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| Book
Reviews
of The
Riddler's Gift
The
First Tale of the Lifesong
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 REVIEW BY JOHN BRODERICK This book gripped me from the first few pages and had me struggling to put it down (I know this sounds cliché but it is true). When I had finished it I wanted to go knocking on the Author’s door to demand that he finish the next book immediately. The world that The Riddlers Gift takes us to, though alien to us, is still amazingly real. Somehow Greg has managed to weave an energy and spirituality into the world so that it is as alive and vibrant as the world we live in. Greg gently introduces us to this new world by telling an everyday story that would be exactly the same in our world with slight differences that are introduced slowly. Before we know it we are part of this world and its differences and strange customs are known to us. The plot is complicated but not in a way that makes your brain ache trying to keep track of what is going on but in a way that when you think you know what is going to happen you are pleasantly surprised to see you are wrong. The book is also deep in that it introduces shades of Grey which are often missing from Fantasy offerings. Mostly there is a clear cut line between Good and Bad and Light and Dark, but in this book even though you know which characters you are ‘cheering’ for they are definitely not archetypical heroes. Even the villains, though clearly shunned by you, are not completely evil but merely twisted. Even though you clearly don't want to be like them you can understand how they became what they are. This makes the characters extremely real and I feel like I have come to know them. Hurry up Greg and write the next book so that I can find out what has happened to my friends and foes!   VINCENT
RICHTERPremier Freight I just wanted to express my sincere appreciation for a book, which is simply excellent. Having not read the full set, yet, I can say that this first volume is absolutely wonderful. I have recommended it to a few friends, and am pushing them to buy and read the book. I simply do not have words to say how wonderful the story is so far. Characters are realistic, believable, story-line pulls one along on its own accord, and the dark elements, with their own internal squabbling, are an excellent twist to the plot! I am almost finished with the first book, and am dragging my feet, as I am already mourning coming to the end, only to have to wait two years for the sequel. Can you please tell me when the sequel will be out? And will this be a SAGA in the likes of Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time? Or just a Trilogy? |
 NERINE DORMANReviewer, Cape Times Newspaper "The Riddler's Gift was a welcome addition to my usual never-diminishing pile of literature. [..] Everything considered, Hamerton has a wonderful gift for evoking his story's milieu in my imagination so vividly that I felt quite immersed in his creation." READ THE FULL REVIEW |
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 SAM WILSONReviewer, Sunday Times Newspaper "It's classic fantasy, but that world is thoughtfully realised. And althought it's clear where the story is heading, there are enough twists to keep it enjoyable. Fans of fantasy will find much to enjoy." READ THE FULL REVIEW |
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 SAM
WILSONReviewer, Something Wicked Magazine "Hamerton knows how to tell a good story, and how to build and maintain tension. [..] during the slow, creeping movements as the good characters progress unwittingly towards a collision with the evil, the book becomes gripping. [..] There is no doubt that Greg Hamerton is a highly capable writer, and The Riddler's Gift is a classic fantasy of the kind consumed in vast quantities by lovers of the genre." MORE Get yourself a copy of this elegantly terrifying magazine. www.somethingwicked.co.za |
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 TERRI
DUNBAR-CURRANReviewer, Constantiaberg Bulletin "An engaging story that will have you wanting to read right through to the end." As featured in the Constantiaberg Bulletin 28 June 2007 READ FULL REVIEW. |
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| JILL
INGRAM Financial Planner "This is the most brilliant book I have read in the fantasy genre since The Lord of the Rings. I was totally hooked! Greg's style of writing is really beautiful, the images he conveyed were so real. I felt that I was a part of Tabitha's adventure." |
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| LESLEY
HORN Avid Reader "The fantastic imagery and well-paced storyline kept me hooked until the last page. Original ideas about the world of magic are hard to find but the author has managed to create a well-constructed fantasy world filled with believable characters and a beautiful storyline. Leaves you wanting more, thank goodness this only the first book of the trilogy! " |
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| PETER
PRUKL TV Producer - Carte Blanche and The Lab "I was totally hooked. I had little sleep this week from reading late every night. I enjoyed it tremendously!" |
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| IAN
DE VRIES Engineer (PhD), Inventor "The makings of a legend - if there is a film it is going to be awesome. I loved the vivid imagery. The physics in spirituality seemed a very real, graphic truth. The Morgloth were scary. There's a huge amount of work evident in The Riddler's Gift. I loved it!" |
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| FIONA
STEWART Attorney "The book got better and better as I got into it. By the end I was itching to read it each night and sorry when it ended." |
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| VICKI
SHAW Voracious SciFi / Fantasy reader "Wow! I have to admit I am really impressed. I thought it was really good. Odd characters stand out for me: Arkell, Tabitha's mother, Gabrielle. The dark figures in the book are really convincing and Hamerton paints them very strongly and well. The parallel world inhabited by the wizards really makes the book for me - gives it another dimension and more scope." |
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| JULIE Fantasy / Mysteries Reader "The book was fast and exciting. The story grabbed me from the beginning. Eyri was very familiar but in a warm sort of way. The magic was great - a physics textbook could be written on it. The characters have stayed with me - I'm still wondering what they are up to." |
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| LAURA
SMITH Business owner, never reads Fantasy "Had to read the book during work, just had to find out what happened. The descriptions are great - I want to see the movie! There are all the elements of a good story - romance, action, magic. The spell works - it's a great book." |
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| NIC
GOOD Film-maker (Adventure films) "The pace was great, and the descriptions were very real. The dark, evil stuff was the most powerful. I got into it, I got pretty tense at times. I really enjoyed the whole concept of dark and light. It definitely left me with a feeling of wanting to read more. Well done! An excellent book; well-written characters, interesting world..." |
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| CASEY
CALLAGHAN Fantasy / SciFi reader "An excellent book; well-written characters, interesting world..." |
 TC
SOUTHWELLFantasy Author (Demon Lord) "The Riddler's Gift is a well-drawn depiction of a many-layered concept, spanning a world-wrecking catastrophe and the tender entrapment of love that leads to weakness and failure when evil uses such goodness for its own ends. Darker scenes could be better described as horror, against which a counterpoint of music and song draws a magical skein of light and upliftment, producing a balanced sense of good and evil locked in their endless battle for supremacy. Hats off to Hamerton for this portrayal of evil at its worst, offset by a tender romance with all the elements of self-sacrifice and courage that go with it." ... READ FULL REVIEW |
| JACKIE
AMBROSE Fiction reader "It transports you. It has all the important elements of a good fantasy story - a heroine, a villian, magic and a credible 'new' world." |
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| JACKIE
DURING Spontaneous feedback I bought The Riddler's Gift at CT airport on the way to Kruger...and then couldn't put it down until finished. Spent the first 2 days with my nose firmly buried in the book; birds, photography and the big 5 forgotten...reckon that's about as good a compliment as you could get ! |
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