Customer Reviews

The River Kings' Road: A Novel of Ithelas

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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)

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.

Overall:

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The River Kings Road is the first novel by Liane Merciel. The book is best suited for YA (young adults) female teens. The fantasy setting is typical medievel Europe with the addition of a unique pantheon of gods -- a Sun god (good), war god, Goddess of Pain. The world has magic controlled by a very small number of people.

World Setting:

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The world setting is typical derivitive fantasy based on medievil Europe. The world has kings, knights, paladins, clerics, etc to round out the selected European location that are located in a slightly reorganized Europe. The setting has interesting elements but nothing terrible novel.

I would strongly suggest the next edition / next book has a map in the forward that shows the relationship of the various lands and political boundaries. It would help cut down on the long pieces of prose with names that have no meaning to any one besides the author.

Characters:

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The characters are thin characters with very limited development. The relationship of Kellen to Bitharn speaks of a clear bent toward young female teenagers -- she pines to have Kellen the unabtainable / wishes to changes him despite the potential lose of Kellen's paladin power.. The surving knight from the massacered village is actually quite interesting and real yet he is clearly not a good man / just a realist.

Action:

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The action is light and not described in a detailed manner. The lack of action does seem fitting given the pacing of the book and level of people appropriate. There is very little blood.

Prose:

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The prose is diret and too the point. The prose is fairly tight but not complex. It would help to mix up the senstence structer. The book would be a good read for a ceal fron 12 - 16 year old young womens.

The book is a decent first effoct. If you do not have another book in this genre, it might be worth reading more. The follow up book should be considered for reading depending on you busy you are.

Do not expect groundbreaking writing, story, or character development.

I love a good thick epic fantasy. The River King's Road really delivered. There was a varied cast of compelling characters, an interesting world presented, and drama enough to keep the pages moving.

The premise was fairly unique. I don't remember the last time I read a fantasy novel about two rival, feuding lands, where both lands were _good_. In other words, it's not Sauron vs. the Hobbits. There is a lot of interesting moral ambiguity for most characters in the book. There is at least one really bad villainess, but some of the other characters do really bad things in order to make good come about, and you really have to question whether the means can justify the ends.

It is clear that this book is the first in a series, and most fantasy novels come as trilogies, in my experience. Hey, it's one of the things I love about epic fantasy! So, while the story wraps up most loose ends, it is definitely not complete. It starts on a small scale, investigating the wholesale murder of a town's inhabitants and a lord's family. I have a feeling that the follow-up novels will be more macro in scale. I am really looking forward to finding out what happens next.

Now, some critique of the book would argue that many of the themes, characters, aspects of the fantasy world will be awfully familiar to anyone familiar with world history and literature, or with the body of fantasy novels. Dark priestesses who love pain are not unlike the Drow or Terry Goodkind's Mord Sith. A country where the women are trained to be great courtesans? Sounds like Kushiel's Dart. However, most fantasy readers - including myself - appreciate these flashes of familiarity when we are being introduced to a new world. All authors have to base their fantasy worlds on real worlds in some way. So generally, they take place in a world not unlike Western Europe, and speak of far away lands that are like Africa, the Middle East or China. When I open a fantasy novel, I'm not expecting too much novelty. Like any genre fic fan, I'm looking for a repeatable experience - just different enough to keep my attention.

Most of the reviews here would describe and criticize the predictability of the novel. In some parts, this is true. At some points, Merciel's novel does border on the cliche. This is what I thought about the beginning, which began with a typical jealous younger brother trying to take over.

Despite this, "The River Kings' Road" was fabulous and worth reading in its own right. I praise Merciel's character development (Brys, Albric, and Leferic) and blurring of the line between good and evil- elements that compose of a good novel. She had successfully based all the plotlines and characters on motivations and left enough ambiguity for intrigue. The not so original plotline was made more complex by the additions of characters outside of the main political relam whose motives are not always clear.

The ending was very appropriate for a continuation of the series. It left many questions unanswered. I am very looking forward to the next novel.

Above all, it was entertaining and well-written for a first novel.

A medieval land split by war, a hardened sellsword, and lots of plotting among the nobility and knights. There's plenty of all of the above in "The River Kings' Road: A Novel of Ithelas," Liane Merciel's debut novel. It doesn't add anything new to the fantasy formulae, but it's a solid book with a rather scattered storyline, intriguing characters and weird magic.

The pious Sir Galefrid and his party are killed by bloodthirsty sorcery at a shrine, along with the entire surrounding village. There are only two survivors -- rough knight Brys Tarnell, and Galefrid's baby son Wistan. Hoping to protect him, Brys enlists a young girl with a baby, Odosse, to nurse and care for the child -- especially since the land is ravaged by war and filled with many dangers.

And when they arrive in a nearby city (with Wistan seriously ill from all the shaking), it soon becomes apparent that someone is after the aristocratic child with some very malevolent intent. They're being tracked by a monstrous Thornlady and the swordmaster Albric, and are driven from the city... where their fortunes are changed by a terrible event.

"The River Kings' Road" is apparently just the start of a new series, and it ends with the door held wide open for another novel (or several). The biggest problem is that the narrative tends to jump from one person to the next almost every chapter, and I had trouble figuring out who all these people were and how they were connected to one another.

