The Grand Design: Book Two of Tyrants and Kings

by John Marco

Book Overview

From John Marco comes the epic sequel to his thrilling debut military fantasy,The Jackal of Nar. An infamous warrior is once again caught between two irresistible forces, and his choice may change the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0553380222
• ISBN13: 9780553380224
• Release Date: April 2000
• Publisher: Spectra Books
• Length: 573 Pages
• Weight: 1.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.1" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

A Masterpiece in Storytelling

John Marco has truely outdone himself! THE GRAND DESIGN is an outstanding sequel to his first book THE JACKAL OF NAR. It isn't very often that the sequel is better than the original, but John has done just that. In other fantasy series where the action and storyline tend to begin dragging with additional volumes, John has put his storytelling talents into high gear for his TYRANTS AND KINGS saga.I won't get into too much of the story line, because other reviews have covered that, however I do want emphasize the development of characters in this novel are amazing. The reader finds themselves feeling for, not only the heroes and victims in this book, but the antagonists as well. No character is one sided, being wholely evil or purely good. Even the most righteous can have moments of moral weakness.There were two books I've read this year that I could not put down. This was one of them. The other was A CLASH OF KINGS by George R. R. Martin. John Marco has been the only other author to capture my imagination and fantasies and keep me eagerly guessing throughout the entire book as well as Martin has in the last few years. He is truely proving himself to be a fantasy giant on the ranks with Robert Jordan, Terry Goodkind, George R. R. Martin, and even J. R. R. Tolkein himself.This book is a must read for fantasy fans and I am fervently awaiting the sequel, THE SAINTS OF THE SWORD.

An excellent sequel to "The Jackal of Nar"

While I was very satisfied with the "Jackal of Nar" (read in a German translation, so I cant judge that much on the style of the author in the original version) - as you could find out by reading my review for it, I am extremely positively surprised by this sequel.In matter of style, there is a definitive improvement shining through the translation, and also the new characters coming are more developed and described in a better and more intersting way... It looks like the author is on the way to improve himself through his subsequent books, that's good news for the reader.As for the story itself, it is brilliant indeed. Like the title suggests, it's about Biagio's plan to become emperor of Nar and it puts all the episodes of the book in a this specific context. We get a clearer view on what the intentions of our major characters in this sequel are. In "The Jackal of Nar", it wasnt always easy to find a context for all the episodes.And that makes sense, because in the meantime, our hero, Richius, has grown, become wiser and more experienced; and the politics of Nar are now more understandable to him than they were while fighting his useless war for the emperor against Lucel-Lor in the first volume... All in all, a very satisfying book, with good military action, without neglecting the sentimental aspects of our characters as well. If you liked The Jackal of Nar (not all did, from reading the different readers' opinions), you will certainly like The Grand Design, no doubt about that.

A great sequel to The Jackal of Nar

The Grand Design is the second book by the American writer John Marco. This book is the sequel to John Marco's thrilling debut The Jackal of Nar.After the death of emperor Arkus of Nar, the empire of Nar has exploded into civil war. The fight for power is between the religious supporters of Bishop Herrith and the ruthless supporters of the former right hand of the emperor, Count Biagio.Meanwhile the main character from The Jackal of Nar, Richius Vantran, lives together with his wife Dyana and his daughter Shani in Lucel-Lor. Despite this easy (and seemingly safe) life, Richius can only think of one thing..revenge on his arch-enemy Count Biagio. When Richius is offered the change to get his revenge by an old friend, he grabs it with both hands.Unfortunately for Richius hasn't Biagio forgotten him. On the contrary, Biagio is even more after revenge than Richius ever can imagine. Even worse, Biagio plans to get rid of all his enemies in one blow.....For the second time John Marco has succeeded to put down a readable, thrilling novel. The Grand Design offers even more depth than The Jackal of Nar, since John Marco succeeded to build a story around more then one main-character. Where The Jackal of Nar was mainly situated around Richius Vantran, The Grand Design has four main characters who are all equally important to the story. Besides that John Marco's great knowledge of military history shows in the realistic way he describes the battles between the armies, both on land and at sea.The most important thing I like about John Marco's writing is the way he keeps you guessing about what will happen next..and most of the time you're wrong about it.After writing The Grand Design John Marco now has definitely joined the ranks of famous writers like Tad Williams, Terry Goodkind and Robert Jordan.Pieter Willem LakLeeuwarden, 2nd June 2000

An excellent followup to a terrific debut

Book 2 is very different from Book 1: more action-focused (though the first book was no slouch on action), more complex, and more nuanced. It's not a simple followup to THE JACKAL OF NAR: it adds a lot of depth to the world of the series and focuses not just on Richius and Dyana, but on many new and memorable characters. John Marco has a knack for creating characters who straddle the line between good and evil: even the most heroic are flawed in some way, and even the most evil are portrayed with understanding and sympathy. Impressive also is the degree to which this middle book of a trilogy stands alone, deftly incorporating all the backstory from Volume 1 into the flow of the action. Once again, a strong performance from a talented new author.

Rare gem!

I've been waiting for a year for the second book, since I bought the first one soon after it first came out. It was definitely worth the wait! The characters are well thought out, and the plot is second to none. The author again manages to avoid cliche while providing all the elements of a truly epic fantasy. Originality abounds, with the power struggles, the ravens...I could go on, but I don't want to give too much away for those not fortunate enough to have read it yet. If you're one of these people, go out and get this book! It is a rare gem in world of copy-cat stories. All I can say is, I want more!