Tower Of The King's Daughter

by Chaz Brenchley

Book Overview

Set in the Kingdom of Outremer, TOWER OF THE KING'S DAUGHTER draws upon rich veins of history, religion and politics, bringing a powerful and imaginative new voice to fantasy fiction. Forty years on... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1857236920
• ISBN13: 9781857236927
• Release Date: January 2002
• Publisher: Orbit
• Length: 610 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.

Customer Reviews

progressing

With the second volume (second part of the first volume of UK edition) Mr Brenchley fulfills all the promises of the first. We have a solid -if very slow- fantasy with nicely done action scenes -not many- based on a complex but not intricate plot. Characterization was the strongpoint of the first volume and is superb here. Julianne finally comes to life -as if the author needed a little time to get her going- which is good because she bears one of the two POV of the narrative. The other is carried out by Marron whose quite sufferings, adolescent torments, too early needs to give up a black or white certainties are not only well rounded but also moving, convincing and not overdone. What in the first book was hinted at becomes explicit here. We are told why Anton killed his brother and what kind of relationship existed between Marron and Aldo before the fell apart. Not to mention that finally the implicit sexual tension existing between Marron and Anton finds here an explicit release. All above is explicitly told but in a hushed, nearly understated way. The actual telling and love making last no more than perhaps three pages -so that sensitive readers need not worry too much- but is nevertheless essential in understanding the underlying currents of the whole story up here. Therefore sensitive readers also beware: lack of graphic sex does NOT mean lack of sensuality. I simply feel no sympathy for those homophobe reviewers who see gay people in fantasy novels as a dreadful lésé majesté, as if homosexuality was unknown in the Middle Ages. And it is not as if they are faced here with graphic sex. And it is not as if gay readers do not have to relate with straight characters in 95% of the books they read. If there is a flaw I can find is that the writing is sometimes convoluted and rough. It is always slow, therefore I must repeat my warning: avoid this series when in need of relaxing light reading. About the fact that this series is out of print I have already expresse myself in my review of the first episode. A shame...

One small step for fantasy, one joyful leap for readerkind

For those of you who love George MacDonald, but desire better narrative, C.S. Lewis (who didn't like George MacDonald's narrative either), but want a secular fantasy story; and J.R.R. Tolkien, but think a couple more female characters would be appropriate, and are tired of the rut of fantasy stories that too often follows in the wake of these writers . . . For those of you who long for daring vistas, swashbuckling adventures, and scintillating dialogue, but aren't satisfied with these things alone and would see them combined with dynamic narrative . . . For those who desire a chiaroscuro of events, characters, and places, but events that aren't just plot devices, characters that react as opposed to simply act, and places that capture glimpses of both heaven and hell, then the Outremer Series by Chaz Brenchley is most definately for you.I almost didn't read these books, I almost left them sitting on the shelf in the bookstore because the story summary on the back of the book seemed to be relating just another sword and sorcery novel that, worse yet, was going to unite the "princess" and the "knight-to-be" in a simplistic battle of good versus evil and beauty versus darkness. Let me tell ya', the back of the book is a bald-faced liar.First and foremost, this series is a sweeping fantasy adventure in a fully-formed world that is intricately imagined and described. It is the setting, the situations, and particularly, the choices the characters make to complex problems and threats that drive this superbly told story which doesn't simply leap from one magic trick to the next. And don't expect mundane magic like Hogwarts, either. This magic is complex, dangerous, brushing softly against the numinous.Brenchley, appropriately, is a storyteller, not a preacher, but his story DOES deal in absolutes, and in my mind at least, avoids moral relativism completely. The problem with absolutes is that NO ONE has a monopoly on them; the miasma of conflicting loyalties, spiritualities, and desires that is life is mostly successful at obscuring or obliterating completely the direct path to goodness. Sometimes there simply cannot be a choice between right and wrong, but only a choice between the lesser of two evils. While the series is filled with such dramatic and realistic dilemmas there is one character that is braver, genuinely braver, than most characters I have ever read: he is Marron, a graceful, strong squire whose bravery lies not in when and how he handles a sword, but in the frightful clarity of his personal courage and the choices that he makes. Marron is a troubled, but conscientious soul battling the forces of tyranny, dogma, and deindividuation, for the most part, successfully. And perhaps it is the character of Marron that is the most fantastical element of this fantasy. In real life, most of us aren't this morally competent.But morality aside, these books are great. I'm recommending them to everyone. Just don't read them when you have more important th

Almost as good as the best

First of all let me qualify the five stars by saying that if I had paid over [$$$] for this I would have given it only four stars, but the low price that you pay for a relatively high quality book pushes this into the five star range.While I don't like to delve too deeply into plot it is worth mentioning that this book takes place in a world where magic does occor, but magic does not supply most of the major plot points (although that may be the case later in the series). The characters are surprisingly well developed for so short a book and are very "human" meaning that they have both good and bad traits.It is surprising to me that so few people have rated this item. Over the last few years I have reduced the number of books that I read drastically and currently only follow two fantasy authors faithfully, Robin Hobb and George R. R. Martin. Chaz Brenchley is not at the level of these two authors, but he isn't far behind. This book is a short read (less than 300 pages) and at less than [$$$] it's a cheap read too. I can't speak to Mr. Brenchley's other books, but if you like the two authors that I mentioned previously then I don't think that you'll be dissappointed by this one. If his other books are of the quality of this one then I've found a third author to follow.

Outstanding

This is an excellent beginning to a fantasy series. I was browsing looking for an alternative to all the multi-thousand page fantasy epics. Although part of a larger series, this release manages in under 300 pages more depth of characterization, richness of atmosphere, and worldbuilding detail than many novels twice (or three times) its length. Especially noteworthy is the author's prose. I usually steer clear of books whose reviews extoll the virtues of the book's prose. Such reviews almost invariably mean the author is so enamored of his turn of phrase and too self-important to get to the business of telling the story. In this book, however, the hype is actually warranted. Brenchley's prose is a bit more stylized than the average fantasy thriller, perhaps, but the narrative still moves along at a brisk pace. Overall, highly recommended. I ran out and bought the second book as soon as I finished this one. I look forward to all the rest in this series.

Devil in the Dust

This is an engrossing Fantasy novel that slips close to horror on a few occasions. Being about a young man that is raised to become a knight and has very little exposure to the outside world, only knowing the limited existence that he was raised in. He gets inroduced to life as the rest of the world knows it by becoming entwined with numerous other characters and setting out on an adventure in what turns out to be an effort to save the "humane" form of life that the people in his part of the world have become acustomed to. He learns of the horror that is an everyday occurence in the outside world and of love and its many complexities, and also the struggle involved in life outside the limited existence he was raised in while he tries to stay alive and protect those closest to him...... at most times having only his own wits to get by on. Chaz Brenchley weaves an excellent story that is long overdue in being released in the USA. This writer walks the same path as many other excellent story tellers and it is time to give him his due. If you let this collection slip by without partaking in its excellence then you will have missed out on an excellent set of books and story.