David Farland, The Runelords (Tor, 1998)
The Earth is dying. We all know this. Turn anywhere in the news and you get the doom and gloom reports of ecological disaster of one form or another. Matter of fact, it's gotten to the point where almost all our modern ailments are due to some ecological disaster or another. So it is of no surprise to find a fantasy series that uses the death and rebirth of the land as a major motif. Death and rebirth, especially related to the land, is a common motif, but no series that I am aware of has used it as strongly as David Farland has in his Runelords series.
The first volume of that series is either eponymous (as the cover would have you believe) or it is The Sum of All Men (as the title page would have you believe). Either way, it is a strong first volume of a series that is now into its fifth volume (just recently released by Tor) that follows the adventures of Gaborn Val Orden as he grows from a young prince into his manhood.
The story opens with Gaborn Val Orden discreetly making his way to the kingdom of Heredon where he hopes to woo and wed Iome, the daughter of Heredon's King Sylvarresta. Unknown to Gaborn, though, the warlord Raj Ahten from the southern kingdoms of Indhopal is also making his way to Sylvarresta as his first step to conquering the northern kingdoms. Raj Ahten is no common warlord, however: he is a Runelord (as are all the kings in this series), a person whose natural attributes are augmented by borrowing attributes from 'Dedicates' who live lives deprived of the attribute they have given to their lord. Whereas some Runelords will have as many as a dozen or two dozen of these endowments, Raj Ahten has them in the thousands, making him all but unconquerable. When he arrives at Castle Sylvarresta, he has so many endowments of 'Voice' that all he has to do is speak and everyone immediately desires to do his will and the castle falls without Raj Ahten even having to raise a hand in war.
The news of Ahten's conquering of Castle Sylvarresta quickly makes its way to the other lords of the north and they begin to rally to the cause. Chief among these is Gaborn's father, King Orden of Mystarria. Immediately Orden marches on Ahten. However, Gaborn, aware of what is going on and much closer than his father, singlehandedly wages what war he can on Ahten.
This all takes place against the backdrop of the aforementioned dying world. King Sylvarresta's herbalist happens to also be a wizard who is searching for the next Earth King, a legendary figure who will have all the powers of the Earth at his disposal to fight evil, but also will restore the balance that has been thrown out of kilter not only by Raj Ahten but also by the insect-like Reavers who are invading the land.
It's fairly obvious early on that Prince Gaborn is destined to be the next Earth King, so it's not really a spoiler to mention that here, but ultimately, it doesn't really matter, since the story is not so much about who the next Earth King is as it is about Gaborn growing from a somewhat conceited and self-centered youth to a great warrior who is willing to sacrifice all for the good of his land. As with much good fantasy, it is not so much the originality of the story that attracts the reader (this is why I prefer fantasy over science fiction: within science fiction there is a driving need to be original; within fantasy, that need is not present), but it is the exploration of what it means to be human. In The Runelords we see that in the actions of Prince Gaborn.
I've been on a bit of a "fat fantasy" kick recently, and this book was one of those I'd been wanting to read for a long time but hadn't gotten around to. The recent publication of the fifth volume of the series prompted me finally to begin it. I'm not upset I did. Although this is not one of the greatest books I've read, the time I spent reading it was not time wasted. Farland's writing is crisp without being dry and he balances the action finely with interior reflection among the characters. Even though the book is 600 pages long, I was surprised at how quickly I made my way through it. I'm definitely now on board to read the rest of the series.
