Customer Reviews

The Lion of Senet (The Second Sons Trilogy, Book 1)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Many consider Tolkien's masterpiece, The Lord of the Rings, the benchmark to which every other epic fantasy work is compared. The first book in The Second Sons Trilogy leaves the reader with the impression that this series will receive top marks in that scale. Jennifer Fallon creates a craftily depicted world with characters the reader will love or hate with passion. I became so engrossed in the story that I could not put this book down until I finished it.

Ranadon once again has two suns surging through its sky, but its inhabitants have suffered greatly in the past when one of the suns disappeared and the Age of Shadows began. The High Priestess, Belagren, with the help of a great mathematician, Neris, discovered the secrets about the Age of Shadows, which is a natural phenomenon that depends on the orbits of the suns. In her eagerness for power, Belagren used this information to her advantage and claimed that the Goddess spoke to her and told her exactly were the sun would return, granted that certain sacrifices were made. It all worked out, and Belagren gained considerable power through this stratagem. However, Neris sealed the secrets inside a deadly Labyrinth, and threw himself off a cliff, presumably dying.

In her need to know when the next Age of Shadows will return, so as to prove her communication with the Goddess, Belagren convinced the Lion of Senet, ruthless ruler of the strongest kingdom in Ranadon, to search for Neris because she suspects the genius is still alive. Meanwhile, in the kingdom of Dhevyn, which is "controlled" by Senet, the second son of Duchess Mirna of Elcast is being trained to be a physician. He is a bright boy and is thrown in the middle of the action when the Lion of Senet and Belagren arrive to Elcast looking for a very special prisoner, who was left unconscious in the coast after a tidal wave made his vessel the victim of a shipwreck.

The plot is complex but easy to understand, with religion and politics cleverly intertwined in a mix that achieves a similar effect on the reader to the one "Dune" accomplishes. There are many characters, but with the help of the character list and the masterful descriptions the author elaborates, it is reasonably easy to keep track of them. I would recommend following the story closely with the map provided, at least until the reader gets a clear idea of the geographical location of the different places mentioned. This will make the book a lot more enjoyable and easy to follow. Finally, an extra benefit in this trilogy is that it is already written in its entirety, thus, there is no need to wait a long time for the next two installments, which have already been published in Australia and New Zealand. If you like epic fantasy I highly recommend you read this book and discover what Fallon has to offer.

Normally, when I finish a novel, it is never hard to say "Okay, 2 stars" or "Wow, 5 stars" or anything else along those lines. However, Lion of Senet was incredibly hard to place because while it rocketed off the enjoyment scale, it was lacking in some other sections of my grading criteria.

Usually my five-star books are not only keeping me up at very late hours, but also literarily great. In fact, in most books that I rate poorly, the quality of the writing keeps me from enjoying the story. Lion of Senet was not like most books though. I swear on a copy of LOTR, the story had me breathing, sleeping, eating Lion of Senet. When I finished it, I launched on here to Amazon to read up on the sequel. I stayed up to 4 reading this impossible-to-put down novel. I do not say that often.

On normal circumstances, 4 am is five-star quality (2 am is 4 stars!) Yet throughout those blissful hours, a variety of issues irked me enough to give this book only 4 stars. Some of them were simply pet peeves of mine, but Ms. Fallon has one big ugly flaw in her writing: she cannot make characters act/sound their age.

Her adult characters are fantastic. Incredible. Realistic. Sadly, most of the main characters are, well, teenagers, and Ms. Fallon I'm afraid makes all of them (so therefore not a character flaw of one) sound easily three years younger than they really are.

The worst of it is in her two youngest important characters: Eryk and Mellie. They are both 13 and act and sound as if they were 9. This kept annoying me the entire read. Until I was actually told that Eryk and Mellie were indeed 13, I believed they were 8 and 9 and couldn't get the image out of my head. There was not a signal scrap of information to back up their age, and they weren't the only ones who suffered from this. Dirk only seemed his age because he was supposed to seem older than he really was, meaning that he was supposed to appear 17 when he is really 15. Tia (the first character you meet) is probably the only one who came across (of the teenage characters) as her given age.

