David Keck starts out his new fantasy series featuring Durand of the Col with a good story twist. Durand expects to inherit a small land holding from his father, the lord of the area. But at the last moment, a long-lost rightful heir appears and Durand’s future is instantly cast into darkness.
Now, he must turn to knight-errantry and make his way by force of arms and honor. This isn’t the easiest way to make a living, and knights errant aren’t always looked upon fondly by the masses. It will be a tough row to hoe, but Durand makes the best of it IN THE EYE OF HEAVEN, the first book of the series.
Durand roams the land, attempting to find a tournament where he can make a name for himself. He manages to land a guard’s job and is unwittingly sucked into a potential plot against the king himself. Escaping this traitorous group, he lucks into the band of Sir Lamoric, who is making a dangerous gamble with his wealth to attain additional respect in the eyes of his own lord and the king. His adventures continue with this group right up to the tense conclusion where rebel lords confront the King and threaten to usurp him.
IN A TIME OF TREASON, the second book in the series, continues directly after this confrontation, with Durand and Lamoric’s men lolling around, trying to find a source of wealth. They travel to the king’s land in order to pay homage, but find that the ruler seems to have become unhinged and has plotted to kidnap sons and heirs of all the major lords of the land, in order to retain their loyalty. Seems like a suspect plan to me. In the midst of this, Lord Radomor of Yrlac decides it’s time for him to take over the land, and he decides to go after the land of Gireth first, the home of Lamoric and his family.
This is all gripping stuff with well-drawn scenes of medieval battle, both up close and personal and on a more meta level. The story has many intriguing arcs, some almost unique for a fantasy novel that treads very familiar ground.
But the books become a little muddled when it comes to magic. There are no wizards casting spells here, but there is a powerful magical presence. Lord Radomor obviously has supernatural help with his army, and there are two mysterious characters called Rooks who wield great magical power and are in league with Radomor. There are gods and land spirits and even an entire part of the countryside that seems to be haunted, and in which supernatural things occur.
But half the time, I was as gobsmacked as Durand, and couldn’t figure out exactly what was going on. In an effort to make the spirits and magic more mysterious, it just seems to have become confused.
This is all well and good for those who like tales of medieval-style knights and battle, and don’t mind a dollop of incoherence every now and then. Durand of the Col and the group of men he rides with are likable enough to continue the series, but I’d like to see more precision in the discussion of the supernatural elements of the land. –Mark Rose
Related posts:
- The Ninth Talisman
- The Wizard Lord
- The Thieves of Heaven
- Act of Treason
- Q&A with HERETIC’s Joseph Nassise
