ISBN: 0-7653-2034-7 Order from: Amazon.com
Interesting world, full of domestic and international skulduggery, a capable protagonist, and low-key romance make for an entertaining story.
Reviewed by David on April 26, 2009
Genre: Fantasy (Politics, Cloak and Dagger, Magic, Mystery)
Synopsis: The country of Solidar, with a vaguely French Renaissance feel to it, exists in a world full of intrigue. Ruled largely by its powerful and successful merchants, its success also rests on the competence of its magicians.
Rhenn is the oldest son of a wool merchant. Despite the pressure of expectation, Rhenn does not join his father's business. Instead, he follows his talent in becoming a portrait painter. After years of hard and frugal life as an apprentice, and then a junior journeyman, Rhenn's skill and reputation are finally affording him a glimpse of a successful career as a painter. All his plans, however, go astray as multiple layers of intrigue snare Rhenn and people around him.
Full Review: The author creates a solid world here, with its vaguely French names, the preponderance of guilds, and the glimpses of other countries and the sometimes deadly rivalries between men, organizations and countries. Not especially original, the world, nonetheless, has enough detail to be distinctive.
The main protagonist, Rhenn, starts off in a position of little power and much hardship. While his long struggle to make way as a pointer gathers him the reader's sympathy, it is rather tedious. It's not until a major upset that Rhenn's life becomes interesting, and his choices start to matter to the plot.
The levels of mystery and intrigue seem very high, and in the beginning of the book the mystery is sometimes overwhelming. By contrast, the system of magic, here called Imagery, is relatively straightforward and sometimes interesting.
The plot has some elements of a coming-of-age story, but for most of the book Rhenn is in his mid-twenties, and so older than in most such books. There are several violent confrontations, and some almost-precedural investigation, which form the core of the plot. There is also an understated romance, which, while not particularly vivid, adds warmth to the book and its main characters.
In all, this is an enjoyable and entertaining book. It's the first of a series, but its major plot elements are resolved here, and can stand alone.
Copyright: 2009
Overall: 6; Plot: 5.5; Characters: 6; Style: 5.5; World-building: 6.5; Originality: 6;
Tom Doherty Associates (Tor), March 2009, Cloth, 432 pages
ISBN: 0-7653-2034-7 Order from: Amazon.com