Malice by John Gwynne
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This was a completely unexpected pleasure. I read a lot on the train to (and back from) work so I need fresh material to keep my mind busy and Malice somehow ended up on my radar, mentally classified under the rather usual "commute fodder" label; something hopefully enough to get me turning pages without being yet another generic fantasy throw-away as many end up being.
Well, I was quite wrong.
It's not that this book has no weaknesses and I realize it's odd for a very positive review to start with those, because it does. Sometimes the author tells us instead of showing us (a character is said to be charismatic but we never seem him exert that charisma to the stated degree, for example) and some interpersonal relationships are developed entirely off-screen instead of letting the reader glimpse into what chemistry is like between the characters. Some cultures aren't as developed as I was hoping, too, such as that of the giants, and although magic exists we are given very little information about its limitations, practicers or nature; not every book has to examine and detail those like Sanderson does, but it would have been great to see more than we got.
However otherwise the novel went from strength to strength, especially for a newcomer.
The plot revolves around a 'God-War' that's coming back to the world, and prophecies which speak of two figures which will unite each of its two sides. One man will lead the forces of Good and the other the forces of Evil. In this there's of course very little fresh since those are old and well used tropes in the fantasy field, even with the twist of *two* such characters emerging rather than a single savior.
However what was really fun for me to read about was the development of a score of characters and how they then were cast in the shadow of these prophecies. Some honourable figures who let perfectly noble emotions - honour, loyalty - lead them into a sliding slope into supporting the wrong side, and some villainous ones operating from the shadows bidding their time to cultivate long-brewing plots. If anything the setting allowed for some very interesting pieces as as the book develops the two sides in the upcoming war (which is meant to be a four-part series, with two of its instalments out as I'm writing this). One side is truly ascendant in the first book, virtually undefeated in any conceivable way with strength and fresh allies who keep flocking to their banner while the other is barely able to operate at all, has very minimal resources and struggles to stay alive long enough to make it to the second novel.
There are a lot of characters in this book, something which perhaps the author might have overdone, especially since some may be redundant; there are more than one sets of brothers and fathers/sons dead-set against each other, which I reserve judgement about in terms of whether they will end up making their mark or seem like rehashes of each other.
All in all I really enjoyed this one. I'll start the second part, Valor, today; hopefully it'll be just as good. 4.5/5 stars for me.
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