The Charnel Prince (The Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone, Book 2)

Rating:
Summary: I wanted to give it five stars, but . . .
Review: . . . two minor flaws held me back.


This second book of the "Kingdom of Thorns and Bone" trilogy picks up where "The Briar King" left off, with the Emperor killed by his brother, two of the three royal daughters slain, and the third daughter, Anne Dare on the run, after the Coven of Saint Cer was massacred and razed. The gallant Sir Neil MeqVren has been sent by Queen Muriele to find Anne and bring her home. Anne, with her maid/friend, Austra, is trying to make her way home, under the protection of the swordsman Cazio (Antonio Banderas, if the book ever becomes a film) and his mentor Z'Acatto (too bad Anthony Quinn is dead).


The story is fast-paced, well-written, and intricate. What sets it apart (above) some fantasy series is the factor of the religions, legends, languages, cultures, and myths, that all echo of Earth in a distant past, suggesting that this world is either Earth in the distant future, or a colony of Earth's. While the typical Court intrigues are under way, we also have The Briar King roaming around, cleansing his forest of all infestation; a band of (maybe-not) rogue monks engaging in banned religious practices and human sacrifice; and supposedly mythical but definitely deadly creatures plaguing everyone. We are not even sure that the Briar King is evil, despite his destructiveness.


A new character is introduced, named Leoff. My initial reaction was, "Why do we need to add a Court composer to the set of characters?" In the end, he becomes a wonderfully odd and different kind of hero.


At the beginning of this review, I mentioned two minor flaws. First, Keyes goes overboard, in my opinion, with the differing nationalities and, especially, the languages. It goes beyond adding flavor to becoming a distraction, at times. This is mainly true in the first quarter of the book. Second, Aspar White is the central figure of "The Briar King" but is here relegated to a major figure in an ensemble cast. This was probably necessary, but I expected to get more of Aspar than I did.


Overall, this is a very good sequel, and I eagerly await the conclusion. I wish I could give it 4.5 stars, or 9 out of 10.

Rating:
Summary: A good bridge to the sequel
Review: As my title says, this book serves mostly (as it should) as a bridge to its sequel. The characters move along, some of them grow and change, some do not.

It started a little slow, resetting the stage from the first book for a whole new round of adventures for the cast. The pace moved quite well and I never got bored although I did cheat and read ahead several times when I came to the constant slew of cliffhanger chapter endings.

Most of the major mysteries have been redefined and I look forward to what is in store for the next book.

Rating:
Summary: A sequel that exceeds the first book, marvelous.
Review: I enjoyed the Briar King, but I didn't have high hopes for this book when I bought it, partly because it is the second book in a series and this is a common flunking point for authors, and partly because the Briar King had only been pretty good and I was afraid that it would be the only mildly good book in the series. Instead, I got to be pleasantly surprised.
First of all, the actions of the characters are much more realistic and much more likeable. In the first book, I found Anne somewhat hard to bear, but now she realizes her mistakes and developes into less of a spoiled brat and more of the mature queen that she obviously will become at some point in the series.
Then, I found the plot crazily compelling. Anne, Austra, Cazio, and z'Acatto, are on the run from the mysterious knights that assaulted her at the coven in the last book, while Neil MeqVren has been intrusted to find them and return them to Eslen. Neil was a character that I very much liked in the first book, and I hope my fellow readers did as well, so a plot twisting ride with him is more than I could ask for. Then, Aspar, Stephen, Winna, and Ehawk, a young boy from the villages the Briar King has been destroying, have been sent to slay the Briar King by the Praifec Hespero, yet soon uncover a startling secret that I never could have predicted due to the ending of the last book. Muriele is attempting to maintain political balance at Eslen while a brave young composer, Leoff Ackenzal, stands against the Church by performing shinecraft that is not evil. Also, at the end, you still do not know what the human sacrificing monks's main motive is. And by the way, who leads them?
Finally, the Keyes's fantastical imagination is irresistable. Creatures with names such as utins, basil nixes, greffyns, magical feyswords, evil witches and god-like figures, honestly, how much more is there that a fantasy fan can ask for?
In a nutshell, if you enjoyed the Briar King you shall enjoy this book even more, and await The Blood Knight with painstaiking excitement.


Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable fantasy.
Review: I think I enjoyed this volume more than I did Briar King. This is fast paced and interesting throughout. I especially enjoy Keyes interest in building a believable world, particularly in the way he uses language. I'm sure there are those people who feel that all the different languages Keyes uses or mentions are annoying or unnecessary, but I think this adds a lot to the feel of the novel.
Another reason I enjoyed this book (and series) is the likeable characters, even the evil ones. They all have their vulnerabilities and specialties.
Keyes has created a series worth reading.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent story construction
Review: Keyes is telling a great fantasy story and does well with character development, an engaging plot...it's just a great story...but his real strength is the layout and pacing of events. If you've read Robert Jordan, you know how a plot can wander leagues off-track, and Terry Goodkind goes off plot to preach sermons to the readers, but Greg Keyes just weaves the story with no added fat or sugar. Nothing but 100% good reading, all focused on the plot. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: A Worthy Successor
Review: Often, sequels never quite live up to their predecessors, but that is not the case with The Charnel Prince. Keyes has proven to be an excellent world builder and story-teller. Picking up where The Briar King left off, The Charnel Prince allows us to delve deeper into the kingdom of Crotheny and its surrounding empires. As with the first novel, Keyes' character development is spot-on -- the best thing about these novels IMHO -- with Anne Dare the best heroine we've seen in fantasy for several years (at least since the last "A Song of Ice and Fire" novel), and she continues to grow and learn her place in the grand scheme of the story. Anne, by far, grows and matures more than any character in the novel. Sir Neil MeqVren, the Queen's most trusted night, is also a fantastic creation and obviously has an important role to play in the future plot. Keyes' villains are also great, especially the religious figures which seek to supplant secular rule with a fanatical religious rule -- even if that means unleashing unspeakable horrors onto the world they claim to protect. I cannot recommend this novel more; if you waiting for the next George R. R. Martin novel, this is a worthy substitute. The character development is top-notch, the world-building first-rate, and the character development fantastic. I've never been a great fan of Keyes' previous novels, but he has a new convert - at least until this series is completed.

Rating:
Summary: surprisingly good
Review: People often compare books to GGRM's Song of Ice and Fire and I have yet to read one that came close. Well this one comes close. It is not as good, but close. This one relies more heavily on the fantastical elements whereas GGRM relies on more realistic/military/court intrigue elements. This one has those facets as well, and they are done spectacularly, but at the heart of the story is pure sword and sorcery.
This book is better than the Briar King.
Read it.

Rating:
Summary: A big and well-written fantasy
Review: The law of death has been overcome and magical creatures--creatures not seen for hundreds of years--begin to appear again. In the forest, people go savage and attack the priests and warriors who come to save them. In the Empire, the king has been murdered and his wife struggles to hold onto power. Evil priests attempt to create a new saint's walk--one that owes more to demons and evil than to anything good. The hope of the world lies with a teenage princess--who is being sought and betrayed by her father's killers. Meanwhile, a musician searches for the missing ending to a magical song he heard the day after the night of the purple moon.

Author Greg Keyes weaves together the various strands of the story--Anne the princess along with her companions, Neil the knight sent to aid her, Leoff the composer, Muriele the Queen mother. Separated by hundreds of miles, each struggles to learn the horrible secret, the deadly magic that has overcome the fundamental law of the world--the dead stay dead. Without that law, evil magic knows no bounds.

THE CHARNEL PRINCE is a big fantasy, and Keyes does a fine job humanizing it while sustaining its size. I especially liked Leoff--and his attempts to create music in a world where destruction seems the more likely creation. I would have liked to see a bit more growth in Anne--who was a bit too whiney for my tastes, and I found Neil too one-dimensional. Still, Keyes is a powerful author. His world-building is fascinating, the battle of the morally ambiguous against evil more compelling than standard good/evil stuff, and the action frequent.

Rating:
Summary: BETTER THAN THE FIRST BOOK BUT BY A NOTCH OR TWO
Review: Well, I feel some people are a bit harsh towards this book compared to the first one, yet, some people are also too generous in ratings. I did, however, give this four stars as I felt this was a 3.5 book, like his last one, and, the time before, I gave him a 3 star rating.

This isn't a five star novel. George R.R. Martin's A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE is a five star novel.

That said, it isn't fair to compare anyone to GRRM as he's top of the line and has been writing for over 30 years (i.e. varied in Hollywood and novel genres of sci fi, horror and now fantasy).

In comparison, Keyes has done some spinoff writing for companies but this series is the first of his own. For all purposes, he's a new writer who's making respectable progress.

Overall, I feel this is a solid book. Good but not great, but, certainly way above most of the fantasy novels being published.

Okay, now that we put it on the barometer, time to actually discuss the story.

CHARNEL PRINCE (CP) follows shortly after the first novel. In this tale we have three basic story lines:

(1) Anne Dare's group as she tries to return home and avoid capture (i.e. this includes Neil, the guardian of the queen, trying to track Anne down as well);

(2) Aspar and previous company trying to track down the Briar King, per orders of the Church, and destroy it with the equivalent of an arrow of slaying (i.e. note that these items existed mythologically before the D&D game); and

(3) Focus back on the kingdom with viewpoints mostly on the Queen, who has few allies, and, the composer, who stumbles into court intrigue.

