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Przysięga Stali (2000)

by Douglas Hulick(Favorite Author)

4.19 of 5 Votes: 2

languge

English

genre

Fantasy

series

Tales of the Kin

review 1: I really really enjoyed this book. The first in the series “Amongst Thieves” is an excellent book, but this sequel is even better. Something is always happening, there is action or plot twist, or just something plain compulsive in every single chapter. The story races along with enough variety, new plot developments, realisations, and action to make to keep you on the edge of your seat throughout the book.Written in the first person solely from Drothe’s perspective this is basically my ideal of the perfect character. He has character, integrity (for a thief) edge, grit, courage, vulnerability, he dangerous and quick witted - he makes mistakes, he’s not perfect but he does his damndest to correct or make up for those mistakes. Drothe’s character is very well writt... moreen, the reluctant “Gray Prince”, prepared to risk everything for his friends, his people, his principles, although or maybe because he’s a thief – it makes him extremely likable. You can’t help but root for him at every turn. In this book everyone seems to over estimate him, seeing plots and machinations where he had none so Drothe often has to play catch up on the fly, using quick wits, and cunning with a deceitful and insightful mind on the side. At the end of “Amongst Thieves” Drothe betrayed his best friend “Bronze” Degan, who as result threw his sword away and went missing. Drothe did it to save everyone he cares about and potentially the entire empire from an eternal emperor whose going steadily insane. He did the maths and if he had to do it over he’d do it again. However he still feels guilty about it, so when Wolf another Degan sets him up for murder and blackmails him into looking for Bronze but also offers him a way to help Bronze to boot Drothe jumps at it (the help Bronze bit). Turns out Bronze has left the empire and is somewhere in the Despotate of Djan, the empire’s long-standing enemy, with whom they are on the brink of war. This makes it difficult for an imperial to enter Djan, so Drothe sets off with a troupe of actors as cover, his oak mistress and a Degan whose blackmailing him, threatening him, and whom he definitely doesn’t trust. Once in Dejan the fun starts, the local thieves think the new Gray Prince is muscling in on their business and want to kill him, a clan of assassins want to steal his night sight, the Despote’s officials don’t trust him, and want to set up him and his acting troupe, Bronze Degan doesn’t want him there and Wolf’s turning up the screws on the blackmail. Intrigue, action, plot, sub plot, side plot, nefarious plans and conspiracy galore. The prose flows, there’s just enough description to paint a picture, often a master piece, but there’s never too much description, it never detracts from the story only enhances it just enough. For me the balance is perfect, the thief speech and terms colourful and intriguing, and wonderfully written. (That’s a personal opinion I know some people desire greater description and scene painting but to me too much becomes boring and distracting, description levels in books is a personal thing.) As I said above there is action or intrigue in abundance, never more than a few pages between the next fix. No long long back stories or suppositions, the back stories and histories are wonderfully weaved into the action and balanced well throughout the book without any large info dumps. As its in the first person Drothe’s character shines through as we watch the changes he goes through growing into his role as a Gray Prince, but being in the first person you don’t get as much insight or character development from any of the other characters in the traditional sense. This could be a negative thing, but not here. Lacking the ability to explore his other characters inner minds and motivations from their personal point of view, instead the author uses Drothe’s intellect and insight to look at the others around him and make suppositions and opinions and insightful observations about their characters and their motivations. This is very cleverly done. When you interact with someone you do not know what motivates them but you do guess, and the guessing, the calculation, hedging bets, gambles, the possible uncertainty, calculating the odds, we see all this from Drothe point of view and it works. In fact it’s better than just works, it’s the cold calculation and the reasoning process behind it that’s part of what makes this book an addictive read.
review 2: Drothe is back, unfortunately things don't appear to be going so well for him as a gray prince. He may have been raised up in his world but he's lost his best friend. This book is every bit as good as the first one. Admittedly Drothe is not your typical hero, streetwise and clever but doesn't always come out of a fight unscathed. I enjoy the way these books are written, characters are well rounded and we are introduced to more of the world Drothe inhabits and the history of the Degans. Definitely will keep an eye out for the next Tale of the Kin :) less

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