The Sum of All Men by David Farland, a Review
Right its the first part of a fantasy series. So lets get out the checklist:
Our Hero is a Prince……………………….CHECK
Our Heroine is a Princesss………………….CHECK
The villain is a powerful sorceror…………..CHECK
A “great evil” is about to sweep the land…….CHECK
Only our hero can prevent it………………..CHECK
The cover art depicts a scene from the book wrongly and in a terribly cliched manner…………………….CHECK
But you know what they say about judging a book by its cover. This book is actually rather good. I’m certainly looking forward to part two of the series.
For a start the author David Farland has come up with an interesting twist on how magic works. “Rune Lords” literally leech the power from other people leaving them weak or slow or stupid or ugly.
This may well strike you as a rather abusive magic system. And our heroes are inclined to agree having far fewer endowments than most Rune Lords. Farland takes great pains to show you the effect that taking endowments has on the people who grant them. And also the political realities of his world. Nor does he allow Rune Lords to easily become supermen. The most powerful endowments have some unexpected side effects.
The story itself seems fairly routine. The Wolf Lord Raj Ahten is on the rampage. Having conquered all the southern countries he is looking to the north. Prince Gaborn Val Orden finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time.
But there is something bigger going on in the background. Little by little we discover about elemental magic, about an Earth King, about the reavers, and just what the title of the book means.
The book isn’t perfect. The publishers really need a better proof reader for a start. On several occasions people were actually called by the wrong name, which confused me no end. And author makes this worse by refering to both King Orden and Prince Orden as Orden on a few occasions.
Farland is also a little inclined to wander off and explain certain customs or events in his world. As they say in all the best writers books. Show, don’t tell.
Those points aside this is an enjoyable read that takes familiar fantasy elements and combines them in a refreshing way.
Eoghann Irving is amongst other things the creator and Editor of Solar Flare. He has a life long interest in all forms of science fiction and fantasy and a pressing need to share this interest with anyone who will listen. Find out more at his personal website eoghann.com..
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