Joy, this is a long book. 600 pages long and I find out, after starting it, that it is the first in a planned trilogy or maybe just a long term series. Be that as it may, it was, for me, a fast and easy read. I finished the book in about the same amount of time as a more regular 350 page book. The story was interesting.
The story is narrated by Michael Kingman. He is waiting for his execution for killing the king. It seems his father, 10 years before when Michael was 10 years old, was executed for a similar crime. He is having his memories recorded while he waits, so we get a very self-focused story. Michael is not a nice person. He's spent the past 10 years with a king approved foster father. Every thing he does is rejected because of his father's crime. To make sure everybody knows who he is, he's branded with the word "traitor". Life is not great.
The setting for this story is Medieval Europe in most ways. Life is contained in the city state, the walled city plus the minimum amount of farm land needed to provide food for the city. The population is divided into Royals, Nobles, Churchmen and commoners. Royals and Nobles and some Churchmen have magic. Commoners do not have magic. Using magic costs the wielder. They forget something, usually memories, but as one character says "There are other things you can forget, like how to walk." Magic needs to be trained or the user can be badly damaged.
Michael has never believed his father killed the king's son. All members of the Kingman family have sworn to protect at least on member of the Royal family. This duty was striped from Michael and his siblings when their father was executed. Michael has spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to find the truth. With most doors closed and most ways blocked, he has been very unsuccessful with the endeavor. Suddenly, as he becomes an adult in his world, people who also want the truth to come out, are introducing themselves to Michael. They start to manipulate him, and for the most part, he lets them.
I liked the story. It did not feel like the start of a series or trilogy or whatever. The story was complete in itself. There was no cliffhanger. There were things that could foreshadow additional episodes, but I have read many fantasy novels that could have sequels and don't. It is a long book, but I found it reads very fast. It kept my interest.
The story is narrated by Michael Kingman. He is waiting for his execution for killing the king. It seems his father, 10 years before when Michael was 10 years old, was executed for a similar crime. He is having his memories recorded while he waits, so we get a very self-focused story. Michael is not a nice person. He's spent the past 10 years with a king approved foster father. Every thing he does is rejected because of his father's crime. To make sure everybody knows who he is, he's branded with the word "traitor". Life is not great.
The setting for this story is Medieval Europe in most ways. Life is contained in the city state, the walled city plus the minimum amount of farm land needed to provide food for the city. The population is divided into Royals, Nobles, Churchmen and commoners. Royals and Nobles and some Churchmen have magic. Commoners do not have magic. Using magic costs the wielder. They forget something, usually memories, but as one character says "There are other things you can forget, like how to walk." Magic needs to be trained or the user can be badly damaged.
Michael has never believed his father killed the king's son. All members of the Kingman family have sworn to protect at least on member of the Royal family. This duty was striped from Michael and his siblings when their father was executed. Michael has spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to find the truth. With most doors closed and most ways blocked, he has been very unsuccessful with the endeavor. Suddenly, as he becomes an adult in his world, people who also want the truth to come out, are introducing themselves to Michael. They start to manipulate him, and for the most part, he lets them.
I liked the story. It did not feel like the start of a series or trilogy or whatever. The story was complete in itself. There was no cliffhanger. There were things that could foreshadow additional episodes, but I have read many fantasy novels that could have sequels and don't. It is a long book, but I found it reads very fast. It kept my interest.