ISBN: 0-312-86653-4 Order from: Amazon.com
A Standard LOTR-type plot with original magic system.
Reviewed by David on August 13, 1998 (rev. 2)
Genre: Fantasy (Evil Invasion, Sword and Sorcery, War)
Synopsis: In a world where virtues can be transferred from one man to another, an ambitious king is bent on building a world empire by forcing thousands of people to surrender their strengths to him and his warriors.
Two kings lead the struggle for independence, while their heirs, a prince and a princess, are forced to learn responsibility and combat, love and sorrow in a world of peace and luxury suddenly torn by war.
Full Review: The book is a start of a new series taking place in a world with an unusual magical system. Through a relatively common rune-based ritual, a virtue can be transferred from a Dedicate to a Runelord. Thus, a soldier may have the strength of three, or a merchant can acquire the wit of two others to enhance his memory and clarity of thought. A vain lady may have the unearthly beauty and grace of three women.
The donors, who must be volunteers, lose the virtue—becoming drooling idiots if they sell wit, ugly sisters after they give their comeliness to one poor girl hoping to make a good match and provide for the whole family. Some become feeble hypochondriacs after giving their stamina to their lord to allow him to survive wounds in battles.
The Dedicates are cared for and guarded, for should they die, their virtues will disappear and leave the Runelord, weak, forgetful, slow or unattractive, usually at the least convenient moment.
An interesting quirk is that some such gifts carry a heavy price: a man with triple-speed metabolism may be able to outfight any normal soldier, but he will age and die three times faster. An unscrupulous Runelord may acquire a metabolism of say, forty men for a battle, and then kill his Dedicates afterwards to return to normal aging.
The world, which contains a number of creatures—including ghosts, Frowth Giants, insectoid and intelligent Reevers, and elemental adepts, is suffering from the overweening ambition of Raj Ahten, a king who blackmailed, forced or seduced thousands to become his Dedicates.
With this power, and his multi-species army, he is making progress in conquering the world. Prince Gaborn and Princess Iome have been raised in luxury of their royal homes and prosperity of peace. Yet while their fathers, allies and best friends, try to match-make, they are also in the forefront of resistance to Ahten's emperial ambitions. Suddenly, the two young royals are plunged into war, with their parents and indeed whole countries in deadly danger. There are also hints that the war is merely the first move in a struggle between the elements, a struggle which may wipe out all humanity.
The magic structure is original and well developed. There are a number of implications of the concentration of virtues which have been explored in the book. However, the approach, like that of Dave Duncan's A Man of His World, is a bit too mechanistic. The rules make this system too much like a role-playing game. Some other denizens appear fairly standard faire for this type of novel: the (non-humanoid) Giants, the sprits of an extinct race of craftsmen and magicians, the wise wizard (from Gandalf's school of wise magic-users).
On the whole, the novel is entertaining albeit slow at times. The style and characters are competent but unremarkable. We'll have to see if the sequel(s) will be more exciting, or make this yet another undistinguished "Fight Against Evil"(tm) series.
Overall: 6; Plot: 5.5; Characters: 5.5; Style: 5.5; World-building: 6; Originality: 6.5;
Copyright date 1998, Tom Doherty Associates (Tor), June 1998, Cloth, 479 pages
ISBN: 0-312-86653-4 Order from: Amazon.com