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crufts's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
In a classical-fantasy setting, Balen, an up-and-coming paladin, is appointed as the Prime bodyguard of young King Zavrius. It's a huge honour - although since they used to date, Balen is somewhat distracted from his duties.
But there's no time to think about that. With Zavrius's four siblings murdered in suspicious circumstances, the people are turning against their new ruler. Can Balen protect the king and do his duty to his country, or will Zavrius's reign be over before it starts?
But there's no time to think about that. With Zavrius's four siblings murdered in suspicious circumstances, the people are turning against their new ruler. Can Balen protect the king and do his duty to his country, or will Zavrius's reign be over before it starts?
I read the novel via the audiobook, so please excuse any misspelled names in this review. Further comments about the audiobook behind this tag:
The audio quality was good and clear, with crisp enunciation from the narrator.
However, he has an odd, sultry tone of voice which subtracts from the clarity of his reading. Very innocent lines like "Balen went stiff" (referring to his posture) land differently in this tone of voice.
When it came to reading out Zavrius's flirty double-intendres, the narrator absolutely nails it and I can't imagine anyone doing it better. The problem is that he has a tinge of this sultry Zavrius voice going all the time.
However, by the end of the book the narrator's tone has become neutral, without the sultry tone. This is much better and allows the dramatic ending of the story to land as intended.
The audio quality was good and clear, with crisp enunciation from the narrator.
However, he has an odd, sultry tone of voice which subtracts from the clarity of his reading. Very innocent lines like "Balen went stiff" (referring to his posture) land differently in this tone of voice.
When it came to reading out Zavrius's flirty double-intendres, the narrator absolutely nails it and I can't imagine anyone doing it better. The problem is that he has a tinge of this sultry Zavrius voice going all the time.
However, by the end of the book the narrator's tone has become neutral, without the sultry tone. This is much better and allows the dramatic ending of the story to land as intended.
There was a lot I enjoyed about the novel.
Firstly, great choice of title. "Reforged" is both a literal statement of what happens to certain artefacts during the novel, and a figurative comment on the protagonists' relationship.
In general, the worldbuilding felt believable and authoritative. The setup of the different countries and their cultures was well-established and made sense.
I particularly liked how the paladin order was centred around the gedrocks, a long-deceased mythical creature whose bones and ichor are ritualistically used to empower the paladins. It worked well as an explanation of how the order could rise to power, yet now faced the risk of dying out.
As far as characters went, Balen was alright. But Zavrius was fascinating. The contrast of his languid playboy facade with his deeper secretive nature, always wearing a social mask, made him a memorable and brilliant character. His abilities (which somewhat resemble a D&D School of Glamour Bard) were also an intriguing match for the role of king, in comparison to his militaristic and combat-trained siblings.
The inclusion of the comic characters Mallet and Lance was also a great choice as their presence balances Balen's seriousness. Having them appear so soon after the gory fight in the forest also allowed them to act as a tone balancer that prevented the story from getting too grimdark.
Plot events and scenes were interesting and well-designed, with a good balance of tense and lighthearted scenes.
I also really liked the overall concept of the novel, that of a new kind of prince (pacifistic and flamboyant) who is suddenly shoved into the position of king and must stand for his values, no matter what .
On the downside, there was just too much description (of places, objects, and people) being given before it was needed. These paragraphs dragged on and slowed the pace of the novel.
Similarly, I found myself annoyed by the obvious statements made in the prose. These statements add nothing to the novel and cutting them would boost the pacing. These were things like:
> But [Character] had to disagree with that. "It's not the right decision," he said.
It's obvious that he's disagreeing based on his dialogue line. You don't have to tell us the same thing in the narration.
> [Character] was offended by the rude remark, perhaps because of her relation to the matter. "You're being very impolite," she snapped.
It's obvious from her dialogue that she was offended. There's no need to tell us.
> [Character] said "[dialogue]". It was unclear if he was reacting to [past event A] or [past event B].
Of course it's unclear. You don't have to explain this to us in the narration, we already know this.
> But [Character] had to disagree with that. "It's not the right decision," he said.
It's obvious that he's disagreeing based on his dialogue line. You don't have to tell us the same thing in the narration.
> [Character] was offended by the rude remark, perhaps because of her relation to the matter. "You're being very impolite," she snapped.
It's obvious from her dialogue that she was offended. There's no need to tell us.
> [Character] said "[dialogue]". It was unclear if he was reacting to [past event A] or [past event B].
Of course it's unclear. You don't have to explain this to us in the narration, we already know this.
There were also some sentences that repeated the same word very closely together, e.g. the word "slightly" appearing in two adjacent sentences.
