Oath of Fealty (edition 2011)

A good start to a series. In every viewpoint someone is stepping into a leadership role they hadn't dreamed of [ironic, I was taking a break from leadership-type books.] ( )

Amazon preorder

Wish there was more of this and more of each story - but I'm absolutely confident that Moon will bring all of these stories along in further books.

We mostly see three characters from the Deed of Paksenarrion:

Dorrin has become a Duke because her entire family has turned out to be both traitors and corruptly evil in one country and she is attempting to clean up the evil and mess left behind by the family that disowned her and that she fled.

Arcolin has ended up with the company of mercenaries and is growing into his new responsibilities.

And Kieri, of course who had become a king after growing into his fifties knowing nothing of his heritage.

We some of Paks, but not from her viewpoint, and what we see is an engaging view of the hero from the outside, but who is very practical.

Off before too long to reread the Deed.


( )

Highly anticipated return to Paks' world which mostly fizzled for me. Paks had a couple of cameos, but the lion's share of the storylines fell to Dorrin, by far the most interesting of the points of view presented. Arcolin's story felt and looked like filler. Except for the scene in the ossuary, Kieri's tale barely bumped through a two-dimensional plane. The most tragic loose end hinges on the fate of Stammel.

The abrupt and anti-climactic ending left me feeling ambivalent. My emotional line graph would resemble a near dead person's EKG - a few squiggles, but no mountainous peaks or terrifying plummets.

Since it's been years (translated decades) since I read [b:The Deed of Paksenarrion|96281|The Deed of Paksenarrion (omnibus)|Elizabeth Moon|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171310804s/96281.jpg|92896], I felt detached from all these characters, even Dorrin, though her struggles proved the most exciting and enlightening.

I can't say I didn't enjoy reading Oath of Fealty, but I feel somewhat let down; perhaps my expectations aim too high. ( )

I have had a mixed experience with the Paks books - liked the original trilogy rather a lot, disliked Surrender None, loathed Liar's Oath - so I approached this with a little trepidation.

But it's good! Maybe even better than the original books, if only because Moon has developed so much as a writer in the last twenty years. Paks herself is now a bit character, but her adventures are the foundation of the plot, and the three main characters in this series are all engaging and sympathetic. I can even see where the Gird/Luap books add something in terms of backstory (although my opinion that they were shitty novels hasn't changed.)

I would heartily recommend this series to fans of the Deed of Paksenarrion. Totally worth it. ( )

Two neighbouring kingdoms, two kings both new to rule… the former mercenary leader, Duke Phelan, takes the Lyonyan throne to which he has been revealed the half-elven heir by the paladin, Paksannarion, while in Tsaia, crown prince Mikeli prepares for his own coronation; even before he is crowned, a coup is attempted and a threat to the entire realm’s stability is uncovered. Forced to place the entire Verrakai nobility under arrest for treason, his best choice to bring their lands under quick control is to appoint as the new duke, the only Verrakai family member he can trust; Phelan’s former Captain, Dorrin, an outcast Verrakai, reviled by her family for cowardice and weakness, after turning her back on their evil magery. She retains her own cohort for protection, while the rest of the former Duke’s mercenary army is signed over to Arculin, another familiar character with new power and fresh uncertainties in the face of their leader’s new loyalties; a contract to clear brigands from the countryside quickly seems to have a deeper and more menacing threat behind it.

I enjoyed this detailed set up to the trilogy’s story arc, much as I did with The Deed of Paksennarion trilogy, from which this stems… for the first half of the book, characters are becoming accustomed to their new positions and status, discovering their strengths, those around them on whom they can rely, and the dangers that surround them; the pace – far from slow, but not plunging dervishly ahead, either – brings a sense of realism that those fantasy sagas which insist on peril or battle on every page simply don’t convey. Moon’s characters have jobs to do, and can’t be entertaining us all the damn time. I find the minutiae makes for engrossing reading, because the story is woven through it, emerging a little at a time, and the conjunction of all the main characters having new and important roles to play was a nicely balanced touch.

This isn’t a stand-alone book; the story arc is clearly set up to play out over the three books, but already the tale is bubbling with honour, evil, magic, trials and temptations. I love Moon’s storytelling style, and can’t wait to read the next instalment. ( )