37 of 39 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Fantastic sequel!!!, August 7, 2003
If you read Green Rider, and were anxiously sitting by your computer waiting for the Daw newsletter to tell you exactly when Kristen's next book was coming out, I can guarantee that First Rider's Call will go so far beyond what you were expecting that it will seem that mere moments have went by rather than years. A good sequel - no, this was a PHENOMENAL sequel. Riviting as a game of intrigue, fast paced, yet subtle - Kristen manages to weave a tale drastically different from Green Rider, but filled with everything a snippet hound could possibly want:
Magic? Plenty - the same fascinating Green Rider Magic from the first book, with a few kinks and bumps along the way (For the Characters that is!), and some completely new and exciting twists to keep you jumping and flipping through the pages with wild abandon :)
Magical Creatures? Eletians, Ghosts, a few.... well, I don't want to spoil it for you!
And as for Karigan, she is a little older, and finally accepting of her role as a green rider, but wait until you see how she gets there! King Zachary, Alton, Captain Mapstone... all are much stonger and more developed in the sequel, and the twisting subplots leave no one alone for long.
First Rider's Call is a more complex novel than Green Rider, but it is more a matter of Sacoridia gaining depth as it grows on you - The scenery is so clear in your mind, it is as if you were the one riding through the woods, or standing at the edge of a lake...the characters have depth, feeling, motivations, humour, and above all, a humanity that links you to their tale and won't let you go until it drops you at the last page...stretching out for the third book which is waiting, just around the corner!
Now, if only I had a time machine and could go forward a year or two to get it!
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65 of 75 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
This ghost is getting *really* annoying, February 21, 2004
Kristin Britain came on to the fantasy scene in 2001 with Green Rider. I thought that she was a talented writer that resorted to too many fantasy cliches, and hoped that her second book (which was supposed to come out a year later) would move away from those. 2002 came and went with no book. Finally, in August 2003, First Rider's Call came out. With her first book not being the greatest, would the sophomore jinx kill Britain's writing? Thankfully, no. First Rider's Call is a rich story with vivid characterization and a surprising depth. She still uses a few too many cliches, but it's nothing like Green Rider in that respect.
Kerigan G'ladheon thought she had left the call of the Green Rider behind her after saving the king from an Eletian plot. However, returning to her merchant family's business doesn't provide the rest that she had expected. She is haunted by the ghost of the First Rider, who is endeavoring to convince Kerigan to follow her destiny and resume the King's service. Reluctantly, she does so, and just in time. Danger is threatening the kingdom of Sacoridia once again. Blackveil Forest, sequestered behind the D'Yer wall for thousands of years, is stirring once again. Evil forces from a long ago time are threatening to get through a breach in the wall, with some having already succeeded. Havoc is sweeping the countryside, people turned to stone and crops withered. Refugees from up north are flooding into other provinces, creating internal strife. King Zachary must balance all of these situations together, keeping his people from panicking and trying to find out what's going on.
Other things are going wild as well. The magic of the Green Riders is becoming unpredictable. Captain Mapstone's magical ability attacks her, forcing her to confine herself when she's needed most. Kerigan's ability is sending her wildly into the past and future, as she learns the secret of the First Rider and what happened all those generations ago, when people from across the sea came and tried to colonize the wild land. In doing so, she discovers the haunting truth of her own heritage, as well as the secrets of the Wall. Hopefully, she'll live to tell the tale.
While this isn't the most original plot around, Britain does try to do some new things with the familiar tropes she is using. The story is deep and rich, with the prose working much better than Green Rider. Britain really seems to have honed her craft with this one. She does suffer from a few cliches (Eletians are basically elves with the pointy-ears filed down, for example), but for the most part she avoids the potential landmines in her path. She has an interesting cast of characters as well.
Kerigan makes a vivid viewpoint character. She's matured since Green Rider, but she's still unsure of herself at times. Unfortunately, she's much too passive, with too many events occurring around her rather than her being the main cause of them. Part of this is explained by the unique relationship between Kerigan and the First Rider, but it's still not enough. While Kerigan's involved in the climax of the story, she doesn't actually figure much in the resolution. Still, despite this fault, I did grow to care about what happened to her, especially as things start to deteriorate in the kingdom.
Then there's King Zachary. He's actually very good, but he brings up another problem with the story. There is a lot of romantic tension between Kerigan and him, and it's completely unnecessary to the book. It doesn't add anything to the story, and the consummation of the relationship (and that *doesn't* mean that they sleep together in this case) makes it even more superfluous. At over 600 pages, the book is long enough already. This relationship just drags it out more, making the denouement of the story more tedious than it needs to be. I realize that Britain may be setting up something for the next book, but I think she should have also made it mean something in this one as well. Otherwise, Zachary is extremely well done, being a fair ruler who is not above getting his hands dirty when the situation warrants it.
The plot of First Rider's Call is much more intricate than Green Rider, and Britain handles it deftly. There's so much going on that it would have been easy for her to lose her way. Instead, she is generally able to keep the flow of the story, with only the scenes in the Blackveil Forest slowing it down. The Alton sequences could have had a bit more punch to them, as he isn't that interesting of a character and I kept wanting to get back to Kerigan when he was on screen. Given the business of the plot, though, this is a small problem and I didn't have any trouble getting back into the story. I found the use of diaries from the past led beautifully to the revelation of Kerigan's heritage (though I did see it coming very early, there's no way the characters would have known about it).
All in all, First Rider's Call is a very good sophomore effort, and I look forward to seeing more of Britain's writing. Whether it will be the third book in this series or if she'll try something else, I plan to follow her career and see how she does.
David Roy
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26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent!, July 28, 2003
By A Customer
Kristen Britain's "First Rider's Call" is a sequel to "Green Rider", her outstanding debut novel. Reading "Green Rider" will certainly help you fully appreciate this wonderful second effort. In FRC, Karigan G'ladheon has finally given in to destiny and joined the Green Riders, a messenger/spy service. While on a delegation to the Eletian kingdom, Karigan and her companions are attacked by a mysterious spirit. With the delegation decimated, Karigan returns to Sacor City to report on the wraith and its peculiar focus on her personally. Magical accidents and attacks are soon occuring all over the kingdom and Green Rider magic itself begins to malfunction. And then things really start to go wrong when Captain Mapstone locks herself in her room. This is a truly enjoyable fantasy adventure, with strong characters and realistic solutions to problems (both magical and personal). Karigan's romantic trials are dealt with more fully in this novel, although readers are left with a cruel cliffhangers on several essential matters. These cliffhangers (including one in particular involving a certain king!) and the absence of the Berry sisters are my only real complaints about the novel, and I'm sure that will be solved in the next book. Buy this!
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