Similarly, there were sentences where character names were repeated unnecessarily when they were already the subject. Like (paraphrased) "Balen jabbed his sword and struck the other man. Balen slid sideways and feinted" (rather than using "he" in the second sentence) . This gave me the impression that sentences had been cut and moved around without being reread for flow.
It also bothered me that the themes and character development were not tied into the outcome of certain critical scenes.
Consider climactic battles such as Balen vs Thenlyss, Balen vs Alick or Zavrius vs Theo. If Balen had been told at the start of the story that Thenlyss and Alick were traitors and faced each of them off in a duel, nothing would have been different. Balen would have defeated the two of them all the same, because he beat them simply by being a better fighter. So what does it matter if he wins?
Similarly, before the story begins, Zavrius had already defeated his entire family in battle, Theo included. It's not like he needed to change or grow in order to be strong enough to defeat them again. So what does it matter if he beats Theo at the end? We already knew he could do it.
Consider climactic battles such as Balen vs Thenlyss, Balen vs Alick or Zavrius vs Theo. If Balen had been told at the start of the story that Thenlyss and Alick were traitors and faced each of them off in a duel, nothing would have been different. Balen would have defeated the two of them all the same, because he beat them simply by being a better fighter. So what does it matter if he wins?
Similarly, before the story begins, Zavrius had already defeated his entire family in battle, Theo included. It's not like he needed to change or grow in order to be strong enough to defeat them again. So what does it matter if he beats Theo at the end? We already knew he could do it.
This lack of integration with the themes and character development made the outcome of these scenes feel arbitrary and less meaningful.
There was also one plot point which broke my suspension of disbelief: After being suspected for the murder of FIVE royals, why the hell were the Rezwyn representatives invited to the Prime ceremony?
Just imagine if this happened in real life - say, the simultaneous assassination of Princess Diana, Prince Charles, Prince William, Princess Royal Anne, and Earl of Wessex Edward. The suspected enemy state would have been instantly banned and embargoed, no matter how much they denied the murders. Leaders across the kingdom would be calling for immediate declarations of war!
I just don't believe that the Rezwyns would be allowed anywhere in Uslef, let alone up close with the new King where they could assassinate him. The same objection applies for all other scenes where the Rezwyns were invited to Dynasty events.
Similarly, I found it odd that in scenes like the coronation ceremony, that nobody was calling the Rezwyns "savages", "bloodthirsty", etc for their supposed slaughtering spree. The attendees' comments were weirdly tolerant of these supposed murders, instead mildly saying things like "Oh, well, you know, they have that weird religion..."
Just imagine if this happened in real life - say, the simultaneous assassination of Princess Diana, Prince Charles, Prince William, Princess Royal Anne, and Earl of Wessex Edward. The suspected enemy state would have been instantly banned and embargoed, no matter how much they denied the murders. Leaders across the kingdom would be calling for immediate declarations of war!
I just don't believe that the Rezwyns would be allowed anywhere in Uslef, let alone up close with the new King where they could assassinate him. The same objection applies for all other scenes where the Rezwyns were invited to Dynasty events.
Similarly, I found it odd that in scenes like the coronation ceremony, that nobody was calling the Rezwyns "savages", "bloodthirsty", etc for their supposed slaughtering spree. The attendees' comments were weirdly tolerant of these supposed murders, instead mildly saying things like "Oh, well, you know, they have that weird religion..."
Finally, about the names: One thing I noticed in another review was a complaint that names like "Zavrius" were too weird. But I disagree. His vaguely Greek-sounding naming theme was pretty consistent over the entire family (Theo, Arasne, Petra, etc).
Wow! That's so much complaining, right?? But I'm nitpicking these issues because the "bones" of the novel are terrific and have great potential. I thought it was a very interesting concept, and I want it to be even better. The good news is that this is the author's debut novel, and he's recently published a sequel (Reborn) which we can look forward to.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, and Murder
Minor: Xenophobia
Blood, gore, violence, murder, body horror: There is a fight scene which graphically describes a baddie burning to death from the inside. Another baddie dies due to his organs no longer being inside his body.Animal death: A horse is killed in battle, rather messily.
Sexual content: Lewd remarks and anatomical words are used in conversation between the protagonists. There are also two explicit sex scenes.
Xenophobia: The foreign Rezwyn Empire is treated with suspicion.
Funnily enough, there isn't really any homophobia. Several people denigrate Zavrius as a "flamboyant dandy", but nobody really cares that he's into guys. Similarly, when fellow paladin Alick teases Balen for his crush on Zavrius, the gender of his crush is irrelevant.