Customer Reviews

The Red Country (Rihannar Chronicles)

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This is the third volume in Kelso's Chronicles of Rihannar, but it can be read stand-alone without getting lost. Here the author definitely crosses over into romance, although the fantasy component is also strong. Sellithar is a young, headstrong princess who loathes the formality of the king's court of Everran. Her life begins to change when she persuades her father to take on a foreigner as her tutor.
The Red Country of the title is based on the Red Centre of Australia. Finding a world populated with goannas, kangaroos and wagtails is a refreshing change from the euro-centric fauna of so many fantasies. After her father dies, Sellithar's attempts at maintaining her country's independence amid its larger neighbors come to nothing. In desperation she heads out into the desert, following a dream about an ancient king of Everran who made the same journey in search of aid. The red country, and the twin wizards who are its protectors, complicate her life even further.
If you are put off by the romance genre or made-up fantasy languages you shouldn't start reading Kelso with this volume. And occasionally I almost expected one of her mentors to address Sellithar as "grasshopper" [see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kung_Fu_(TV_series)]. But the romantic tension is generally well-handled, and the way it developed even surprised me a few times. The mentor's guiding philosophy adds to the tension; conflicts are acknowledged and must be wrestled with.