The Wanderer’s Tale
by David Bilsborough
Five
hundred years ago, the evil deity Drauglir was defeated by a valiant
band of soldiers. But now he is stirring once more, and it is up
to another brave group to do something about it. Enter the bold
Nibulus Wintus, son of the Peladane warlord who musters a crack
team to do the deed. They will have to journey across some difficult
terrain, and meet many fearsome monsters before they get to the
eerie vastness of Vaagenfijord Maw, the Tower of Darkness…
Classic (or bog standard, depending on your viewpoint) fantasy in
fact! The skill lies in how the tale is told, as the plot of a quest
adventure was mapped out in the mists of prehistory. Newcomer Bilsborough
opts for a style laced with humor, somewhere between David Eddings
and K J Parker and invariably a recipe for a good lively tale with
some substance to it, as surely a lack of humor reduces the characters
to ciphers. This is not the whole tale, there will be other books
in the series (presumably two more if this is a real classic fantasy),
and there we will be further let in on the characters and what makes
them tick. They are an interesting bunch, some more than others,
but all of them are male. Apart from a few of the monstrous creatures
they encounter, this is very much a man’s world, which makes
the story rather one-sided. Remedy this, add at least one startlingly
original feature in book two and this will be a good solid series
that will appeal to fans of classic fantasy.
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The
Book |
Tor (Macmillan UK) |
6
July 2007 |
Hardback |
9780230014480
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Fantasy |
More at Amazon UK
|| US |
Excerpt |
NOTE: Some fantasy violence |
The
Reviewer |
Rachel
A Hyde |
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