Lord of the Isles

Lord of the Isles: 1

ISBN: 0-812-52240-0 Order from: Amazon.com

A competent beginning in a conventional fantasy travelogue epic full of fighting, sorcery and intrigue.

Reviewed by David on September 05, 1998

Genre: Fantasy (High Fantasy, Coming of Age, Village Heroes)

Synopsis: In a world of island nations, warring aristocrats and powerful magic, a game for world domination involves several young friends from a bucolic village when a weak but wise enchantress is washed ashore. Powerful nobles and magicians vie to capture or influence the inexperienced villagers, but from behind the scenes ancient forces are stirring and the layers of manipulation go deeper than the players realize.

Full Review: A thousand years ago the battle between King Carus of the Isles and rebellious Duke Tedry of Yole culminated in a maelstrom of magic which has annihilated the King's fleet and sank the entire island of Yole. Ever since the tragedy, the Isles have been ruled by warring princelings. The remote village of Barca's Hamlet considers itself quite fortunate to be left alone by the great nobles, with only occasional visits by the local count's tax collectors.

Its peaceful existence is disturbed when a weak and barely alive enchantress Tenocris is washed ashore and rescued by the young Garric. Soon afterwards, the tiny village is visited by the King's procurator seeking hidden children of royal blood. Foul and dangerous magic follows soon, and four young teenage villagers, Garric and his sister Sharina, his best friend Cashel and his sister Ilna, leave the village in search of knowledge, excitement and the call of their own, far from bucolic heritage.

The plot of a naïve villager, or several, getting involved in a world-shaking struggle, dragged by the outside forces and their own hidden inheritance into powerful intrigue, is not new. Tolkien's classic The Lord of the Rings has created some of the conventions. More recently, Eddings' Belgariad, Jordan's Wheel of Time and Godkind's Sword of Truth series have made the multi-volume epics based on this plot device, which combines coming-of-age story with the classic magic quest against evil, quite common.

The Lord of the Isles seems well on its way to join these ranks. The magic is interesting and somewhat consistent, the nobles and most wizards are manipulative, the young friends are inexperienced but courageous and intelligent, as well as having hidden gifts. The village is well drawn: it is charming even with its problems and small jealousies; its villains are petty, and it provides a well-nigh-idyllic contrast to the true pain, cruelty and greed of the larger world.

The four friends quickly part, and the plot follows the two, and sometimes four groups, as they struggle for survival and knowledge in a fascinating and dangerous world, filled with temptation, enemies, and occasional friends. I must confess a personal prejudice against books with multiple characters and plot lines. The alternating chapters, frequently ending in cliffhangers, remind me unpleasantly of soap operas. While allowing faster world building, the shifting viewpoints make it more difficult to properly build sympathy for the characters. It is also somewhat annoying to have so much of the novel be a travelogue, with almost every chapter introducing a new strange city, tribe, or magical creature.

Nonetheless, the characters are handled quite competently; the middle-aged wizard Tenocris is refreshingly intelligent, sensible, and straightforward. She feels and acts like a three-dimensional character, much unlike the multitude of irritatingly obscure and mystical sorcerous advisors infesting so many epic fantasies. There are conventional romantic interests, ubiquitous but not overwhelming.

There is also a less conventional motif of the guilt and ethics of survival. How does one judge the saving of one life bought by the death of another?

On the whole, this novel is a pleasant but unremarkable fantasy, quite different from the military Science Fiction that Mr. Drake has published so far. While several conflicts are resolved by the end of the book, the larger plot clearly remains to be completed. The story of the Isles continues in the sequel, Queen of Demons.

Overall: 5.5; Plot: 5; Characters: 6; Style: 5; World-building: 6.5; Originality: 5.5;

ISBN: 0-812-52240-0 Order from: Amazon.com