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20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Expanding the Horizons, April 5, 2008
The Secret Atlas (2004) is the first fantasy novel of the Age of Discovery series. Centuries past, the Turasynd had invaded the Empire. Empress Cyrsa divided the Imperial lands into nine parts and placed a son of the Emperor over each principality. Then she led the Imperial army out to fight the invaders.
The battle unleashed great amounts of magic, bringing the Cataclysm. Wild magic raged during the Time of Black Ice. Blizzards froze villages and glaciers scraped the earth down to bedrock. The effects of that time still showed -- and wild magic still flowed -- in the Wastes.
Jaedunto -- skill magic -- comes with training and practice to the best craftsmen. These Mystics are revered, but some study xinga to master jaedun, magic itself. Such vanyesh have been greatly feared since the Cataclysm.
In this novel, Imperial Prince Cyron is the ruler of Nalenyr, one of the Nine Principalities. He has brought his realm into more wealth than any of the other principalities through trade. Nalenyran ships sail widely over the seas, bringing back goods and treasures.
Qiro Anturasi is the greatest cartographer in the Nine Principalities. He resides at Moriande in Nalenyr and produces the best maps in the known world. Many believe that he has attained jaedunto in his craft.
His grandsons -- Keles and Jorim -- have inherited the family talents and have learned the skills of cartography. Keles is better at the mechanics of the craft, but Jorim is renowned for his voyages of discovery. Qiro's granddaughter Nirati seems to have no talents, although she is more capable of calming Qiro during his rages.
Prince Pyrust is the ruler of Deseirion, a cold land to the north. His realm was not part of the Empire per se, but was used as a dumping ground for troublemakers. His people are rough, but capable, and the prince has used them to build a large and effective army. He is almost ready to invade the Nine Principalities.
In this story, Moraven Tolo reaches the crest of the hill from which he can see Moriande. The half-blind old man behind him gestures and declares that the city is the grandest in the world. Moraven Tolo nods in agreement.
Then three bandits appear and demand tribute. Moraven Tolo declares himself to be xidantzu -- a traveling swordsman -- and claims the other travelers to be under his protection. The bandit swordswoman laughs at his bravado and states that she has already slain one xidantzu.
Moraven Tolo tells her to draw a circle for the duel. While she is doing so, her companions attack Moraven Tolo and are defeated. Then he tells the swordswoman to display the sword forms. She shows some skill and he tells Pavynti Syolsar to present herself at the School of Istor for further instruction in the sword.
This story takes Moraven Tolo with Keles Anturasi on a journey to the Wastes, searching for relics from Empress Cyrsa's army. Jorim Anturasi sails on the Seawolf in a voyage of discovery. Nirati Anturasi stays in Moriande with her grandfather.
This tale is full of action and magic. The Anturasi grandsons discover old truths and new cultures and Nirati finds herself in another world. Enjoy!
Recommended for Stackpole fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of exploration, armed conflict, and political intrigue.
-Arthur W. Jordin
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18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
slow in places, better second half than first, solid start, March 11, 2005
A Secret Atlas has its flaws, but overall makes for a solidly enjoyable read, especially as it generally (with some exceptions) improves as one moves through it. The story begins in Nalenyr, one of the "Nine Principalities", the divided remnants of an empire that along with much of the known world was brought to near ruin centuries earlier in the Great Cataclysm. The novel focuses most of its attention on the Anturasi family, whose patriarch Qiro has the Talent (capital T intentional) of mapmaking. His charts have for years allowed Nalenyr to amass wealth and now his two grandsons (whose father Qiro may or may not have purposely sent to his death on an exploration mission) are each sent on a long and vital mission of exploration. One takes ship to expand Nalenyr's knowledge of the world, the oceans, the best shipping routes for trade. The other goes overland, partially to map out new or rediscovered routes, partially to find a particularly talented inventor, partially to find caches of magical weapons that seemingly are being plundered from the wastes where the Wild Magic of the Cataclysm causes strange things (an understatement) to occur. Their sister stays behind and becomes involved in family dynamics and political intrigue. Meanwhile, Cyron, the prince of Nalenyr must deal with politics both internal and external, especially an overly aggressive prince seeking to reunite the Empire by the sword, as opposed to Cyron's preferred method of trade. Toss in various spies, monsters, magical chaos storms, a bureaucracy more concerned with its existence than the state's, assassins, echoes of European exploration/Chinese empires/South American civilizations and a few other items and one gets a sense of the book's complexity.
Not all of this is successful. At times the history comes across as a bit vague or jargony (throw a whole bunch of fantasy-esque vocab at the reader without much specificity or vividness: Grand Cataclysm, Age of Black Ice, etc). One major subplot I would argue is wholly predictable for the reader and should have been so for the characters involved as well, making their obtuseness a bit hard to believe. And another seems a bit contrived towards the end. Another problem is that the book starts off slowly, not in the good "let a complex tale slowly unfold" way but in a "I can see where this is going and why are we taking so long to get there way?" And characters tend to get lost in the mishmash so that none really stand out strongly. Stackpole, however, is not averse to killing off major characters, so perhaps this problem will sort itself out as we are left with fewer to focus on.
On the positive side, the story in general is interesting enough in its basic premise and its several strands that the above plot flaws are tolerable. And the characters are mostly, though not all, interesting enough that we want to know more about them. The several-stranded structure, typical of long fantasy epics, is handled well, even if it does rely a bit too heavily on the shift-to-a-new-setting/perspective-at-a-dramatic-moment structure. Most positively, for the most part the story improves in pace and interest as it goes on.
The meshing of various histories- Chinese, European, South American empires-with the fantasy setting works as well, though at times it's a bit clumsy, at other times one wishes he did more with it.
Overall, Atlas isn't a great book, but it has a relatively unique germ of an idea with its focus on exploration and its echoes of past cross-cultural empires and if its success in character and plot is somewhat uneven, it ends up being a solid start to a longer work and one which I'll continue to follow. Recommended.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Stackpole continues his tradition of writing quality books., March 7, 2005
A Secret Atlas is a good start to Stackpole's latest trilogy. He continues his tradition of inventing a different interpretation of magic that is both better thought out and more interesting than the stereotypical fireball/lightning/cool special effects magic that readers find in most cookie-cutter fantasy. He also molds history, politics, and human interaction into a believable description of a whole new world for readers. His ability to describe individual combat continues to be better than any other author that I have read.
Stackpole has yet to reach the ranks of authors such as Tolkien and Martin. Despite this, he is still a very enjoyable read and an excellent choice for readers looking for new material while their favorite author/authors take years to come out with their next books(Stackpole can usually keep up a pace of about a book a year). If you haven't read any of Stackpole's books yet then I would recommend starting with Talion: Revenant or The Dark Glory War.
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