Genre: Epic Fantasy
Series: Book 1 of Twilight Reign
Publication Date: October 21, 2008 (Pyr)
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Mogsy's Rating: 4 of 5 stars
I have to say I did things a little bit backwards when it came to this series. It all started with The God Tattoo, Tom Lloyd's anthology of stories from the Twilight Reign that I read last year. Needless to say, I enjoyed it very much. Furthermore, it made me want to explore everything else this world had to offer, so when Pyr gave me the opportunity to read and review The Stormcaller, the first book of the series that began it all, I very enthusiastically accepted.
Born into a life of poverty, our main protagonist Isak is a
white-eye, a genetic rarity known to make those with the condition
bigger, stronger, and more aggressive. Feared and mistrusted by those
around him, Isak had resigned to the fact that he would never be
accepted, until fate intervenes and raises him to a position of power as
the heir to the Lord of the Fahlan. In some ways, I feel the book comprises of several distinct parts, and this section of the story would
be the first of them, focusing on Isak's transition from a simple
peasant to someone with status.
Now, while it's true that a lot of fantasy stories begin this way,
I thought Isak's background was a big part of what set his tale apart.
For one thing, I find the lore and history behind white-eyes
fascinating. Purported to be stronger, faster and more charming than
normal men because they are god-touched and divinely chosen to be leaders,
white-eyes are still no less shunned and despised by many. Because of
this, Isak has to prove himself twice over to satisfy his detractors.
Regrettably, I also think this part of the book was the most
difficult to get through. As Isak learns the ropes, this section of the
story is mostly filled with descriptions of the things he learns and the
people he meets, and it's the most slow-moving part of the story. Add to that, the writing style took some time for me
to get used to. I thought the prose came across rather stark and
ponderous, and while I wouldn't say I disliked the writing, it still
felt like it was missing something -- lightness or emotion, perhaps, though to be fair, the story is meant to be quite dark and heavy. To get through this first part of the book, I did feel I had to
work at it.
The action didn't come until
later, but I have to say the plot picks up considerably once we follow
Isak and his people into war against the elves. This section of the
story is driven by several pitched battles, and here the author also
starts fleshing out his world in earnest, giving it history and depth. As the
layers were filled in one by one (culture, religions, politics, etc) I
finally began to feel the full weight of the Twilight
Reign universe.
I ended up loving the second half of this novel. It encompassed the final
section of the story, in which Isak travels to Narkang with his retinue, and
they meet the celebrated King Emin. I won't deny this probably had to
do with having read The God Tattoo first; Emin was a character that
featured prominently in a couple of the stories in the anthology, and so
in a way, I felt like I already knew him and had a good grasp of the setting of Narkang. And lastly, this part of the
book also featured the climax of the final battle, which was a great way
to bring everything to a close.
All told, it took me a while to read The Stormcaller, partly because it's such a long
book but also because I had to settle in to the writing style. Still, I enjoyed this one. I may have come to this series
in a roundabout way, but further exploring a world that fascinated and intrigued me was so worth it.
A review copy of this book was provided to me by the publisher in
exchange for an honest review. My thanks to Pyr Books!
