Customer Reviews

Century of the Soldier (Monarchies of God)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A great clash of civilisations is underway. From the east and north come the Merduks of Ostrabar, having overthrown the Holy City of Aekir and now prosecuting the invasion of Torunna. Stymied before the guns of Ormann Dyke, the Merduks have now outflanked the fortress through a seaborne invasion and threaten to destroy its defenders from the rear. From the west an army of the Fimbrian Republic marches to Torunna's relief, but the ultimate fate of the kingdom rests in the hands of a lowly cavalry colonel and his ragtag troops.

The heretic kings Abeleyn of Hebrion and Mark of Astarac have regained their thrones and thrown back the forces of the Himerian Church, but a greater danger is now unveiled as a single ragged ship flees out of the Great Western Ocean, bearing stories of madness and death in a new and untamed land.

Century of the Soldier collects together the latter three volumes of Paul Kearney's Monarchies of God series: The Iron Wars (1999), The Second Empire (2000) and Ships From the West (2002), and concludes the series in a strong, if not flawless, manner.

The structure of this omnibus is different to that of the first. The Iron Wars and The Second Empire form one long narrative as the Ramusian and Merduk armies clash for dominance of eastern Normannia, civil conflict breaks out within the Ramusian Church over certain revelations about its origins and as Abeleyn battles to hold his throne, whilst Ships From the West is effectively a sequel to the rest of the series, set seventeen years further down the line when the threat glimpsed during Richard Hawkwood's adventures is finally unleashed in full fury. The success of this structure has been hotly debated over the years, with a general feeling that Ships From the West is not as strong a conclusion as may be wished.

Before reaching that point, the third and fourth books are a triumph. Whilst writing them Kearney took part in massive American Civil War re-enactments in the USA and this informs the writing of the several huge battle sequences in these volumes, among the most impressively-described ever achieved in the epic fantasy subgenre (the Battle of the North More, the King's Battle and the conflagration at Armagedir vastly outstrip any of the battles in A Song of Ice and Fire or the Malazan series in their vividness). Yet Kearney is implacable in his refusal to glorify warfare. It is depicted as brutal and horrific, particularly a jaw-dropping sequence in the fourth volume when Kearney nails the problems faced by commanders when a small Torunnan force has to stand by outside a town being sacked by a large enemy formation whilst awaiting reinforcements. It's a horrible and disturbing scene, dropped in as an ugly reality check amongst the impressive cavalry charges and roaring artillery exchanges, and works very well.

His character-building is also impressive, with Corfe becoming a particularly well-realised figure. His extremely rapid rise from ensign to colonel and to higher rank is on the fast side (although, that said, Napoleon's rise from artilleryman to general was fairly meteoric as well) but in the context of the story it is plausible. The notion of a man stripped of all the things that connects him to the world save his abilities in war becoming a great general is a familiar one, backed up here by a tragedy which the reader is aware of long before the characters, leading to a powerful conclusion that should feel contrived, but doesn't thanks to the circumstances that leads the characters to that point.

A bigger problem in these two volumes is that events in the west take not so much of a back seat as an extended vacation, with Hawkwood and Murad's appearances reduced to mere cameos despite the gravity of the new threat from the west. However, this does resolutely focus the narrative on Corfe's story, to its benefit.

The final volume of the series has been criticised over the years for a number of reasons (most stringently by the author himself), and Kearney has addressed some of these issues through around 5,000 words of new material and rewrites. The fates of several characters left unresolved in the original book are now made clearer (most notably Avila and Abeleyn) and there are some tweaks here and there which clarify certain points. However, the biggest problem with the book, namely the extreme rapidity of the passage of events and the rushed feeling of the book (despite their short lengths by epic fantasy standards, the previous four books never felt rushed, whilst the fifth does), remains an issue, as does a potential plot hole regarding the fact that the enemy's Achilles heel as been extremely well-known since the first volume but is not militarily exploited until quite late in the day here, despite the seventeen years of preperation for the conflict.

That said, whilst the fifth book does not fulfil its true potential, it is also hardly a disaster of the same magnitude as Greg Keyes' The Born Queen (which wrecked the series almost beyond redemption) or Alan Campbell's God of Clocks (which rendered the entire trilogy pointless). The character and story arcs are brought to satisfying, if exceptionally bloody, conclusions and there is a dark irony in the conclusion which is still grimly amusing.