That matter out of the way, here are a few pet-peevish occurrences throughout The Lion of Senet:

Modern dialogue, phrasing, and clichés: I do not know what role they play in a science fiction fantasy novel.

Let-the-reader-figure-it-out-on-their-own: At first, I really liked this part of Ms. Fallon's style. She doesn't pile you with information and doesn't leave it out. She also doesn't spell everything out, which I like. I enjoy using my brain while reading to connect information and draw my own conclusions. Sometimes she took it too far, however, and her clever style got in the way. I read half the book not knowing if Dirk was 15 or 16, minor, but annoying (read and you'll see why.)

Portrayal of evil: This is another thing authors commonly annoy me with. They simply toss the word 'evil' into the mix and give me a few things to back it up. Yes, those things are very corrupted, twisted, and wrong, but still a long way from evil. Evil is like hate. Both are words that should not be used lightly, and Ms. Fallon does add a few 'evils' in the mix in a rather preachy way.

You are probably reading this review and wondering how this novel only got 4 stars when those four things were the only bad dirt I could dig up off the top of my head. Well, if the story had not been so gripping, captivating, and downright amazing, those four things would have landed this novel at 2 or 3 stars...

Do not get me wrong, though. I'm harsh when it comes to rating novels, so a four in my book is about a 6 in the average reviewer's. This novel was one of my best purchases in who knows how long and I cannot wait to receive the sequel. (Just a few more days!)

DQ

Wow! I have just finished the Second Sons Trilogy and I am thoroughly impressed. This first book is very well written and becomes quite complex as the characters develop more and more. Whats even better is that the second book is better than the first and the third book is better than the second. These three books are the best that I have read since George R.R. Martins "A Game of Thrones" series.

This book starts out relatively slowly with a simple ship wreck and a lone survivor that eventually sets a complex story in motion. I found it refreshing in the fact that there is no sorcery to speak of, which is typical of a fantasy book. There are no easy magical solutions to any of the problems that come up. Everything is accomplished way of Dirk Provin's intelligence and ruthless manipulations. This series is a great case study of Machiavellian tactics.

I personally think that Bantam Books really dropped the ball by not issuing these books in hardback. I would truly love to have this series in a hardbound, signed, first edition form.

One last note, I would not recomend reading these books out of order. The second and third books pick up right where the previous book ends and there is little background given.

Read and enjoy.

I actually bought this book because I thought Medallon looked interesting, but I wanted to see if I liked the author before I shelled out the cash for a hardcover. I'm glad I did, because I loved this book and am looking forward the reading the next two. The characters are fully developed. Both the "heroes" and the "villains" have good and bad characteristics. Tia was especially annoying for a "hero" at some points. lol.

I find it interesting that this book is classified as fantasy, however (although I have no better suggestion as of yet about where to put it) because depending on where the second two books go, it may turn out to be closer to science fiction. The action takes place on a world obviously not earth because there are two suns. I've found that most fantasy takes place a sort of alternate earth. There is mention of a goddess, but unlike a lot of fantasy in which the gods are demonstrably real, here the "actions" of the goddess are probably going to be explained with science (specifically astronomy) by the end of the trilogy. So any of you who are looking for spells, mindspeech, or magical talismans will need to look elsewhere. I personally didn't miss these traditional fantasy trappings, and I highly recommend this book.

First of all, I have to write that I really enjoyed this series. Since all three volumes were published within months of each other, I was able to obtain all of them after reading this the first volume. I was totally engrossed in the story and could not wait to get to the conclusion.

First, the good. I really liked the idea behind the premise--a two-sun world in which one sun periodically sets for an extended period of time. And I like the interplay between science and religion in explaining this phenomena.

I also liked very much the storytelling aspect of Fallon's writing. She painted colorful, rich pictures of the events in the volumes.

