The Heretic Kings [Hardcover]

Paul Kearney (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: London Gollancz 1995. (1995)
• ASIN: B000J5JJ12
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)

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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An excellent conclusion to the series, with some minor problems, September 9, 2010

By 

A. Whitehead "Werthead" (Colchester, Essex United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Century of the Soldier (Monarchies of God) (Mass Market Paperback)

A great clash of civilisations is underway. From the east and north come the Merduks of Ostrabar, having overthrown the Holy City of Aekir and now prosecuting the invasion of Torunna. Stymied before the guns of Ormann Dyke, the Merduks have now outflanked the fortress through a seaborne invasion and threaten to destroy its defenders from the rear. From the west an army of the Fimbrian Republic marches to Torunna's relief, but the ultimate fate of the kingdom rests in the hands of a lowly cavalry colonel and his ragtag troops.

The heretic kings Abeleyn of Hebrion and Mark of Astarac have regained their thrones and thrown back the forces of the Himerian Church, but a greater danger is now unveiled as a single ragged ship flees out of the Great Western Ocean, bearing stories of madness and death in a new and untamed land.

Century of the Soldier collects together the latter three volumes of Paul Kearney's Monarchies of God series: The Iron Wars (1999), The Second Empire (2000) and Ships From the West (2002), and concludes the series in a strong, if not flawless, manner.

The structure of this omnibus is different to that of the first. The Iron Wars and The Second Empire form one long narrative as the Ramusian and Merduk armies clash for dominance of eastern Normannia, civil conflict breaks out within the Ramusian Church over certain revelations about its origins and as Abeleyn battles to hold his throne, whilst Ships From the West is effectively a sequel to the rest of the series, set seventeen years further down the line when the threat glimpsed during Richard Hawkwood's adventures is finally unleashed in full fury. The success of this structure has been hotly debated over the years, with a general feeling that Ships From the West is not as strong a conclusion as may be wished.

Before reaching that point, the third and fourth books are a triumph. Whilst writing them Kearney took part in massive American Civil War re-enactments in the USA and this informs the writing of the several huge battle sequences in these volumes, among the most impressively-described ever achieved in the epic fantasy subgenre (the Battle of the North More, the King's Battle and the conflagration at Armagedir vastly outstrip any of the battles in A Song of Ice and Fire or the Malazan series in their vividness). Yet Kearney is implacable in his refusal to glorify warfare. It is depicted as brutal and horrific, particularly a jaw-dropping sequence in the fourth volume when Kearney nails the problems faced by commanders when a small Torunnan force has to stand by outside a town being sacked by a large enemy formation whilst awaiting reinforcements. It's a horrible and disturbing scene, dropped in as an ugly reality check amongst the impressive cavalry charges and roaring artillery exchanges, and works very well.

His character-building is also impressive, with Corfe becoming a particularly well-realised figure. His extremely rapid rise from ensign to colonel and to higher rank is on the fast side (although, that said, Napoleon's rise from artilleryman to general was fairly meteoric as well) but in the context of the story it is plausible. The notion of a man stripped of all the things that connects him to the world save his abilities in war becoming a great general is a familiar one, backed up here by a tragedy which the reader is aware of long before the characters, leading to a powerful conclusion that should feel contrived, but doesn't thanks to the circumstances that leads the characters to that point.

A bigger problem in these two volumes is that events in the west take not so much of a back seat as an extended vacation, with Hawkwood and Murad's appearances reduced to mere cameos despite the gravity of the new threat from the west. However, this does resolutely focus the narrative on Corfe's story, to its benefit.

The final volume of the series has been criticised over the years for a number of reasons (most stringently by the author himself), and Kearney has addressed some of these issues through around 5,000 words of new material and rewrites. The fates of several characters left unresolved in the original book are now made clearer (most notably Avila and Abeleyn) and there are some tweaks here and there which clarify certain points. However, the biggest problem with the book, namely the extreme rapidity of the passage of events and the rushed feeling of the book (despite their short lengths by epic fantasy standards, the previous four books never felt rushed, whilst the fifth does), remains an issue, as does a potential plot hole regarding the fact that the enemy's Achilles heel as been extremely well-known since the first volume but is not militarily exploited until quite late in the day here, despite the seventeen years of preperation for the conflict.

That said, whilst the fifth book does not fulfil its true potential, it is also hardly a disaster of the same magnitude as Greg Keyes' The Born Queen (which wrecked the series almost beyond redemption) or Alan Campbell's God of Clocks (which rendered the entire trilogy pointless). The character and story arcs are brought to satisfying, if exceptionally bloody, conclusions and there is a dark irony in the conclusion which is still grimly amusing.

Century of the Soldier (****½) is an epic fantasy book about war, the reasons for it, what it costs people and the fact that its resolution is rarely just or dramatic. The final volume remains a little undercooked, although Kearney's rewrites do alleviate some of the issues, but overall this is a worthy conclusion to the story begun in the first omnibus. The book is available now in the UK and USA.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Better than the first book, May 29, 2003

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N. Caine (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Heretic Kings (The Monarchies of God, Book 2) (Paperback)

My full review is with Hawkwood's Voyage. If what you loved in the first book is the sometimes overdetailed descriptions of sea-travel, Church politics, and Dwoemer apprenticeship, you will be disappointed. Kearney instead puts the narrative in a higher gear: the ideas are narrative and character driven. Paragraphs in "Hawkwood's Voyage" which sometimes seemed to come from an encyclopedia are now streamlined to relate directly to characters and action. The Western Continent holds secrets which.... we are actually told about. I expected to be bored, but Kearney ratchets up the action. The 3rd book is even more pure -- though still realistic and maturely written-- action. An amazing series. Keep going.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Successor to "Hawkwood's Voyage", May 28, 2002

By 

rzaster - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Heretic Kings (The Monarchies of God, Book 2) (Paperback)

"The Heretic Kings" is the second book in the series called "The Monarchies of God." This series is an epic fantasy with multiple plot threads and many realistic characters. In book one, the Merduks are trying to take over Western Normannia and the whole Eastern continent is under war. Richard Hawkwood has lead an expedition to the Western continent to help start a new civilization that would be secluded from the war. At the end of book one, you are set up for book two.

Many questions will be answered in this book including these: What will happen to the people that Ricard Hawkwood has lead across the Great Western Ocean? What is going on in Charibon? In Abrusio? What is happening to all of your favorite characters? In addition to the answers that will help resolve your anxiousness to know what is happening you will be riveted due to new plots.

Paul Kearney gives you great characters. The characters in "The Heretic Kings" are not cheesy, one-sided people that you could just tear apart and make fun of. Every character is interesting and can be cared for. From King Abelyn to Corfe, all of the characters are people that you wish that you could know.

There are multiple plot lines and many characters to this great story, but don't let that interfere with your enjoyment of this. Once you are into this you will be hooked and you'll have this novel done very quickly. Before you read this second novel in this series make sure that you have read book one of "The Monarchies of God," titled "Hawkwood's Voyage." "The Heretic Kings" will definitely thrill people that have read book one and you will enjoy this novel even more than the first one. This is an epic fantasy must read.

Happy Reading!