Genre: Fantasy
Series: Stand Alone (Collects 4 parts)
Publisher: Headline (February 13, 2014)
Mogsy's Rating: 4 of 5 stars
The Copper Promise came out earlier
this year in its full entirety from Headline Books, but with nary a US release date in sight. Argh, doesn't that just drive you insane?! I kept
my eyes and ears open for any news. And waited. And waited. And waited.
Finally, I just couldn’t take it anymore. I needed this book in my life. Being
on the wrong side of the ocean be damned, I just went ahead and ordered my copy
from the Book Depository. From there, this oh so gorgeous book found its way
into my hands at last.
Was it worth it? You betcha! I craved for this book so hard
because I thought it sounded amazing. And as it happens, it contains a lot of things I
like. We’re talking classic quest narrative here. And don’t forget mages,
knights, and sellswords. Hey, there are even pirates! Oh, and did I mention the
dragon? Not just any old dragon either, but a dragon god of destruction. Unleashed
after an eternity spent imprisoned in the dark depths of the Citadel, now all she
wants to do is tear the world asunder.
Enter an unlikely group of heroes who may be the world’s
last hope. Unique and intriguing, the characters are what made this book so
awesome. We have Lord Frith, jaded and broken, thirsting for revenge after
witnessing his whole family killed by usurpers who then nearly tortured him to
death for the secret location of his treasure vault. Then we have Sebastian,
the exiled knight whose only crime was falling in love with another man. And
last but not least, we have Wydrin, the cheeky mercenary who calls herself The
Copper Cat. She’s great -- and has a scary obsession with sharp blades too, I might
add.
I enjoyed how naturally the character relationships seemed to
flow with the story. Each person had to overcome their own individual challenges
at some point before coming back together again to resolve the final conflict, but
this was done so artfully that their separations and reunions always felt so
right. Somehow, characters were exactly where they needed to be, but always in a
way that made a lot of sense and didn’t feel forced. Even with the complex relationships and switching between perspectives, I still felt a closeness with each character and this made their interactions easy and entertaining to follow.
The novel’s format had a lot to do with this. I
was glad I knew something about it before heading into the book. The Copper
Promise is actually a collection of four serialized novellas – Ghost of theCitadel, Children of the Fog, Prince of Wounds, and Upon the Ashen Blade.
Together they form the overall story arc, every section being a part of the
whole. In spite of this, I also noticed that each part had its own dramatic
structure – a main conflict, rising action, etc. So in a way, it’s a bit like
getting four exciting climaxes in a single book! But even with the almost seamless
transition between the parts, if I hadn’t known about the serialized format I
imagine reading all four of them together would feel like a pretty uneven ride
with lots of ups and downs. It also gives the book that “pulpy” feel. I was
prepared, so it probably wasn’t as distracting for me.
More importantly, the four parts come together
remarkably well, showing us the bigger picture. It’s true that they work as smaller narratives by themselves, but believe me, it’s a lot more rewarding when viewed it as a whole. Grab this book to have them all together, and enjoy it all at once. I know I certainly had a good time doing so.
Great book. Simply good old-fashioned adventurous fun, with just a touch of
grit. Sound yummy? Then you should definitely check it out too.
