A SEAT FOR THE RABBLE

An extensive fantasy focuses on a kingdom in turmoil.

When King Hexar returns to the city of Southpoint in the kingdom of Loran, conditions are not ideal. Hexar has been off fighting a profitless war that has accomplished little and amassed an enormous debt. Hexar’s daughter, Princess Lorana Eddenhold, was in charge while he was gone, and the domestic situation is no better. The peasants are overtaxed. If they cannot pay, the authorities will go so far as to take their children away. Those who cannot abide by the rules wind up executed. Or worse, they may be tortured in an ominous building known as the Red Tower. Another royal returning home is Hexar’s son, Jason Warchild. Jason has been at sea for two years fighting in the Holy Wars. Jason, Hexar, and Lorana are all attending what is known as Remembrance Day. It is a time of feasting and pageantry, though the excitement is cut short when Hexar is poisoned. Those behind Hexar’s murder hope the king’s exiled brother will now control the kingdom. But all is not so simple: A series of dangerous tests called the Kingstrials could install Jason as the rightful ruler. Yet the challenges of the Kingstrials are only the beginning. Schuette’s extensive world is an enticing one. Religion, class systems, and past events play large parts in the conflict. Consulting an informative history book, Lorana declares that the Kingstrials consist of “Sabotage. Savagery. Death.” While the sprawling novel is 902 pages, the story is eventful. Griffins fly; swords cleave; and the unsuspecting are sometimes slaughtered. Still, not every moment is vivid or exciting. For instance, individuals may make bland, action-hero pronouncements, such as “We’ve lingered in the open for too long. It’s dangerous.” Yet the fighting and feuding are matched in such a way to keep the intriguing plot moving swiftly. The competing interests make for a curious, highly detailed, engrossing fantasy.

An immense yet immersive fantasy about succession and disorder after a monarch’s death.