Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I picked up this book based on a couple of the reviews that indicated that this was a solid fantasy novel. Instead, this book is an example of the downside of owning a Kindle -- I couldn't throw the horrid novel across the room and hearing a pleasing thump against the far wall. This is like a bad mashup between Jordan and Martin. Trite, generic medieval fantasy. The hero, like Moses in the rushes, was hidden by his mother so the bad guys wouldn't find him, then grows up in an apparently generic medieval setting where the local Duke allows his son to play with the hero (who was found and raised by wolves, wait, I mean the blacksmith and his wife), everyone is very egalitarian, and although the hero has a very unusual name (he was born about 20 miles away), nearly everyone else has a "normal" American name like James or Penny or Laura. And when the hero discovers he can work magic -- he, amazingly enough, learns everything right the first time and it doesn't "cost" him anything (he doesn't get tired or hungry or have to sell his soul). Did I mention that this blacksmith's son figures out how to sword fight on the fly while battling for his life against a young nobleman who's trained for years? I won't go into the plot holes big enough to drive a truck through, it will just make me more sad than I already am about spending real money on this book. Really, if you want to read fantasy -- find an author that does their research on world building, politics, how to fight with a sword, what you can and can't do with broken ribs, and has a magical system that is more complex than "you, evil; me, good".