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The Legend of Hawkwind by Adrian Drake
Reviewed by Megan Powell
The Legend of Hawkwind reads like a role-playing campaign. Depth of characterization takes a back seat to action, and Drake keeps up the pace throughout. At times this is horribly distracting: early on we're introduced to a significant number of characters, in short alternating sections that don't provide much of a context in which to place them. It's clear these characters are going to meet and go on a quest, which does not take long, and despite other drawbacks Drake's style makes for a very quick read.
As in any RPG campaign, the characters have vastly different backgrounds and areas of expertise. There is Quinn Malxus, a dishonored Knight of Hawkwind; Sir Nikolas, a Knight of Vedeer dedicated to serving the law; Bob, the Zithaen companion of Nikolas, filling the traditional role of short nonhuman comic relief; Godakai, eldest and most noble son of the Khan of the Saeraian Plains; Turuth the Northman; Calanna, an outcast of the Nightengale tribe; various others join the group over the course of the book. All have appropriately traumatic (or in some cases mysterious) pasts.
I get the sense that, like any good DM, Drake's got a fair bit of background material mapped out, and I would like to be privy to some additional details. The characters' backgrounds and homelands are only sketched out, and overall the book raised more questions than it answered. (Hawkwind is the first in a series, and Drake does not attempt to make it a self-contained volume.) Going full speed ahead makes for a fast read, but I'd like to have had more opportunities to stop and smell the flowers.
© 2001 Megan Powell. All Rights Reserved.
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