Solidly engrossing, if too dependent on luck and coincidence, with a robust and consistent backdrop: a satisfyingly...
Following his fine Archform: Beauty (p. 625), Modesitt kicks off a new series that, like the Recluce yarns, curiously but plausibly blends fantasy and SF. The Herders of the Iron Valleys in the north of the continent Corus tend their nightsheep on huge, rocky estates. Inedible nightsheep are the source of nightsilk, a miraculous fiber that's light, soft, and tough enough to turn a bullet. Herders like young Alucius also have, secretly, Talent (psychic abilities that help them survive against the deadly local fauna)—secret because, long ago, a great war involving Talent destroyed civilization. Today the Iron Valleys are threatened by neighboring Madrien, a matriarchy whose immortal Matrial enslaves rivals and captives through Talent-powered collars. So, leaving behind his betrothed, Wendra, and grandfather Royalt to tend the estate (his father died in battle), Alucius joins the militia and rides off to fight the Matrites. Despite his Talent and skills acquired from Royalt, Alucius and his fellow troopers are overwhelmed by superior numbers and an ancient weapon that hurls lethal volleys of glass spears. Wounded and captured, a collar clamped about his neck, Alucius must fight for the Matrial as a trooper against the encroaching Lanacronans. Again he survives and gains promotion. But then one of the soarers, seemingly intelligent flyers of feminine aspect, advises Alucius that he must soon find a way to free himself and defeat the Matrial, a threat to all sentient creatures.
Solidly engrossing, if too dependent on luck and coincidence, with a robust and consistent backdrop: a satisfyingly self-contained inaugural volume that skillfully sets up the sequels.Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-765-30561-5
Page Count: 560
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2002
At Buckkeep in the Six Duchies, young Fitz, the bastard son of Prince Chivalry, is raised as a stablehand by old warrior Burrich. But when Chivalry dies without legitimate issue—murdered, it's rumored—Fitz, at the orders of King Shrewd, is brought into the palace and trained in the knightly and courtly arts. Meanwhile, secretly at night, he receives instruction from another bastard, Chade, in the assassin's craft. Now, King Shrewd's subjects are imperiled by the visits of the Red-Ship Raiders—formidable warriors who pillage the seacoasts and turn their human victims into vicious, destructive zombies. Since rehabilitating the zombies proves impossible, it's Fitz's task to go abroad covertly and kill them as quickly and humanely as possible. Shrewd orders that Fitz be taught the Skill—mental powers of telepathy and coercion possessed by all those of the royal line; his teacher is Galen, a sadistic ally of the popinjay Prince Regal, who hates Fitz all the more for his loyalty to Shrewd's other son, the stalwart soldier Verity. Galen brutalizes Fitz and, unknown to anyone, implants a mental block that prevents Fitz from using the Skill. Later, Shrewd decrees that, to cement an alliance, Verity shall wed the Princess Kettricken, heir to a remote yet rich mountain kingdom. Verity, occupied with Skillfully keeping the Red-Ship Raiders at bay, can't go to collect his bride, so Regal and Fitz are sent. Finally, Fitz must discover the depths of Regal's perfidy, recapture his true Skill, win Kettricken's heart for Verity, and help Verity defeat the Raiders. An intriguing, controlled, and remarkably assured debut, at once satisfyingly self-contained yet leaving plenty of scope for future extensions and embellishments.
Pub Date: April 17, 1995
ISBN: 0-553-37445-1
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Spectra/Bantam
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1995
Gwynne’s effort pales in comparison to George R.R. Martin’s gold-standard work, but it’s nothing bad; the story grinds to a...
A middling Middle Earth–ish extravaganza with all the usual thrills, chills, spills and frills.
All modern fantasy begins with J.R.R. Tolkien, and Tolkien begins with the Icelandic sagas and the Mabinogion. Debut author Gwynne’s overstuffed but slow-moving contribution to the genre—the first in a series, of course—wears the latter source on its sleeve: “Fionn ap Toin, Marrock ben Rhagor, why do you come here on this first day of the Birth Moon?” Why, indeed? Well, therein hangs the tale. The protagonist is a 14-year-old commoner named Corban, son of a swineherd, who, as happens in such things, turns out to be more resourceful than his porcine-production background might suggest. There are bad doings afoot in Tintagel—beg pardon, the Banished Lands—where nobles plot against nobles even as there are stirrings of renewed titanomachia, that war between giants and humans having given the place some of its gloominess. There’s treachery aplenty, peppered with odd episodes inspired by other sources, such as an Androcles-and-lion moment in which Corban rescues a fierce wolven (“rarely seen here, preferring the south of Ardan, regions of deep forest and sweeping moors, where the auroch herds roamed”). It’s a good move: You never can tell when a wolven ally will come in handy, especially when there are wyrms around.
Gwynne’s effort pales in comparison to George R.R. Martin’s gold-standard work, but it’s nothing bad; the story grinds to a halt at points, but at others, there’s plenty of action.Pub Date: Dec. 3, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-316-39973-9
Page Count: 640
Publisher: Orbit/Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Nov. 16, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2013
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