The Cardinal's Blades [Hardcover]

The ring of swords. The clash of steel. Action. Adventure. Swashbuckling. Romance.
Even in this modern age, there is a irresistible romance to swordplay, musketeers and the derring-do of a long lost age. Captured by Alexandre Dumas in his 19th century novels, the world of the musketeers has extended into many movie adaptations (and yet more to come). As a seminal influence, the Three Musketeers are one of the principal inspirations for both the sword and sorcery and sword and sandal genres in fantasy and historical fiction.

Similarly, dragons are an extremely popular sub-genre in fantasy today. While dragons have been around in fantasy fiction since the time of Smaug, and the transformed Eustace, and McCaffrey's Pern are replete with them, in the last few years dragons have commonly cropped up both in modern day tales as well as the alternate Napoleonic War novels of Naomi Novik.
The Cardinal's Blades, the English language debut of French author Pierre Pavel, might be thought of as the marriage of these two streams of culture. Grounded in an alternate-history 17th century France, the Cardinal's Blades is the story of the titular characters, a disgraced secret force of Cardinal Richelieu brought back into service for one more mission against France's major adversary--Spain and its Court of Dragons, and more to the point, its secret society trying to operate in France, the Black Claw.

In Pavel's alternate world, while history has mostly gone on as it has in our world (I did catch at least one major change that makes this alternate history, not just our-history-with-dragons), there are dragons of all sizes in society. Dragonets are pets for the rich and powerful (such as the good Cardinal himself). Wyverns, in perhaps a nod to Novik, are used by aviators as couriers. There are half-dragons (matings between transformed dragons and humans) and brutish dracs (humanoid dragon offspring) as well. Actual dragons are rare and devoted to their own inscrutable purposes. For the most part, they are offstage, manipulating the action rather than, say, taking to the skies and raking Paris with gouts of fire.
This is also true of the other fantastic draconic elements I just mentioned. For the most part, the dragonets, and wyverns are only there for color, a splash of fantasy paint on the historical bones of the book. The Cardinal's Blades' focus is directed on the historical sword-and-sandal elements and milieu.

Characterization development, is another disappointment in this novel. Pavel seems to have reserved most of his characterization for the captain of the Cardinal's Blades, La Fargue, and has fallen to stereotypes and somewhat thinner character development for the rest of the cast . The Womanizing rogue, the Serious one, the Woman in a man's world. Once these traits are set, they do not seem to change or grow.

On the bright side, every one of the Cardinal's Blades does get individual attention and screen time, especially when La Fargue gets the band back together, and when the members head out in a Diaspora to accomplish various pieces of the problem of opposing the Black Claw and its plans. The villains are somewhat more well drawn, and as in the case in many of these books, are as interesting as the characters.

A fair criticism of this review might ask--given my criticisms thus far, well what DOES work in this book?
Well, the Historical perspective. As I have said earlier, this is an alternate history. I am not so familiar with French history to be aware of other divergences, but there is one. It is not at all clear that the fantasy elements are responsible for the point of divergence, and it does seem to be again, mostly for color. The writing does effectively convey the backdrop of 17th century France, perhaps more so because I kept mentally filling in memories of various Musketeers movies. What I mean by this is, nothing in the book jarred with those visions, helping to establish an effective mise-en-scene for the events of the novel.

The swashbuckling action and adventure, too, is one of the best reasons to read this book. Action and adventure this novel has in plenty and Pavel seems to be at his best and most effective as a writer when things get interesting. To the point, there are very effective "set-piece" encounters and battles that are exciting, well written, and helped draw me through the book. For all of the weaknesses mentioned above, Pavel knows how to write effective, engaging and exciting encounters between the protagonists and their foes.

Another thing that works is the complexity of the plot. It's not too convoluted, but things are not quite as they seem, and the motivations of the bigger players on the board are suitably complex and multisided. There is a lot going on in Pavel's world, much more than meets the eye, and there plenty of material here that future volumes in this world could explore.

So, while I don't think that Pavel's The Cardinal's Blades is an heir to, say, Brust's The Phoenix Guards and Five Hundred Years Later, I think it is good enough that I would read a sequel, especially given the twist ending that begs for explanation in a future volume. I hope that forthcoming books will keep Pavel's strengths and shore up some of the weaknesses and would love to see what he does, given an opportunity to grow into this universe.

Plot Summary: In seventeenth century France, the King may sit on the throne, but the man who holds the reins of power is Cardinal Richelieu. When a dark sect rooted in the heart of Spain threatens France, the Cardinal recalls his elite band of spies and assassins known as the Cardinal's Blades. They are given a simple mission - to find a Spanish gentlemen who has disappeared in Paris - but the plot thickens as the Blades trace his cold trail through taverns and gambling salons, because this person is also being pursued by the Black Claw cult. This is no ordinary cult - it's ruled by the souls of ancient dragons who place no value on humanity. If the Black Claw gains a foothold in France, it could mean the end of everything.

When I was a kid, one of my favorite black and white films was Captain Blood starring Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland. It had all the core themes, good vs. evil, justice vs. injustice, slavery vs. freedom, and best of all, it had lots of sword fighting and swinging from ropes. It's a swashbuckler in the grand old style that we just don't see anymore, and so when I heard about The Cardinal's Blades by Pierre Pevel, I was hoping for the kind of adventure that mesmerized me as a child. I wanted this story to swashbuckle me silly and make me giddy with joy, and it sort of succeeded too. Unfortunately, it wasn't effortless, and that is what's holding me back from giving this book a higher rating.

Swashbucklers shouldn't tax the brain, but the scope of The Cardinal's Blades started to drag it down. Every scene change for the first 150 pages or so introduced a new character, or characters. The names started blending in my brain (French names, which are particularly slippery for someone who only knows some Spanish), and I was having a hard time keeping everyone straight. Then came the double agent stuff, where half the characters flipped between wearing a white hat or a black hat, and while I enjoyed the intrigue, it wasn't as easy to follow as I would have liked.

That's enough complaining though, because it was stuffed with swordfights, escapes, ambushes, and detailed descriptions of 1633 Paris that had my heart swooning. I loved it all, and that alone made this book worth reading. If you are a fan of Alexandre Dumas's work (The Count of Monte Cristo was a particular favorite of mine as a teen), then Pierre Pevel's story will feel like a worthy successor in this grand style. The fantasy elements involving the dragons were subtle and unobtrusive, and I had no problems believing this alternate historical vision where Cardinal Richelieu is more of a good guy than a bad guy.

This is almost the Three Musketeer in a universe where dragons exist, magic works and is based closely on France of the 17th century. We see monsieur de Trevelle and Athos pass by. There is an almost Porthos and a Gascon.

What I liked
1. Action, adventure and intrigue.
2. A complex, intricate, convoluted plot where you never know what is coming next.
3. You can see, feel, smell and occasionally taste France in the 1600s.
4. The bad guys are bad and the good guys are complex.
5. Swords and sorcery

What I didn't like
1. Too many cardboard characters.
2. There were too many players.
3. It opened a small window into a pretty complex place and was too clearly a stage setter. People and situations were maneuvered to set the stage for following books in the series.
4. There is a richness and a depth to the world created except for some spots of triteness and cliches.

This was translated from French. So, I don't know if some of the weaknesses are due to the translator. There should be sequels. There is enough here to recommend it. There's just not enough to say this will be a classic. Don't expect Vlad Taltos. Don't expect Alexander Dumas. Do expect a spirited, fast moving story with something unexpected around every corner.