Rating: 
Summary: Not too shabby.....
Review: ....but could have been better. If you like long fantasy stories that span 3-10 books, than this isnt for you. However if you like fantasy and dont care how long it is, this is good.....
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent
Review: A wonderful book, just dont read the back cover. Something i thought was essential was revealed there.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: A wonderful book, just dont read the back cover. Something i thought was essential was revealed there.
Rating:
Summary: Magnificent fantasy epic
Review: Every now and again, a book comes along which raises the bar for its genre. "Once A Hero" blows the bar to the stratosphere. Stackpole's epic tale, stretching across two interweaving storylines 500 years apart, contains enough action, character, humor, romance, intrigue, and betrayal to satisfy anyone. Don't even read the plot summary on the back: start at page one, and I dare you to put the book down for any length of time before you get to the end. Stackpole's command of language is fantastic, and he uses it to great end in creating the different cultures of his world. In compact style, he defines Elven, Reithrese, and Human characters, makes them real, makes you care about them, and goes wild. From the enigmatic title character, Neal of the Roclawzi, to the evil Takrakor to the mysterious Dreel sidekick Shijef, Stackpole guides the reader through swordfights, mass battle, cruel cultures, hopeless love, and everything else needed to make a satisfying fantasy work. To try to summarize this work is to cheapen it. I am not excessively familiar with Stackpole's other work, but this is magnificent.
Rating:
Summary: Magnificent fantasy epic
Review: Every now and again, a book comes along which raises the bar for its genre. "Once A Hero" blows the bar to the stratosphere. Stackpole's epic tale, stretching across two interweaving storylines 500 years apart, contains enough action, character, humor, romance, intrigue, and betrayal to satisfy anyone. Don't even read the plot summary on the back: start at page one, and I dare you to put the book down for any length of time before you get to the end. Stackpole's command of language is fantastic, and he uses it to great end in creating the different cultures of his world. In compact style, he defines Elven, Reithrese, and Human characters, makes them real, makes you care about them, and goes wild. From the enigmatic title character, Neal of the Roclawzi, to the evil Takrakor to the mysterious Dreel sidekick Shijef, Stackpole guides the reader through swordfights, mass battle, cruel cultures, hopeless love, and everything else needed to make a satisfying fantasy work. To try to summarize this work is to cheapen it. I am not excessively familiar with Stackpole's other work, but this is magnificent.
Rating:
Summary: Giving it a 2nd try...
Review: I got this book a couple yaers ago after I finished Talion but for some I sold the friggin' thing before I finished it. This book was written with a first person narrative which is unusual for fantasy but makes it an intresting read. Stackpole is one of the few authors with the ability to pull something like that off.
If you like this try Across the Nightingale Floor or A Hero Born.
Rating: 
Summary: Could've been better
Review: I have to admit, I was somewhat disappointed with this book. I loved Stackpole's Star Wars books, especially I, Jedi, and am reading Talion Revenant and like it, but this book just didn't work for me. I didn't like how the author jumped back and forth across the centuries. I would read a chapter set back in the past with Neal, start to get interested and caught up in his story, then be forced to jump ahead 500 years and read about Gena. Just when I started to get interested in her, then the chapter would end and I would have to go back to Neal and try to remember what he'd been doing. The book wasn't totally bad. There were a lot of good themes and storylines and, had the author selected a different writing style, I might have been totally captivated and fallen in love with this book. But this style of writing made everything seem disjointed. I knew that Gena's story and Neal's story were going to fit together somehow, and it was interesting to see how Neal was percieved by those in a future time, but I was never able to completely attach myself to the characters because I would always get jerked out of the story, put into a different time period, and forced to remember what the characters in this particular time period were supposed to be doing. I think I shoud also warn that this book jumps back and forth between first and third person. Neal's story is told in first person, and Gena's is in third. I actually didn't find this disturbing, since this helped me easier adjust myself to which time period/person I was supposed to be reading, but I believe a warning is in order for people who may find that confusing.
Rating:
Summary: Best since Tolkien!
Review: I loved this book and I could never put it down. I haven't read any fantasy this thoughtful and intelligent since J. R. R. Tolkien, and I love his stuff to death! I don't know if I've ever really read a story in which I felt as though I was truly one of the characters, fighting alongside the heroes, but now, I know I have, and ONCE A HERO is it!
Rating:
Summary: Great for all
Review: I loved this book... and i normally hate the genre.. so if you like this type of book or not, check it out.. Stackpole is a master, and a god in my opinio
Rating:
Summary: A stunningly good read!!
Review: I started reading this book very critically because I feel that a lot of the Star Wars / Star Trek / Dragonlance / Forgotten Realms / RPG novels are extremely poorly written. Michael Stackpole has a background writing RPG games (very good ones, I might add), Star Wars and Battletech books. Despite myself, I wasn't expecting much, but what I got was one of the very **best** books I've ever read. Michael Stackpole writes rings around all but the best and the greatest of writers, with whom he stands proudly shoulder to shoulder. "Once A Hero" has started me on an addiction for Michael Stackpole's **stunning** fantasy. I've torn through "Talion: Revenant" and "A Hero Born" as quickly as I could get my hands on them and was not disappointed. Sadly, this book, "Once A Hero" is out of print, although it's readily available online used. Michael Stackpole has other fantasy books in print and if you're a lover of quality, engaging, high-spirited fantasy then you'd be mad not to seek them out. I will read his books over and over again as the years go by. They're that good...
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