The King's Bastard by Rowena Cory Daniells

I was really excited to read The King’s Bastard. Now that I’ve finished it I find myself both pleased and a little disappointed.

There isn’t much that’s amazingly new in this book. It has all of the traditional political elements that I've read about numerous times; for example, the older inheriting brother is jealous of the younger brother. Added into the mix are plotting relatives and friends set to destabilize the throne, as well as plenty of secrets. In addition, Rowena Cory Daniells’ world features enchanting magical creatures, such as the unicorn-like “unistag.” The magic system seems fairly stereotypical, but Daniells makes up for this conventional magic system by making it an important aspect of the plot in a very subtle way.

Daniells' writing is not as fluid as one might wish. Often Daniells tells re... Read More

Besieged by Rowena Cory Daniells

I have very mixed feelings about Besieged. Overall, I’d give it a positive ranking, but it’s hard to ignore the fact that the text does have issues. Quite a few issues, really. What does work is very good, and I can really give those elements a sterling review. But then there’s… the other hand.

Besieged is a big, sprawling political drama concerning a race called the T’en, the ordinary humans (here called True-Men or Mieren), and the “half-blood” population, apparently a result of interbreeding between the two, called the Malaunje. On the face of it, the whole dynamic looks like just another tussle between the Elves and the Humans: the T’en are a tall, beautiful, long-lived people with magical powers and an advanced, artistic culture, but are relatively few in number. The Mieren are plentiful, but are comparatively barbari... Read More

Exile by Rowena Cory Daniells

Exile, the second book in Rowena Cory Daniells’s OUTCAST CHRONICLES, simultaneously raises the stakes and deepens the narrative that began in the first installment, Besieged. It’s a good bit of work, and readers will be pleased to find Daniells addressing some of the issues that were problematic in Beseiged while at the same time keeping to the familiar sense of suspense and breakneck speed that made the first novel so gripping.

When last we left the T’en, they had finally given some sense to the book’s title and gotten themselves besieged by the armies of King Charald. Starting the book going right into that problem for her characters to work on seems to give Daniells energy coming right out of the gate, and the text clips along at a swift pace. The long-awaited direct comparison be... Read More

Sanctuary by Rowena Cory Daniells

In this final installment of Rowena Cory Daniells’ THE OUTCAST CHRONICLES, the focus shifts from the conflict between the humans (Mieren) and the elf-like T’en to the clash between the different factions of T’en as they float across the ocean toward the titular sanctuary. Fortunately, the sense of pacing and deeper characterization from Exile, the previous novel, remains intact here, and as the T’en and Malaunje always dominated the cast of this series, it’s tough to miss the Mieren once they vanish from the proceedings. It’s more of the same material that was quite enjoyable in the last book, although the overall resolution of various plot threads leaves a bit to be desired.

If Exile, the book which preceded Sanctuary, was about cultural conflict and upheaval and the book which preceded that, Besieged, was about stagnation, the... Read More