Perhaps most of all, I liked the characterizations. Most figures in the book are a mixture of both good and bad. The title character of the first volume is the ruler ("Lion") of Senet. While a "bad guy" as the novel progresses, it is easy to understand why he acts as he does, and he has a certain nobility, albeit it brutal, at times, to his beliefs and actions. Another "baddie" is the young acrobat/[...] Marquel. While she gets more ruthless as the story unfolds, her motivation for her actions seems reasonable given her upbringing and experiences. In fact as she is about to be unjustly punished for stealing a knife, our sympathy goes out to her.

The "good guys" are also not perfect or flawless, although the novel's hero, Dirk comes close. All the characters have flaws and make mistakes which makes things worse.

Normally, being a main character in a novel or series is a pretty good insurance policy that you will make it through all sorts of trials and tribulations to the end of the story. Not so here. Being a major character does not mean that you won't suffer a surprising and perhaps grisly fate.

Now, the bad. Despite the characters being engrossing, some of them are just not believable. Tia, in particular, holds an undying hatred for Dirk (which morphs into love, of course, and back to hate) which is unrelenting and unbelievable. Everyone else understands why Dirk did what he did and understands him, but not Tia. She is sure, beyond any normal logic, that Dirk is an agent of the Lion of Senet sent to work her people's downfall.

When Dirk has sex with Marquel after she gives him a powerful aphrodisiac, his best friend, the Lion's second son Kirsch, himself besotted with Marquel, blames him and becomes his enemy. This despite the fact that he had himself been subject of the same drug during religious ceremonies.

I am not so sure about the math behind the long periods of the second sun's sunset, but I will grant that as a given in order for the plot to work. But much of what is touted as proof of Dirk's great intelligence is mundane and proof of only his average intellect. And the "logic" used to explain why Marquel should watch the then married Kirsch during the second volume is simply lacking in any logic by any stretch of the imagination.

I think this trilogy had the potential to be ranked as one of the best in the genre. But the flaws keep it down. Despite the flaws, though, this is an engrossing, fun read. I highly recommend it, and I look forward to the day when I forget enough about it to pick it up and enjoy it all over again.

Jonathan Brazee

This book is simply the most intelligent fantasy I've read for ages. It took a couple of chapters to sort everyone out, but you really can't confuse the characters. It is filled with ambigious moral issues and the constant temptation to fall into the trap of allowing the end to justify the means. The good guys are drug runners and the bad guys are the ones occupying the high moral ground. They could use this book in college to teach ethics classes. Can't wait for the rest of the series.

Jennifer Fallon's Lion of Senet, the first book in her Second Sons trilogy, is simply a fun read. Fallon is not a new writer, but she is new to North American audiences, with this book just coming out this year. Thankfully, Bantam is publishing all three books within months of each other, so the third book is actually out. Having read the first two from the library, I am chomping at the bit to read the third.

The title of the series has a double meaning (the two suns that Ranadon orbits around, as well as the obvious meaning). I like that touch. First, not only is Dirk a second son, but his friend Kirsch is the Lion's second son. Both will become heavily involved in all of the schemes flying around the area. Secondly, the second sun disappearing for a time plays a large part in the series. The last time that happened, anarchy reigned and Belagren and the Lion were able to take power because Belagren was able to say when the sun would reappear (because the Goddess told her, she said). She told the Lion that he would have to sacrifice one of his children to bring it out, knowing full well that it would come naturally even without this. Now, the secret of when the next "Age of Shadows" will come is hidden from her, and she's desperate to find out.

There is an underlying tension between science and religion in the book, with Fallon coming down on the side of science (at least within the series itself). The "true" Goddess religion is rarely, if ever mentioned, and only Belagren's perverted form is present. Her opponents are firm believers that the Age of Shadows is a scientific thing and not a religious one. And, of course, we are shown that they are right. Lip service is given to how Belagren has moved away from the real Goddess, but we aren't given much information so it appears that there is no "real" religion on Ranadon. I found that disappointing.

