Customer Reviews

The Sorcerers' Plague: Book One of Blood of the Southlands

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Sorcerers' Plague: Book One of Blood of the Southlands is a great new novel that continues the wonderful storytelling that David Coe started in the Winds of the Forelands series.

Continuing with great characterization, wonderful plot and a new intriguing world Mr. Coe sets his bar one higher and may have written his best book yet in my opinion.

Grinsa, Cresenne and their daughter, Bryntelle, characters from the first series arrive looking for a new home in the Southlands trying to understand this strange land and even stranger customs and prejudices even from others of their own race.

Lici, an old Mettai woman plagued by a past of death and tragedy, seeks revenge on the ones she feels responsible for her loss.

Besh, a villager from the same village that Lici has lived for many years, looking into the mystery that is Lici, Besh discovers some interesting facts about her past and goes out try try to stop her and find answers before its too late.

Old characters and new, Mr Coe gives them depth and personality in his writing. With a fresh new story and series that will make his fans wanting more. I can not wait until the second book in this series comes out.

I highly recommend this book to any fantasy reader.

My husband introduced me to this author through Coe's first books, a trilogy called the Lon-Tobyn Chronicles, if I remember right. Those are very enjoyable books, but his Winds of the Forelands books blew me away. The Sorceror's Plague being sort of a continuation of the Winds of the Forelands story (set in the same general world, incorporating a couple of the same characters), I loved reading it as well. I am currently about halfway through the second book in this Blood of the Southlands series, The Horsemen's Gambit, and enjoying it as well.

While the Winds of the Forelands books are almost sort of a thriller heavily invested in complex court politics and race relations, the Sorcerors's Plague involves a bit less of the court politics. The story is, however, still driven by race relations, and it's very interesting.

As with the Winds of the Forelands books, The Sorceror's Plague is not your average cliche fantasy with dragons and unicorns and elves and magical creatures and so on. One of the races involved can use a limited number of magic types, and I really like the concept of magic basically draining the user's life each time they use it. It's an interesting explanation for where the power kind of comes from. Long story short, I find these books to be creative and very satisfying reads, so I definitely recommend them - just be sure you start with Rules of Ascension, the first book in the Winds of the Forelands group! (Also be aware that there are some mature themes and content, so you may want to check them out yourself first before giving them to kids; I'd probably rate them PG-13.)

I loved the Winds of the Forelands series so I had to give this series a shot. So far this does not have the action or twists of Winds but the characters are so well developed and I feel as if the story ended in book one just as the plot is about to boil. I'm guessing that we are in for some surprises in The Horseman's Gambit and I am really looking forward to the release of book two. I would rate this at 4.25 stars out of 5.

I've hungered for this kind of imaginative writing and the worlds spun by this author that literally take one's breath away. I have NOT been able to put any of his books down at all. They are mesmerizing in both character development, plot, intrigue, magic and insight into the nature of the human soul and the convoluted dilemmas faced by both the fragile spirit as well as its courage, epiphanies, fears and glory.

Coe's worlds are addictive marvels of mists and might. His insight into both female and male psyche is flawless and fluid.

Becky

"The Sorcerers' Plague" begins the "Blood of the Southlands" saga after the "Winds of the Forelands" five-part series. Other than Grinsa and Cresenne, all new characters give a solid beginning to a tale including two new cultures involving both the Eandi and Qirsi races. The character development and environmental description are well-written including the introduction of a menacing plot against a Qirsi culture.

A creatively clever plague begins attacking the Y'Qatt, a Qirsi society that does not believe in using magic at any time. Conversely, the Mettai are an Eandi race using blood magic, crafting powerful magic by mixing their blood with earth. Besh and Lici sufficiently illustrate the Mettai abilities but the Y'Qatt's do not receive much development outside of the vicious plague contact. At this point in the series do not expect any significant political maneuvering but building the series foundation.

Lord Tavis Curgh from the original series is mentioned in passing. The list of characters at the end should better reflect the characters and their standing.

I recommend this series to any fan of the fantasy genre.

Thank you.

A continuation of the Weaver War series, I found the book to quite readable and enjoyable. David B. has the ability to tell a good story that your mind has no trouble at all creating the world in which you enter. You can trust your main characters to have a consistent set of values and behave accordingly.

I mainly read to be entertained and this book was entertaining.

This book is interesting in that it's a bit darker than David Coe's previous works, but it's works well for the grander story line. It also helps that he reuses characters in a natural way from the Winds of the Forelands series. It starts out a little slower than normal, but picks up quick enough such that you won't lose interest. It helps, but isn't necessary to have read the Winds of the Forelands series.

David B. Coe always produces solid novels (which is more than can be said about most SF&F authors, even the greats) and this book is no different. It is a nice change of pace in the recent pop-epic fantasy market as well. I can't describe what I mean by that. People who have read the book know what I'm talking about. Of course that doesn't help anyone reading this before they've bought the book, though. The best closest thing I can think of saying is that, by the end, I was asking myself one question. Where did this book go? I enjoyed every page and every chapter (even if I felt it was a bit too repetitive from time to time), and the end has me hungry to continue the series. In retrospect, I shouldn't have gone into this series expecting three stand alone novels (much like Coe's first trilogy). That's all I'll say on the matter for fear of spoilers. If you like Coe, read this series. If you're new to Coe, I might recommend starting with one of his other series, but that might just be because I read all of his books in order. My girlfriend is reading this book now and it is her first Coe book, and she says that it isn't hampering her enjoyment at all. Okay, I've tried to give as good a review as I could without sounding like a blogger, and I think it's time to stop now. My advice: Read this book.

This first installment of the "Blood of the Southlands" trilogy takes Grinsa and his new family from the "Winds of The Forelands" series and plugs them into a new adventure in a new continent, with different tensions, different customs, and different peoples than they have ever encountered.

Although Grinsa and family act as a bridge to the previous series, the real meat of this novel involves a people known as the Mettai, who wield "Blood Magic" which is entirely new to this series. Both the (occasionally petty) hero and the (occasionally sympathetic) villain in this book are from among the Mettai, a group shunned by both the stout, long-lived Eandi, and the more physically frail, magic-wielding Qirsi. They are also both elderly, an uncommon twist for main characters in the "Sword-and-Sorcery" world.

Even though the author makes sure to develop multiple motivations and complex relationships with his characters, as he has in his previous work, this book seems to cruise along at a brisker pace than the "Forelands", never leaving the reader feeling "bogged down" with detail about the character's environment or attributes. It seems that with this book, Coe has learned to do more with less, freeing the reader's mind to race along with the story as it unfolds.

Having read this book after "Winds of the Forelands", I can't say how well this novel would hold up as the beginning of a standalone trilogy. Readers of Coe's previous "quintrogy" will have a deeper understanding of the novelty of the Southlands, and a greater sympathy for Grinsa as he becomes embroiled in yet another unwanted adventure. But, from experience, I can say that if you enjoyed the preceding series, you are sure to love this new book.

This book is a good read, but it's paced pretty slow. It's tragic in its way, but doesn't really hit home hard. It does look to the brighter side of people, looking for goodness across races. I like it, but I'm not jumping to read the next installment.