FANTASY REVIEW: The Other Lands - David Anthony Durham

BOOK BLURB:

"The Other Lands" begins a few years after Acacia, and Queen Corinn Akaran is firmly in control of the Known World. Her primary goal is to topple the Lothan Aklun and so she sends her brother Daniel, disguised as a slave, on an exploratory expedition to the Other Lands. Daniel soon discovers a mainland that is a more lush, exotic, and expansive than the Known World; and the ruling tribe, the Auldek, are more numerous and powerful than the Numrek. But unbeknownst to the Corinn and her siblings, the Numrek and Auldek are ancient ancestors and their inevitable alliance could mean the downfall of Acacia. In this bold and imaginative sequel to Acacia, Queen Corinn must unite the battered and abused people of the Acacia Empire against the powerful tribes of the Other Lands.


REVIEW:

What I love about David’s work is not only his careful character creation but also his efforts on world building including cracking magic systems, careful political scenarios and also looking at everything from religion to the creature inhabitants. So it was a bit of a shock that I felt a little let down with this book.

Don’t get me wrong its still a strong offering but when you compare it against his previous outings. especially after Accacia: The War with the Mein it really didn’t hit the spot. What perhaps was my key gripe was the characters, I just didn’t like them as much as I had the originals which made this novel a bit of a stretch to stick with at some points. Add to the mix a story that felt like it over complicated itself and didn’t devote as much time to the main arc as it should have done and I wonder if he’s tried to squeeze too much into this one book.

It’s a shame and had this been a new authors offering it would definitely bode well for their future as it is a good offering and allows the reader to explore new lands and peoples within. But for an author with the reputation that he has perhaps David would have been better re-examining the tale and then split it into separate components allowing for two books instead of just the one. It may all come good in the next book and explain why it needed to feel so rushed but for now, I was a little disappointed.

FANTASY REVIEW: Acacia - David Anthony Durham

BOOK BLURB:

Presiding over Acacia, an empire named after the idyllic island from which he rules, Leodan Akaran has inherited a peace and prosperity won long ago by his ancestors.

He’s an intelligent man, a widower who dotes on his four children, and it is this devotion that obliges him to hide a terrible secret from them – that Acacia is founded on the trafficking of drugs and human lives. A man of integrity, he .

An assassin, sent from the Mein – a race exiled long ago to an ice-locked stronghold in the frozen north – strikes, and the Mein unleash surprise attacks against their old oppressor. Mortally wounded, Leodan puts into play a plan to enable his children to escape, to survive and to fulfil their destinies. And so begins an epic quest – to avenge a father’s death and restore an empire, this time on the basis of universal freedom.


REVIEW:

Having read David's Pride of Carthage I was quite looking forward to see what he would do with a fantasy setting. The book as you'd come to expect with David's work is well written, the characters crisp, the writing beautifully descriptive with a world full of shades of grey where no one is good or evil. It plays on all the best aspects from the fantasy world with political double dealing presenting readers with a fantasy nearly on the same epic scale as Steven Eriksons Malazan world. The one problem though, is the battle sequences, they don't seem to be fully realised in much the way that the rest of the book is as if bits and pieces have been taken out either as too fantastical or to keep the flow of things running for those not familiar with the type of battles presented within. It's a shame that it went this way as had a little more time been spent on that it would have made this a much better book. Still with around 600 pages, it's a good first effort in a fantasy world and will hopefully make readers sit up and pay attention to his work. Throw into the mix a story that leaves you with more questions than answers and a tangible threat for a following novel and I think that DAD has found a niche that will bring him fans the world over.