Customer Reviews

The Charnel Prince (Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone)

5 star:		(35)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

With The Briar King, Greg Keyes created a masterpiece of a first book, so much so that it would be almost impossible to keep it up at that level. He tries very hard, however, and almost succeeds. The Charnel Prince suffers a bit from "middle book syndrome," but not as much as some series I've seen. Keyes keeps the tension high, introducing some wonderful characters to take the place of those killed off in The Briar King. The book is marred only by a massive coincidence that, while it can be explained, still strains the suspension of disbelief a bit.

The biggest compliment I can give to Keyes is that I wish this series was done. Right now. I want to be able to read the rest of this and see how it comes out. Unlike The Briar King, Keyes ends this book on a bit of a cliffhanger. While Keyes doesn't break up the action with a vivid cliffhanger, one of the main characters is dealt a massive blow in a truly horrifying epilogue that shows just how evil one of the villains can be. What's even worse (or better, you could say) is that I had really grown to love this character, which made the ending even more of a shock. It left me with a pit in my stomach, which to me demonstrates just how good the characterization was.

Keyes continues his deftness at this characterization. Princess Anne is probably the best, as she grows up a lot in the span of six months or so. I guess running for your life will do that to you, but most of the haughtiness has left her by the time she reaches her final scene. She's done the work of washerwomen, been threatened with a marriage fostered in darkness, and realized that the love of her life isn't quite as pure as she had always believed. All of her arrogance has been blunted by the news of the deaths in her family as well as the mystical fate that seems to be in store for her.

Even better is Leoff, the composer who is on a journey to take a royal commission in the capital, not realizing what he's getting into. He's the true innocent, doing what he believes is right no matter what the consequences. The music in his heart and all around him captivates him, and the chance to write a piece of music that is unlike all others, despite what the church might say, draws him like a moth to a flame. His relationship with young Mery, who he finds hiding in his room, is wonderfully charming and innocent, as he takes the young girl under his wing and teaches her music. It's interesting to watch him deal with all of the political maneuvering going on around him because he is such a non-political creature. While he agrees to help Queen Muriele by composing a piece that will be unmatched, we get the feeling that he's doing it more to compose a piece like that than because he truly wants to help her. He is a good man, however, trapped in a world that could chew him up too easily if he missteps.

There are too many other characters to name them one by one, but they are all wonderfully done, with the small exception of Robert. He comes off a little flat in this one, possibly because of his circumstances. Thankfully, those circumstances do ultimately become interesting as we find out why he's around and what those circumstances are, as well as what they mean for the rest of the world. He is still, however, rather dull by himself. That he is the only one is a marvel, though, considering how many characters populate this book. Even the bit parts are well-rounded, given enough depth to be interesting even without delving deep into their background.

Everything else about the book is great, as was the first book. The prose, the world-building, everything. Keyes has created living, breathing societies that are all interrelated yet distinct. The religion is especially interesting. One can mildly criticize him for making yet another series where the church is on the side of the bad guys, but there are enough holy loners to make it clear it's not the religion itself at the center of the evil. It's just the men who have climbed to the height letting the power get to them.

The only bad thing about the book is the massive coincidence that brings together three of the disparate plotlines to the same place at the exact same time at the end of the book. Two of the three can be explained, as one of the characters is desperately tracking another before it's too late. However, the third one just stretched my allowances a little too far. It wasn't enough to completely destroy the book, but it might have if the rest of the book had been found wanting. Thankfully, the book itself holds your attention and won't let it go, so it's easy to allow this coincidence, notice it briefly, and then discard your annoyance because everything else is so good.

The Charnel Prince is a captivating read that grabs you, forces you through the ringer along with its characters, and then dumps you just when you want the book to go even further. I will be anxiously awaiting the third volume. Greg Keyes should be very proud of himself.

David Roy

greg keyes has been touted as the Next George R.R. Martin in some circles, writing gritty epic fantasy with lots of well drawn characters.