The composer, by far, is the most interesting as there is a focus on music and a national anthem equivalent, which has rarely been done in fantasy works.

In the first novel, I felt that it broke down like this:

GOOD POINTS

(1) Lots of time spent on a believable History;
(2) good cast of character;
(3) it moves;
(4) author is good at creating emotional affects; especially fear and curiousity

BAD POINTS

(1) dialogue needs work. While it doesn't suck it lacks complexity and nuances that we expect in dialogue;
(2) Some of the characters, like the dialogue, needs development. Lots of archetypes for those who like it;
(3) a few plot holes.

In the new novel, I would say that the good points still exist and the dialogue is no longer a problem as much. There are still a lot of archetypes used, as well as a few minor plotholes.

BTW, Keyes based many of the kingdom names on the Historical Roanoke colony (i.e. the English colonists who strangely disappeared).

Overall, a good fantasy book but not a great or superlative one. But, once again, better than most fantasy works, so, worth the read.



Rating:
Summary: A great modern fantasy epic continues
Review: With The Briar King, Greg Keyes created a masterpiece of a first book, so much so that it would be almost impossible to keep it up at that level. He tries very hard, however, and almost succeeds. The Charnel Prince suffers a bit from "middle book syndrome," but not as much as some series I've seen. Keyes keeps the tension high, introducing some wonderful characters to take the place of those killed off in The Briar King. The book is marred only by a massive coincidence that, while it can be explained, still strains the suspension of disbelief a bit.

The biggest compliment I can give to Keyes is that I wish this series was done. Right now. I want to be able to read the rest of this and see how it comes out. Unlike The Briar King, Keyes ends this book on a bit of a cliffhanger. While Keyes doesn't break up the action with a vivid cliffhanger, one of the main characters is dealt a massive blow in a truly horrifying epilogue that shows just how evil one of the villains can be. What's even worse (or better, you could say) is that I had really grown to love this character, which made the ending even more of a shock. It left me with a pit in my stomach, which to me demonstrates just how good the characterization was.

Keyes continues his deftness at this characterization. Princess Anne is probably the best, as she grows up a lot in the span of six months or so. I guess running for your life will do that to you, but most of the haughtiness has left her by the time she reaches her final scene. She's done the work of washerwomen, been threatened with a marriage fostered in darkness, and realized that the love of her life isn't quite as pure as she had always believed. All of her arrogance has been blunted by the news of the deaths in her family as well as the mystical fate that seems to be in store for her.

Even better is Leoff, the composer who is on a journey to take a royal commission in the capital, not realizing what he's getting into. He's the true innocent, doing what he believes is right no matter what the consequences. The music in his heart and all around him captivates him, and the chance to write a piece of music that is unlike all others, despite what the church might say, draws him like a moth to a flame. His relationship with young Mery, who he finds hiding in his room, is wonderfully charming and innocent, as he takes the young girl under his wing and teaches her music. It's interesting to watch him deal with all of the political maneuvering going on around him because he is such a non-political creature. While he agrees to help Queen Muriele by composing a piece that will be unmatched, we get the feeling that he's doing it more to compose a piece like that than because he truly wants to help her. He is a good man, however, trapped in a world that could chew him up too easily if he missteps.

There are too many other characters to name them one by one, but they are all wonderfully done, with the small exception of Robert. He comes off a little flat in this one, possibly because of his circumstances. Thankfully, those circumstances do ultimately become interesting as we find out why he's around and what those circumstances are, as well as what they mean for the rest of the world. He is still, however, rather dull by himself. That he is the only one is a marvel, though, considering how many characters populate this book. Even the bit parts are well-rounded, given enough depth to be interesting even without delving deep into their background.

Everything else about the book is great, as was the first book. The prose, the world-building, everything. Keyes has created living, breathing societies that are all interrelated yet distinct. The religion is especially interesting. One can mildly criticize him for making yet another series where the church is on the side of the bad guys, but there are enough holy loners to make it clear it's not the religion itself at the center of the evil. It's just the men who have climbed to the height letting the power get to them.

The only bad thing about the book is the massive coincidence that brings together three of the disparate plotlines to the same place at the exact same time at the end of the book. Two of the three can be explained, as one of the characters is desperately tracking another before it's too late. However, the third one just stretched my allowances a little too far. It wasn't enough to completely destroy the book, but it might have if the rest of the book had been found wanting. Thankfully, the book itself holds your attention and won't let it go, so it's easy to allow this coincidence, notice it briefly, and then discard your annoyance because everything else is so good.

The Charnel Prince is a captivating read that grabs you, forces you through the ringer along with its characters, and then dumps you just when you want the book to go even further. I will be anxiously awaiting the third volume. Greg Keyes should be very proud of himself.

David Roy