OH, WOW. Oh wow oh wow oh wow oh wow oh wow.Ohhhhhh wow. OH WOWWWWWWW.Yes, it is THAT good. But half the credit goes to Ray Porter's narration in the audiobook. I was shocked to see this book had such low ratings, mainly for length and reader boredom, because I have been glued to my earbud for two days trying to soak it all up! It never once felt long to me, except for the thought that SO MUCH was happening. This book in itself is epic, and as the 4th of a series, its breadth and scope is almost...

The last few weeks the publishing world has been awash with excitement over the publication of GRRM's latest book. I'm sure it's stupendous fare. I read about 200 pages of the first book--if that much--and put it down. Just wasn't my style. I suppose that I am not in the audience for that particular book, despite the fact that I rather enjoy fantasy.Today I finished a book that was my style. I am in its audience. And I can't help but feel a certain amount of wonder at the fact that others aren't...

You know, in general, I really enjoyed reading this. All the endowments, the whole sum of all men thing, still has its creepy-ass aspect to it but we get to see a lot more of the people who give up their best traits for the high-and-mighty elite. It may not resolve anything, but at least we know that the GOOD devotionals are doing it out of love. Would YOU go blind so your elite leader could have super-freaking-excellent sight? Or become weak so he becomes strong? Or sleep for twenty years so he...

Great finish to the first 4 books in the series. However, it was not as tidy of a clean up as I would have wanted with the characters individual stories as I would have wanted or expected. There were several stories that just seemed to fall into the "I want you to forget that we ever mentioned that tidbit" throughout this story, and I felt as though we should have had those answers. David also dances the line with the character of Gaborn, where it almost seemed like a Deus ex machina to have him...

Well, the author defaulted back to constantly repeating the same information in this. There are so many words I hate now because they are used way to much in these books. It appears the “main” concern has been dealt with but it’s clear it was left open for another in the series (plus I own 1-5 so I guess that helps knowing too) I have zero connection to any of these characters, the action is mediocre, the story telling is repetitive and stretched on for so long. I’m just mostly bored with this.

He knew. He could not deny his senses. It was no dream. So he got up and ran down, down, deeper into the Underworld carrying the brightness in his heart.The Lair of Bones finishes a major arc in Farland's Runelords series. We see Gaborn's important calling carried to an end as he confronts the One True Master deep underground. The end of these first four books almost feels mythic, ramping up from high fantasy into the kind of legend you would expect to exist in this world. It really works.We aga...

The Lair of Bones is the 4th of 8 books in the Runelords series and the novel is basically broken up into focusing on a set of characters with an overall story line about the monstrous insect-like Reavers and their attack on the city of Carris. Gaborn and his retinues journey underground to find the fabled lair of bones and taking out the source of the reavers place of power. Borenson and Myrrima's perilous journey south to Inkarra and the defense of Carris from the Reaver attack above ground.

This review will have spoilers, as with the others. I wrapped up my re-read of the Runelords series with the final book in this series, "The Lair of Bones." I left ... disappointed. Here's why:1. The moral issue of endowment-slavery is not only unresolved, it is almost totally unexplored in this book, especially compared to the first and second books. Gaborn is only able to defeat the One True Master because of the thousands of endowments given to him by his subjects in Heredon, and he hardly ev...

I left my comments on the series as a whole in my review of the first book, Sum of All Men, but let me say this about this book, because it is a big pet peeve of mine -- It is a different size than the other books. I own all four, in hardcover, and this one is larger than the other three. It drives me crazy and it looks retarded on my shelf. End rant.

An excellent end to this stage of the saga! Tied up most of the loose ends and yet left enough points to begin the next section of the story. He could have ended the series here very nicely, or, as he did, begin a new storyline.I am sort of wondering why Carris was used again as the battlefield. We knew that the castle had been severely damaged from the last battle, so why did the Earth send them to defend it again? After the first battle, even an army of commoners probably could have taken the

A masterful and beautiful third installment of the Runelord series. The author continues to explore the complex themes of this universe. He expands them, enlarges them and keeps surprising us by the width, the depth and the complexity of the characters and forces at play.This has become the best fantasy universe I've seen since lord of the rings. The only thing that they find limiting is the heteronormativity that is so common in fantasy and Science Fiction, got apart from this I strongly recomm...

No one writes conflict & myth better than Farland. He creates the races and nations of this world complete with legends, powers and prejudices. The characters are alive, and the reader comes to truly care for these characters as they come to care for each other. Those that relish & delight in losing themselves in long complex tales of epic fantasy will be in their element here, and there's much promise of more to come in future volumes. Off to begin book 5!

This book has the grittiness and action inside it that I really like to read about. Adventure, sacrifice, sheer guts involved in making things happen with characters that are memorable and more real in their personality traits and quirks. I liked it and want to read more from this author.

With this book ends the first arc in David Farland's Runelords Saga, which started with The Sum of All Men(Runelords), The Brotherhood of the Wolf, and Wizarborn, and now ends with The Lair of Bones.The first thing I need to say is that this book is masterfully paced. The opening has to have lots of things going on, but none of it seems to be action filled. It is almost entirely character and plot focused and was really engaging. The different plot lines jumped back and forth enough to keep me i...

While the series continues, this was the ending volume of the tetrad; the other volumes in the series take place several years later. This review is for TLOB, but also an assessment of series as a whole. Farland clearly improved over the course of the series-- the first two volumes were a bit too sprawling and the latter two evidenced much tighter editing (including little quips and such as the intro to each each chapter). What is remarkable about the series is that it all takes place in the spa...

The fourth installment of author David Farland’s Runelords series opens on the fourth day of the month of leaves, with Raj Ahten’s caravan arriving at the Palace of the Elephant at Maygassa, with his servant Wuqaz wanting to go to Ghusa. Ahten follows through the Great Salt Sea, with another of his supporters, Feykaald, bringing him stolen treasure from the Earth King’s camp. Meanwhile, Averan learns of the way to the eponymous Lair of Bones, with King Gaborn reluctant to allow his consort Iome

This book was by far the best of the series. I found myself racing through the pages with Borenson and Myrrim; Gaborn, Iome, Binnesman, and Averan; Erin; and Chemoise. Each of these characters reached his or her element in this novel; each person finally became the person he or she was supposed to be.(view spoiler)[I am quite glad that none of these characters died, but each one of them made huge sacrifices that leaves me grieving still. Gaborn and Iome gave up their lives for the good of mankin...

I also picked up books 5 & 6, but the series has lost its luster (halfway through book 5). Solid writing. I'm just not a fan of Gaborn's progeny taking over.

I'm very torn on this series. I enjoyed the plot and characters, and overall it was well written. But the endowment system bothered me. It made human life seem more valuable with the ability to give your attributes to others, while simultaneously showing a complete disregard for humanity. Some of the characters just seemed a bit tone deaf to the whole situation. The endowments also made the world feel smaller. Instead of a vast continent with a massive system of caves underneath, it became a lan...

The Runelords saga has been quite a thrill for me. David Farland is every bit as nuanced and complex as other authors who have been given far too many accolades. That is not to take away from anyone else and only to say, Farland is amazingly underrated. This world was fresh and compelling. What he did in book 4, wrapping together so many storylines in a truly epic culmination was fantastic. When you get this deep into a series there isn't much you can say without spoilers, so I'll just leave it