Type of bind: Paperback
Format: Bargain Price
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 672
Printing Date: November 01, 1996
Sale Popularity Level: 1149883
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The Known Lands are teetering on the brink of war. Alliances are made, armies are mobilized, and once-proud loyalties are shattered. Desperate to avoid worldwide catastrophe, Jack, the baker's boy, must find Melli and Tawl and learn to harness the full strength of his magic to face his ultimate destiny--a final confrontation with the murderously evil and power-mad Kylock.
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Rated by buyers 
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I enjoyed this triology of books immensely. I wish she would have written more than just the three. It was great to see what happened to all the characters you feel you know so well.
Rated by buyers -
Still waiting for the rest of the barbed coil....
Rated by buyers -
While I enjoyed the book, the story left me a little flat at the end. I would have prefered the story to go out with a definative bang instead of leaving things sort of open for sequels. For some reason, after the very first two J.V. Jones novels, I have enjoyed her work less and less. I could not even get through the Barbed Coil book.
Rated by buyers 
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The trilogy was OK, but I had some problems with it.
The writing was poor a good chunk of the time. Jones seems to have a penchant for silly names and cliches and uses them liberally throughout the books. The characters are flat and (again) cliched. The dialogue is appauling.
These things are all pretty standard in fantasy writing, which is a shame, but the difference --the important difference-- is that I still wanted to keep reading.
The story was nothing original but somehow, even though I scoffed at the names and the dialogue and the writing, I tore through all the books in a few days and I couldn't stop.
These books seem to be a fluke. I started reading Barbed Coil and didn't even get half way through. By far too painful to read. I wouldn't bother with her other writing, but this series has something going for it.
If you're looking for a cheap thrill, this trilogy is perfect. It doesn't require any sort of real thought on the part of the reader and is chucky jam full of action packed adventure and weird/violent sex.
Rated by buyers -
Okay, so if you were snooping around in the fantasy circles circa 1995, you are indubitably aware that this trilogy generated an enormous buzz. That in itself was surprising, since The Baker's Boy was Mrs. Jones' very very first novel. In addition, it was published by Aspect (Warner Books), an imprint not particularly renowned for publishing bestsellers.
In any event, to a certain extent taking the market by storm, the series was an instant success. The three volumes were all national bestsellers, which is quite unusual. They all topped the Locus Bestseller List. Okay, so it's not the New York Times, but it is still quite an accomplishment for a new author.
Like a lot of people, I bought the books when they came out. Unlike many, I didn't read them yet. The hype was too strong, and I didn't want it to influence me when I read the series. Of course, I didn't really expect to wait nearly 9 years before reading them, either! For some reason, even though Mrs. Jones wrote 3 more novels since the publication of Master and Fool, she never did create waves the way The Book of Words trilogy initially did. Now was the time for me to see what the buzz had been about. . .
As is usually the case, the series did not live up to the expectations the buzz had created within me. Hence, I'm happy to have waited before reading the novels. Otherwise, I would probably have been VERY disappointed by this series. With the enormous number of books I've read over the years, I'm afraid that I have become definitely hard to please. . .
But although the trilogy suffers from several shortcomings, in all objectivity I must admit that it is still a relatively good read.
My main problem with the series is the fact that it appears to be aimed at a younger crowd. In my mind, it seems to be aimed at readers who are under 18. Being 30 (yes, I AM getting old!), I couldn't quite get into it. But I am persuaded that if I had read the series when I was 16 years of age, I would probably have loved it. There is a certain innocence inherent to the characters and their views of love, honor, obligation, etc, that makes the whole thing not ring true to my "adult" perspective.
The biggest shortcoming of the series, however, is the fact that the characters are far from being three-dimensional. As a matter of fact, they are not "real." The author fell into a popular trap, namely creating "cliché" characters: the innocent boy with immense potential, the beautiful and spoiled young woman who turns out to be stronger and more courageous than she believed herself to be, the evil mage, the power-hungry prince, etc. And some characters are just caricatures, case in point being the Archbishop Tavalisk. And yet, having said that about the characters, they are still a likeable bunch. Which, in the end, helps you enjoy the books.
Several plotlines had a lot of potential (the knights of Valdis, the Seers of Larn, Jake's parentage, etc), but they were not exploited to their fullest. Had they been, this series would have been much better. Mrs. Jones took the easy road instead. . .
In light of all this, I have to admit that I nevertheless like J. V. Jones' writing style. She has a witty way to write, which I truly enjoyed. I think that she must challenge herself a little more with her storylines, and explore a bit more those concepts that she creates. It would certainly give ner novels more depth, which in turn would make them more enjoyable.
I believe that J. V. Jones shows great promise and could be a bright voice in the fantasy genre. Hopefully her other novels will show just how much potential she truly possesses. . .:-)
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