A satisfyingly supernatural back story for the all-too-real final war of the Roman Republic.
Titans of Roman history grapple for control of an empire with the aid of a mystical weapon in this debut historical fantasy novel from Livingston.
After the assassination of Julius Caesar, two groups attempted to seize control of his domain: his adopted son, Octavian; and Mark Antony, whose lover, Cleopatra, is mother to Caesar’s biological child, Caesarion. Woven into this very real historical conflict is a dose of fantasy: Juba, Octavian’s adopted brother, has recently discovered a magical artifact. Known by many names, including Poseidon’s Trident and the Staff of Moses, its provenance is unclear but its powers are unquestionable—it can move objects, shred a man to pieces, and manipulate the waters of the sea—and its strength seems to originate from a jet-black stone at its heart. Juba is searching for another artifact—scrolls said to hold the secrets of the gods—but Octavian’s blood lust and cruelty are hampering his efforts. Meanwhile, as Cleopatra’s children and their tutor attempt to evade Octavian in the sprawling, bustling city of Alexandria, the truth of the origin of the Trident—and its sister artifact, the Ark—is coming to light. Meanwhile, armed with the Trident, Octavian and his army are bearing down on them. Bloody battles are waged, unoriginal but relevant theological questions are laid before the sprawling cast of characters and their shifting alliances, and while the outcome of history is fixed in time, the question of how these events came to be is given new life. Readers with an interest in this era will be captivated by the weaving of fiction with the reality of the past and the weaving of the reality of the past with the magic of the unseen world, even if the religious inquiries of the text aren’t especially fresh.
A satisfyingly supernatural back story for the all-too-real final war of the Roman Republic.Pub Date: Nov. 17, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-7653-8031-9
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: Sept. 2, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2015
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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