Treason Keep

Treason Keep is the second book in the Hythrun Chronicles, and starts a couple of months after Medalon left off.

R’shiel is near death in Sanctuary, and the Harshini (a magical race of humans) are trying to bring her back to life. The Defenders of Medalon have formed a temporary truce with Damin Wolfblade and both are on the northern border of Medalon to fight off the Karien from invading.

The eldest daughter of the King of Fardohnya has just been married off to the Prince of Karien, and Karien is expecting Fardhohnya troops to help their invasion of Medalon. Of course, the Fardohnya king has his own ideas, and plans to invade Damin Wolfblade’s country, Hythria, while he is busy helping Medalon. Of course, what the king doesn’t show more count on is his daughter, Adrina, running away from her husband after the majority of her guard has been killed.

Wow, that makes the book sound so complicated, but it didn’t seem nearly so when I was reading it.

There are a couple of new characters, whom I adored. Adrina was such a horrible, spoiled and cynical princess and yet was one extremely smart cookie when it comes to politics and human intrigue. Then there is Mikel is a young Karien boy completely devoted to the Overlord (the Karien god, Xaphista), who has been taken prisoner by the Medalonians, and is befriended by the primal god Dace. (Which brings me to another thing. Dace is almost exactly the same character as Eugenides from Megan Whalen Turner’s series; I adore Dace but didn’t really like Gen, and I really can’t figure out why.)

In this book, R’shiel has to come to grips with the fact that she is the “demon child” – she was created by the primal gods in order to kill Xaphista, while Xaphista wants to kill the primal gods in order to become the only god. She has to realize that everything she has endured in life has been to make her into the sort of person who could be ruthless enough to kill a god. I’m really starting to not like R’shiel though. There were points where I just wanted to strangle the girl, and then other points just didn’t seem too realistic – she was practically comatose one moment and kicking enemy butt the next. Ah well, I suppose that’s to be expected from the legendary demon child, eh?

I enjoyed the book enough. There were points when I found my attention wandering, but for the most part it was good. As I said before, I loved the new characters, but … I found the book slightly predictable.

In fact, I’m starting to mourn the state of adult fantasy that is written these days. Or at least all of the stuff that I’ve read recently. It’s not that I don’t enjoy it, because I do, but that it is all SO SIMILAR. I can tell you if a character is going to end up on the good side or the bad side after reading the first paragraph about them. I can (usually) tell you which characters are going to die to further the plot, and what trials the main character has to go through in order to become strong enough to do that which he/she was destined for. It’s getting rather redundant. I think I need to find something a little different. Huh. show less

ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature.

Treason Keep, the sequel to Medalon, is more of the same: a fast pace and fun characters overshadow the not-so-tight plot.

Jennifer Fallon keeps things interesting by expertly developing a couple of characters who were briefly introduced in her first book: Damin Wolfblade, an intelligent barbarian warlord (always a good thing, in my opinion), and Adrina, a spoiled princess whose daddy wants to marry her off because he's tired of paying for her escapades -- she just demolished the city's wharf while trying to dock a nobleman's yacht while she was drunk (the yacht sank). I was impressed with how Ms Fallon gave us very short but meaningful glimpses of Damin and Adrina in the first novel -- their show more personalities in Treason Keep were completely consistent with what we had previously learned about them, and it was clear that Ms Fallon had consciously prepared that. I noticed this sort of preparation for the future in this novel, too. For example, at one point, Tarja tells Damin that he'll owe him a big favor, and I'm sure we'll be seeing a reminder of this in a later installment.

So Damin and Adrina join Tarja and R'shiel, the established main characters who we already know and love, and several other old and new characters, making this novel both familiar and fresh. Fallon effectively uses different characters' points of view to tell the story (Adrina's point of view is particularly entertaining) and there is enough humor and romance to counterbalance some of the disturbing and violent events.

There were a few things that just didn't make sense to me, however. For example, Joyhinia is now out of commission and a large group of the Defenders have broken off from the Sisterhood and gone north to defend Medalon from the Kariens without permission of the Sisters. There is a lot of fretting about how to trick the quorum into making Mahina First Sister so that she can sanction their plans and send more Defenders. An elaborate and unreliable scheme is contrived when it seems safer, and more likely to work, to just go to the quorum and tell them the truth: "Hey sisters, look at Joyhinia. She's lost her mind and there's a bunch of our enemies massed at the border. Could we appoint a new leader and send some troops to defend the country?"

