Rules of Ascension – David B Coe.

Category: Fantasy

I have read this author’s work before in the form of the LonTobin Chronicles, which I really enjoyed, so when I saw new books by him I pounced.

Unfortunately I think the best I can say here is ‘average’.

The story is based in a medieval feudal style society populated by two peoples, the Eandi and the Qirsi. The Qirsi are a race of sorcerers with varying powers who invaded over 900 years before and lost because they were betrayed by one of their own. The powers they command are varied and most only have one or two. Some have all and are known as Weavers, however there have been no weavers since the end of the war as the Eandi have killed then all and their families. Many Qirsi now hold positions of advisors to the dukes of the land and many others travel the land performing gleanings or fatings for it’s people.

However Qirsi born as weavers have learned to hide and so there are actually weavers in the land again and they are not happy with the current status quo.

Oh how I struggled to read this book and I’ve struggled with writing this review. The story is incredibly complex and the first problem I encountered was trying to decide who the main characters are. Once I realised who they were I then discovered that I had absolutely no feelings for them one way or the other, I really didn’t care what happened to them. This is bad; my caring about a character or characters is what makes me keep reading. This was then made worse by the profusion of secondary characters, all of seemingly equal importance. Many of the character names are similar or long and many have titles. This only adds to the confusing nature of this book.

I bought the second book in the series at the same time I bought this one and I have to say, at the end, it did managed to pique my interest sufficiently to make me read the second book. However I also have to say that I will not be reading it again.

If you enjoy books with complex plots and twists and many many characters, then by all means give this one a try, the writing is still good.

Rating: 4/10

Winds of the Forelands Series:
1. Rules of Ascension
2. Seeds of Betrayal
3. Bonds of Vengeance (due Feb 28th 2005)
4. Shapers of Darkness (due late 2005)
5. Weavers of War (due 2006)