Union of Renegades: The Rys Chronicles Book I [Paperback]

Tracy Falbe (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 21, 2006

The Rys Chronicles begin with this character-rich adventure that follows the travels of Dreibrand Veta, an ambitious warrior who seeks to rebuild his noble family’s fortune. He is the first to join the powerful rys spellcaster Shan, whose race possesses magical powers and whose Queen Onja rules many human kingdoms as their Goddess. The wickedness and tyranny of Onja disgust Shan and he desires to seize the rys throne from her. The third renegade is Miranda. After escaping from her abusive slave master, she becomes a crucial player in Shan’s bid for power. To weaken Onja, Shan raises rebellion among her human subjects and gathers allies to his cause. Shan demonstrates his magic in battle and convinces his followers that the fearsome rys Queen can be overthrown. For over two thousand years Onja has ruled, but now, not even fear of her ability to enslave souls will stop her ambitious enemies.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This is a great read with plenty of intrigue, magic, terror, wizardry, spells, and subplots to grip the reader..." -- Crystal Reviews, January 2006

"Tracy Falbe makes a stunning debut in epic fantasy..."

"An exciting treat for fantasy buffs..." -- Small Press Bookwatch, February 2006

From the Back Cover

Dreibrand Veta has killed for his country. At the frontlines of imperial expansion, he seeks to rebuild the fortune of his noble family. In his daring travels he encounters the rys, a race far more powerful than the human empire that bred him. Dreibrand cannot defy the rys Queen Onja nor defend his companion, Miranda, and her children from the wicked tyrant Queen. Desperate for help, Dreibrand and Miranda join Shan, a rys with emerging powers who plans to challenge Onja. In Shan's pursuit of the rys throne, he exerts his magical powers, gathers his allies, and incites rebellion among Onja's human subjects. Great wealth and power will reward the kings, warriors, and spies that align themselves with the rys pretender, but defeat could mean worse than death. Onja can imprison souls and her genocidal rage is legendary. Everything is at risk for Shan's union of renegades.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Brave Luck Books (January 21, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 097622352X
• ISBN-13: 978-0976223528
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #693,774 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining, October 22, 2010

By 

Yankee Fan (MONTCLAIR, NJ USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Union of Renegades: The Rys Chronicles Book I (Kindle Edition)

I only discovered this book when it was a free download and read it on a whim. I'm glad I did. I must say, that this book was a real location clicker (page turner for non-kindle users...lol). A dishonored warrior and an escaped slave team up with a powerful being from a magical race of "people" and do battle against the queen of the Rys. I just bought the 2nd book, so the publishers free intro book worked to get me hooked on the trilogy.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Just Kinda "There", April 16, 2011

By 

Volpot - See all my reviews

This review is from: Union of Renegades: The Rys Chronicles Book I (Kindle Edition)

I really wanted to like this book as I was searching for a good fantasy/science fiction series to begin. As it happens, this isn't it for me.

Now this isn't a "bad" book. It has a lot of good qualities. The world is fairly interesting, if simple (humans in the east meet non-humans in the west who are ruled by their ancient and evil queen who has subjugated her own non-human people plus the human tribes on that side of the world). The story is fairly interesting, if a bit slow developing in places. The characters are well developed (but more on that).

What I didn't care for: The dialogue was a bit flat and uninspired (it didn't "feel" realistic).

The main problem I had with the book was initially hard to put my finger on. Eventually I realized what it was...everyone in the book is stupid. I don't mean the characters were described in a stupid way by the author. I mean, everyone in the book I am sure could not possibly have an IQ over 85 (OK, OK, one or two might have IQs of 100). Throughout the entire book, the major and minor characters repeatedly do dumb things, in dumb ways, for dumb reasons. When they aren't adding 2 and 2 and getting three as their decision-making process, they are simply reacting emotionally. Honestly, to this reader it increasingly became apparent that there was no one in the book with whom I could even begin to identify or empathize nor was there ever likely to be in any subsequent book.

I've heard of "dumbing-down" language, sentence structure, and even plots in order to appeal to certain audiences. In this book, while it may not have been intentional, I felt like the characters themselves were literally "dumbed-down".

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A review from [...], March 20, 2011

By 

Albert Robbins III "Albert Robbins III" (Sioux City, IA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Union of Renegades: The Rys Chronicles Book I (Kindle Edition)

Union of Renegades: The Rys Chronicles Book I

This is a book that just makes you forget the world you are living in and grabs all your senses and refuses to let go until the last page. I was completely immersed into the world the author painted and my imagination was filled with the taste and sounds of this world. I did not ever want to stop reading it and was a little lost when I was finished. I can not wait to finish the series. This is a must have for everyone.