Title: 

Ten years ago the entire royal family of Lumatere was slain and the kingdom fell under a curse. Surrounded by an impenetrable magic barrier, half of her people remain trapped inside with an evil king and half wander the land outside as exiles. On the outside, Finnikin and his guardian Sir Topher have struggled to find a home for the Lumateren exiles, but when they meet an exile named Evanjalin who claims the heir to the throne is alive, they have to consider the possibility that they have a hope of returning home.

It could just have been too long since I’ve read an epic fantasy story, but I really reveled in all of the great but somewhat expected elements in this book. It never felt cliched to me; just like it was exactly what it should be. It struck me as the sort of story that my history-major friends who wish they lived in the middle ages would dream of living. It was epic. The actions of the characters affect the fate of countries Both great heroism and great sacrifice are called for. There were prophecies, curses, quests, missing heirs, and magic kingdoms. All of the elements a great epic fantasy needs were present and accounted for.

I think what kept all of this epicness from becoming over the top or cliched was the author’s amazing way with characters. All of the characters felt unique and three-dimensional. All had their strengths and their flaws. They didn’t always get along, but they did discuss their problems like human beings, instead of like frustrating characters in some young adult novel. They didn’t make their own problems. Even our hero is portrayed as very human and the author addresses some impressively modern gender role issues through his relationship with Evanjalin. Although this lacked some of the depth and world building you might see in a longer novel, overall I thought this was an incredibly impressive story with great characters.

This review was part of The Journey Home, a series of reviews and discussions of Finnikin of the Rock. You can find participants here. Thanks to Charlene at Bookish Whimsy and Paola at A Novel Idea for hosting!

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Title: 

This one really did have a complex plot, so I’m going to direct you to the goodreads description and include an excerpt of that description here:

In a land where magic has been forgotten but peace has reigned for centuries, a deadly unrest is simmering. Three kingdoms grapple for power–brutally transforming their subjects’ lives in the process. Amidst betrayals, bargains, and battles, four young people find their fates forever intertwined…

This book is high fantasy at it’s best. There is a broad, epic plot at the level of kingdoms and we get pieces making up this bigger picture from the perspective of a variety of characters. For one reason or another the four main characters are swept up in the larger plot and even have opportunities to change it, all while sharing with us their equally engrossing personal stories. Each of the main characters and many of the others are extremely well developed, with reasonable motivations and no clear line between the good guys and the bad. Transitions between the main view points and even a few secondary view points were done smoothly and I was always excited to get back to every character’s story. Keeping track of both the larger picture and the interpersonal relationships could have been challenging, but both the author’s writing and the inclusion of a map and cast list made it easy to follow along.

Everything about the book was flawlessly executed, but there were two small things that stopped me from falling hopelessly in love with it. First, there are a few senseless, easily preventable character deaths. Perhaps not a big deal, but character’s dying in that particular way is a bit of a pet peeve of mine. And second, there’s an awful lot of good triumphing over evil in this novel, enough that when I finished the book I felt a little empty – like nothing had been accomplished during the book. However, this second problem is also a good thing. All of the bad guys winning in this novel has done a perfect job setting up a fairly standard beginning for another high fantasy novel to follow – and based on the superb quality of this book, I expect that sequel to be exceptionally good.

Amazon|Goodreads

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