Review: The diamond in the rough of epic storytelling
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 04 17, 2013
In the best traditions of Anne McCaffrey's fantasy books, "Heirs to the Throne" trilogy walks right on the border between Epic Fantasy and Sci-Fi. On one hand, we have advanced technologies like space travel, cloning, mind transfer to artificially created hosts, to name a few. On the other, we have dragons, people with special abilities who can control minds, talk to animals, heal, or even use "speed time" - if you ever seen a "bullet time" in a computer game, that's how it looks like.Planet Drako is shared by a race of intelligent, telepathic "wolves" and descendants of human colonists. Humans have abandoned advanced technology long ago and their society is that of an early medieval level. There's quite a variety of sociological archetypes here: desert riders ruled by sheiks, samurai warrior class (female samurai are the only foe the desert riders truly fear), European-style lords with somewhat decentralized monarchy, Merchant, Warrior, Seafarer's Guilds, and more. Different customs and traditions, reinforced by the lack of centralized governance, create some interesting possibilities for power struggles and uneasy alliances that make a surprising, if disturbing spectacle for the native inhabitants of the planet.Earlier books describe the arrival of starship "Zebulon" to Drako, rise of King Donovan to power, his struggle with Jarrack, originally an assassin from the "Institute," an organization that originated the mind transfer, and who, due to his mind-control ability, has become a dangerous power after arriving on the planet. A lot happens in two previous volumes, so instead of giving too many spoilers, I'd recommend you start from the book one and work your way up. This book continues the saga and tells the stories, mostly of the second generation protagonists: Donavan's children, who had three daughters, each one with special abilities; and Jarrack's descendants, some of whom have inherited his mind-control powers.The story starts with Shariel, daughter of Jarrack, being targeted by a desert rider for abduction. Shariel has been raised away from her mother by aunt Bess. Then we move to Kriegen, the "wolf" native, who is appearing in front of the Council of Elders to make his case as a defender of the "Human Pack". A short flash to the "Institute," to give us some idea as to why Dr. Alexander is so pivotal to the plot and we are at the King Donavan's court, where hopeful lords present their sons to the crown, or more precisely, to the princesses. We consult with the ancestral spirits of the wolf people and run the forest with them, we make friends with the wild dragons and discover the reason they attack sailing ships, we attend a grand ball, we rescue captive children, and that's just the beginning of the story.The narrative is very complex; many different characters make an appearance and move the overall storyline forward. The structure of the storytelling reminds me somewhat of George R. R. Martin's but in a good way - there's no offing the characters right when we have just begun to like them. This book, this trilogy, actually, falls into the "diamond in the rough" category. With no promotional budget behind the series, it's easy to miss even something this epic. So, pick these books up and spread the word - this is a lot of reading bang for the buck. Recommended.