Well, his stuff is gritty, and reasonably epic, and there are a number of characters, but thats where the similarities end. Martin is better by far. His characters read like real people, his politics are as engaging as his action, which is very, very engaging.

Keyes isn't up to that level yet. He has given new life to old cliches, but they are still cliches. Sir Neil the perfect knight. Cazio the cocky duelist. Anne the willful girl growing into a strong woman. Aspar the veteran ranger. There are a few new characters, most notably a composer who is one of the most interesting of the books characters, and whose final chapters are truly fantastic.

This is a short read, and it moves at a breakneck pace which keeps you entertained but allows for little serious character development. Cliffhangers are overused to the point where they begin to lose their intended effect.

His action scenes are excellent and exciting, though not exactly realistic.

Essentially, this book is fun. Its ridiculous to pretend its anything more than fun, popcorn epic fantasy. But it is fun, popcorn epic fantasy done well, and sometimes that is enough

The Charnel Prince succeeds in what should be the immediate and least of goals for second books in series--it moves the plot along. The book is well-paced, moving quickly through various storylines and transitioning nicely from one point-of-view to another. The shifts occur smoothly and repeatedly act to increase suspense (some may tire of the tactic; it never really bothered me). The different stories are mostly well-balanced, each carrying its own weight in terms of plot and character. Though I'd say one is noticeably weaker than the others, it doesn't act as much of a drag on the book as a whole.

There is no "recap" of the Briar King, but Keyes does a nice job of refreshing the reader's memory without being too obvious and without slowing the book down with a lot of early exposition. The main characters all return, some showing signs of growth, others performing their roles somewhat perfunctorily. Queen Muriel is perhaps the best example of a character who exhibits subtle and continuing signs of natural growth. Some of the characters instead have their changes "announced" to us, either by internal monologue, narration, or the somewhat clumsy remarks of other characters. Keyes also introduces a brand new major character, a composer, who is one of the more interesting characters of the series and whose personal storyline is certainly one of the more unique ones I've seen in fantasy.

The boil of internal and external politics and the conflict between pagan and institutional religion, along with the typical individual grasp for power, makes for a stimulating ride. The more personal relationship issues aren't handled nearly as well, but since they remain mostly understory, they don't cause too much damage.

Overall it's a well-constructed and mostly well-written book, with several very strong scenes (especially those involving the composer), but it lacks somewhat a true spark. Some of the characters play out their roles a bit too robotically, some of the character shifts are too quick, the storyline involving Aspar and friends is weak in comparison to the others, and some of the plot points a bit too well-worn: secret passages in the castle, brilliant plotters allowing themselves to be overheard plotting (twice), mysterious aid coming out of nowhere at just the right time. None of these are major flaws, none of them bring the book to a screeching halt or make it a bad book. But they do make it a flawed book, one that despite its quick readability doesn't tug the reader along or make him/her ache for more. Having seen these characters through two novels now, and with all the pieces seemingly in their place, the time is ripe for the third book to transcend the first two in inventiveness and characterization. The composer character in this one is a good sign.

The first book was flawed but held promise. In this book, the author is working very hard to be literary but most of his attempts come dangerously close to purple prose. I cringed on the very first page ("predatory blue eyes" and "huge-girthed ironoaks" just should not populate the same sentence). Occasionally he manages an inspiring description, but mostly it just feels strained. I also find his attempts at creating pseudo-germanic or middle-english words annoying. It all feels flashy, without much substance.

The problem is mostly that the characters stay in a "holding pattern" - not much new is learned about them. Every short, dialogue-filled chapter ends with some twist or cliffhanger -- tolerable at first, annoying soon. New characters are introduced, most of whom are not very interesting. The Aspar storyline was yawn-inducing.

The back-story and mythology of the world is still quite interesting, and the plot moves along at a pleasant pace. I'll buy the next book, but used or in paperback.

The Charnel Prince, book 2 in the Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone series from Greg Keyes, while moving the plot forward, is, otherwise, a literary step backwards.

