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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Decent if not groudbreaking Fantasy Debut, April 24, 2010
This review is from: The River Kings' Road: A Novel of Ithelas (Hardcover)
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An impious mercenary witnesses, and avoids an attack in a bordertown between two fractious medieval fantasy kingdoms, Langmyr, the site of the attack, and their implacable enemy, Oakharn. Also surviving the attack are a young woman, and the heir to the Oakharn lord killed in the massacre. This sets the stage for a complex web of alliances, struggles and strivings, as forces not only on both sides move to investigate and take advantage of the attack, but powers from beyond Oakharn and Langmyr as well. Godtouched champions of good and light maneuver against each other, and those caught in the middle simply try to survive, and wait to see if this massacre will lead to yet another conflict on already blood-soaked ground. Such is the fodder for River Kings' Road, a fantasy novel debut by Liane Merciel. The broad lines of the world and conflict she creates is nothing new for experienced fantasy readers. Medieval fantasy, magic based on devotion to one of a pantheon of deities, the basic trappings of a typical fantasy world. Digging a little deeper, the novel features a variety of multidimensional characters on a decidedly complex chessboard of groups seeking to quell or enflame, the fires of war and conflict between the two kingdoms. Merciel does a good job at the shades of gray between the the two characters who really are black and white. She also has clearly read and grokked the Anderson essay "On Thud and Blunder". She gets underpinnings right that many authors completely and utterly forget. Horses in her universe, for example, are *not* treated as motorcycles. The medieval feel of the world is pervasive and palpable. Faith has a role in this world that feels authentic and nuanced rather than "Crystal Dragon Jesus" . My only major complaint is that it is not extremely original. I've read much fantasy like this before, of varying qualities, degrees and shadings. Its familiar territory. Kingdoms with ambitious vassals, sorceresses, paladins, and so forth. Oh, and the novel really could have used a map and a glossary or concordance. While these two features in a fantasy novel are practically cliche by this point, when you have a novel geography and world, it is often useful for really getting a handle on who is where, where they are going, and how people are related to each other. It's a decent debut, even if not groundshattering. Merciel has ideas here that I would like to have explored further, and I hope her novel does well enough that readers such as myself will have the opportunity to discover them.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Love the 'Bad Guy', April 29, 2010
This review is from: The River Kings' Road: A Novel of Ithelas (Hardcover)
Fantasy fans that like their stories in medieval settings are likely to enjoy this debut novel by author Liane Merciel. They'll have to be patient at first though, because in the first half of the book things move slowly as Merciel introduces places and characters (lots and lots of characters) -- enough that my head was swimming. In the last 1/2 though, the story takes off and ends in as satisfying a fashion as the first book in a series can end. As far as the narrative goes, it doesn't appear to be the tale of any one person -- at least not so far. The story is told from the perspective of pairs. There's a young unwed mother and a surly churl of a knight. A religious knight and his female childhood friend. AND the bad second son prince and his faithful follower. Out of this group the best characterization has got to be that of the bad prince who has his brother and his brother's family murdered. Merciel does a marvelous job of making his actions understandable and almost reasonable. The rest of the characters, though well drawn, aren't nearly as innovative and might possibly even sound familiar. But for the first book in a series -- which I generally never like -- it shows true potential. TALKING POINTS::: Medieval, knightly setting with magical/religious elements. Slow to begin as world structure is built up. If you like to follow only one character, leave this one alone. I follows several groups. Some violence, but nothing stomach heaving. No bad language that I can recall. Some mild 'adult' situations; one character is an unwed mother afterall. Two occurrences where I was incredulous which I found distracting-- but hey, that could just be me; I'm pretty scrutinizing. Suitable for YA (young adults) although that's not the target market. Pam T~ (booksforkids-reviews)
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Solid Epic Fantasy, March 25, 2010
This review is from: The River Kings' Road: A Novel of Ithelas (Hardcover)
For generations the provinces of Oakharn and Langmyr have been at war. Separated by the river and years of death and mistrust, a tenuous peace has finally been established between the two regions - but all that changes when a small Oakharn town, Willowfield, and its inhabitants are decimated during the visit from a feudal lord, Sir Galefrid of Langmyr, visiting on a mission of peace. Only a knight in service to Sir Galefrid, Brys Tarnell, and Galefrid's infant son, and heir, Winston survive the tragedy of Willowfield. Understanding the need to take the baby to safety, Brys convinces a young, unmarried mother named Odosse to care for the baby on their perilous journey. But there are many who would see the child and its protectors dead - men who would go so far as to engage the help of the Thorns, a group of sadistic and foreign sorcerers more deadly than entire armies. Those familiar with the epic fantasy genre will immediately fall into step with Liane Merciel's solid worldbuilding. All the time-honored types are present: the inns, mercenaries, archery contests, evil mages, knights, ladies and bandits aplenty. What sets it apart however is how this common backdrop is sprinkled throughout with a most impressive collection of decidedly human characters. Oh, don't mistake me: the bad guys are really quite nasty and there are a few truly 'good' guys, but even those characters are not sickeningly so. But what I found most interesting is what I like to call her 'gray' characters': men like Brys Tarnell, a moral-less sellsword by all accounts who again and again shows courage and cunning beyond an ordinary knighthood with a past full of intriguing secrets. And then there's the man who would be king, Leferic, Sir Galefrid's younger, bookish brother: upon first glance he is truly despicable but with closer inspection, you find his motives to be pure even if his methods questionable. And that's just scratching the surface: there are religious knights who cling desperately to their vows even when faced with heart-breaking challenges and simple townsfolk who fairly come to life in their variances. There was much to enjoy about The River Kings' Road - even if it was paced rather slowly, I understand the need for adequate plot development in something this large scale and I will eagerly anticipate Merciel's next novel of Ithelas. I'm all for reminding myself why I started reading fantasy books in the first place.
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