>The Runelords books by David Farland were excellent in idea,
>if only good in writing. In a field of commonly derivative
>quests and mythology, Farland came up with something actually
>unique, in my experience, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. First
>book is The Sum of All Men. Definitely worth the read.

I agree with you to a large degree here, and I'll add that the first book seems much, much better than each succeeding book to me. I always had the feeling that he had to spend a lot of time reworking and refining the first book to get it published, and then once it was, the pressure on him was more to produce sequels quickly rather than well.

I remember being excited, reading the first book the first time, that he had created this wholly original and cool magic system, and then further that he's showing "innovation" with the same basic ideas/principles later even in the same book. (For example, the serpent ring.) And then... that's basically it. Each book thereafter becomes more and more about elemental magic, which we've seen a thousand times, and less and less about his unique system. (I also prefer Raj Ahten as a villian to the reavers.)

Still, that first book is pretty great.