REVIEWS

My first review. From a 1982 news article in the Big Spring Herald (Big Spring, TX).

ASULON

Splashdown Reviews: Asulon is a “manly” novel if I ever read one. Hunting, survival in the wilderness, adventure, coming-of-age for a young prince, martial arts, assassins, intrigue, political hijinks, secret society, strategic warfare, swordplay, danger on every hand, the future of a country and the whole world at risk. With great detail and relish, Bill McGrath has written a fantasy filled with elements that are obviously close to his heart, creating a compelling tale of a young prince who is embroiled in a war of epic, even Biblical, proportions. It is not just a war of human enemies but Abaddon versus the forces of Heaven fighting for the souls of men.  Read more here.

Author William Woodall: This book is really very good.  The pace of the story, the well-drawn characters, the attention to detail- everything is well done. The story is full of subtleties and allusions at every turn, especially for those who are familiar with the Bible. There were also hints of Celtic mythology and many historical allusions. All this richly layered depth gave me great pleasure as I read and added immeasurably to the story. It’s definitely the kind of book you’d want to  read several times to fully appreciate it. Read more here.

Back To The Mountains blog: It would be tempting to describe William McGrath’s Asulon as a sword-and-sorcery version of Left Behind. It would also give a seriously wrong impression: Asulon is far better than Left Behind. (On the other hand, I did enjoy the numerous silly errors in LB. Asulon lacks them.) Read more here.

ERETZEL

Back To The Mountains blog: William McGrath’s Eretzel has several positives, but I’ll start with one of the lesser ones:

Action. Lots of it. Most of it involves fighting, but there’s a certain amount of running for one’s life as well. This isn’t extremely important for me, but it should be a consolation to many others, because the truly important feature of Eretzel is

Intelligence. Lots of that, too. And yes, that does mean some exposition. Now, if you’re a geek, it’s interesting exposition. But I think it’s fairly interesting even if you aren’t, and it’s fairly brief as well. I reflexively distrust anything that’s all action all the time, as a review later this week will mention. So given the action level, a little expository breather now and then is useful. Mens sana in corpore sano and all that: we need balance. Nor is the exposition purely geek material. Some involves the art of war, relationship issues, and theology. Read more here.

Author Sheila Deeth on Goodreads:  A nicely imagined future history (see volume 1) leads to a world part-familiar, part-strange, filled with Biblical and modern-world allusions. Angels have walked and hidden among men; but now the end-times approach, not as modern enthusiasts have imagined, but still intriguingly based on the Book of Revelation. Read more here.