Book 3 - Heavier Than a Mountain - Destiny's Crucible

This book continued the overall saga in great fashion. The main characters continue their key rolls and we as observers, come to cheer them on as the try to pull the divergent clans together and strengthen their defenses. I can't wait for the next book in the series.

Very strong world and characters. Can't wait for the next book in the series. I love the eclectic knowledge drops and the mix of history, science and military. I hope this author has great success. I read a great many books and don't typically do reviews.

I really like a lot of what thorensen writes, it's a detailed world, vivid characters, we'll thought out strategy, and widespread reactions to any event. I like the world building included in the story, but it really drags at times. For example the book started out on a fast action packed note, but it was onlt rehashing the end of book 3. The middle of the book was wrold buidling/character development, with some politics thrown in as spice. The end of the book finally started progressing the story line. It felt like nothing heppend for two thirds of the book. So while important to the world, I think Thorensen needs to mix story progression throughout the book a little better, rather than set everything up, and then knock it all down.

Thought it might have been a trilogy, but instead this is just number 3 of how ever many the writer can get away with writing. This installment is the worst of the three. Repetitive with long boring stretches. All that happens does so in the last 10% of the book.

Well written, no spelling errors, well developed characters. The first half of the first book almost made me abandon it. Too much detail, pages and pages of description that, in my opinion, could have been shortened to about half. Fortunately I kept going, and once I got past the boring parts, I couldn't put the series down. Thanks god I started on a Friday.

5 - Star.

As the author continues the series, the books just keeps getting better and better.

This series is perhaps the best sci-fi(minimun) - fantasy(max) adventure novel series that I have come across, sprinkled with articulate words, humor, romance, action.

A must have for scifi-fantasy cross adventure readers.

I enjoyed this book greatly. Very hard to put down. A tion parts and characters were very believable. Plot was very believable and consuming. Like I said very hard to put down. Very very good series, only question is were is number 4. Can't wait.

An interesting concept of putting a modern scientist on a medieval planet where invaders are attempting to take over the island where he's been left. However, in an apparent effort to drag this saga through many books, the author pads the story with vast amounts of trivial detail. Don't bother, unless you like this sort of endless boredom.
This criticism applies to all three books in this unfinished series. Book 3 ends, virtually, in mid-sentence

Far to much of this book is dedicated to extolling the virtues of the main character. We have his inner dialogue of impeccable morality and intelligence. We have his adoring wife who spends whole pages just thinking about how great he is. We have the hetman who muses about how important he is. We have the competent military adversary that appreciates his every maneuver. We have the abbot that adores him. All his employees. There is literally NOONE in this book that doesnt love Yosef kolsko. We get it. He is awesome. His sperm endows his mayes and children with healing powers and immunities. His military advice is always spot on. He is a septarsh. Enough. Just get on with the damn story.

A lot of showing instead of telling. Half the book was really solid and half was lengthy exposition. The real low-point in the book for me was a point where the author spent two or three pages telling you who was sitting next to who in the carriage for the journey there and then it kind of just went "They got there without any problems except for this one half-page long conversation". It really annoyed me but when the author avoids exposition and the characters are actually talking to each other the novel really shines. I kind of think it's the kind of thing an editor would be cleaning up so it's the risk we all take reading indie stuff on unlimited. But author, if you're reading this please avoid telling us stuff and do more dialogue scenes - you're good at it!

The action keeps intensifying but Thorensen knows how to break it up. I love the long pauses between the big actions because the development of social, material, and cultural changes are fascinating -- and very well written. I appreciate the depth of detail in conversations, correspondence, and thinking. It all makes the world and the characters very real to me. Then when there is a crisis or a battle or other great danger, I feel completely invested in it! I've been listening to the books through Audible, and the narrator is very very good.

I've been enjoying this series, but I thought it was a trilogy! I wouldn't have started it otherwise. There appears to be no time estimate for book 4, so I'll probably have forgotten the story line when, or if, it's finally published. I sure hope the author has the sense to wind everything up in book 4. I've gone from being impressed with his world building, to getting pissed off with him milking this story. I may read some of his future works it they're free-standing, but I won't trust him with a series.

Kind of a revisionist history similar to some time travel stories where mystery allies give machine guns to confederate mounted infantry and the south wins the civil war. I love this exploration of a mysterious man who brings 21st century knowledge to a medieval culture. Learned some new things about technology and European medieval culture under a different name. Also a love story and adventure you can't put down.

As I started on the first book, it reminded me of Mark Twain's "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" that I read 60 some odd years ago. After finishing the 4th book spending many nights of " past my bedtime", I have concluded that Thorensen is even better than Twain. Please continue this series and characters.

So book 3 is just as good as 1 and 2, maybe a tiny bit better. Also, there are 2 new references to things about which the reader knows nothing, both presumably being developed in future books. I'm listening (Audible) and thus must wait until Feb. 6 for book 4. Pre-ordered.

The most exciting and intriguing portions of the book are watered down with far too many filler chapters of the life of the protagonist or administrative meetings with the antagonist. These added spice to the first two books but they just added 20 dull chapters to the third book.