I'm of two minds with this, but mostly that's because I re-gifted my wit back to the person who gifted theirs to me.

Wait. Does this just make me one of those eternal observers?

Nah, just a reader. :)

Even though this is officially a Runelord novel, it breaks most of its ties (except a few characters and all the mechanics) with the previous four. And you know what? I like it. A lot. The stakes are a bit more off in the future and the heroes are mostly all quite young. If I didn't know any better, I would call this a YA. But since it's right in the middle of a huge arc and focusing on a new generation, it's just right. It reminds me of Feist in a good way.

Oh, and I like the baddies. We've got a good look at the biggest bad and a new and interesting lesser boss. Our hero ain't a Green Man, either. What can I say? I actually LIKE fire, too! :)

I'm hooked. No need to fret over losing our old favorites. I've got my new ones lined up. :) ( )

This novel was the point in the series where my interest started to wane. I don't think it was necessarily the books fault entirely. I think I just tend to lose interest once a story moves on to focus on subsequent generations. I build up an emotional investment in the original characters, and when they begin to be left out of the story in favour of their descendents, I just can't really be engaged.

Sons of the Oak was a good novel, just not as good as the previous 4. ( )

David Farland is a master at his craft. I have never read anything by any other author that is as effectively descriptive as this book. I read the first four books of the series a few years ago, and I distinctly remember feeling sick to my stomach quite a bit while reading. Part of it was the Runelords culture: weakening someone else to make someone stronger, killing the weaklings to make the Runelords weaker.

But it is Farland's use of words that makes me respond physically. His description of human suffering is so palpable I want to close my eyes, plug my nose, plug my ears, do whatever I can to escape the agony. Conversely, his descriptions of joy and the triumph of the human spirit fills me with wonder, hope, and possibly a few tears. He doesn't use flowery language; he just uses the right words, and words can be a very, very powerful thing when utilized correctly.

Farland's characters are real and complex. He knows how to write children, teenagers, and adults, characters who are good, evil, or a little bit of both. Readers have little choice but to care about them. Farland doesn't hold anything back from his readers—whatever Farland sees, his readers see, regardless of whether they will be comfortable seeing it or not.

Obviously, this book struck a chord within me, largely because of Farland's gift for writing. The only part of his writing style I felt was less than effective was when he jumped from one character's head to another—not an easy thing to do, but some of the transitions were a little choppy, leaving me feeling a little disoriented.

As for the other stuff, like the actual story, well, Farland doesn't disappoint. Like Gaborn, I, too, felt that the Earth King had failed in his role as the greatest king the earth had seen for two thousand years—people were still taking Dedicates, and the world dipped right back into chaos the moment he died.

Fallion will be a different kind of savior. It was immensely satisfying to see him become a powerful leader without endowments, and even more satisfying to watch him find a way to destroy Shadoath without slaughtering her Dedicates, all innocent children. He didn't make the mistakes his parents did, the mistakes Borenson and Myrrima made and are still paying for. He still paid a price for his choices, but he made better choices than those before him did.

I loved the ending as well. Just seeing the Borenson family settle down on a dream spot of land, seeing Fallion and the children learn to smile again, seeing the hope that Fallion has for the future of the world—how can your heart not swell a bit, reading that?

The writing was superb, the story was engaging, and the ending was immensely satisfying. What more could an avid reader want? ( )

I think this book is a bit better than some of the previous books of the series. This is a bit less 'hack and slash' than the others, but still with plenty of conflict. The one odd thing with this series is that the main characters keep vanishing, one way or the other, getting replaced by new ones. In that way, its a bit like Modesitt's books, rather than a large multi-volume epic about one character. The world and the magic system are the theme, not the characters. However, I have very little interest in continuing with this series, I think it has run it's course for me. ( )