Also, the religious and magical systems seem arbitrary and convenient. It's not quite clear what gods and demons can do (and when), why R'shiel can call them to help her sometimes but not other times, what kinds of powers she has, and how the magic works. And why does she wear Harshini dragon rider leathers but never rides a dragon?

The plot of Treason Keep is not drum-tight, but the characterization and pleasant writing style make this an enjoyable read nonetheless.
Read more Jennifer Fallon book reviews at Fantasy Literature . show less

n the second of her "Demon Child" Trilogy, Fallon has once again delivered. For the fans of the first book, this book has everything you loved about Medalon and more.

As "Treason Keep" begins, R'shiel is on the brink of death. Her only hope is the healing powers of the Harshini--magical beings long thought extinct. Even they will be hard-pressed to save the Demon Child of prophecy .

On Medalon's northern border, Tarja and the Defenders are far too few to stand against the invaders from Karien, even with the new fortifications built onto Treason Keep. The only thing that can save them is an alliance with Hythria, with whom the Medalon have been skirmishing for generations. But can Tarja trust Damin Wolflblade, warlord and heir to the show more throne of Hytrhia, with whom Tarja has personally crossed blades upon the field of battle?

Meanwhile, King Hablet of Fardohnya weds his eldest daughter, the stunningly beautiful but shrewish Princess Adrina, to the Karien Heir. Hablet hopes to place his grandchild on the Karien throne. At first glance, Adrina sounds like a snobby princess (well, she really is) but, as the story develops, she becomes much more complex. Adrina is one of those ruthless politicians you'll absolutely love and the fate of three nations dangles upon her insolent whim.

Featuring a heady blend of political intrigue, war, and one of the great love-hate relationships in fantasy fiction, "Treason Keep" is sure to please the many fans of epic fantasy.

I can't wait to read volume 3 in this trilogy, "Harshini." I'm sure it will be just as good as the last two. show less

I like how we're told the story by seeing different characters points of view and not just the main character. I think we jumped around between people more in this book than the first book, but it's been awhile since I read the first one so I could be wrong. Even though I don't like Adrina, I really enjoyed reading from her perspective. It was fun being in her head. But by the end of the book I got sick of the Adrina/Damin pairing and all of their bickering. It was repetitive. Especially whenever they didn't want to admit that they love each other. I get it already! Unfortunately, I think this is going to continue on into the next book in the series. Even though the reason for R'shiel following them to Hytheria was explained to us, I show more think the reasoning was weak and that the real reason is just so we get to see more of the Adrina and Damin story and to witness their marriage. Which is something I don't want to read about. I'm hoping that part of the story will be over quickly and we could move on. That was the only thing I didn't like about it, so overall it was a good read. Like the first book, there were a lot of politics and religion that was really fleshed out and intriguing. I like when people made decisions based on their religious beliefs (or lack thereof). Especially when the bad guys do it. That way we know why they're doing what they're doing and not just because they're the "bad guys" and therefor are supposed to make life miserable for the main characters. show less

I definitely enjoyed the second better than the first. I found Adrina interesting and amusing at times. Damin was a likable and enjoyable character who brought a humorous approach to the story. Personally, I found the story telling aspect by Jennifer Fallon better in this as well, and found myself getting into it more. I'm now genuinely interested in pursuing the next book!

Plot: The main plot from the first book gets picked up, along with some other loose threads. The story becomes more complex and for most of the book is split into three plotlines - a palace intrigue one, a battlefield one and a third that incorporates the more supernatural elements. They're woven together nicely, although the ending feels rushed and does not really resolve anything.

Characters: The new additions are what makes the book work. Good characterization with some character development, and the blatant Mary-Sueness of the first book's central character is toned down considerably. Deaths happen, and likable characters are not spared but aren't necessarily given meaningful and dramatic death scenes either, which in fantasy is all show more too rare.

Style: The prose feels a lot more confident than in Medalon. It still jolts on occasion, but it's a far smoother read. Descriptions are done well, though they rely on the reader's imagination taking the sketches and filling them out.

Plus: A likable princess. Lots of individual agendas and not much care for other people's plans. Occasional fun dialogue.

Minus: The bad guys are too stereotyped and make mistakes that just don't feel realistic.

Summary: This is where the Demon Child/Harshini trilogy starts to be fun. A good, entertaining romp through a high fantasy setting. show less

I liked Treason Keep better than Medalon. I was pleasantly surprised when the characters got more interesting and the writing improved. In addition, I now want to read Harshini, whereas I only read Treason Keep because I already owned it. I think the addition of Adrina really helped a lot, because she is very spunky and has great interaction with the other characters. I've been given hope for the third book, and will continue reading.