Brian Ruckley

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Fall Of Thanes

May 3, 2009 in Fantasy | 4 comments

fotFall of Thanes, the conclusion to Brian Ruckley’s Godless World trilogy, wraps up this amazing series in a neat, yet bloody, package.

It has been a while since the events of Winterbirth and Bloodheir. Ruckley kindly gives the reader a brief yet helpful reminder of “What Has Gone Before” at the beginning of Fall of Thanes. Orisian is the Thane of a practically extinct blood, his sister Anyara still a “guest” of Aewult (Bloodheir of the Haig Blood). Orisian continues to travel with the Fox Kyrinin, Ess’yr and her brother Varryn, his attraction for Ess’yr still growing. His hopes of defeating an ever more powerful Aeglyss rest on Aegylss’ foster mother K’rina, who has been unmistakably marked by the Anain.

As Orisian musters his few remaining shieldmen, Kanin (of the Black Road) does the same, taking unprecedented measures and training even those not of his blood to join his motley army and march against Aeglyss. Meanwhile, the world slowly slips into an even more chaotic state as Aeglyss exerts his power over the Shared, breaking boundaries never before thought possible.

Ruckley is once again to be commended for his worldbuilding and poetic writing. His battle scenes can only be described as bone-crunchingly cinematic. Ruckley’s series is also refreshing in the way that Orisian isn’t a typical heroic figure, and that the reader is never *quite* sure if the “good guys” will overcome the odds. My only complaint is the multitude of characters, each with their various alliances and motivations, was difficult to keep track of.

Also worth noting is Ruckley’s treatment of women—in this particular world, it would be easy to make women of little or no consequence. However, Ruckley deftly paints Anyara, Tara Jerain, and others as strong, noble women that influence the course of events, even if not directly on the battlefield.

Fall of Thanes concludes the Godless World trilogy in an unforgettable way. I’ll admit–I am not much of a cryer, especially when reading, but the final chapter brought me to tears. If that’s not an endorsement, I don’t know what is.

The first two chapters can be found on Brian Ruckley’s site, and he is also conducting a giveaway for those that join his Facebook group!

Bloodheir

October 17, 2008 in Fantasy | 1 comment

Bloodheir, Brian Ruckley’s sequel to Winterbirth (which I also reviewed), follows its predecessor as a dark, action packed page turner. Orisian, nephew of the Lannis Thane, has become Thane in his own right in the aftermath of battle. Wain and Kanin nan Horin-Gyre of the Black Road continue to wage war against the True Bloods, cutting a swathe of destruction as they travel.

Wain has become closer to Aeglyss the na’kyrim, who has become even more unstable as he dips into his newfound power. Even in his weakened state, Aegylss has gathered a large group of devoted followers. Kanin is bewildered as his beloved sister slips through his fingers and he can’t seem to hold on to her. Anyara, Orisian’s sister is an “honored guest” for the Bloodheir Aewult, who is next in line to become Thane of Thanes. These petty actions within the True Blood show that the battle is not only between the True Blood and Black Road, but greatly internal as well. Orisian desperately searches for a chink in Aeglyss’ armor, discovering information about his foster mother K’rina. Meanwhile, Aeglyss has sent out his Kyrinin followers to retrieve her, and it becomes a race over who can get to K’rina first.

Ruckley continues to build on excellent, believable characters. Anyara’s fretting over Orisian’s safety and Kanin’s pain as he alternately lashes out and pleads with Wain to abandon Aeglyss is exactly what any brother or sister would do. I would have liked to see Ess’yr and Orisian’s relationship develop (if it’s even meant to), but we see very little of Ess’yr and Varryn in Bloodheir. Ruckley also liberally paints battle scenes (of which there are many) with blood and gore, ruthlessly killing off characters left and right.

