The Heir of Night: The Wall of Night: Book One [Kindle Edition]

Seen much of this before but it is delivered very competently by the author in her first book aimed at an adult audience. And she does treat her audience like adults too, this is complex, deep and thoughtful with both world construction and back-story.

On the World of Haarth the Darkswarm are kept at bay behind a vast wall of protection which has a number of forts managed by different Houses of the Derai. Time and a war between the Houses 500 years ago has left them isolated, not trusting each-other and losing much of their faith and tradition.

Our focus is on the House of Night which is attacked early on in the novel and this has consequences for all, including Malian the Heir and her Father the Earl.

It is good stuff and I did have to concentrate (with occasional checks to the glossary at the back) as more myth, legend and history came to light. The story also involves different planes of existence which again while not original, work well in the story. Minor gripes might be how maturely young Malian and her equally young priestly companion act and some of the dialogue is slightly stilted at times, but the bottom line is that I enjoyed this and am keen to find where Ms Lowe is taking this story next.

Malian is the Heir of Night, one of the great houses of the Derai, who are a warriorlike people who originally came from among the stars to settle on their current planet. With them they brought their age old enemies, the Swarm, and so the story begins with the never ending battle between the two sides finally coming to the fore again as Malian is chased deep within the ruins of the Old Keep in order to escape those whose only goal is her capture or death. This is, I hope, the first volume in what is shaping up to be a truly excellent series - the Derai are warriors to the bone, cursed with far too many rigid walls and viewpoints, but they are a likeable race despite this, and totally different from any of the other characters whose home is, and has always been, the world that this book is set within. Malian and her companion Kallan are both very likeable and show promise of developing into two very good characters indeed, sympathetic and flawed and profoundly human. They meet an assortment of different people in this first step on their quest, including a woman who controls winter, a man and a woman who are part of the mysterious Heralds, and an assortment of different members of the Derai. I particularly liked Asantir - anyone who loves a strong female warrior character will very much like this lady as she is rather marvellous! The Swarm themselves are threatening and frightening in equal measure, very well written to convey a palpable aura of evil.

The writing is fluid and evocative, delightfully old fashioned in places in a way that really manages to convey the feel of the place far more than would have been done in more modern language. I must admit that this book kept me up late on several nights as I just could not put it down but had to turn the page and find out what happened next. I will be eagerly awaiting the next installment of the series.

An excellent beginning, well suited to anyone who loves high fantasy with a distinct twist.

As a dyed in the wool Fantasy fan, I was very pleasantly suprised by this book, while the plot is nothing new (well not so far, book 1) there are some very interesting ideas relating to the characters and the universe they inhabit. I liked the story, the characters and the style of writing, it was a very enjoyable read and I will be getting the next in the series when it appears. A new author that I will be looking out for in the future.