Title: The Companions
Author:R. A. Salvatore

Were I simply giving stars I would give this book a 3.5 out of 5, but I don't think a rating that simple will do it justice.

Its noteworthy that there is no gratuitous sex and the modest violence adds to the story, the story is the fantasy equivalent of a "buddy movie".  It is well told tale after the fifth or sixth chapter when the jargon begins to take root.  This is a classic epic built on top of a successful previous epic by the same author, but as fantasy epics go its does not stand out. The characters are colorful if a bit cliché (really why are Dwarves always speaking in an Irish brogue ??) The Zero for historical is as there is no bearing to any actual history so a 0= not applicable on this scale)

The story moves well after page 50 or so and is safe for younger readers in my opinion, but I fear that without a detailed "what has gone before" prologue an impatient reader will toss this before it gels as a story due to the  heavy use of cryptic references to the previous story lines. A 20 page prologue will increase readers completing the book and reach first time Salvatore readers and would be a wise marketing move. I was very close to tossing this file at first due to the immediate immersion in the previous storyline with no assistance in understanding the many character references to previous (unknown to me ) works.

I am glad I stuck it out as it became a pleasant if predictable summer read. I am just beginning the second book in the series so stay tuned.

Welcome to Arachnibook a more visual approach to book reviews just a tad more granular than a simple star rating.

For example: Imagine if you could rate a set of books against each other across several characteristics and then plot the rankings on a typical "spider chart". Some books would fair better in a given area better than others but on balance may not be overall as enjoyable a read if, for example, the historical or scientific  accuracy was poor. You might be tempted to give the book a low rating, but if the book was otherwise an enjoyable read, how can you compare it to a book that was just average everywhere?

While I would clearly give The Passage 5 stars, when I try and differentiate between all the 2-3 star books I have plowed through of late, each with at least one or two positives, I struggle.

 While this is still a work in progress, the following are the current metrics used in the above chart

 

 

 

 

 

 

Its important to note that three characteristics in my mind carry more weight is setting a standard. They are general storytelling, complexity, originality. These also seem to have the widest gap between average and truly outstanding reading, so I have allowed these to scale 1-7 and the other characteristics to scale 1-5. with 3 generally being neutral.

 

Comments on the scales are welcome as only with good feedback will I be able to create a scale that both reflects my opinions of the book while still conveying the grading scale to allow others to choose or not to choose a book for entertainment.

 

Enjoy your reads and if you would like to post a review in this format, please contact me.