Friday, September 25, 2015
"Rules of Ascension: Winds of the Forelands Book 1" by David B. Coe (Reviewed by Cindy Hannikman)
Visit David B. Coe's Official Site Here
OVERVIEW: For 900 years, since the Qirsi War, the
Forelands have enjoyed relative peace. The Qirsi leaders, Weavers whose
powerful magic could bend to their will not only the elements but also the
thoughts of others, were all killed. The rest of the pale-skinned Qirsi were
scattered throughout the realm. They were no longer a threat without their
multi-talented leaders.
But though most Qirsi live normal lives, and some even serve lords as advisors, all is not well in the realm. There is a Weaver in the Forelands again, secretly sowing seeds of rebellion against the physically hardier but unmagical Eandi.
Lord Tavis of Curgh, raised to succeed his father as duke, and engaged to the beautiful Lady Brienne of Kentigern, seems bound for greatness. But just as his life seems complete, he is accused of a horrific act. Little can Tavis know that the Weaver is using him as a pawn in a vast plot.
Now, only a Qirsi gleaner can help Tavis survive his doom, reclaim his good name, and prevent a devastating civil war in the Forelands.
But though most Qirsi live normal lives, and some even serve lords as advisors, all is not well in the realm. There is a Weaver in the Forelands again, secretly sowing seeds of rebellion against the physically hardier but unmagical Eandi.
Lord Tavis of Curgh, raised to succeed his father as duke, and engaged to the beautiful Lady Brienne of Kentigern, seems bound for greatness. But just as his life seems complete, he is accused of a horrific act. Little can Tavis know that the Weaver is using him as a pawn in a vast plot.
Now, only a Qirsi gleaner can help Tavis survive his doom, reclaim his good name, and prevent a devastating civil war in the Forelands.
FORMAT: Rules of Ascension is the first book
in the Winds of the Forelands quartet. It is a high fantasy novel that
contains elements of political intrigue, magic, a murder mystery, conspiracies,
a little romance, and some battles.
Rules of Ascension was first published in 2002 by Tor Books. It
stands at 672 pages.
ANALYSIS: Sometimes
we get so caught up in reading and reviewing newly released books that some
oldie but goodies get overlooked. These classic fantasy novels tend to be
pushed to the back burner because everyone thinks that they should have already
read them and know about them.
Every year I try to make an effort to read some of the
"older" fantasy and sci-fi novels. I have been reluctant to review
them based off of their publication dates, but I want to share my love and
enthusiasm for some of these novels. As long as the book is available in some
format for purchase, I will highlight it.
I am featuring David B. Coe's Rules of Ascension novel
as the first novel in this featurette. Rules of Ascension is the first
novel in the epic fantasy series Winds of the Forelands. This first
novel starts the series off with a bang. There is pretty much everything in
here that you could imagine – political intrigue, who-done-it murder mystery,
conspiracies, warring kingdoms, evil villains, magic, and detailed, relatable
characters. There is even a small smidgen of battles and fight scenes thrown
in, but not too much.
Rules of Ascension, for me, started off slowly. It wasn't a
painfully slow pace, but Coe definitely takes his time developing not only the
world in which we are a part of, but the characters that are involved with the
story. I never got to a point where I wanted to give up on the novel, but if
you are looking for a series that immediately starts off running; this is
probably not the novel for you.
It wasn't until maybe the 25% mark that things really
started picking up. Once I was comfortable with the world, understood a bit
about the magic, and there was a solid plot established, the novel just seemed
to fly right on by. I was easily able to read 100 to 120 pages in one sitting
and when I had to stop, I just wanted to jump back into the novel and see what
was happening.
There are two major things that made Rules of Ascension stand
out to me. First, was the complex nature of the characters. Every character was
extremely detailed. They have their own quirks, their own powers, and their own
agenda regarding certain things. Of course, the bad guys appear evil, but there
are layers to them and they aren't just doing things because they are bad.
The detailed nature of the characters really helped to draw
readers into the story. No one was back or white, good or bad. There were
shades of gray. I enjoyed this aspect because it made it more lifelike. I was
able to feel like I knew these characters their entire life and wasn't just
being thrown an abridged version of who they are and how they react to certain
things.
Another aspect that I enjoyed was the amount of detail Coe
goes into regarding the history of the land and even the people who live in
that land. Things weren't just dumped on readers with a 'here accept it'
mentality. We were guided through important aspects of history and explained
how and why things were happened.
That being said, the history parts didn't seem like they
were info dumps. Yes, there is a lot to learn about everything, but it wasn't
presented in long, drawn out ways that would bore you. It was more of a fun,
learn while action is going on type format. In my experience, that made it a
win-win.
Even though I absolutely adored Rules of Ascension, there
were a few things that could make it a confusing read for some readers. The
major problem would be with the amount of characters involved. There are dozens
of different characters throughout the novel that we – the readers – encounter.
This could easily become overwhelming for some individuals because you aren't
just following Character A or Character B, but you are following a ton of other
people who all play major and minor roles in the plot.
It becomes easier to follow who characters are and what they
are doing as the novel goes on, and you become more familiar with the
characters. But it could be a bit disorienting at first. If you can hold on,
you are in for a definite treat. And it does get easier. Ideally, an index or
something would be helpful to help readers, but I understand why that is not
possible.
Overall, I loved Rules of Ascension, even more than I
really thought I would. Once I hit a groove with the novel, it was smooth
sailing and I hated having to put the book down for any reason. I really feel
this is an overlooked series – at least from the first book. If the other books
are anywhere near as good as this one, it will quickly become one of my top
favorite series in fantasy.
12:00 AM | 
Posted by
Cindy |
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4 comments:
Thanks for reviewing oldies but goodies. I'm going to buy this because you reviewed it.
Thank you for the wonderful comment. Look for more oldie but goodie reviews coming up. I'm hoping to review them every 2 to 3 weeks. And of course I'll be covering the rest of this series too :)
Feel free to stop by once you have read it!
I spied this title on Thriftbooks after a recent purchase. I needed to find a review and yours was the first one i saw. Thank goodness! All the pros you listed about this book i.e multifaceted characterization, great lore and world-building, political intrigue and machinations, and action. I love each of these tropes! Definitely gonna buy it and the series as a whole. There was not much mention of the magic system though.
I read the entire series last year. I loved the entire series. I believe it's very under rated. I just now read your review. I'm glad you enjoyed the first book as much as I did.