Review: A fantasy novel like the espresso you enjoy after a good meal
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 08 15, 2012
My ExpectationsBased on the blurb and on the cover I expected a character driven story with intrigue, betrayal and acion.The DeliveryThe 311 pages of the story are divided into 44 consecutively numbered chapters which are framed by a prologue and an epilogue.But there is more at the beginning of the book which I really appreciate. The authors delivers a list of characters without any spoiler and a map.Incredible! So far I did not use the word fantasy. The Brotherhood of Piaxia is  a fantasy novel and delivers ingredients which you can expect from this kind of novel: Swords and magic, a lost princess, a world with a medieval touch.That sounds like a standard fantasy novel and it would be definitely fall short in case of The Brotherhood of Piaxia. Michael Drakich used the mentioned ingredients as a skeleton for his book. It is the "meat" around the bones which separates The Brotherhood of Piaxia from a standard fantasy novel.There are a lot of opportunities to begin a novel and each has its advantages/disadvantages.A novel which delivers a lot of information about the world and the history of the world will be sensed as a slow starter by a lot of people.And The Brotherhood of Piaxia is such a kind of novel. I must say sometimes I like it and sometimes not.In case of The Brotherhood of Piaxia I like it.I absorbed all the information like a sponge. While doing that I have been sucked into the story. I do not have problems with novels which have more than three characters. And as Michael Drakich delivers a list of characters right at the beginning of the book, it should be no problem to follow them.From my point of view every character get the adequate attention due to their importance.As a father of a grown up daughter I can tell you that the realisation of Tessia is brilliant.The whole story would not work with all the different characters which all follow their own plans. That means there is a lot of intrigue. All these small stories within in the story are like beans entwining around a beanpole.My favorite characters are not the ones mentioned in the blurb. I lovedBron, a shepherd with secrets and Grott, a leader of brigands who shows more brain and heart as expected.The world itself shows a medieval touch and the scenery depictions are well done. I did not have problems to imagine the different towns and the landscape. The magic used is understandable and fits.Nothing to criticize?There is one thing which annoyed me a little bit. I found several solutions at the end of the story far too easy. But that does not disturb the good impression left by the rest of the book.The Brotherhood of Piaxia is what it want to be - a real entertaining fantasy story. It comes along with more characters than you normally get but a lot less then you meet in a famous series you can watch at HBO.It has definitely more magic than a famous fantasy trilogy you could see in cenimas. There is less blood and gore than in a book with a title how to serve a drink. It is also a book which do not drown in romance.For me is a book which you like to read when you want to have a well dosed mix of well known books.Or in simple words The Brotherhood of Piaxia is like the espresso you enjoy after a good meal.