The Briar King introduced the primary characters: Cazio, Anne, Muriel, Aspar, Stephen (to name a few) and others. These all return, and The Charnel Prince extends this list by at least 2 characters, albeit one of them has a very trivial role (Eohawk).

In the vein of both Tad Williams, George RR Martin and Robert Jordan, the third person limited perspective shifts frequently (in this case, with every chapter). Sadly, due to the quantities of characters, and in part, the "light" writing style of the author, I felt no empathy for them. Even Cazio, my favorite character in book TBK, is relegated to a second or third tier role. His replacements, Leoff and Muriel and (minimal) Eohawk were short shrift in comparison.

Furthermore, gone, from this book, were the emotional gravitas moments of its predecessor: Neil's ill-fated love of Fastia; Anne's anguish at banishment/youthful exuberence for Rhoderick; Aspar's anguish with Winna. And the conflict, if it were, with the Gryffin.

Instead, Aspar's party are transformed into psuedo-superheroes: never truly threatened (one exception to one character)); a love angle (currently tangental at best) was added. Neil flounders (one sequence excepted) and Leoff, a newbie, is of questionable worth.

The first half of the book compounds these limitations: the book is lifeless. It appears Keyes' was strumming the motions: working from dialogue sequence to dialogue sequence while waiting for the book's crescendo to near.

Pleasantly, that crescendo did arrive, and the last "part" of the book rescues it. As with a championship team that struggles for 3 quarters before finding their way in the end, so too veers this book, if but barely.

Of note: I added an additional "*" (for total of 3) to the review in large part due to my affinity for The Briar King and hope that book 3 rekindles the fire.

The Charnel Prince by Greg Keyes is the second book in the Kingdoms of Thorn ad Bone series. The first book in The Briar King and the third is the Blood Knight which releases this week in hard cover format. This book continues right where the first book left off, so if you are thinking of reading this novel, you really need to read the first one otherwise you will be utterly lost while reading this. In general this book is very much like the first so if you enjoyed that then have no fear of jumping into this one. Keyes has proven that he can become a `name' in the fantasy genre and this second installment does nothing to tarnish that ideal.

There are again multiple `sub-plots' to this story where one character, or a group of characters, are in a different place from the rest of the heroes and doing things on their own. However, in this book there is no doubt the feel of political moving by the villains as the heroes seek to stop things from happening. While the multiple plot points is an ok idea, I did feel at the end when the points converge that it was rather convenient for the things that happened to have happened. I believe I inwardly groaned when I realized that everything converged again just like it did in the firs book. The ending, to me anyway, seemed somewhat forced and a little contrived. I can certainly understand why this novel ended the way it did, but in a sheer enjoyment and surprise level the ending didn't do much for me. Of course the ending left open more room for the third installment of this series which I will gladly read. The plot for this one I didn't feel was as tight as that of the first, but that could be because I had unreasonably high expectations for this book.

The characters are mostly the same as those in the first book. There are a few added here and there to keep things fresh and keep the book moving, but for the most part same cast. Which, is not really a bad thing because then Keyes doesn't have to worry about developing all these new characters as much and can focus on the story more. I will say I was perplexed by a couple things regarding the characters. One character in particular Cazio who stole several scenes in the first book was present in this book, but at times he was completely lost and just `there'. He was not written the same way, which was disappointing because I really enjoy that character. Also, there were two other characters in this book that made choices that they would not have made in the first book and these decisions seem to happen out of the blue with very little fore thought. I don't mind characters changing what they are doing, but the scale of these decision are just huge and seemingly done just because. I think a little more development around that area would have made an already good book very good.

Overall, I enjoyed this book very much. It was a fun read that didn't require copious amounts of thinking to understand the plot. I think some writers get caught up in having all these plot twists and intrigue and at times that takes away from the enjoyment factor. Keyes writes a concise plot that is what it is. I can't believe he doesn't get more attention than he is getting. The first two books in this series are very good.