That is the only disappointment for me, however. Fallon does a wonderful job of both plotting and characterization. The plot is very centralized (the Lion has control of Dhevyn and wants to solidify that control, and Belagren wants to keep her own hold on power) but yet it is vast. It covers at least three years in this book alone, and ranges all over the islands and into Senet itself. While there are a few too many predictable "one day I'll have power, and then you'd better watch out" proclamations, the story itself actually has a fair number of surprises. King Johan's fate truly surprised me, as the expected rescues didn't happen, and what ultimately does happen to him knocked me for a loop. In fact, that entire scene, the confrontation between the Lion, Johan, Dirk, and a few others (I won't reveal more) is riveting. And that's not even the ending of the book!

This leads into Fallon's prose. The text grabbed me and wouldn't let me go until I finished the book. I had a lot of trouble putting the book down, as the Fallon's descriptions amazed me and her dialogue was almost flawless. The characterization was wonderful as well, with only Marqel feeling a bit too forced. I did find that both Kirsch and her being instantly obsessed with each other was a bit unbelievable, but I was able to get past it very quickly because I was so entranced with everybody else. There are too many characters to name (as they're all good), but Dirk is the main one, and he is almost perfect. He's very intelligent and he just wants to become a physician. He finds himself trapped in all of the political games (especially once his secret is revealed to him) and just wants to be left alone. Since that's not going to happen, though, he has to use his wits and discovers that he's capable of playing the political game as well. When he has to commit a final horrible but compassionate action, he's devastated but able to think on his feet.

The plot is so intricate that if the characterization failed, the book would fall apart. It's the characters who build the foundation and make the reader interested in the complicated story. And it is complicated, with scheming going on all over the place. But it's well worth the time and effort to keep things straight, and it's not really that complicated if you pay attention. There is almost no combat in the novel, but there is a torture scene that made me a bit squeamish. Unfortunately for those weak-of-heart, it's in the middle of the riveting scene mentioned above, so you may just have to put up with it. It's not that bad, though. Just grin and bear it. Believe me, it's well worth it.

David Roy

At first, this book was hard to get into because the beginning isn't the best catcher. Some of the things we like and use are renamed something else to reflect the idea that they live in a different world.
Some of the ideas are taken directly out of fantasy type worlds, but it's somewhat more based on science fiction.
The characters each have their own charisma and dislikes, and behaviors completely their own. One thing you won't do is confuse characters in this book, which is sometimes a problem with fantasies.
Aaaanyway..
The plot as you get deeper into it is deep and it'll hold onto you. You'll find yourself in the midst of the problems encountered by the main character, and you definitely will regret when this book comes to an end.
I'm just headed out to get the second.. I can't wait to find what happens next!

From kisses snuck between antagonistic characters, and spiteful words flung at friends, this isn't something you'll put down.

This author manages what many attempt and fail to do: she creates a believable world, very different from the usual medieval setting; she gives many consistent details which fit smooothly in the well built frame. She also seems determined to develop a richly detailed political intrigue and takes pains so that each main character plays an important role in it.
Magic is absent in her world, though the main character's mathematical skills easily border the supernatural.
Ms Fallon's treatment of the religious issues has earned her many critics: frankly I do not see their point: she discusses how religion can be twisted and abused to serve human greed and malice, which is what her main villain constantly does but she is neither spiteful nor disrespectful. I expect one can hardly discuss world's history in the past centuries without mentioning how religion played an important role in every existing intrigue.

If the setting is intriguing it is also the only real asset of the book: Ms Fallon's writing is professional enough but the story moves slowly onward, sometimes it even drags. Characterization is good but not satisfying: the high priestess is well rounded, just as much as the Lion of Senet and it is very clear that she spent much time on these two villains of hers. Dirk, the main hero, who is supposed to be the smartest man living, acts inconsistently to say the least and the others hardly deserve any mentioning.

Another problem is that Ms Fallon's objectivity may be justified from her analytical point of view but it also fails to stir emotions. One cannot feel for the characters, one cannot take much interest for the land of Ranadon. For me it was like reading a well drafted report on something I do not really care for.

Jennifer Fallon is an excellent writer, who mixes fantasy and sci-fi beautifully. She gives us a wonderful cast of characters and a great setting. I couldn't put down this tale of a lord's second son as he gets caught up in a web of political and religious weaving. A fast page turner I reccommend this book to anyone who's looking for a fantasy setting with a sci-fi twist.