We also watch Aegylss coming into his power and the toll it takes on him. However, his meddling in the Shared is stirring an old race, the Anain, to reawaken. The Anain, as we learn, are one of the most powerful races but have been dormant for many years. The last time they rose was to put right a disturbance in the Shared, leaving a forest over what had once been a plain. Yet, for some reason, they don’t seem to be doing too well harnessing Aegylss’ powers.

Ruckley also employs great character contrast in the “godless world”. Torquentine, an informant to the Shadowhand Mordyn Jerain, lives a morbidly obese life in a luxurious abode, complete with all the trappings of wealth. His comparison to a gluttonous spider in the center of its web is remarkably apt as Torquentine consumes lemon tarts and preserved pears, given as gifts competing for his flavor. Er, favor. His daily life is completely different from the men fighting for their Thanes, land, and families out in the snowy battlefields, yet he serves his purposes in other, perhaps more subtle, ways.

The book comes to an amazing cliffhanger ending that made me gasp out loud. Granted, I had an idea it was coming, but it was so well written that I was still taken by surprise.

Ruckley has done an excellent job with Bloodheir and it definitely didn’t disappoint compared to Winterbirth’s acclaimed debut. The Fall of Thanes, coming in early summer of 2009, is sure to be a great finale to the tale of the godless world. I suppose all my burning questions will have to wait until then.

Winter is Coming.

October 8, 2008 in Fantasy | 2 comments

Brian Ruckley’s masterpiece Winterbirth is a sure thing from the start. Using excellent world building skills, Ruckley develops a landscape that is quite different from any fantasy I have ever read. The various Bloods are reminiscent of medieval Scots or Celts. Each has a Thane that leads them, and each Blood, the True Bloods and the Black Road, have a High Thane. While the Bloods have quite the messy history themselves, there is currently an uneasy truce between the Bloods (who are Huanin, or Human) and the Kyrinin, who are also divided into clans. The Kyrinin are somewhat like elves, but Ruckley has done an excellent job creating a race of his very own that doesn’t adhere to typical standards. The product of a union between the two races are called na’kyrim, who have the ability to access the power of the Shared, a sort of nebulous consciousness. The na’kyrin are few and often hated by Huanin for their ancestry-there are stories of na’kyrim so powerful they used the Shared for their own twisted ambitions, often leaving a trail of death and destruction.

To make matters worse, years ago a cult was formed, saying that the Gods that had abandoned them would one day return. The Black Road follows this tenet while the True Bloods do not, and we are dropped right into a scene of political machinations, battles, and more.

As you can imagine, one of the only hitches reading this was simply understanding the civilization, names, and who was a True Blood vs Black Road, etc. It gets a little slippery and I found myself (at first) flipping to the front of the book to double check the character list.  However, don’t let that discourage you! It will all fall into place. This is an epic fantasy, occasionally reminiscent of GRRM in that we meet each character-we learn what pushes them to act as they do-making it harder to immediately hate the “villains” or choose a side since we understand their motivations.

The first thing I noticed about Brian Ruckley was his word use-it immediately reminded me of Latin poetry (without the dactylic hexameter). Ruckley uses gorgeous phrases like the following:

A horn sounded clear and sharp across the blue autumnal sky. The baying of hounds wound itself around the note like ivy on a tree.

The story unwraps rather swiftly, and we follow Orisian, nephew of the Lannis Thane as he witnesses an attack by the Black Road on Lannis lands. Orisian barely escapes and travels with his shieldman Rothe towards the unknown. The Black Road is only able to uphold this attack due to a new alliance with the White Owl Kyrinin, forged by Aeglyss, an unstable na’kyrim.

Orisian finds unexpected help along the way from the Fox Kyrinin, and is increasingly attracted to Ess’yr, his Kyrinin guide. Meanwhile, the Black Road, namely Wain and Kanin of the Horin-Gyre continue to eradicate all traces of Orisian’s Lannis Blood. To top it all off, we watch Aeglyss’ bitter path as he taps into a well of untold power.

Winterbirth is a must read for epic fantasy lovers–Ruckley doesn’t disappoint!