I think most fantasy fans will enjoy these books. In fact I think fans that are not normal fantasy readers may enjoy these as well. There seems to be a little something for everyone in this book and one I am sure to recommend to others down the road. This is certainly another solid offering from Mr. Keyes.

Simply put, this is a great read. Fun, fast-paced and tense, but fails to grip you like the Briar King did. This wasn't all that surprising to me, considering it is the second is a four part series(you almost expect the middle books to sag compared to the beginning and end books).

Aspar and the rest of the characters you loved or hated in the first book make a return and retain their characteristics. Keyes also adds a few new minor and major characters that came as a welcomed addition to his already impressive group.

If you liked the Briar King, you will definitely enjoy this book. But don't expect anything more.

Having said that, I am eagerly awaiting the next book. Great stuff.

The Charnel Prince picks up right where the last book left off, exploring the dilmna of a kingdom from the perspectives of a few different characters. I read the first book and enjoyed it thoroughly, although I could understand where some readers' criticisms had value. This book was still very well done, just that many of the problems are much more blaringly obvious than in the first novel. I really had a hard time caring for these characters like I did in the first installment. Instead they came across as the stereotypical, overused characters that occur in most fantasy novels. While Keyes takes one from Martin by flipping the storyline back and forth between characters, it was done in a really annoying way. Each chapter ends with a silly cliffhanger that tries to make you think someone is in danger or a turncoat, etc., then announces later on "ha ha, just kidding." Similarly, Keyes has killed off some prominent characters early on. The only thing though, is that there's no attachment to them. I couldn't have cared less if any of the main characters dropped dead because whatever was there in the first book that hooked me and attracted me wasn't present in the second. Finally, all the character are inherantly good/evil and do good deeds just for the sake of being a good person. (gag)So youve got a book full of morally upstanding people willing to risk their life for the sake of country and crown, and those bent on destroying it.

There are some very good points to this book, don't get me wrong. It was well written and Keyes made a real effort to make the world complex. Sometimes his attempt to create language or lore is a little too blunt for my tastes (usually comes across as "Hey! I know its not necessary to put this sentence of foreign language I just created in, but I want you to see I can do it anyways.")Keyes does also give you a little bit of everything, so if you're partial to female characters or male characters, or a little bit of romance, some fighting, then it's all here. I do reccomend this book, especially to people just getting into fantasy or those wanting fantasy that isn't too involved. I'm just a little too jaded from years of reading similar things. I can however, recognize decent writing when I see it.

I still liked this book but nearly as I liked the Briar King. I didn't like the cliffhanger endings of the chapters that seemed to prevail in the Briar King, and by now, I am thoroughly tired of them. I also don't like the strange, unpronouncable words of ancient dead languages that Stephen keeps spouting off. It adds some depth, but I don't think so much was necessary.

Neil's character is very flat. He is driven by duty, but there seems little else that exists within him. Overall, he's boring, and that disappoints me because I don't think he should be. I still don't see the attraction between Aspar and Winna. Their interaction still seems forced, and less than believable.

The character of Cazio makes me laugh. He seems like Inigo Montoya's (from the Princess Bride) more arrogant cousin.

Hopefully, this book had middle book syndrome and just suffered by comparison to the first book in the series, and the third book will wrap things up (I hope this isn't some 6 or 7 book series).

In general I agree with the other reviews here. Keyes' series is enjoyable and the characters draw you in and you really care about them. I recommend it to people who enjoy fantasy novels. However, I don't think the books are all that accessible to people who don't like fantasy. I've enjoyed the books enough to finish them very fast, which is always a sign I'm engrossed, but I get jarred every few pages by Keyes insistence on using more than his share of made up words and real, but unnecessary, synonyms.

He is a bit of show off frankly. I mean who really needs to use words like "zephyr" in three different ways to refer to wind or breath in the space of 10 pages...? He falls in love a little too much with his made up languages at times as well - I'm glad he has found use for his anthropology degrees.. Still I like the characters enough to keep reading, and he has enough new ideas to keep me going. Generally recommended.