie Lee McKeone has taken what really should have been an excellent novel and jettisoned it into the realm of "paperback trash", that ugly place populated with books that are neither socially redeeming, nor even interesting enough to warrant reading anyway.

"Greatheart" follows the life of Cald Desheft, a human orphaned when his family's caravan is assaulted by a raiding band of gnolls. Cald is taken in by a noble elf prince, despite the stern disapproval of virtually the entire elven nation, who are all incredibly xenophobic. The elves inhabiting this particular forest actually have a "shoot first" policy, as they have been ordered to kill anything entering their territory that isn't an elf. Racial prejudice seems to play a big part in this book, as nearly every race is immediately distrustful, or outright hateful, towards everyone else. The humans distrust the elves, the elves hate everyone, the gnolls just want to pillage and kill, etc. At one point, when an elf is saved from certain death by a lowly goblin, it begins to appear that all this prejudice is actually going somewhere, as though McKeone might actually be trying to make some kind of point about racial relations, but this notion is quickly squashed to oblivion when every character continues to act the exact same way and no changes or consequences occur.

Plenty of opportunities arise in which the story could have grabbed the reader by the throat, demanding they continue reading until the thing was done. All of these opportunities were left far behind, without so much as a backward glance. When the characters first see a portal open between the natural world and the Plane of Shadow, the description of events are handled in such a glib manner as to make the reader think this sort of thing is completely ordinary, and certainly nothing to take particular note of. This would have been a perfect point to interject some serious horror, to give the reader a rising sense of dread that things are definitely NOT as they should be.

The entire story is told in a very jilted manner, completely out of order chronologically. Switching between timeframes can and has been used effectively, but it isn't implemented well here. The patchwork of timeframes just makes things confusing, starting off with Cald returning to the elven forest many years after the main events of the story, then returning to Cald's past to show his upbringing and heroic deeds in later years. We then return again to the beginning (which is actually the end?), to have a little resolution of an earlier plot point. The end of the novels then returns to the very beginning of the whole saga, when the main events are just starting to occur thousands of years ago. Unfortunately there are no dates or timeframes listed, so it may take the reader some time to figure out that the end is actually supposed to be the beginning.

Two stars for the excellent premise, but there isn't any redeeming value past that. Hardcore D&D fans will probably enjoy this somewhat, but everyone else can pass on this one.

Editorial Review:

In the lands of Sielwode, the elves face a fierce confrontation not only with the encroaching humans, who are threatening their sacred groves, but also with the undead and the other monsters of the Shadow World. Original. 75,000 first printing.

Son of Dawn (1st Quest)

Dixie Lee McKeone

List Price: $3.95 By: Wizards of the Coast Amazon Marketplace: 28 new & used starting at $0.01

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

A Great Fantasy Read 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I loved this book! The characters had flaws, though the elves were a bit sterotypical. And a hero that is immune to magic is a new idea, and how the author carries it out is wonderful. I also liked how McKeone wove in Norse mythology into the story. The reason this book has four stars instead of five is because the ending is a cliff-hanger that just screams sequel, but there never was one published, which is a shame becauase there is a lot more that could be done with Dav.

Editorial Review:

Aimed at younger readers, a fantasy adventure follows the orphan Davonin as he journeys from the Isle of Dawn and meets two royal Shadow Elf children whose safe return home may prevent a war. Original.

The Sentinel (Thunderscape)

Dixie Lee McKeone

List Price: $4.99 By: Harpercollins (Mm) Amazon Marketplace: 58 new & used starting at $0.01

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 3.0 of 5

The Sentinel 3 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

The Sentinel is an interesting tale of a young soldier's struggle to find his place in the world after escaping servitude to the world's most despicable tyrant. His quest brings him into the company of an odd assortment of outcasts, all of whom become his family and eventually aid him in returning home to finish what he left behind. This is one of three books set in the world of Aden, one of the most fascinating fantasy worlds I've ever encountered. Although I rank the other two novels, The Darkfall and Indomitable Thunder, above this one, this is nonetheless an interesting read and deserves a look. I recommend it to any fan of the fantasy genre who is looking for something new and exciting.

Editorial Review:

In the once-peaceful world of Thunderscape, human survivors place their hopes on mechamagic, a powerful combination of future technology, past science, and magic, but several evil beings attempt to exploit the technology. Original.