World Famous Comics: The Dark Remains (The Last Rune, Book 3)
The Dark Remains (The Last Rune, Book 3)
By: Mark Anthony Publisher: Spectra Average Rating: Binding: Mass Market Paperback Label: Spectra Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 656 Publication Date: October 02, 2001 Release Date: October 02, 2001
Product Description: From a brilliant fantasy master comes a tale of astounding magic, unrelenting evil, and redemptive courage.
Travis Wilder and Grace Beckett have returned to modern Earth to get medical help for Beltan, a knight from the otherworld of Eldh. But as Beltan lies unconscious in the ICU of a Denver hospital, a shadowy organization plots to kidnap him, and sinister forces of dark magic cross the boundary from Eldh in a murderous search for Travis and Grace.
Meanwhile, in Eldh, a young baroness, her witch companion, and their mortal and immortal friends journey to a dying city, there to confront a nameless evil that has begun to annihilate the very gods.
Somehow Travis and Grace must save Beltan and themselves, then make their way back to Eldh. For only there can they hope to defeat a demonic enemy that can shatter time, devour space, and turn existence into nothingness.
Ludicrous The first two books in the Last Rune were really quite good. I nearly burned Dark Remains after finishing it. Mark Anthony introduces numerous new elements to the story that don't make any sense. Including the simply absurdity of having multiple romances where only one happens to be hetrosexual, the rest suddenly discover the joys of being gay. Including the confusing character of Sister Marjome, a psychic in Denver, she gives advice to our characters, she was a very likable character. Until we find out the good Sister is male, named Martin and became a transexual when his aunt died. We learn this in a chapter written from his point of view. Oh, and by the way, like about three other people in this book, Marjome falls instantly in love with Travis. Mark Anthony introduces a disturbing new system of magic, blood sacrifice and demon worship. Great, we have two new main characters who consort with demons, one loves Travis of course, and the other falls in love with Lirith at first sight. This book is the most horrible piece of trash I have ever read, it makes no sense. It sounds like Mark Anthony recieved a death threat from a gay advocacy group and decided to appease him. As just about nothing worth anyones time happens in this book, you should just read the editorial reviews to learn what happens and then skip along to the next book in the series. This book is a hideous waste of paper.
Confusing magic, overpopulated fun I cannot understand the magic in The Last Rune series, with the blood, and runes and gates and Weirding. I was completely confused by the gate magic in this book. But you get the feeling that it's all going to come together in the end. It is quite depressing to have a likable character imprisoned in a lab, and being experimented on, but you have to admit, this makes a fairly routine fantasy a little different. There are far too many subplots, and the core group of characters--Travis, Grace, Beltan, Durge and Arya--needs to come together soon. The book uses too much of one my least favorite fantasy-epic devices: Having different characters doing things in different locations. How are these events related? It's all going to come together, in the end, but Mr. Anthony best not drag this series out, the way Bob Jordan did with the monstrous Wheel of Time. He needs to refocus, in the next book.
Great action, ok believable magic system. Special read. It has been a while since I read this book. I've read the whole Rune series except for the last one. I quite enjoyed the plot and the sense of action in DRs. Maybe I haven't read enough fantasy books but I didn't find the magic trite.
As for the reviewer complaining about the boy gets boy scenario she may be right "the majority of readers would be more likely to relate to a hero who's after the princess instead of the knight."
So considering that there are zounds of other
fantasy books with boy gets *girl* scenarios- that those *are* the majority, than sci fi fan should read those instead and leave great books such as these to those who wish to read them as they are a special rarity.
A Placeholder This book took me a while to get into. It had been a while since I read the other two books in the series, so I had to re-figure out all the characters. I like the variety of characters in the book. Each new character adds something to the mix. However, some characters are ignored after the first section, which is odd--because they could figure into the rest of the book.
Some of the very enjoyable characters in this book are Marji, Mitchell & Davis (the cowboys), Ellie (the chimp), Glinda, and the fairy. The usual characters are still interesting, but I felt like the whole "who does he really love" thing was getting old after a while.
All the characters come to face their greatest fears. Grace finds out who her parents really are (now THAT'S a plot twist I didn't see coming). Travis still has to figure out where he belongs, but at least he is not as wimpy in this book as in others. Aryn has many things to figure out in this book, and it isn't quite known if she does figure them out.
This book is about defeating evil, in its many forms. Duratek and the Seekers play prominently in this book. Some interesting clues are given throughout the book to lead readers to other things. I call this book a placeholder because while it does advance the series, it still seems that there is something larger on the horizon, and this is just a prelude.
I would recommend this book.
A Dissenting Voice... I guess I'm one of the few people who is enjoying this series more with each book. I liked this book just as much as the first two. I like the fact that the author is able to juggle a number of subplots and keep them all interesting, whether they're occurring on Earth involving the Seekers and Duratek, or on the alternate world named Eldh involving gods, myths and magic.
I have no problem with the increasing number of characters in the book, in fact I think it adds to the story since each character brings something unique into the mix. Mr. Anthony has managed to give us some essential scenes with each of the characters, revealing some of their motivations and secrets, making them that much more real. All are essential to the plot. It's interesting to see how the friendships are growing and the romantic interests are weaving together. In each book, the characters have been evolving and deepening. Some reviewers seem to have a problem with the way some of the relationships appear to be developing, but to me, the characters have become so familiar and so real that their yearnings and growing awareness are all the more poignant. How can you not wish them well?
In this third book of the series, Travis and Grace return to Earth to seek medical care for the gravely wounded knight, Beltan. However, while there, the evil Duratek Corporation (who are planning to rape the ecological resources of the world Eldh) have managed to locate them due to the betrayal of a friend, have captured Beltan, and plan to conduct medical experiments on him. Travis and Grace are forced to turn to the Seekers for assistance. Meanwhile, back on Eldh, Melia, Falken and the others travel to the fabled city of Tarras to find out who is killing the New Gods. Grace and Travis are finally forced to come to terms with the shadows of their pasts that have haunted them all of their lives. This, of course, is a great simplification of the plot, which has many more twists and turns, trials and tribulations. It is a fast-moving, interesting, and enjoyable story, and I for one am looking forward to Book Four.
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