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A prelude of magical battle and hard-won victory over hated slave masters strikes a note of doom as it's suggested that the coming Golden Age is already poisoned by misuse of magic at its founding. Next, a much later historian's note records that "In the year 2,223 E, the age of Everon came to an abrupt and terrible end." This is the year in which the main narrative begins.
It's a time of late-medieval kingdoms, with credible political tension and devious diplomacy. In the kingdom of Crotheny, something is very wrong in the royal forest--signalled by the forest warden's sighting of a "greffyn". Both like and unlike the griffin of myth, this creature's mere presence poisons streams with a deadly contamination that lingers and can be passed on by touch.
Something is rotten in the Church, too, where a gifted novice monk finds himself translating ancient, unspeakable texts that should have been left in decent obscurity. Other kinds of wrongness fester at court, with shifting tensions among the mostly likeable members of a dysfunctional royal family, increasing political pressure from outside and genuinely shocking treason within. When a knight of the Queen's most trusted personal guard abruptly tries to kill her, there seems to be no safety anywhere. Not even in the well-defended "coven" or convent to which the youngest, most wilful princess is despatched to be trained as an assassin-nun.
As a variety of neatly-drawn characters pursue personal feuds, vendettas, love affairs, comic pratfalls, escape plans and paths to advancement, there are repeated hints that the land itself--defiled by sinister rituals of desecration--is dying. The greffyn and the appalling Briar King of prophecy seem to be symptoms rather than the real disease.
The Briar King is a strong start to what promises to be a gripping fantasy sequence. --David Langford --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Publishers Weekly
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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Most helpful customer reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
Thorny "King",
By E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews (HALL OF FAME) (TOP 10 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: The Briar King (Mass Market Paperback)
Greg Keyes' "The Briar King" is a mix of good fantasy and thorny mess. While the worldbuilding and background for the first book of his new series is outstanding, his writing doesn't live up to his imagination. It's a flawed but deeply interesting book overall.The Briar King is a remnant of the old pagan beliefs, living on only in little superstitions and children's songs. But after the old holter Aspar rescues a nerdy young priest, they learn of strange things that are stirring in the woods, and human beings are dropping dead or being sacrificed -- and Aspar encounters a greffyn, a mythical monster whose touch and breath can kill. They're all signs that the Briar King is waking. But the Briar King isn't the only source of trouble: the royal Dare family is being quietly turned on its head. Someone is trying to kill the queen, Princess Lesbeth has vanished mysteriously, and idealistic young knight Neil has fallen in love with Princess Fastia (who is married). Worst of all, one of the royals has gone mad, and threatens to destroy his entire family. The only one who may escape is immature Anne, who has been having strange visions. It's virtually impossible to write semi-original fantasies now, but Keyes dodges the typical cliches -- elves, wizards, Dark Lords and demons. The story is engaging and unusual, but it starts stumbling partway through. But it demonstrates that Keyes has a good story worth telling; it ends on a "to be continued" note, of course. Keyes starts off strong with mysterious occurrances and plenty of creepiness. He puts a lot of effort and description into his worldbuilding, such as the Dare family, the pseudo-Christian religion and well-crafted myths. But about halfway through "Briar King," Keyes starts to lose control of the story. There are too many subplots that only seem to be marginally tied together (what is up with that love potion subplot?), and it loses the creepy quality. Keyes' writing is pedestrian most of the time, although it blossoms whenever something really freaky is happening. The description of Aspar encountering the Briar King is brief, but strikingly ominous. And once you get past the typical lead characters (spirited princess, priest with a lot to learn, cocky swordsman), there are plenty of unique supporting roles (like the dead old woman in the caves). "The Briar King" is an unsteady but promising start to Greg Keyes new series. It dodges most cliches and sticks to an unusual storyline, but the execution needs some work before the Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone series can be counted as a good fantasy.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Highly Recommended,
By
This review is from: The Briar King (Mass Market Paperback)
I'll admit (a little shepishly), that before I started this book, I was very skeptical. I wasn't entirely convinced that this book would be worth my time. However, after casually picking it up late at night to read the first few pages, I had to force myself to stop reading and go to bed. The first few pages completely wiped away any doubts I had about this book before. It delivers on so many levels: plenty of action-and not the boring kind. It's very suspenseful, and keeps you turning the pages. There's romance (fairly predictable, but still exciting, and well written), and it can be very unpredictable. I gasped in shock more than once. I won't say who, but one of the characters is so evil, you'll find yourself wanting to strangle him yourself. The book is shrouded in mystery, which was what kept me going-you want to know what this is all about!The focus is constantly swithcing from one character to another, but Keyes suceeds in making you want to keep on reading. His characterizations are excellent, and no noe of them is 2-dimensional. I'm looking forward to the sequel very much (which comes out in a few weeks). You won't regret paying the 6 or 7 dollars to buy this gem.
3.0 out of 5 stars
C+ for "Briar King" by Greg Keyes,
By
This review is from: The Briar King (Mass Market Paperback)
C+ for "Briar King" by Greg KeyesThe Briar King starts off well, and then flounders a bit. It was an interesting story, but I found some of the coincidences to be a bit much. The love between certain characters seems to blossom too quickly to be seen as realistic, and the mysterious nature of unfolding events was the only thing that kept me reading. A decent read, but you absolutely shouldn't even be looking at this unless you've already read Rothfuss and George RR Martin and the other authors I've constantly recommended. Perhaps it picks up in later books, however, so you may still want to give it a try.
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