Lord of the Fire Lands: A Tale of the King's Blades

The plot was not quite as compelling as Gilded Chain, but I loved his look at an ancient Norse culture, complete with a plot lifted from Hamlet. Duncan's fascination with the culture sometimes got in the way of the story, but I didn't mind - I also found it fascinating. Sequel to A Gilded Chain, this also can be read on its own.

This is the second or third time I read this, and I remember this being my favorite of the series. It is interesting reading it as an older wiser person. The ending is quite a bummer, but I love how these books don't pit good versus evil, just flawed humans versus flawed humans. Now I have to go read the last one in the series, because I forget exactly how the brilliance is executed.

I enjoyed this book. It wasn't quite the page-turner that the first book was. It started slow and had more political machinations for the first half of the book. The second half picked up. The beginning was necessary since there was a lot of new worldbuilding. This time we learned a lot more about the Baels, their culture, the geography of their lands--the Fire Lands due to the volcano Cwicnol which figures prominently in the story.

Once again the magic system is very interesting. I didn't see the twist close to the end coming at all. After reading the first book, there are pieces of this one that fill in and enhance happenings in the first one. I can see already that this will be the case with the third book as well.

I stayed up late show more to finish the book because I really couldn't put it down by then. show less

The second book in the series, but they all seem to work as standalone. Similar setting, but different characters, with characters from the first book making cameos. It can be read on its own perfectly well but, if you have also read the first book, you might notice a certain discrepancy between the two endings. Apparently that will be explained in the third book.

I wanted a story about the King's Blades, and it took me by surprise when it quickly drifted away from that and became a story about the viking-like Baels. It took me a little bit, but I warmed up to the story. It has war, politics, dynastical strife, murder, revenge... It ended up being quite a good story, actually, although it did bother me at times how people made show more confessions to move the story forward.

I did not quite like the Baels with their brutal ways: even if some of them are likable individually, they still make a good living by pillaging, raping and enslaving. Of course, the supposedly more civilized Chicians, at least the rulers, are not much better.

This is a good. solid fantasy series. show less

This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot.wordpress.com by express permission of this reviewer   Synopsis 2 young men graduate from a school where they are trained to be the King's bodyguards, magically bound and in the binding given great powers. Only these 2 youngsters don't take the oath of fealty and a whole story of the past rolls forth from that. It also propels them both towards a future they can only guess at.   My Thoughts This story starts out with the above as the beginning: 2 youngsters graduating. Which leads to a show more confrontation with the king and a history is revealed. That history starts with a sacking of a town and the kidnapping of a young lord. Said young lord helps out the raiders leader with another sacking, which gets the raider the kingship of his land. He marries a royal he kidnapped in the second raid and has a son. We follow the son growing up until he is forced from the land in a coup.   Then we switch to after the confrontation with the king and the young man, Raider and his Blade, Wasp, go back to Baelland to see if Raider can take back the kingship. Ends up becoming the next king and making war on the land that he graduated from.   If you think my synopsis and first couple of paragraphs are confusing, I agree. This book was not strictly linear and great parts were not about the main character, but setup and explanation.   It made for a great read, but not easily explained. The political intrigue, the action, the characterization, it all was top notch. Very little swordplay but I barely missed it.   There are 3 books in the King's Blades series, but from the little forward that Duncan included, it sounds like they are overlapping somewhat and telling things from different viewpoints, once again not linear story telling.   I am looking forward to the next 2 books.   Rating: 4.5 of 5 Stars Author: Dave Duncan " show less

I enjoyed this quite a bit. This is the second in the "Tales of the King's Blades," a series I'd seen recommended. I couldn't find the first, The Gilded Chain in stores but took a chance on this one, and fortunately as Duncan tells you upfront, this is a stand-alone. I find the premise intriguing: the king's blades of Chivial are superbly trained swordsmen who are bound to their wards. For the time bound, in some cases for life, almost their entire personality is subsumed in protecting their ward--and they gain a preternatural sense when their ward's life is threatened.

That form the backdrop to, but isn't really the central focus of the novel. That really is the "Fire Lands" of Baels. If Chivial is reminiscent of England, then the land show more of the Baels is reminiscent of Denmark, and most of the book is set there and deals with gaining its kingship--although yes the blades are involved--in particular two trained at their college, Raider and Wasp. The book is decently-written, gripping and flowing. The plot definitely isn't predictable, and the main characters by and large appealing. I'd definitely be interested in reading more in the series and think it's a shame it's not more popular. It's a satisfying, entertaining read for anyone who enjoys high fantasy, even if perhaps a tad too generic to be a standout. show less

Raider, aka Radgar, and Wasp, two elite King’s Blades, while training, shock the realm by refusing to bind themselves to King Ambrose. Becoming outlaws, they flee to the dangerous Fire Lands, a Viking-like archipelago, to confront dark magic, family secrets, and a treacherous political conflict between nations. Radgar and Wasp are top recruits at Ironhall, training to be magically enhanced, expert bodyguards.