Anyone read Robert Adams Horseclans books?

[Desdichado]

I remember picking up the first one long, long ago, back in junior high or something like that. For some reason, I didn't end up reading it, but I do remember being intrigued by the first few pages. At the time, my public library had what was probably a fairly complete set of the Horseclans books. I've since moved, those books have been removed from the library, and they've all gone out of print, but I've always harbored a lingering desire to go back to them and see what they were all about.

Has anyone read these? I know the basics of what they're about (thanks to Wikipedia) and I've read a few amazon reviews of the first one - The Coming of the Horseclans, but I'd like to get some feedback from folks around here before I go to the trouble of tracking down used copies via amazon or ebay. Are they worth it?

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

I got them all (or at least, all that were out at the time -- a dozen or so all told) for Christmas one year. They first five or six were pretty good, but then the author fell into a trap/pattern that got really old. I coined a term that references it that I use in similar circumstances lo these 20 some years later. I'll not use it here in case you do read the books, but I think you'll react the same way I did.

I finished all the ones I got, but the last few really were a chore, and I never bothered to keep up in later years, so I don't know how many more came along or if they got better.

I did *really* enjoy the first few, and so did most of my friends at the time. If you have trouble finding them for cheap, maybe we could work something out borrowing-wise. I never get rid of books (I'm wierd that way), but I don't mind lending them.

 

[Hand of Evil]

I thought they were rather good at the time (77?) and was looking for my copies, which have disappearred, just last week. Surprised we have not seen a re-print.

 

[WayneLigon]

This link seems to have a good capsule description of the series and world. If you can find a copy of GURPS Horseclans, it's a very good reference.

 

[Jamdin]

I read a few in the series many years ago and greatly enjoyed them. My copies have long since disappeared as well.

 

[JoeBlank]

There must be some kind of conspiracy, as I can't find my copies of these books either.

Someone mentioned them in a thread here a while back, and I was sure they were at my parents' house, but I have looked there and here and can not find them.

I remember enjoying the books in high school.

 

[Desdichado]

Maybe that's what happened to my libraries copies too--some kind of massive conspiracy to remove all copies of the book from existence.

Sounds like a great intro into a Cthulhu adventure too--suddenly every copy of a popular book with sinister connotations goes missing. Nobody can find it; private collections, libraries, bookstores, etexts--it's simply gone.

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

Crap....now I wonder if I really *do* still have my copies.....

Guess it's time to dig through the boxes of books from the last move

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

Well, it took an hour and wading through 20 boxes of paperback books, but I found 1-8, 10, 12 and 13. I'm reasonably confident that 9 and 11 are in there somewhere, maybe stuck in with the hardbacks as I ran out of boxes. Of course, they weren't all in the same box, either.

 

[Shadowdancer]

Judging by that list on the linked page, I've read all the books in the series, including the two short story anthologies. As others have said, the series is sort of hit and miss. Some of the books are really good, some are not so good.

Some mentioned that they liked the first few books, then felt Adams fell into a rut. That's pretty accurate. But later in the series, he climbed out of the rut as he shifted focus to other characters, and other periods of time.

I'd encourage you to read the books.