ISBN: 0-451-45968-7 Order from: Amazon.com
Likable heroes, solid world, exciting yet realistic battles, and a slightly unusual premise make for a very enjoyable continuation of the series.
Reviewed by David on August 14, 2005
Genre: Fantasy (War, Politics)
Synopsis: As a result of political turmoil, Grus, a former river ship captain, become one of the kings of Avornis. However, rather than eliminating the original dynasty, he kept the young scion—Lanius—as the second king. Thus, an uneasy yet surprisingly effective period of two kings ensued. King Lanius, a young scholar, resentful of his largely ceremonial role, and King Grus, a grizzled war leader, leading forces on water and land to protect Avornis.
In this novel, Avornis is beset by their traditional enemies, the Mentesche to the south, while the north coast is ravaged by the raids of Chernagor pirate cities. Grus campaigns long and hard to eliminate the threat to the north, while both Kings, in uneasy alliance, try to prepare Avornis against the true threat behind such invasions: the ambitions of the Banished One, an immortal god-like being cast down from heavens ages ago.
Full Review: This book has less intrigue and more outright battles, with a combination of excitement and realism. Both Kings of Avornis are likable and flawed, with their strengths, resentments, intellegence and problems with infedelity.
There is a surprising lack of conflict between them, despite the uneasy alliance, and King Lanius, starting from an inexperience scholar, is becoming a capable administrator throughout this book. Other characters are less full-fleshed, but their behavior is suitably complex and realistic.
The combination of well-portrayed characters, good pace, and a strong sense of direction make this an enjoyable book. Being the second book in a series, despite satisfyig conclusion, there is the strong anticipation of the final conflict the the forces of the Banished One, and reading the entire trilogy makes for a more complete experience.
Overall: 6; Plot: 5; Characters: 5.5; Style: 5.5; World-building: 6; Originality: 5;
Copyright date 2004, Penguin Group (Roc), March 2005, Mass-market, 456 pages
ISBN: 0-451-45968-7 Order from: Amazon.com