Century of the Soldier (****½) is an epic fantasy book about war, the reasons for it, what it costs people and the fact that its resolution is rarely just or dramatic. The final volume remains a little undercooked, although Kearney's rewrites do alleviate some of the issues, but overall this is a worthy conclusion to the story begun in the first omnibus. The book is available now in the UK and USA.

OK, you've heard great things about this author's Monarchies of God quintet and you've just devoured the first omnibus release by Solaris but are impatient for the next part, well worry no longer as the next three titles are released here. As with the first compendium it's beautifully put together, the authors writing style is strong and where some felt that the final offering was a bit choppy, the author has gone back and tidied it up for this edition. It's a real gem and talk about value for money, you really can't be bit for what you'd have paid for all five of these titles in this incarnation.

Having read the first omnibus of the Monarchies of God by Paul Kearney, Hawkwood and the Kings, I couldn't wait to continue this brilliant story in this next omnibus.

The story continues where the last book left off, with Corfe, Hawkwood and the main villains all taking centre stage again.

A well paced read and the plots are not shy of trying to be a bit more 'realistic' at times, which is good. No super-hero medieval knights here!

A real page turner and not to be missed.

Richard Hawkwood has brought his ship to a new and dangerous continent but while Murad establishes his colony it soon becomes clear that they are not the only inhabitants in the new land. Worse, the existing inhabitants seem to be interested in Bardolin, their mage. Meanwhile the Prelates have elected of a new High Pontiff, despite the revelation that Macrobius is still alive and the new High Pontiff is determined to continue the religious purges that have ravaged Hebrion, despite the more important Merduk threat to the West. Desperate to save his and the other kingdoms, Abeleyn forms an alliance with fellow monarchs Mark and Lofantyr, which draws the High Pontiff's ire and threatens to split the West at a time when it's at its most vulnerable.

Continuing from HAWKWOOD'S VOYAGE, Kearney's epic storyline splits into four main strands - the two main ones involving Hawkwood's adventures on the new continent and Abeleyn's attempts to form an alliance against the new Pontiff and the fallout of the same. Kearney also throws in Corfe, the last remaining soldier from the fall of Aekir, whose exploits in protecting a key Dyke have brought him to King Lofantyr's court only to find himself caught within court intrigue, which sees the king himself keen to discredit him by putting him in charge of a contingent of slaves and ordered to put down an uprising. Finally, Kearney follows two young monks - bookish Albrec and sharp-tongued Avila - who make a discovery in a library that threatens the religious foundations of both the Western and Merduk people.

With so many plot strands going, it would be easy for Kearney to lose focus but he manages to keep everything in balance, moving from strand to strand in a way that keeps them developing without sidelining any of the characters. There is still a sense of this being an establishment novel, with Kearney setting up situations for later pay-off but there's nothing wrong with that given that it's done well.

My only criticism is the lack of strong female characters in this book. Almost all of the women are beautiful and manipulative, determined to control men for their own ends. That's not unusual in epic fantasy, but it's a disappointment in a book that is this well done. Nevertheless the combination of politics and religion combined with realistic battle scenes work to ensure that I will keep reading on.

A great fantasy book which rivals any of the current fantasy on the shelves- astounding series!Moorcock,Baxter,Feist...You guys have got some competition on the horizon....

Do yourself a favor and find all the books in this series. I am an avid fantasy reader and this series is still one of my all-time favorites. I'm currently reading them all again because Book 5 is due out in August. I can't recommend them more highly.

This looks set to be a very memorable series indeed. It has all the ingredients for the classic epic and already, I am dying to buy the next one. Paul Kearney is one of the most exciting authors I have copme across in a long time, breathing new life into the fantasy genre.

This book carries on where the first one left off.

The story is split into two parts.

The first part focuses on the political and religious struggle in the kingdoms, this has plenty of action with battles and back-stabbing going on as the struggle gets more complex.

The second part focuses on the explorers in the west as they discover various secrets and dangers, this has less action and more magic.

The pace is quick and there are plenty of twists.

A few new characters are introduced and the plot is expanded to show a deeper level of politics and history.

The ending of both sections is good leaving you wanting to get the next book as quickly as possible.

Continues the superb story. I read it in a single afternoon.The plot development did not seem as fast as Book 1.This book is too short!

This is book 2 of the Monarchies of God series, book 1 is Hawkwood's Voyage. I had to buy book 3 (The Iron Wars) immediately even though it was only in hardback as it was impossible to concentrate on anything else without knowing what happens next. More historically recent and realistic than most fantasy, and thoroughly recommended.