Review: Ambitious, Richly Imagined
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 17, 2014
This is a richly imagined, multi-layered epic fantasy. But that doesn't really fully describe it. At its most basic, the story is of a world divided and on the brink of disaster and it gallops along. However, the author introduces a variety of important questions: What is the difference between right and wrong? How do you choose? When and how does the moral man act when the difference isn't clear?To pose the questions and others, he draws from a variety of religious, historical, mythological and philosophical sources. And, he has no hesitation in manipulating these sources to provide a compelling framework for his story. (In this sense, the author draws upon the "alternative history" model made popular by Henry Turtledove.)But, it's important to note that these questions, however profound, don't work in fiction unless the story is compelling. It is also important to note that epic fantasies don't work unless the world the author describes is completely imagined. The author meets these ambitious goals on both counts.It's a big book, a big story and it poses big questions. I thoroughly enjoyed it.