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Greg Keyes: The Briar King
- Thread starter rune
- Start date
Starting with great characterization is one way to really get my attention. Keyes did such a wonderful job creating a cast of characters in this story that a lot of the background wouldn't have even matter. With the strength shown by his characterization, the plot and story probably could have been terrible and I wouldn't have noticed. This was not the case. An interesting plot, well-thought out background and intriguing history make this read memorable. Compared to the two reigning giants of epic fantasy, RJ and GRRM, the degree to which magic forces, special forces, etc are involved is about half-way between them. Not as much magic and such as RJ, but slightly more than GRRM, it is certainly mysterious and not elaborated upon. Rather, your imagination must be employed; it isn't explained to you. One thing that it seems to have in common is the reader's anticipation of discovery of some more ancient power later in the series (akin to WOT and ASOIAF).
So far this series looks impressive. If Greg Keyes can keep it to only the promised four books, then we (that is the fantasy reading community) will have a gritty, realistic series that will be completed before WOT and ASOIAF are projected to be.
If you were disappointed by COT (and let's face it... who wasn't?) and need some reassurance that the world of fantasy isn't dying, do yourself a favor and pick up this book. Great plot, great characters, believable conflict, noticeable absence of deux ex machina, hell it even has decent cover art
So far this series looks impressive. If Greg Keyes can keep it to only the promised four books, then we (that is the fantasy reading community) will have a gritty, realistic series that will be completed before WOT and ASOIAF are projected to be.
If you were disappointed by COT (and let's face it... who wasn't?) and need some reassurance that the world of fantasy isn't dying, do yourself a favor and pick up this book. Great plot, great characters, believable conflict, noticeable absence of deux ex machina, hell it even has decent cover art
rune
New Member
I have to agree with you about the characters, they jumped off the pages at me and I really enjoyed them 
I loved the way magic was used in this story, and I think that aspect and wanting to know what happens to some of the characters will draw me to the next book.
I didnt care much for the political and historical storylines though. They were too detailed and complex for me and I found myself dredging through these parts, which lost my interest.
I understand there needs to be reasons for what happens in a story, but I do feel some authors spend too much time on these elements of the plot.
I'm hoping the next book is less war and politics and more character driven with mystery and magic
rune
I loved the way magic was used in this story, and I think that aspect and wanting to know what happens to some of the characters will draw me to the next book.
I didnt care much for the political and historical storylines though. They were too detailed and complex for me and I found myself dredging through these parts, which lost my interest.
I understand there needs to be reasons for what happens in a story, but I do feel some authors spend too much time on these elements of the plot.
I'm hoping the next book is less war and politics and more character driven with mystery and magic
rune