Additionally, you've seen pretty much everything that populates this novel before -- knights, lords, generic fantasy countries, clergy, peasant folk and the occasional depraved sorcerer out to destroy the good guys.

However, she does have a pretty prose style ("A sparkling ice-blue crystal, framed by a spiderweb of pale scars, glimmered in its puckered hole"), and she takes special care to describe different customs, folklore, religious beliefs (sun goddess Celestia vs. war god Ang'arta) and histories that seem very natural and realistic -- especially since neither of the relevant lands are portrayed as being actually bad. And her magical system is nicely nasty and sometimes terrifying (the Thorns, vampirelike servants, bloodmists).

And Merciel's most striking characters are also the first ones introduced -- Brys is a hardened, embittered man who still has a golden core of loyalty, and who seems to be a realist about the world around him. Odosse is a kind if physically unattractive girl who gets swept up in this and shows her courage. I just couldn't connect with the other characters, especially the female knight pining after her celibate friend.

"The River Kings' Road" is a novel that's promising, but too scattered in narrative to be easy to follow. But there's promise here, especially if the plots tighten up.

Welcome to the world of . . . well, I'm not so sure it has a name. It's not the Middle Earth though. There are no cavorting hobbits, no sharp-eyed elves, nor even a single cranky dwarf. Just people, and things that started out as people, and some very nasty ones at that.

An entire border town has been killed off by one of the nasty sorts, along with a knight visiting from across the border and his family. Except for the knight's only son, now a very sickly baby, who is spirited off by a hired sword. They meet a girl travelling with her own baby, who was about to return to the town, and take her along as a nursemaid. They amble off, looking for a healer, while they are unknowingly swept into a desperate power struggle.

This is an interesting swords & magic fantasy book, which doesn't break any new ground but provides a pleasant read. The characters form an unlikely mix but most are well developed and even the bad ones prove to be uniquely interesting. The pace is slow but won't drive you to distraction; there's a lot going on and you just have to let the pot simmer a bit.

My main complaint is that this is obviously the first book in a series. There are several plot lines started, but only one winds up at the end of the book, and tentatively at that. The last page should have "TO BE CONTINUED" stamped on it in big bold letters.

Overall, it's a good book, but not so good that I want to buy every book in the series. Leaving so many things up in the air at the end drops this from 4 stars to 3.

While the basic story of this book was decent, I come away from it unsatisfied. The plot does move along at a decent pace, but the writing is such that it feels slow. There are times when you haven't heard from/about a certain character that you forget (at least I did) for a minute who the author is talking about. The main characters are fairly well crafted, but you get to the end of the book and even though there's an epilogue you're left not knowing what happened to several of the players, which is annoying. Overall, I'd have to say this isn't a book I'd be overly inclined to recommend.

Most fantasy novels tend to follow the Hero's Journey and force the main character from their home to pit them on some quest only they were born to resolve. By chapter 2, Brys and Odosse have been forced from their home and we assume it is to start a journey of prophecy, good and evil, or a combination of both.

This doesn't happen. Brys and Odosse are just supporting cast to a cast that has no main protagonists. It's about the lives of at least a half dozen characters from which we move throughout the story. This was a change of pace for me since every book I've been reading has had a clearly defined protagonist or two.

The world is richly built with well chosen names for people and places.

The number of minor characters and places is a bit overwhelming and a glossary would help. No seriously...it was a lot.

The world setup takes up a good portion of the first half of the book which makes the reading burdensome at times, as I just wanted to get down to the plotline.

Also, when introducing so much, the book would have benefited from a map. I know, I know, its almost cliche, but so many aspects of cliche fantasy are expected with the genre that we as readers demand it and thus continue to nurture the existence of such cliches.

There is a pantheon of gods that provide characters with faith and motives for decision making, which I appreciate in a story. . .even if some of those decisions are for the works of darkness.

The main thrust of this story is the political intrigue. "Monsters" and other creatures of the land are kept to a minimum as the alliances of maneuverings of the powers that be take center stage for our plotline.

I appreciate a good clean story that doesn't resort to shock value or unnecessary carnage & sex to move the story along.

Reading through some of the other reviews it seems the "bad guy" is the most enjoyable. I personally don't agree as I've been a fan of paladins within fantasy for a while. Thus, I like to see the warrior of good forging ahead against opposition, even if the character is less "fun" than another.

The author takes time to deal with the smaller threats -- definitely big threats for the "good guys" -- but not world shattering, yet. I've been reading Goodkind's Sword of Truth series and by the end of book three I'm tired of the entire world being saved once again. Yes the events may play out to threaten life as everyone knows it, but the focus was that smaller challenges throughout the story.

Overall the end is satisfying, in a sense (can't say much without spoiling it). The good news is enough is resolved that you don't have to die waiting a year for the continuation as this story stands on its own.

Did this feel as strong of a first book as Sanderson's "Elantris" or grip me from the first pages like Martin's "Game of Thrones"? Not really, but it wasn't a disappointing read either. I think we can only expect better things as the author pulls us into more plots within plots in books to come.