5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Better than Medalon, October 12, 2005
This review is from: Treason Keep (The Hythrun Chronicles: Demon Child Trilogy, Book 2) (Hardcover)
Jennifer Fallon has quite a good skill in writing plot-driven fantasy. In Medalon, she provided an excellently twisting narrative that kept things moving briskly while at the same time changing paths to keep you guessing. Added to it was a dash of political intrigue handled in an exciting and very readable manner that never bogged down the action or the story.
My biggest complaint about Medalon was the character development. Mainly, the characters all had their roles to fill and they rarely (if ever) stretched very far past their roles. You had Loclon, the handsome antagonist who becomes scarred and is filled with hatred. You had Joyhinia, the scheming mother who is a bad seed and causes nothing but trouble. And you had the protagonists, Targ who comes across as more altruistic than anything and R'shiel. They never really broke free of their roles and you don't see much change except the possibility of their hatred/altruism growing stronger. Not saying the characters aren't interesting, but as far as complex? There are more complex characters out there.
Now we have Treason Keep and it is even better and Fallon has made strides to help the characters. She also introduces one of my favorite in the series in Adrina. Adrina is a fun character and she actually has a definite progression in this novel that is fun, humorous and exciting to watch grow. But the best part of these novels is the plot and the pacing and I'm happy to report that Fallon keeps Treason Keep's plot moving quick and exciting.
Fans of Medalon will revel in the twisting plot and how things wrap up at the end, setting up the final book which I hope will be truly climactic. If you enjoyed Medalon, I would definitely recommend continuing with the series. This novel is a huge step in the right direction. I hope this trend continues for the epic conclusion.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great installment for this series, April 25, 2005
This review is from: Treason Keep (The Hythrun Chronicles: Demon Child Trilogy, Book 2) (Hardcover)
Wow, I don't even know where to start. This one picks up right where the last left off. R'Shiel is still very ill from the stabbing she received. Tarja and Damin have moved their forces to the border to stop the encroaching forces sent by Xaphista. But these are not the highlighted people or points in this story. In Treason's Keep, Fallon turns to Adrina and Damin. Adrina was only mentioned in the first as a Fardohnya Princess with a high spirit that her father, the king, could not pay people to marry.
Well, apparently he found someone to marry her, the Karien prince, Cratyn. At first, Adrina thinks this is going to be a piece of cake. She even calls Craytn, Cringing Cretin. Adrina is demanding, manipulative, and spoiled rotten. Unfortately, after the nuptuals are finalized, she realized she was not the one doing the playing, but Craytn and the Kariens. After being hit and threatened, she realized she is in a forgein country with only two people she can trust (her half brother and her maid).
Other things going on at this time: The Karien's take over the Sisters, when the priest are able to place a sane Joyhinia back in power (I won't spoil it by telling you how). R'Shiel is taken prisoner, Adrina and her maid escape across the boarder and are captured by Tarja and Damin. Damin is put in charged of Adrina (you can guess where that will go). Plus, so much, much, more.
I think I enjoyed Medalon more, but this one was still able to hold its own quite well.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A riveting mixture of religion and politics in a fantasy set, December 18, 2004
This review is from: Treason Keep (The Hythrun Chronicles: Demon Child Trilogy, Book 2) (Hardcover)
Jennifer Fallon has become, to me, one of the premiere fantasy authors out there. Her plots are always intricate, involving a mixture of politics and religion that is simply breath-taking. Lots of interesting events happen, characters are betrayed, things go against them in unexpected ways, and the same characters solve their problems in somewhat unpredictable fashion. In this second book of the Hythrun Chronicles, Treason Keep, Fallon continues her winning technique. The sequel to Medalon, Treason Keep ratchets up the tension, adds some new characters, transforms one, and keeps the reader riveted in the process. Her second book (published in Australia) shows a lot of improvement over Medalon, and that one was so good anyway that I was salivating for this one.
"Unexpected" is the word to use for a lot of the events in Treason Keep. Sure, there are some predictable occurrences. Whoever doesn't see one of the budding romances in the book is completely blind, but even the predictable parts come from the characters rather than being imposed by authorial fiat. Given the personalities of the two characters involved in said romance, and the circumstances of them coming together, it's very understandable how that happens. Also, some happenings are predictable, but the manner in which they happen takes you by surprise. The failure of a plan that would end the entire series if it worked is not surprising, but as the events unfurled I found myself gasping in shock, though looking at the lead-up to them and saying "so that's where she was going with that!" In fact, many of the chapters end in jaw-dropping moments which made the book very hard to put down.
Fallon's mastery of her characters is even better in Treason Keep than in Medalon. In the previous book, I said that Fallon's only weakness was the evil character, Joyhinia (R'Shiel's mother). This time, she doesn't even have that problem, though she comes close. While she does a wonderful job with the religious fanatic, Cratyn, who marries the princess of Fardohnya, he is not the most three-dimensional character. He is interesting to read about, though. Perhaps that is because we only see him through others' eyes and not his own. On the other hand, Loclon suffers a little bit from his single-minded need for revenge against R'Shiel. The interest in his character is saved mainly because he gets into a situation that is supposed to help him get his revenge but instead makes him a pawn in a religious and political game that he wants no part of. His thought processes are one-dimensional, but what happens to him grabs the reader and makes him more interesting than perhaps he deserves.
The rest of the characters are wonderful, though, especially Mikel. Mikel is a fervent believer in Xaphista who becomes thoroughly confused as he witnesses the adult events swirling by around him. He thinks Adrina is the perfect Karien woman, devout and knowing her place as a woman, until he sees the real Adrina. But then he sees the real Karien and realizes that it may not be the place for him. All of the interactions between these characters are intricate and build layer upon layer into the story. Even the minor characters are relatively three-dimensional, though Hablet, the king of Fardohnya, is a little stereotypically devious. Thankfully, he's only in the book briefly.
There were really only a couple of faults in the book (and the series), though one of them may be resolved in the next book, Harshini. The first is that I'm a bit bothered by the fact that R'Shiel and Tarja's romance was imposed on them. Fallon treats it like any other romance, with them mating like rabbits when they're together (though thankfully there isn't a lot of that, and no graphic scenes), but the fact that it's against their will (or at least, much more than either one had planned) is disturbing. If Fallon has it revealed in the next book and there are some consequences, then I will be very happy.
The second problem is there is a battle (more like a massacre) that seems to be in there for no real reason. Ostensibly, I think it's in there to show the lack of tactical expertise on the Karien side, but I get the sense that there's something underlying to it that just doesn't come out in the book. I kept waiting for some clue as to what the purpose was, but it never came. While the Kariens are not tactical geniuses, they do appear to have some generals who know enough to keep that from happening, so there must be some other reason. This seems too minor to be "fixed" by a revelation in the third book, but if it is, great. Here, though, it just seemed really out of place and to give Adrina an excuse to get away.
Ultimately, Treason Keep improves on Medalon. It was Fallon's second book, published in Australia in 2001, and it still shows some of her growing pains. The prose isn't that polished, but it's certainly serviceable. However, the book held my interest from beginning to end and showcases her ability to keep a lot of plot threads, both religious and political, from getting tangled up into one big mess. Actually, they do become a mess, but it's a mess for the characters, not the reader. Instead, she makes us care about the characters and want desperately to see how everything turns out. It's almost enough to make me try to get the Australian copy of Harshini so I don't have to wait.
David Roy
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